MN Daily: Fans react negatively to Gophers’ new black, white uniforms

[BleedGopher]

Per Franz:

For the past four years, Gophers football excited their fan base with new uniforms annually. However, this year’s uniforms have created a divide between fans online.

The Gophers first hinted at their new black and white uniforms in a tweet on Aug. 22. The video shows players cheering and giving standing ovations after Head Coach P.J. Fleck’s theatrical reveal.

They continued to promote the uniforms up until the game when they displayed a black-and-white-themed pregame hype video on the big screen.

While the team maintained their initial positive reaction, the same cannot be said about the fans.

Negative tweets went up in unison with the Gophers exiting the tunnel. Complaints ranged from the absence of gold to the design of the helmet.

“Uniforms on sale? Supply chain issues? The Gophers have uniforms that are the wrong color,” one Twitter user said.

Fans react negatively to Gophers’ new black, white uniforms

Fans asked inquiries and cracked jokes online after seeing the uniforms during Saturday’s game against Western Illinois.

mndaily.com

Go Gophers!!

 

[hello-world]

They could wear hot pink and I wouldn't care as long as they're representing the University well (and winning).

 

[A_Slab_of_Bacon]

“Fans on social media” articles are the laziest/ worst.

Could be 12 people…

 

[NotAFanOfBecky]

Lame story. I wasn’t a fan of the color, but I thought the overall look was great. Full Goldy face on White would be a great road game helmet but would prefer Maroon or Gold for home games. If the players like it, I like it. Who cares!?!? Let’s frickin’ beat Iowa and Sconnie and I’m happy, let’s goooo!!!

 

[Ope3]

“Fans on social media” articles are the laziest/ worst.

Could be 12 people…

Agree, I suspect most are like me and didn't really care.

I will say, if they are changing helmet colors, I would prefer they have a different color than the opposition. Helps someone with 50+ year old eyeballs after a few belts distinguish one team from the other. Just sayin'...

 

[XMan]

I prefer school colors. But not a big deal. The players seem to love it. Keep them happy and win. That is fine with me

 

[MNVCGUY]

Lame story. Not hard to find people who hate things on social media.

 

[USAF]

Those uniforms were awful.

AW-ful

 

[Great Plains Gopher]

The media gave Minnesota a name brand as far back as the 1930s: Golden Gophers. And this name has stuck with sports media of all kinds ever since. Maroon and gold look good together - throw in white and you have lots of possibilities, home and road. The black uniforms, though nicely styled, were totally inappropriate for the Gophers. PJ or Nike or some supplier keep pushing black, anthracite, other ugliness. We have a brand, let's use it.

 

[BTChamp]

Agree, I suspect most are like me and didn't really care.

I will say, if they are changing helmet colors, I would prefer they have a different color than the opposition. Helps someone with 50+ year old eyeballs after a few belts distinguish one team from the other. Just sayin'...

Have a few more belts. Always helps me when I don't know what's going on............

 

[fmlizard]

I enjoyed the black unis as a once-a-year look. I preferred last Saturday's to both the black worn against Ohio State and also the anthracite looks of recent years. Any Goldy-head lid is a winner.

I didn't expect to see them for the 11 am shift against Western Illinois in early September

 

[RememberMurray]

So let me see if I understand how this piece was conceived, researched and written:

1) Some people tweeted negative reactions to the uniforms.
2) Other people wrote about said negative tweets.

Wow. That is Pulitzer-level stuff, if you ask me.

 

[Schnauzer]

Apparently fans are “divided” on coach Fleck, and having a football program on social media as well.

 

[MNVCGUY]

I enjoyed the black unis as a once-a-year look. I preferred last Saturday's to both the black worn against Ohio State and also the anthracite looks of recent years. Any Goldy-head lid is a winner.

I didn't expect to see them for the 11 am shift against Western Illinois in early September

I wonder if the initial plan was to wear them in game 1 but something happened that made it so they couldn't.....just speculation on my part but I agree that the Western Illinois game seemed like an odd choice for debuting them. Based on when they were revealed and the fact that it was a night game made it seem very likely we would see them against NMSU.

An alternate color once a year doesn't bug me at all. Wouldn't want to see them become a regular part of the rotation, but as a one time thing it is kind of fun to do something different. And the players seem to love it which is all that really matters anyway.

 

[highwayman]

An alternate color once a year doesn't bug me at all. Wouldn't want to see them become a regular part of the rotation, but as a one time thing it is kind of fun to do something different. And the players seem to love it which is all that really matters anyway.

End of story.

 

[forever a gopher]

So let me see if I understand how this piece was conceived, researched and written:

1) Some people tweeted negative reactions to the uniforms.
2) Other people wrote about said negative tweets.

Wow. That is Pulitzer-level stuff, if you ask me.

I've noticed this a lot - local broadcast news and print media that now use "twitter reaction" as a news point/source, like it's taking a pulse of the "everyman". Too bad twitter is just a few of the loudest voices amplified way louder than it should be. It's just lazy journalism.

 

[FredCoxRocks]

The media gave Minnesota a name brand as far back as the 1930s: Golden Gophers. And this name has stuck with sports media of all kinds ever since. Maroon and gold look good together - throw in white and you have lots of possibilities, home and road. The black uniforms, though nicely styled, were totally inappropriate for the Gophers. PJ or Nike or some supplier keep pushing black, anthracite, other ugliness. We have a brand, let's use it.

Could be that mixing it up on a weekly basis is our new brand. God knows that whatever brand we had going since the early 60s hasn't improved our chances much.

 

[Otis]

I didn’t like the uniforms, i started a thread on it, but it’s fine for one game or so.

Last years black uniforms for Ohio Stare were much better and did a great job of highlighting the school colors on the black background.

They do look best in maroon and gold though!

And of course I am especially fond of
FULL BANANA!

 

[GopherWeatherGuy]

I didn’t like the uniforms, i started a thread on it, but it’s fine for one game or so.

Last years black uniforms for Ohio Stare were much better and did a great job of highlighting the school colors on the black background.

They do look best in maroon and gold though!

And of course I am especially fond of
FULL BANANA!

The only noticeable difference between last years and this years was the helmet and the collar. The Ohio St ones were better because of that, but the jerseys and pants were largely the same.

 

[GophersInIowa]

 

[1983]

Lets be honest. The unis' were not good. Ugly and with what we have to choose from, these were last place. Never not wear some Maroon and Gold.

 

[forever a gopher]

The only noticeable difference between last years and this years was the helmet and the collar. The Ohio St ones were better because of that, but the jerseys and pants were largely the same.

The jerseys vs. OSU had an alternate number font, and had a maroon collar which didn't match their "standard" jersey. Whereas the jerseys vs. Western Illinois did have both. IMO, the Western Illinois jersey looked much better because of it.

 

[pharmacygopher]

The jerseys vs. OSU had an alternate number font, and had a maroon collar which didn't match their "standard" jersey. Whereas the jerseys vs. Western Illinois did have both. IMO, the Western Illinois jersey looked much better because of it.

View attachment 20427

View attachment 20428

PJ even said during an interview that these were supposed to be the alternates the entire time but due to supply chain issues they basically had to cobble together an alternate set last year.

I'm guessing another team uses the numbers from the OSU jerseys.

I'm good with these. I wouldn't be opposed to little maroon or gold being added. I know I got in a debate prior but I think black with maroon numbers with gold outline would be awesome. Similar to a version Oregon used before.

 

[stocker08]

Boo hoo. It's a one off uniform combo. Black jerseys aren't supplanting maroon or anything like that. It's a change of look for a single week during the season. I didn't care for them....but who cares? Save our traditional maroon and gold jerseys for the games that matter and toss the alt look in during a tune up.

 

[upnorthkid]

thank goodness we cited some fans on twitter aka the pulse of the gophers for their reaction.

 

[Ewert86PC]

“Fans on social media” articles are the laziest/ worst.

Could be 12 people…

Or the Power Trip Morning Show crew...

 

[EG#9]

Things to complain about as a Gopher football fan:
1. Zero Big Ten Titles in 50 plus years
2. Still not having a single West division title
3. A school record 6 game losing streak to Iowa and 1-9 in last ten against them
4. Losing a seemingly insurmountable lead in the all time series against Wisconsin 2-16 in last 18 (off the top of my head).
5. Having the Jug so infrequently a fan under 20 probably doesn't know it exists as a rivalry trophy.

If you can honestly complain about the uniforms the team wears while putting up 60 against Western Illinois then you are following a different program than I have been. Completely flip around the above list and I don't care if Minnesota never wears Maroon or Gold again and changes the mascot to a giraffe.

 

[RememberMurray]

Things to complain about as a Gopher football fan:
1. Zero Big Ten Titles in 50 plus years
2. Still not having a single West division title
3. A school record 6 game losing streak to Iowa and 1-9 in last ten against them
4. Losing a seemingly insurmountable lead in the all time series against Wisconsin 2-16 in last 18 (off the top of my head).
5. Having the Jug so infrequently a fan under 20 probably doesn't know it exists as a rivalry trophy.

If you can honestly complain about the uniforms the team wears while putting up 60 against Western Illinois then you are following a different program than I have been. Completely flip around the above list and I don't care if Minnesota never wears Maroon or Gold again and changes the mascot to a giraffe.

Well said!

With all the new enthusiasm and momentum Fleck has generated, with a winning streak staring us in the face, with the team soaring to new heights on the field and academically, it is more important than ever to remember this:

We still have many things to complain about.
After all, we are still Minnesotans, ya? Can I get a "ya"!?!

How about a big, loud "HELL, YA!!!!"

 

[MNVCGUY]

Things to complain about as a Gopher football fan:
1. Zero Big Ten Titles in 50 plus years
2. Still not having a single West division title
3. A school record 6 game losing streak to Iowa and 1-9 in last ten against them
4. Losing a seemingly insurmountable lead in the all time series against Wisconsin 2-16 in last 18 (off the top of my head).
5. Having the Jug so infrequently a fan under 20 probably doesn't know it exists as a rivalry trophy.

If you can honestly complain about the uniforms the team wears while putting up 60 against Western Illinois then you are following a different program than I have been. Completely flip around the above list and I don't care if Minnesota never wears Maroon or Gold again and changes the mascot to a giraffe.

I mean #2 needs to be switched to something like - Haven't yet earned a trip to Indy for the Big Ten Championship or something along those lines.

and #5 is a bit less of an issue due to how infrequently we play Michigan these days.

I get where you are coming from with the list and agree that complaining about the Uniform is a rat turd kind of issue. The upside is, if the only real thing people have to complain about is how the team dresses on Saturday then it means you are doing something right on the field.

 

[goldengophers]

I'd prefer a throwback set than the off the rack fashion jersey from Marshall's look of last weekend.