As I settled in for a nice long afternoon of college football last September, I clicked on my archaic Zenith, grabbed a 2-liter of Diet Coke, and tuned in to the earliest game I could find. Browsing through the TV Guide, I noticed that Wisconsin was playing and I thought Barry Alvarez and his Badgers would be a nice start to my football marathon…Wait a minute! What’s this I see? Where are the classic “W” helmets? Where are the glossy cherry apple jerseys? Did Bucky approve this uniform change? I grabbed my cell phone and nearly called 9-1-1, but quickly phoned my sports colleague, Mr. Hill, and screamed in the phone “TURN ON THE WISCONSIN GAME….WHAT ARE THEY WEARING?”

     As many of you know by now, it seems “throwback” uniforms are quickly becoming the new retro fashion statement on the field. Oklahoma and Tennessee did it; Penn State has never veered away from it, and now Ohio State has chosen to join ranks. This past spring, Coach Jim Tressel unveiled the new OSU jersey to the public and you would have thought he announced the second coming of Christ. Some rejoiced, but others shuttered. Nearly six weeks after this announcement, the Columbus Dispatch’s sports editors are still receiving e-mails and letters from disgruntled fans about the new jersey.

     To breakdown the fashion-fiasco for you, the major changes are the stripes on the sleeves, which are thinner and are black, white and scarlet. Secondly, the player’s number has moved to the sleeves, versus on top of the shoulder pads. Finally, the fit is much tighter and the fabric is some swanky material that “whisks moisture away from the body.” These alterations don’t seem like major changes, do they? The public outcry of horror is the color “white.” You see, the official colors of Ohio State are scarlet and gray. The old jersey had huge 1980’s like gray stripes on the sleeves. Chants like “Woody is rolling over in his grave” are the most popular from Buckeye fans. Personally, I think the new jerseys are hot…except that they bare an undeniable resemblance to the Badgers.

     To be frank, it’s not the jersey that terrifies people…it’s the disruption and deviation from the norm. You and I both know the second one thing goes wrong with that team, the public will scream, “IT’S THE JERSEY!!!” Take Notre Dame, for example. When Tyrone Willingham made his début, to mark a new era in Irish history, he insisted on the Irish green jerseys. Most recently, the October 15th thriller against USC, the Irish wore green. Many of the Irish elite think of the green jerseys as cursed, since more often the result o####reen-jersey game was a loss. (Ironically, one of the wins to come at the hand of the inferior garment was the "Green Jersey Game" in 1977 against USC.) Of course, not only did they get rid of the green jersey, they also got rid of Ty, and after October, I doubt Charlie will bring them back!

     Personally, I think the Irish are fashion #### because they change and alter their jerseys more times than P. Diddy changes his name. Notre Dame can credit their obsession with the jersey back to Knute Rockne. Knute was one of the first coaches to use the jersey as a psychological tool. In 1927, Knute had his second-stringers in to start a game against Navy. After witnessing the Midshipmen score a TD in the first five minutes, it was reported by George Trevor in the New York Sun, that Rockne made his move:

‘‘Instantaneously the Notre Dame regulars yanked off their blue outer sweaters and like a horde of green Gila monsters darted onto the field. From that moment on Notre Dame held the initiative, imposed its collective will upon the Navy.’’

Notre Dame came back from behind to win that game 19-6. From then on, the green remained prominent for some time before the traditional navy blue and gold returned. Ironically, navy blue and gold aren’t even Notre Dame’s official colors. After much research, it was determined that “Madonna” blue and yellow are the school’s real colors. (In case you’re wondering, “Madonna” blue is a light shade of blue…basically think UCLA’s colors.)

     I digress…what Knute Rockne did for jerseys could be considered a blessing and a curse. More often than not, when faced with a string of losses or poor seasons, one of the most popular moves is to recall the days of old when wins were strong and resort to the throwbacks or alter the uniform. Schools, teams, players, coaches, and fans are superstitious people and if “never changing your socks” or wearing a particular color or jersey aides in the mental preparation of the game, then why tempt fate?

     Perhaps the best and most recent example of this behavior comes by way of the 2006 Superbowl Champions, the Pittsburgh Steelers. Not only did Big Ben refuse to shave once the Steelers hit their winning streak, Bill Cower decided the team would wear their white “away” jerseys for the game. Although designated as the “home” team, Cowher went with white because the game wasn’t played at Heinz Stadium, plus the Steelers had a hot streak of away wins. Antwaan Randal El took the rituals one step further by having his prayer cloth anointed by his pastor with holy water and took that with him to Detroit. If you want to dig even deeper, take #36, Jerome Bettis. Not only did the team motor coach travel to the big game via route 36, the temperature that day read “36” and the game was played on the 36th day of the year.

     It’s no surprise that superstitions and rituals develop in sports. Psychologists credit the voodoo antics as a mechanism to cope with stress and the pressure to succeed. We know that it comes down to practice, performance, and confidence to win the game, but even the most common of man has been known to succumb to superstitions. My own personal superstition is that I’m an unlucky fan in the stands at Ohio State games. In the last two years I have been back to the ‘Shoe to see OSU play Wisconsin and Texas…need I say more? Although I’d like to think if I hadn’t been there, the Buckeyes would have won, but just because I might be unlucky doesn’t mean I’ll never watch a game in the Horseshoe again!

     (As a side note...I had all kinds of visual stimulation to enhance my article, but thanks to my poor skills as a blogger, I am still trying to work out how to insert them! Fun with photos to follow!)