Football Equipment Thread

[backrow]

i really like them. it makes sense for Army to wear these uniforms.

 

[Colonel_Reb]

Electric Slide, although I'm no fan of the new digital camo, I like the overall idea of camo unis for Army. Like backrow, I think it makes sense. As far as I know, no football team has ever worn camo unis before. I just did a little looking and I see that it is a new Nike "enforcer" design.


[url]http://www.goarmysports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=11100 &ATCLID=3629281[/url]

 

[Colonel_Reb]

BIG TIME UNIFORM ANNOUNCEMENT!


USC and UCLA will both wear home jerseys today! No NCAA exemption either, as with the election night game a few weeks ago. USC will be penalized for doing this. This will be the first time both teams have worn home jerseys since 1982, theseason beforethe NCAA made it illegal to do so.
<H1 id=articleTitle ="articleTitle">USC will wear home jerseys for UCLA game at Rose Bowl</H1>
<DIV id=articleByline ="articleByline">By Scott Wolf, Staff Writer
<DIV id=articleDate ="articleDate">Updated:12/01/2008 10:37:23 PM PST
<DIV ="articleer">
<DIV id=article ="article">
<DIV id=articleViewerGroup style="BORDER-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP: 0px; BORDER-LEFT: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM: 0px" ="articleViewerGroup">
<DIV style="BORDER-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP: 0px; BORDER-LEFT: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM: 0px" ="articleViewerGroup">USC coach Pete Carroll said he made a snap decision Monday to "go for it," and wear cardinal jerseys for Saturday's game against crosstown rival UCLA, the first time both teams will don their home uniforms in the rivalry game since 1982.


The decision comes with a price, as the Trojans will be penalized one timeout per half against the Bruins, which is either a sign of how much Carroll wanted to do it or that he feels he will not need timeouts against an underdog.


"I've never coached cherishing the timeouts like other coaches do," Carroll said. "We rarely use them. This isn't going to surprise (UCLA). It's not like Notre Dame wearing green jerseys. We're the ones being penalized.


"It might (hurt us). I don't care. We'll play without it. I think its fun and our fans will appreciate it."


Carroll's maneuver was an about-face from comments he made last week and Sunday night about the possibility of wearing cardinal jerseys.


"I don't know anything about that," he said Sunday.


But he clearly worked on the switch for some time and spoke to former UCLA coaches Bob Toledo and Karl Dorrell about the idea.


He said he also brought the idea up to UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel but admitted the pair had not spoken since August and it was solely Carroll's idea to do it now.


"I've been thinking about this for years. I've loved the spectacle but didn't do it," Carroll said. "I wanted to take it to this level a couple of times.


"I can't wait for the other guys to do it. They didn't do it so we're going to."


Carroll said the decision was not a sign of disrespect toward UCLA (4-7) because he is willing to play them with only four timeouts.


Like many of Carroll's decisions, this one was part impulse, and he compared it to the 1983 Tom Cruise movie, "Risky Business," when a character said, "Sometimes you gotta say, "What the (expletive)."


USC and UCLA both traditionally wore their home jerseys when the teams played each other at the Coliseum in the 1960s and `70s. But the teams did not wear home jerseys for every crosstown rivalry game at the Coliseum. In 1952, USC wore its white jerseys against the Bruins.


But in 1983, an NCAA rules change prevented both teams from wearing their home jerseys.


"If we had done it the first time (in 2001), I thought it would be disrespectful, so we didn't do it," Carroll said.


USC players were not thrilled with the idea of the Trojans losing a timeout per half.


"Will we really?" USC linebacker Clay Matthews said. "Isn't there some board of directors to talk to about it? There should be exceptions to the rules."


UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel expressed support for the idea.


"It's exciting," Neuheisel said. "I think wearing the home jerseys is a great tradition."


Brian Dohn contributed to this story.


http://www.dailynews.com/sports/ci_11116981Edited by: Colonel_Reb

 

[Gi-15]

I think the army unis looked great, I just hope they will be the only team to ever wear them. The navy uniforms looked great too, The blue/gold stripes on the shoulder gave them a great look

 

[celticdb15]

Agreed Gi both unis were refreshing to see. I think it is time for a permenant change, anyone else think so?

 

[Colonel_Reb]

I don't like the black and digital camo unis for every game for Army. Maybe black and the traditional woodland camo would look better. I also think they could stick with white numbers and delete the motto from where the name would be. This would clean up the look, imho. If they did this, I'd be satisifed with them wearing the camo full time. Navy's unis looked pretty cool as well, but the blue shoulder area should be larger. It doesn't look well proportioned to me. Overall, I agree that with a couple of modifications, these unis would doboth teamswell in the future.

 

[PhillyBirds]

I've noticed around this time of year that many players wear special jerseys with hand warmers built in! Ben Roethlisberger is wearing one today, and I'd imagine are popular with quarterbacks. Here's a Green Bay defensive back sporting one:

 

[PhillyBirds]

A new season, and some new pieces of equipment proliferating across the league!

I watched some of the Giants preseason game the other day and I've noticed that many of their players (and other players across the league) have accepted the sinfully ugly Revolution Speed as their headgear of choice! I identified this particular piece earlier on in the thread, as Redskins TE Chris Cooley got his hands on one as a "tester".

Riddell has put them up for sale on their official site, and I just wanted to share with you guys some images of this high-tech, low-aesthetics helmet.

Giants DE Justin Tuck sporting one:

 

[foreverfree]

And I though long ago Eagles wideout Charlie "Homeboy" Smith's cage was ugly.

Unless I missed it, no one has addressed the issue of aerodynamics in the new ribbed helmets like the Revolution Speed (and some baseball batter's helmets). As someone on freerepublic.com once complained (paraphrasing), "what air resistance can someone encounter running at 13 mph?"

That streamlining IMO adds nothing to the helmet. Wonder if they ran wind tunnel tests.

John

 

[Colonel_Reb]

To me, aerodynamics in the shell design is a non-factor. Helmets aren't aerodynamic at all because they are open on the front. Nothing you do about the shape of the shell is going to make any difference at that speed. Now, maybe Riddell did some wind tunnel tests and found that there is a bit less air resistance over the top of the helmet. It probably was at a very high wind speed though, which doesn't fit the usage of the helmet. More than likely they designed it based on looks and safety, not aero specs. Its just like spoilers on musclecars in the late 60s and early 70s. Most did absolutely nothing for aerodynamics unless you were above 120MPH.

I agree with Phillybirds that the Revo Speed units are hard on the eyes. Give me an old Riddell PAC-3 and an OPO facemask and I'm set! As I write this, I'm watching a local high school game on TV. Some of the kids are wearing the Revo Speed units. I see a few older Riddells and a couple of newer design Schutts. When I was playing between 1991-94, I remember seeing MaxPro, Schutt, Riddell, Bike, Nocona, and Wilson. There may have been a McGregor on someone on my Junior High team, but I don't remember it.

 

[Colonel_Reb]

I figured a story on heat sensors in helmets would fit in this thread nicely. Interesting clip, for a number of reasons. Features high school and college teams that are using technology to take better care of athletes.

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=5278228n&amp;tag=contentMain;contentBody
Edited by: Colonel_Reb

 

[Colonel_Reb]

Boy these Revo Speed facemasks look weird! Here's Nebraska QB Zac Lee earlier today.

Also, I haven't found any pics of him so far from today's game, but Washington Center Ryan Tolar wears a really old school lineman's mask, especially considering that we are now in the 2009 season. Here's a pic from September 2007. I think his 2009 mask has just one bar where the bottom set of two bars is on this one, but I'm not totally sure. Just got a glimpse of it a few minutes ago.

Edited by: Colonel_Reb

 

[Colonel_Reb]

Thanks to my awesome snipping tool, I was just able to get a great side view of Tolar's mask in a screen capture, and I was right. Its an even smaller mask than he wore in 2007. Cool stuff!

 

[Colonel_Reb]

Once again, thanks to my snipping tool, I was able to get a screen shot from the 2008 New Orleans Bowl, Southern Miss vs. Troy State. The interesting thing about this picture is that both teams are wearing colored unis, yellow and red. I hope to see more games like this in the future, now that the rules have been modified a little bit.

 

[PhillyBirds]

Colonel, one mask I have long noticed as "old-school" is Colts center Jeff Saturday. Even fewer bars than Mr. Tolar:

 

[Colonel_Reb]

Nice find, Philly, I had forgotten about Jeff! Mr. Saturday wears the prototypical late 80s-early 90s lineman mask that you don't hardly see anymore. Technically, Schutt called it the NJOP for Nose, Jaw, and Oral Protection. Thanks for reminding me about him and his cage! This is a great example of another pro who found a setup he likes and has stuck with it for many years. One reason why you see more "old school" equipment in the pros than in college. For example, the last college kicker I remember wearing a single bar facemask was Brian Owen at Ole Miss in 1988. There were single bars in the NFL for almost another 20 years. Of course, it helped that college football outlawed the single bar before the NFL did, but you get my point.
Edited by: Colonel_Reb

 

[Electric Slide]

Col, those center vertical bars were horrible! I don't know why anyone in their right mind would CHOOSE to have that visual obstruction all game long!

 

[Colonel_Reb]

Electric, it definitely is an obstruction. When I was in school, we had no choice over which facemask we got. The coaches just slapped one on and that was that. If I were a lineman, I might want the extra protection the middle bar affords, but at any other position, I'd rather have an open, minimal facemask.

 

[Electric Slide]

Yeah I've had to play with that bar before. Just like you, I had no choice and the sporting goods stores didn't sell them like Dick's does now. Surprisingly, there some RBs used to wear the middle bar was well, like the legend John Riggins:

And here's Thurman Thomas even later:

I guess everyone has their reason for what facemask they like, but I have not met anyone who LIKED the middle bar!Edited by: Electric Slide

 

[Electric Slide]

BTW, look at Riggin's jersey, straight down the sleeve goes past his elbow! I'm sure a few times that extra fabric was used to bring him down. Also, look at the size of the knee pad compared to Thurmon Thomas'.

 

[Colonel_Reb]

I've posted about UCLA's kicker Kai Forbath before. Well, here's a pic from the Tennessee game this year with the "illegal" 2 point strap clearly visible.

Here's a pic of Forbath's holder and UCLA's punter, Aaron Perez, who also wears a 2 pointer. Here he is walking off the field after the 2007 Las Vegas Bowl. Pretty cool to see two rebels on the same team.

 

[Colonel_Reb]

Phillybirds, I know some time back you said you were wary of the Revolution helmet being safe. I know Tim Tebow wears one and he got a concussion. I also see these newer styled helmets flying off at a record pace these days. Seems like helmets coming off was a rare thing at one time. Now it seems to happen several times in every game. Kind of like the way affroletes self-tackle!

 

[PhillyBirds]

Well Colonel, if this thread pops up, you know I'll be here.

The first time I wore a Revolution helmet, it just didn't feel...right. Maybe it was because I spent my whole career up to that point wearing the traditional ones, maybe it really was all that different, I don't know. I didn't like the way it sat on my head or strapped in, which was too many uncomfortable details to compensate for how light it actually was.

Completely a matter of preference, I'm sure, but I kept my old one.

 

[celticdb15]

The new Revo's no matter how tightI tightened the straps, the helmetpopped off of my head. Everytime i would make contact my whole helmet would slide up. I like the style but i ended up wearing a new model Schutt and I love that thing!

 

[Colonel_Reb]

celtic, it looks like the same thing is going on with some older style helmets. Two in the same pic from yesterday!