Oregon's BCS Uniforms Leave Much to Be Desired

I do love my Ducks, but sometimes I can't help but wonder just what my alma mater is thinking.

The University of Oregon, ever Nike's vehicle for envelope-pushing athletic gear, pretty much has to accept all the thorns that come with that money-scented rose that is Phil Knight's fondness for his former school. So when Nike decides to unveil some new experiment of a clothing design, the Ducks become unwitting mannequins who are often mocked around the nation for their ridiculous attire.

Don't get me wrong, Nike isn't off-base all the time.

I've never been a fan of the jagged "wings" Nike printed on the shoulders of Oregon's most recent jerseys, but the uniforms themselves have actually looked fairly sharp these past couple of years. I'm a designer by trade, and I prefer a fairly simplistic approach to design, in general, and to clothing design, in particular. That's why I love Oregon's all-black jerseys, with the black helmets and the yellow "O" ... and the all-whites with green letters and numbers, outlined in yellow, and a green "O" on the white helmet. They're simple and they're sharp.

But Nike takes a swing-for-the-fences approach to Oregon's uniforms, and like any home-run hitter, the shoe giant up in Beaverton strikes out often and fails magnificently. Oregon fans have endured some hideous iterations of the football jersey in the 2000s, and the Ducks themselves have withstood relatively constant mocking from most of the rest of the nation thanks to Nike's experimenting. I lived in Hawaii during the 2004, 2005 and 2006 seasons, when Nike rolled out some of the worst-looking Oregon uniforms ever, including a version with a puke-yellow helmet and two-toned jerseys that featured diamond-plated shoulders. While on the islands, friends and coworkers who knew of my University of Oregon affiliations ribbed me constantly about the Ducks' uniforms. I didn't know what to say, because I hated them, too.

Fan bloggers and football writers have a field day whenever Nike does something like it did with Oregon's 2010-11 BCS National Championship uniforms. They refer to the new-look unis with phrases like "predictably silly" and "awful" and "laughable."

And in this case, they're right.

It's already been determined that Auburn will be the home team for the January 10, 2011 BCS National Championship game in Glendale, Arizona, meaning Oregon will be wearing white jerseys. On Tuesday, Nike rolled out specially made uniforms for the title game, with white jerseys and pants that look pretty good, save for the neon-green outline around the numbers. The helmets have a carbon-chrome look to them, with a neon-green "O" on the side. And then it gets REALLY bad. Nike gave the Ducks shoes that are silver at the toes and fade to neon-green by the time they get to the heels. Sticking up out of those freakish shoes are neon-green socks that appear to just be an extension of the rear part of the shoe.

Nike says the idea is that when Oregon players are running down the field, the neon-green wheels will give a "blur" effect, a nod to the Ducks' high-speed spread-option offense that many are calling the "blur offense."

Clever, right?

Wrong.

Blur or no blur, the Ducks look like they just got done stomping hi-lighters in some pre-game pen fight. And don't get me started on the fact that neon-green - or rather, hi-lighter yellow - is about as close to a school color as mauve and beige.

If we're being honest here, the whole point of these uniforms is to get people talking. Whether the conversation is positive or negative doesn't really matter to Nike brass; what's that saying, any attention is good attention in the advertising world?

Most Duck fans will like them, because most Duck fans like anything that comes out of a Nike factory and winds up on Oregon players, and that's the other point of these uniforms - to sell more product to Duck Nation.

Oregon fans will rock 'em. The rest of the nation will mock 'em. And somewhere amid the neon blur of attention, I'll be trying to ignore the fashion statement and just enjoy the national championship game.

And if the Ducks win, I just might write a story about it ... and hi-light the final score in neon green.