Pink?
I like the absurd.
Especially when it comes to uniforms, jerseys, sports apparel. I like it when, for no real reason, teams switch complete color schemes, like the Padres going from brown and yellow to shades of blue or the Astros moving from the multi-striped Jose Cruz Orange and yellow to the retro-futuristic blue and gold star to the hideous red softball tops. I like the Hamilton Tiger-Cats’ logo, sitting so low on the helmet that you can’t even see what it is. I like the USFL’s Boston Breakers designing a logo without taking into account that the helmet has ear holes on the side. I like it when the Falcons feel the need to add sleeves from an old Bartkowski jersey onto the modern tops, mixing as many styles and colors as possible.
What would I like most? A pink jersey.
You heard me. Pink. Think Tuscadero, Floyd, Lemonade, Pretty In… whatever.
A pink jersey.
Would it change our appreciation of an 8-yard out pattern from Manning to Harrison on third and 5 if they wore pink unis with a pink horseshoe on the helmet? Would we think any less of a blind-side blitz that crushes the quarterback if it was a pink streak of cornerback rather than a black and purple one? Would your school’s fight song suddenly sound worse than most fight songs already do if the redshirt freshmen running in through the stadium tunnel were pinkshirt freshman instead? No, I don’t think it would really make any difference.
A pink jersey. Not just because it might look good, but also for the marketing. Imagine being the only university or franchise with pink as the primary color. Imagine the legions of men who know nothing of birthday and holiday shopping. What’s the perfect gift from a man to the woman he loves other than her favorite jersey? And a pink one at that.
Just think how many people who aren’t familiar with sports suddenly become familiar because they like the jersey. They see it in the store, are attracted to the patterns or the periwinkle and suddenly, voila, you’ve got yourself a favorite team. Don’t underestimate the number of fans allied with a beloved franchise or school simply because the colors are easier to accessorize.
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How many women would buy themselves a pink jersey? I’m guessing quite a few. How many men would buy one for the woman in their life? I’m guessing quite a few more, simply because they aren’t caring or attentive enough to remember her favorite perfume or which shade of lipstick she likes best. But there’s a good chance that’s pink as well.
Imagine the camera as it slowly pans the stadium, section after section with a smattering of pink jerseys. The color would become synonymous with that team, like Yankee pinstripes, remembered and recognized from sea to shining pink sea.
Imagine you’re the chancellor of a smaller college, not insignificant, but not on the cusp of the American awareness, a school like Louisiana-Monroe or Nebraska-Omaha or any hyphenated university. You don’t exactly reap and sow millions in marketing jerseys, caps and letter jackets when you work for Cal Poly – San Luis Obispo. What you need is a gimmick. What you need is something to catch the eye and wallet of every media outlet and sports nut in the country.
What you need is the color pink.
I’m telling you. The first team to take advantage of this is going to make a killing. As for me, I guess it wouldn’t kill me to wear pink to a football game, would it?
