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Army’s new Nike uniforms for 2010

Army enveiled these all-camo ACU combat uniforms on Oct. 20, 2010 against VMI. (Danny Wild/USMA)

 

*** UPDATE: See this post for the new 2010 camo uniforms. ***

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Army's new line of uniforms

West Point announced on Monday that the football team will be wearing new uniforms for 2010, replacing the “throwback” Bobby Ross-designed 1940s-style they wore from 2004-’09.

I’ve been trying to envision what these new ones would look like on a real player and not a shiny grey mannequin. Personal opinion? I don’t like them. The sleeves bother me; the three stripes were iconic for Army uniforms, and they’re gone, been replaced by a solid color that almost gives the jersey a vest-kinda feel.

Here’s the replica jersey for sale, I think the numbers/wording are size differently than the authentic versions, but it gives you a good look at it

I tried to take a crack at what these jerseys might look like on a real player — what do you think?

Home black uniform, before and after:

Junior LB Josh Jones shown in 2009 (left) and what he might look like in 2010.

Here’s the white road uniform:

Senior DE Marcus Hilton as seen in spring 2010 (left) and what he might look like this fall.

I think Ross had it right in 2004. “I was looking for something traditional to latch on,” he said. “[We] looked back through the archives and found almost an exact replica of what we wanted to do.”

That’s pretty much Army’s program in a nutshell: tradition. Those jerseys were modeled after the ones worn during the Earl “Red” Blaik national championship era.

Army also revealed a gray uniform, which I don’t think really looks like the dark gray cadet uniform, and an all-white uniform, which looks like something Navy might wear.

The other aspect is the 2008 camo uniforms worn in a forgettable loss to Navy were pretty much beloved by all college football fans that saw them… those tops, though, were just simply black with black sleeves — simple.

Maybe I’m nit-picking, maybe casual fans won’t even notice the difference. I doubt the designers at Nike are really into keeping with traditions. The classic uniform, though, was well liked (this site ranked it the No. 10 best uniform in college football).

Army’s own captain, senior LB Stephen Anderson, didn’t really sound thrilled.

“It’s a nice little change,” he said.

Senior center Zach Peterson’s reaction was even more telling.

“I like the white-on-white, that’s the best looking one.”

What do you think? Thumbs up/down? Should I stick to taking photos and forget fashion?

6 thoughts on “Army’s new Nike uniforms for 2010

  1. Thumb sideways.

    Really like the “old” unis, but don’t find these hideous.

    I do like the idea of a special uni for the AF game and I like the look of the “Dress Gray”. I don’t particularly like the look of the “India White”.

    1. I think dark gray pants with the white top (similar to the actual cadet uniform) would be nice. Army lacrosse also began wearing a gray uniform this spring. I think I need to see these for real in person though to decide how good/bad they are

      -Danny

  2. I see what you mean about the shoulder swatches. They make the Home and Away shirts look like a vest.

    With that said and considering Nike made the changes, I like the new uniforms. The changes aren’t too drastic – we’ll get used to the new home and away threads and the solid white and gray will likely each be used only once this year

    I like the all gray because it doesn’t have the shoulder swatch, but I expect it to look like Army is fielding 11 Buzz Lightyears when they play Air Force. I kind of wish they were darker gray, but maybe they will look darker when they are outside of the studio.

    1. Yeah I’d remove the shoulder coloring (or leave it as it was, ideally) and the gray one could be darker, something like this: http://i38.tinypic.com/2ni39qe.jpg

      Dark gray may not look all the great on the field though; I think the all-white version would look nice with gray pants, at least as a change.

      I think the current light gray will show up on TV and, definitely in still photographs, lighter and just look white.

      -Danny

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