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AG's Wildcat Report - Dispatches on the Wildcats, from Anthony Gimino

Would all-white be all right for the Wildcats?

by on Sep. 02, 2010, under Sports

Nick Foles has completed 9 of 30 passes in UA's white helmet/Photo by US Presswire

The last time we saw the Arizona Wildcats in a real game, it was ugly, and we don’t just mean the 33-0 loss to Nebraska.

In the Holiday Bowl, Arizona, for the first time under coach Mike Stoops, used an all-white uniform combination that TucsonCitizen.com’s Scott Terrell called “The worst idea in the history of college athletics.”

Perhaps the Wildcats would like a second chance.

Arizona has tweaked its uniform design, and the players have been wearing a new white helmet throughout fall camp. These versions notably have a white and blue stripe down the middle, as opposed to the more solid white helmets the Cats wore for the first time under Stoops in the Holiday Bowl.

Stoops never professes much concern over the team’s sartorial splendor, so it’s up to some of the players to decide what to wear. Will it be red pants, blue pants or white pants at Toledo on Friday night? White helmets, blue helmets?

“It’s up to the captains to pick that,” senior running back Nic Grigsby said after Tuesday’s practice in an interview you can see at FoxSportsArizona.com.

“But, I mean, we want to come out and wear our white. Make up for last year. Do it right this time, wear all-white.”

Of course, it’s better to play good than look good, but it can’t hurt to do both against the Rockets on ESPN. Ah, yes, ESPN. That’s another point of redemption after the Holiday Bowl embarrassment on the four-letter network.

“A lot of time has passed since then,” said quarterback Nick Foles.

“Our team has grown together. It will be nice to go out there again on ESPN, on the nation-wide scene, and just go out there and play football. That’s all we have to do. Go out there and have fun and play football and see what happens.”

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 2nd, 2010 at 6:30 am and is filed under Sports. Tags for this post: . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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  • fraser007

    I remember Tunnicliffe and the gang some years back dressed all in white? Am I wrong. If they win who cares.

  • Mark Johnson

    Color matters in sports. White is a non threatening color; shows blood and does not inspire a sense of meanness. Case in point, NOBODY liked playing the Pittsburg Steelers when wearing all black or a Raiders. There is something about that truly does pump up players. I am a very big fan of AZ Navy Blue, like it when the Basketball team wears it, etc. Think all white is bad, a bad idea and the helmets need to go. It sends a message of passivity to the other team not a message of aggression. There I said it.

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  • Bob Bunting

    All-white is our traditional road uniform, going back to the 50s and before. We had all the successes under LaRue, Smith, and Tomey in all-white.

    Honor tradition. 

    I have heard a lot of crap about white being “neutral” and “non-threatening”  but the Miami Dolphins went 13-0 in white helmets, the “Canes won national championships in white helmets, and so have many others. Bottom line, color does not matter. What matters is the football we play– good, or bad.

    • fraser007

      Hey Bob! 5th Lives!! RPB

  • justafan

    Yes, Tunnicliffe and gang loved the all-white look following some great on-the -road victories in 1982. They even chose to wear all-white at home that season. There was a big controversy in the season finale when Coach Smith had the team come out in Navy. ASU had only brought their maroon jerseys and there was a big delay in the start of the game. The Seniors convinced Coach Smith to just change to white since they loved the white jerseys anyway and the Cats proceeded to put together one of the biggest upsets in history. They stunned the heavily favored Sun Devils 28-18 (they led at one point 28-0) and knocked ASU out of the Rose Bowl. That started the famous “streak” of wins against ASU.
    Of course those helmets were the traditional white with the Red and Blue stripe, that Coach Smith developed and Coach Tomey maintained, not those pathetic looking all-white helmets they wore in last year’s Holiday Bowl. Someday perhaps UA will develop a tradition of some sort and keep the uniforms a little more consistent. The truly great long standing programs have never needed gimmick type uniforms to attract interest. The Cats aren’t there yet. Hopefully someday soon.

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