What Would Mr. Blackwell Think? New Adidas Jerseys Draw Jeers At Big East Tourney

The Univ. of Cincinnati debuted adidas’ new AdiZero jerseys during the second round of the men's Big East Tournament yesterday, and the response on Twitter toward the fashion choice was less than complimentary. Former Atlanta Journal-Constitution columnist Terence Moore wrote, “Haven't a clue what Cincinnati was thinking by switching to its ‘new’ uniforms in the Big East basketball tournament.” ESPN.com’s Dan Graziano wrote, “I thought conference realignment was the worst thing to happen to college basketball... until I saw these Cincinnati uniforms. Dear god.” The Hartford Courant’s Jeff Jacobs: “Just turned on BE tournament. Don't know what new league will be called, but those Cincy uniforms must be banned before first game.” The N.Y. Daily News’ Ralph Vacchiano: “What the hell are the Cincinnati Bearcats wearing? Did someone spill something on their pants?” The Bakersfield Californian’s Zach Ewing: “I love Championship Week, but those Cincinnati uniforms might be enough to get me to turn off the TV. Those things are HIDEOUS.” NFL Network’s Andrew Siciliano: “Cincinnati's uniforms for the Big East tourney are heinous. Even Maryland thinks they're ugly.” The N.Y. Daily News’ Kevin Armstrong: “Fashion week continues on Seventh Avenue. Cincinnati guard Cashmere Wright donning the Zubaz.” ESPN’s Robert Flores: “If Zubaz pants had a baby with a traffic cone, it would look like these #Cincinnati uniforms.” KSTU-Fox’ Rick Aaron: “Good lord. I just turned on the Cincinnati-Providence game and ESPN is airing a Living Colour concert instead.” The Washington Examiner’s Craig Stouffer: “Goodness, those Cincinnati uniforms. Feel like they're designed by Stefon from Weekend Update.” One lone voice supporting the new apparel was CBS’ Doug Gottlieb, who wrote, “Lotta criticism of Adidas Unis upon release...on TV? Cincinnati's are HOT #Bearcats love them” (TWITTER.com, 3/13). ESPN’s Mike Patrick called Cincinnati’s game against Providence yesterday and said in the opening moments of the broadcast, “If you are wondering, these are the Cincinnati Bearcats wearing their camouflage” (ESPN, 3/13). SI.com's Extra Mustard conducted a poll asking people their thoughts on the jerseys. As of press time, more than 75%, or 10,584 respondents, claimed to hate them, while 12.19% (1,702 people) loved them and 12% (1,681 people) did not care either way about them (SI.com, 3/13).

IT'S NOT EASY BEING GREEN: Notre Dame also wore the adiZero jerseys last night for their second-round game against Rutgers in Big East Tournament, and ESPN's Sean McDonough said, “The problem is not in your set. That is their warm-up jersey and those are their shorts.” ESPN’s Jay Bilas said, “It looks like somebody had a Shamrock Shake and threw up on them.” McDonough, while laughing, said, “I wish you hadn’t gone there, but you have. So we’re stuck with it.” Later in the first half, McDonough said he was unsure whether adidas “cares that people think they look good." McDonough: "But they are definitely attention-getters. You just wonder what the traditional Notre Dame fan is thinking as he looks at this tonight.” McDonough noted Notre Dame coach Mike Brey said that he is "going to wear these shorts down to his beach house.” ESPN's Bill Raftery: “I hope he can fight” (ESPN2, 3/13). Univ. of Arkansas AD Jeff Long on his Twitter account wrote, "Wow, did anybody see Notre Dame's uniforms last night, talk about breaking from tradition." Bleacher Report's Adam Kramer wrote on his Twitter account, "Notre Dame's uniforms look like a rough draft for an Oregon uniform from someone who sniffed too much glue."

ONE AND DONE: The AP's Mike Fitzpatrick reported the Notre Dame women's basketball team was tapped to wear special adidas jerseys during the postseason, but it "wasn't thrilled with the new uniforms it debuted at the Big East tournament” on Sunday. The uniforms “featured a camouflage print on the shorts and bright lime green lettering on the top.” Notre Dame wore the new jerseys Sunday but “went back to their regular uniforms for the semifinals and championship game.” Coach Muffet McGraw, who “acknowledged she liked the lime green color, said after the victory that the team would vote on whether it would wear the special uniforms again.” Notre Dame Associate Media Relations Dir Chris Masters said that the team was “contractually obligated to wear the uniforms for one game and then could decide on a game-by-game basis whether to go with them again” (AP, 3/13).

TIME TO HANG TEN: The South Florida men's basketball team was eliminated from the Big East Tournament after losing to Seton Hall in the first round Tuesday, but the Under Armour jerseys it wore drew some attention from observers. CBSSports.com's Jeff Borzello wrote, "Why is South Florida wearing board shorts tonight?" The Newark Star-Ledger's Brendan Prunty wrote, "Oh cool, South Florida is wearing bathing suits designed by Abercrombie & Fitch." But ESPN.com's Eamonn Brennan wrote, "Maybe I’m just too inured to Adidas, Under Armour and Nike committing atrocities in the name of buzz, but USF’s shorts aren’t that bad" (TWITTER.com, 3/12).