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Well, I've taken plenty of shots at teams wearing "cutting-edge" uniforms, so I guess I need to mention that the Spartans are wearing special Nike Pro Combat uniforms in the game against Michigan. Here's a video that was released today:



Yes, Nike Pro Combat uniforms are so powerful they can turn Kirk Cousins into a black runningback. Here are some photos for those of you who dislike video:




A few thoughts:

-I do like that my school is getting the most advanced uniforms available, but I don't suspect it actually makes much, if any, difference.

-Only 8 other teams are wearing Pro Combat uniforms this year (Army, Boise State, Georgia, LSU, Navy, Ohio State, Oregon and Stanford). So I guess it's nice that Nike chose MSU to wear them.

-If this was a jersey for anyone else I'd like it quite a bit. It's definitely the best Pro Combat uniform I've seen, though Army, Navy, and LSU's uniforms are pretty decent. The colors work well together even if they do come off too Oregon-ish. You can see all the uniforms on Facebook.

-I've wrote before that I don't like the Spartans using bronze. I get that Nike is trying to provide a visual tie-in to the ancient Spartans, and while I support the idea in theory I hate the execution. MSU should be green and white with silver as an accent color. A little black for depth is okay too. But if you're using bronze you need to go all the way and replace the green with scarlet, and I definitely can't support that.

-The bronze writing on the green stripe is the Greek phrase "Molōn labe" which means "Come and take them!" in English. Or, as Nike rendered it in the press release, "Come and get them!" As Wikipedia puts it: "The phrase was reportedly the defiant response of King Leonidas I of Sparta to Xerxes I of Persia when asked to lay down their arms and surrender, at the onset of the Battle of Thermopylae." That's an excellent way to reference the ancient Spartans, I'd even support adding it to the regular uniforms.

-While they're kind of silly, I really do like the gloves. Notice the Greek pattern behind the helmet logo.

-I should note that the Spartans wore black and gold back in the '30s, so I suppose an argument could be made for using black and bronze. Not a good argument, but you could try.

-According to this article on the Spartan Athletic site, the uniforms came about because William Gholston asked Mark Dantonio if MSU would be able to get Pro Combat uniforms. Dantonio asked Phil Knight and these are the result. The players are apparently very excited about them and, at last check, 56% of the respondents to a State News poll like them. Presumably that poll is largely made up of students. I'm still skeptical about this kind of thing helping recruiting, but I guess I can see why the athletic department would think it worth a shot.

-I expect there's going to be a ton of related merchandise available for sale before the game, though there's none available yet.

-Overall: I don't really like them, but I don't hate them either, so given some of the awful uniforms Nike has put out I guess that's a win.