Rollerball on Steriods: MSU to Pound scUM with Nike Pro Combat System Uniform on October 15

The ES met with an old colleague from his days working in the Michigan State Senate... he used to play cornerback for Bo Schemechler at scUM.  He said, "I haven't seen you in a while, what have you been up to?" ES response:, "since we been kicking your arse, I haven't needed to get in your face."  He laughed, and said: "well, that's about to change."  The ES said "show me."  Fantastic engagement.  Loved it.

As for any football updates, the one interesting tidbit is Rollerball #2 is about to hit Spartanland this fall.  We saw our first Rollerball playout last year with the debut of the new OregonNikeIsh Spartan football jerseys last year.  Now, MSU will display some freakish highly advanced "fully integrated uniform system" for the MSU vs scUM matchup this fall, October 15, at Spartan Stadium.  Nike officially calls this a "2011 Nike Pro Combat system" -- those who will sport it will include Army, Boise State, Georgia, LSU, Michigan State, Navy, Ohio State, Oregon and Stanford.

What is interesting is we got a taste of it already (at right), at least those of you who watched the professional debut of Cam Newton in the 2011 BCS Championship Game, as Oregon with its Combat Uniforms did its best to leapfrog the Auburn Tigers, to no avail.

What to expect?  ES guess is some freakish helmet whose colors shimmy from green to white to gray, a green uniform with tiny whitish spots and some ugly gruff "pretend" shield painted on the shoulder pads like the stupid feathers painted on the Ducks' pads, and some whitish/graying pants.  You will see them keep the Rollerball-ish numbers and Michigan State typeface on the front, a la Oregon. Any stripes?  Nope, not anywhere -- they ain't on the Oregon combat unis, and don't expect them on the Spartan combat unis.

Will we see Neon Spartan Green?  It remains to be... well, seen....  Who cares, so long as we kick Brady Hoke and his scUM arse, we can wear pantyhose and pink jerseys for all the ES cares.

New MSU Greek/Nike image: Goodbye "S"

So, what do you think of the new Spartan image? Vote at the poll on the right. If you are asking the ES... it's pretty good - again, this is a Nike "Rollerball" look, but not as strong as they've done at other institutions. This looks sharp, love the colors, the consistency; the type face is interesting. They developed a new "Spartan Font" which looks sharp, but a bit futuristic instead of Greek as they describe. As for the football uniform, my favorite is the one Eric Gordon (#43) is wearing, which says "Michigan State" in front and is solid green. There is your typical Nike flair to the FB uniforms, but it isn't too overdone. For all the other sports, it looks sharp. There are some photos below.

Still no word on the potential impact of the logo design on the playing surfaces. Expect it to be consistent with the "primary identity" however. Goodbye Block S on the football and basketball courts. Matter of fact, you don't see the Block S anywhere, kind of as expected.

Color
A refined color palette allows for instant team identification and heightens emotional ties to the Spartan nickname and Greek history.
Primary Colors
SPARTAN GREEN: Evokes hope and growth. Symbolizes land and farming roots. WHITE: Represents integrity, hope, confidence and faith.
Secondary Accent Colors
SPARTAN SILVER: Symbolically represents intelligence, dignity, quality, industrial sleekness and modernity.
SPARTAN BRONZE: Symbolically represents strength and integrity, and was used as a material in Spartan armor.

Primary Identity
A consistent primary mark - the Spartan helmet logo - to represent the school clarifies the university's identity. The Spartan helmet logo is timeless, unique, and strong. Reinforcement of the primary identity will build worldwide brand equity.

Typography/Wordmarks
A custom display face (Spartan Bold), which is used in the MICHIGAN STATE and SPARTANS logos, has been designed to enhance the overall identity system by using inspiration from Greek architecture and the Spartan ethos of simplicity and strength.

Tertiary Mark
The MSU Shield logo is inspired by Spartan battle weapons, and uses the university acronym as the base identifier. The mark's shape and color reflects Spartan shields, which were typically made of a wood core and then faced with bronze for strength.