Friday, September 30, 2005
It's A Big Ten Throwback!
Every team in the Big Ten should do a throwback game...and these are the helmets that I think each of the teams should go to. Good God I'm so bored at work right now. I've finished all my work for today, and have even completed all my hours worth of work for Sunday...and I still have almost 3 hours to kill. Ahhhhhhh! Kill Me!! Enjoy the helmets :)
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9 comments:
Wow! I was just thinking about a similar thing this morning. I started by thinking about the best helmets in the Big Ten and quickly realized that I think that most BT helmets suck -- W, P, N, I, M -- can they be any more boring. Then I thought well maybe I'd look at the Helmet Project and list the best historical BT helmets. Then I looked at the historic helmets and wasn't thrilled with many of the options there either -- so I gave up on the whole idea.
These are some pretty good helmets. I particularly like the Gopher color and wish they would go back to it. And that Michigan helmet withe number is great.
I must say that I love the old Iowa helmet with the hawk. That's a great looking helmet. (Although I think the current Iowa helmet is pretty nice)
A also love the Goodgers...I mean old Wisconsin helmet. Even though it's not a very practical design and does look a little cartoonish...i love it!
I think the Michigan State helmet is ugly, but I just threw it up there because it looks so strange and different compared to the others.
I don't really like the Illinois, Ohio State, Northwestern, or Indiana helmets either...but you don't really have that many options with those teams.
I agree with you on the Iowa helmet, old and new. And the Badger helmet is cool -- I think it would be better if the helmet was white and the Badger red. Or set off somehow from a white background.
And that's how I feel about MSU as well. In fact, as I was thinking about a current ranking, I figured 1 Mighigan, 2 Iowa, 3 Michigan State, and that 3 by default really. The only other possibilities at three are Penn State or Ohio State. In both those cases there are things to like about the helmet but it is really not the helmet that one likes but the tradition and the simplicity of the design.
Ranking The Current Big Ten Helmets:
I don't think this has been done yet, so here's how I would rank the current Big Ten helmets.
1. Michigan (It's probably the best looking helmet in college football...hmmmm, that gives me an idea....)
2.Iowa (I hate to say it, but Iowa has a very sharp looking helmet. It doesn't get much better than that in the Big Ten, well, except for Michigan obviosly.)
3.Michigan State (Sweet Spartan head...it would be ahead of Iowa if they would put a stripe on it. The one they had with the stripes when Saban was there is the best!)
4.Wisconsin (Traditionalists hate the curves 'W', but I love that it's huge and covers the whole side of the helmet...unlike some other teams..ahem)
5.Minnesota (Perfect...except the 'M' is TOO SMALL!!! I would consider some striping too, but I'm not sold on it.)
6.Northwestern (It's a good looking 'N' logo, but again, it needs to be bigger and the facemask should be purple, not black)
7.Indiana (I love the IU logo on the helmet...it looks like a cactus)
8.Purdue (It's a fairly sharp looking helmet, but I HATE Gold based helmets!)
9.Ohio State (It's only ahead of Illinois because it looks cool with the 'buckeye' award stickers)
10.Illinois (it just says 'ILLINOIS'! Are you serious?! How lame and unimaginative can you be?!
11.Penn State (just so damn boring)
Damn you! You started to steal my rankings while I was typing it up.
BTW, the only thing I hate more than gold helmets is white helmets!
Well, I had the idea of the list this morning (actually yesterday)! We do disagree on what comes after the top three. I just don't find any of the letter helmets compelling at all. And would probably feel forced to go 4 OSU (buckeye stickers are pretty cool)5 Penn State (boring but at least it has the advantage of tradition) 6 Wisconsin (count me as a hater but I love the colors (color really, but I like a nice bold red) and the stripe. 7 No where to go now, Minnesota? 8 Illinois, don't like the name but do the color 9 Indiana 10 Northwestern 11 Purude
I'm supposed to be working - but what the hell - its only the census.
The Michigan state helmet is the best one in the BT (with the stripes as Andy mentioned). I love the green color and the Spartan head is perfect- they could not improve it.
Michigan's helmet is second. They use the entire helmet and the color combo is really nice. It is also a good example of why it is important to have a dark field and use a lighter script or highlight color. Can you imagine the helmet if the colors were reversed? I would hate it then. Plus all Michigan helmets are painted - they do not use decals and that small difference makes the helmet not only better to look at but higher quality as well.
As much as it burns me to admit it the iowa design is sharp. The hawkeye head is done well and it stands out nicely on the black helmet. I too like the hawk with wings a little better but the current style much better than the scrip iowa they had in the late 70s.
I know its a homer thing to do but I think the current Minnesota style is next. I actually like the simple school or state letter on the helmet. I admit it is not the most creative logo but remember the brick M is a tradtion with Minnesota and it is distinctive. I would hate it if they changed away from the brick M - it is our trademark and a yellow M on a dark maroon field is great. Yes the M should be larger but other than that I love the Minnesota helmet - they sure beat that crap they wore under Wacker. I don't like a gold field helmet either the decal doesn't stand out well on those.
I'm putting NW here. I like the purple color - not many teams are daring enough to use purple and I enjoy the purple as a departure from the red, blue and black colors everyone uses. I would like to see a widlcat head on the helmet (the one from the 70s) that would look sweet but I like the bold N.
Ohio State is next b/c I like the award stickers and the other teams helmets suck.
I'll go with Indiana here but I like the simple I better then the IU. I hate it when teams put a U on their helmet as if I didn't know it was a university- that really bugs me- any U on a helmet is an instant downgrade to crappy on my list.
OK purude is next although I don't like it at all. I have come to the conclusion that purdue will never have a nice helmet and can never have a nice helmet - maybe a train on the helmet would be interesting but who knows.
Finally Illinois and Penn State are the bottom. Illinois is just stupid and Penn State needs to get out of the 1950s and put the damn Nittany Lion on the helmet- then it would look great.
I forgot wisconsin.
thay are after OSU. I hate the stylized W. I like the block W of the 70s and early 80s much more- that helmet was cool. If they had the block w then it would be right behind Minnesota but this current style is weak- from a distance you cannot see that it is a W - it looks like a red blob.
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