New Duke football helmets - including black

[kingboozer]

Three new Duke football helmets spotted.If these are authentic, I'm thrilled to see us going back with a Duke blue helmet, the black, not so much.

2684


http://www.lostlettermen.com/6-28-2012-duke-fball-black-helmet/

[mkline09]

Three new Duke football helmets spotted.If these are authentic, I'm thrilled to see us going back with a Duke blue helmet, the black, not so much.

2684


http://www.lostlettermen.com/6-28-2012-duke-fball-black-helmet/

I saw these a few weeks back I like all but the black. I'm old fashioned that way. Duke's color's are Royal Blue and White not black. I know every program seems to have to have this alternative uni. The basketball team has the black ones and I'm not a fan because they seem to lose way more than they win and I'm superstious that way.

Just don't go back to the cursive "Duke" on the side of the helmet though and I'll take the black.

[lotusland]

Will Nike provide a laundry-accident-gray alternative?

[weezie]

Eh, the black is a tad yawn-making. Maybe it's better in person. I'd like to see some kind of super shiny/glittery D or pitchforks or something.

[Reilly]

...Duke's color's are Royal Blue and White ....

The university archivist's site notes that the school color is Prussian blue or Duke blue:

http://library.duke.edu/uarchives/faqs/duke_blue.html

[Devil in the Blue Dress]

I thought after the disasters on the field coincidental with wearing the black uniforms that Coach Cutcliffe said no more black.

The derogatory remarks made in the linked article were clearly made by someone who did not complete a college degree. (See the discussion in the thread about top tier athletes and college degrees.)

[kingboozer]

I thought after the disasters on the field coincidental with wearing the black uniforms that Coach Cutcliffe said no more black.

The derogatory remarks made in the linked article were clearly made by someone who did not complete a college degree. (See the discussion in the thread about top tier athletes and college degrees.)

The website isn't the greatest but had the best picture of the helmets I could find. Hopefully we get a few more wins under our belt and people will back off of our program for a while!

[Newton_14]

I like the blue and the black. I have never been a fan of the white helmets, and I like using black as a secondary/alternative/neutral color. I know I am in the minority there but black is here to stay in the current color schemes. I view it as an alternative/neutral color that enhances. It's not replacing blue as the school color.

Looking forward to seeing the team in action this fall in the new helmets!

[Devil in the Blue Dress]

The website isn't the greatest but had the best picture of the helmets I could find. Hopefully we get a few more wins under our belt and people will back off of our program for a while!
We all know that becoming a winning program won't cut off that sort of drivel. Those who dislike Duke will find ways to find fault. A winning program makes it easier to ignore such foolishness.;)

[mkline09]

The university archivist's site notes that the school color is Prussian blue or Duke blue:

http://library.duke.edu/uarchives/faqs/duke_blue.html

Isn't that the antidote for Thallium possioning?

[El_Diablo]

For people who don't like black, just remember that the kids love it. I am not sure how many people have seen this short video, but it is an AMAZING illustration of what I'm talking about (Miami of Ohio football team):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hAOfNEBZbE4

Seriously, if you haven't seen it, you definitely need to watch it all the way through.

[Scorp4me]

For people who don't like black, just remember that the kids love it. I am not sure how many people have seen this short video, but it is an AMAZING illustration of what I'm talking about (Miami of Ohio football team):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hAOfNEBZbE4

Seriously, if you haven't seen it, you definitely need to watch it all the way through.

I like the black. The black basketball jersey's look good. The black helmets look good. But thanks for the link El Diablo. I watched the video and have to say even I was surprised by the kids reaction. Obviously something they felt that had to earn, but something they really really liked too.

[johnb]

I also like the black helmets.

Not sure why we'd want to hold too tightly to the image of the past 20 years or discount the current trend towards newish color shades. I'm thinking we should also consider de-emphasizing the block D; it seems kinda old fashioned. And I do like other old helmets such as used at Michigan, Notre dame, Oklahoma, etc... I just thinks ours is ok, not great.

[Dev11]

Just don't go back to the cursive "Duke" on the side of the helmet though and I'll take the black.

Agreed! Clarkston Hines made it look good, but man is that logo tough to look at on the helmet. Similar to the old script "Terps" script logo that has since been replaced with Lord Baltimore's old drapes.

[Dukeface88]

I don't mind the black helmet, but I wish there was more contrast with the "D". It looks like the logo will be pretty hard to see.

[Devil in the Blue Dress]

I also like the black helmets.

Not sure why we'd want to hold too tightly to the image of the past 20 years or discount the current trend towards newish color shades. I'm thinking we should also consider de-emphasizing the block D; it seems kinda old fashioned. And I do like other old helmets such as used at Michigan, Notre dame, Oklahoma, etc... I just thinks ours is ok, not great.

Black as an alternate color in uniforms for various sports has been around at least 15 years. Its presence in color schemes for uniforms sort of homogenizes the general appearance of team uniforms and offers a ready canvas for corporations which make uniforms.

The block D as you call it is the emblem of the Iron Dukes. I appreciate having some sort of continuity, especially after more or less dropping the Gothic font used for so many years.

As we all know, the purpose of team or school colors is to identify the school. The historical origins go back to the colors in coats of arms, tartans and the like which later developed as colors associated with countries, a feature quite helpful on the battlefield and other places and situations where it was important to be able to spot one's allies. (Can you think of Greece without thinking of deep blue or Ireland without thinking of green and now purple?) The movement to select other colors such as black has little to do with identifying a particular school and more to do with fashion trends promoted for the purpose of making money. School colors are associated with loyalty to a school. The use of an ever present black seems to be associated with designs which make money.

[kingboozer]

After some thought, I decided I could live with the new black helmets if they had two minor adjustments. #1 would be a Duke blue stripe down the middle of the helmet and #2 a Duke blue outline of the Iron D. Also maybe some more splashes of Duke blue from someone who knows these things better than me.

Something like this, behold my MS Paint skills!

2690

[oldnavy]

I like mixing it up, but they could wear Iron Man suits out there but until the puts some wins on the borad, I'm all for trying to keep the buzz going about the team. GO Cut! Go Duke.

It's Saturday, so for a quick bit of levity.. I went to Southern Durham HS in Durham. We would have our games broadcast along with Northern Durham games (I believe it was Northern, may have been Jordan or someone else) live on alternating weeks and tape delay the following week. I remember have a decent game one a week when we were on tape delay. A bunch of the guys were listen to the game at a post game party, and the announcer MG Bobbitt, well he got very excited when I made a hit on a guy. He began rambling on about what a good player I was and how much potential I had, yada, yada, yada (little did he know that they timed my 40 with a sun dial), but you could quickly tell that the realized that he had vastly overstated my talents, and he when he got to the part about how I could end up at a college he hesitated and stamered a little, then said, this kid could play for...uhh, uhhhh, ummmm, Duke! one day (trust me at the time it was hardly a complement)..... oh boy, you should have heard my friends give me crapola about that. It was pretty funny stuff.

[blazindw]

I like the new helmets, especially the blue helmet. I do like the uniforms that we've worn the past few years under Cut (the Colts-like jerseys). I wonder if these helmets are coming with new jerseys. The blue helmet and the white helmet would look just fine with the current ones we have, but the black one must come with a different uniform than the black one we wore last season...doesn't seem like they would match.

[Jim3k]

I like the new helmets, especially the blue helmet. I do like the uniforms that we've worn the past few years under Cut (the Colts-like jerseys). I wonder if these helmets are coming with new jerseys. The blue helmet and the white helmet would look just fine with the current ones we have, but the black one must come with a different uniform than the black one we wore last season...doesn't seem like they would match.

Duke has worn the "colt-like" jerseys, on and off, for years. in the murray years it was pretty normal. maybe the colts copied us.

more likely the jersey makers provided limited options. nike didn't exist then (first shoe was 1971, aimed at Wilson, then the dominant cleat mfr.) Rawlings made most of the jerseys at that time.


2692


1961 cotton bowl team. See the shoulder stripes.

you may be sure that the jerseys were royal blue. that prussian shade was announced later.

[Jim3k]

Duke has worn the "colt-like" jerseys, on and off, for years. in the murray years it was pretty normal. maybe the colts copied us.

more likely the jersey makers provided limited options. nike didn't exist then (first shoe was 1971, aimed at Wilson, then the dominant cleat mfr.) Rawlings made most of the jerseys at that time.



[image deleted]



you may be sure that the jerseys were royal blue. that prussian shade was announced later.

As for 'copying," I still don't have an answer. But, the 1958 Colts had large shoulder stripes for the first time. That year the Devils had sleeve rings. In 1959, it appears that Duke had neither sleeve rings nor stripes. So maybe we did copy the Colts the following year.

Edit: Plus, it's possible that during any given year, in the late 50s, the jersies changed from game to game. Short sleeves for hot days; long sleeves for cooler.

[Jarhead]

Duke has worn the "colt-like" jerseys, on and off, for years. in the murray years it was pretty normal. maybe the colts copied us.

more likely the jersey makers provided limited options. nike didn't exist then (first shoe was 1971, aimed at Wilson, then the dominant cleat mfr.) Rawlings made most of the jerseys at that time.


2692


1961 cotton bowl team. See the shoulder stripes.

you may be sure that the jerseys were royal blue. that prussian shade was announced later.

Later than what? My first day on the campus in 1949, I wore my Freshman dink (hat) that was definitely of the dark blue hue, same as the football team, but not royal blue. Black is not one of Duke's official colors. I think of it as one of Nike's colors. What other colors is Nike going to change? The red, white and blue maybe? A switch to black is a slap at many alumni of the University.

[Jim3k]

Later than what? My first day on the campus in 1949, I wore my Freshman dink (hat) that was definitely of the dark blue hue, same as the football team, but not royal blue.

So what color were the women's bows? I'm pretty sure our women's bows (1960 frosh) were royal blue and white, the bright version, while the dinks were darker, probably the same as yours in 1949. Wiki points out that there are two versions of royal blue (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_blue). I'm told that the proper color (the lighter and brighter version) could not be made fast to most fabrics as the brightness washed out. The darker approached Navy or Yale blue. Even so, the school did not announce Prussian (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prussian_blue) (Pantone 287) as the official color until 1965; it was first used as the academic gown color in 1969. I'm not sure how well Prussian holds its color in different fabrics, either.

See this link to Duke Mag (http://www.dukemagazine.duke.edu/issues/030410/blue1.html) where Trask says at least eight colors have been used.

[OldPhiKap]

Ii'm not sure I care what color our helmets are, just so long as we're wearing them in a bowl this year.

[mkline09]

Ii'm not sure I care what color our helmets are, just so long as we're wearing them in a bowl this year.

I would settle for raising them over the Victory Bell after they win it back.

[oldnavy]

Duke has worn the "colt-like" jerseys, on and off, for years. in the murray years it was pretty normal. maybe the colts copied us.

more likely the jersey makers provided limited options. nike didn't exist then (first shoe was 1971, aimed at Wilson, then the dominant cleat mfr.) Rawlings made most of the jerseys at that time.


2692


1961 cotton bowl team. See the shoulder stripes.

you may be sure that the jerseys were royal blue. that prussian shade was announced later.

Was it Rawlings or Russell Old Timer? I seem to remember rawlings more into baseball and Russell into football, not that it makes a difference at all to your point.