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No names on the back of jerseys

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Tidbits from BG Brooks

[FONT=Cambria, serif]NEWS OF THE DAY - Don't be caught without a roster at this season's football games. Coach Dan Hawkins says his team recently voted on having one identity this fall - that of the CU Buffs.[/FONT]
[FONT=Cambria, serif]They've elected to have the names removed from the backs of their jerseys, opting to go with numbers only and Colorado on the front.[/FONT]
[FONT=Cambria, serif]It's a team thing.[/FONT]
[FONT=Cambria, serif]During spring drills, several veteran players told me they believed the 2010 team was more unified than any Buffs squad during their tenures.[/FONT]
[FONT=Cambria, serif]"It came from them . . . and it tells me a lot (about their unity)," Hawkins said, noting it's the first time in his coaching career that his players have elected to go "nameless" on their jerseys.[/FONT]

We'll see
 
I like having names on the jerseys. Usually I think it's a coach's ploy that does nothing when they remove them. But since this came from the players, I'll live with it without complaint and hope it means something positive about our 2010 Buffs.
 
As a fan, I hate it when teams do that. But if it's what the players want, I'm behind it. Hope it works... :gobuffs:
 
I understand the whole act as a team thing, but normally this is a sign of a program that has bigger problems, and its their way of putting a band-aid on it rather than fixing the problem
 
not the most original gesture, is it?

each successive "rally move" Hawk and Co. make seems more to read like an implicit indictment of things we were told were already awesome....than inspirational.

There is something disturbing about seeing so many "new" things being tried 4 years into the administration of a coaching staff that keeps telling us they "know how to do this thing". It seems to me if you know how to do this thing, you do this thing the way you know it should be done and trust that it will work. Instead, the offense changes annually and there seems to be constant experimentation on other things... :huh:
 
There is something disturbing about seeing so many "new" things being tried 4 years into the administration of a coaching staff that keeps telling us they "know how to do this thing". It seems to me if you know how to do this thing, you do this thing the way you know it should be done and trust that it will work. Instead, the offense changes annually and there seems to be constant experimentation on other things... :huh:

agree. there's the "making it up as we go along" angle; but also, I go back to Year 1 and watching the Hawkins All-Access show that featured over-long post-game speech segments which I guess were supposed to be really nifty. Most of the time, about half the players were totally disengaged from the rousing oratory about crucibles and slaying dragons, staring at the ceiling or their shoes. I've thought about that a lot over the seasons.
 
The basketball team did this under Bz. The back of the jersey had a ralphie logo above the number - nothing else. I agree that this is a cliche, but if it helps them mentally and translates to performance on the field - great move. otherwise...
 
There is something disturbing about seeing so many "new" things being tried 4 years into the administration of a coaching staff that keeps telling us they "know how to do this thing". It seems to me if you know how to do this thing, you do this thing the way you know it should be done and trust that it will work. Instead, the offense changes annually and there seems to be constant experimentation on other things... :huh:

agree. there's the "making it up as we go along" angle; but also, I go back to Year 1 and watching the Hawkins All-Access show that featured over-long post-game speech segments which I guess were supposed to be really nifty. Most of the time, about half the players were totally disengaged from the rousing oratory about crucibles and slaying dragons, staring at the ceiling or their shoes. I've thought about that a lot over the seasons.

I thought this wasn't Hawk's first rodeo? I will give them credit, poo will be flung at the wall until something sticks....or stinks.

I finally erased those silly speeches Hawk gave after the seemingly endless string of losses leading up to TT in '06. I often thought either Hawk is brilliant, or some new age weirdo. I now think it's the latter....
 
Interesting how Hawk is failing both because he changes things too much and also because he's too hardheaded and egotistical to make changes. Which of these it is seems to be thread dependent.

Anyway, I take this for what it is: a symbolic gesture by the players that may or may not be meaningful, but certainly doesn't say anything negative about the guys.
 
Interesting how Hawk is failing both because he changes things too much and also because he's too hardheaded and egotistical to make changes. Which of these it is seems to be thread dependent.

Anyway, I take this for what it is: a symbolic gesture by the players that may or may not be meaningful, but certainly doesn't say anything negative about the guys.
I see your point, but I think you might be over generalizing. Hawk is hardheaded when it comes to things like changing assts., but changes offenses in an apparently willy-nilly manner. He's hard headed about changing some players out, but will bench others at the drop of a hat. The criticism is contradictory because Hawk is contradictory (i.e. we have a formula vs. yearly offensive scheme changes).
 
Interesting how Hawk is failing both because he changes things too much and also because he's too hardheaded and egotistical to make changes. Which of these it is seems to be thread dependent.

Anyway, I take this for what it is: a symbolic gesture by the players that may or may not be meaningful, but certainly doesn't say anything negative about the guys.

Nik, you may want to read the thread again. Nobody has said that Hawk is losing because he changes things too much. Or because he won't make changes, whichever you think was said in this thread. It was just pointed out that, for somebody whose stock answer is "we know how to do this thing", he certainly seems to be trying a lot of different approaches...
 
I have no problem with players asking to take names off the jersey's, regardless of the motive. It would be nice if there were a player acting as a spokesperson for the team that had communication skills on par with George "Rabid Goldfish" Hypolite. It would be good to hear Scotty or Beatty explain the decission.

Absent a player presser, it seems possible that this is motivated by an "us-versus-them" mentality. After all the vitriol the fans have spouted towards the coaching staff and AD, what motivation do the players have to make things easier for a bunch of bitching fans?

This would get tricky if Cody Hawkins and Tyler Hansen switch 7's and 9's. I still think of Speedy as #43 instead of #5.
 
good news I found out we are going to have some new traditions:

the cheerleaders are going to wear sweaters
the band is going to spell ohio at halftime
the team will have a tunnel walk at the start of the game and at halftime (it is undecided if there will be smoke yet)
cody will ride chip and plant a spear at midfield
Chinese privet hedge will be planted around the playing field
yell practice will be held on pearl street at 4:00 pm sharp the day before the game

in a related note, ralphie will no longer be run around the stadium.
 
I believe Hawk has firm beliefs on the types of people he wants in his organization and what type of culture he wants to build. I also believe he has firm beliefs in his team being able to run multiple sets on both O and D in order to have the ability to exploit matchups.

After that, I believe he's extremely flexible. He may decide to emphasize some things in a particular year (i.e., penalties or takeaways or completion % or whatever), but he's not a system guy. When he makes comments about knowing how to do this thing, I believe he's talking about building a winning culture and a program that creates matchup nightmares for opponents. Things like names on jerseys, I don't think they matter much to Hawk except in the sense that if the players want to do it, then that's "awesome" because it's a good signal on the cultural thing he cares about.

And bottom line is that every discussion we have is really about whether something helps or hurts our chances of winning. It either helps, hurts or doesn't matter. I see this jersey move as either helping or not mattering, but I can't see it hurting. Therefore, I see no reason to critique it.
 
I always associate taking the names off of jerseys with disguising players or player groupings. Like when our punter and back up QB (I think it was Taylor Barton) both had the same # and GB had their names taken off their uniforms. When the opposing team saw a #9 line up as the punter on 4th down they had no idea it was not the punter but a QB on the field to execute a fake punt (which worked btw).

I bet Hawk and Kia are already planning on trying some trickery stuff like that since our conventional offense can't move the ball worth a damn. The problem is our coaching is so bad that the players will most likely screw up those plays too.

I hate being a cynic about our buffs. Hawk has got to go!
 
Maybe their parents got together and decided they didn't want their good names stiched to the uniforms anymore.

Sorry, I couldn't resist.

Think of how much lower their speed numbers will get with each player being 0.5 ounce lighter.

Ok, I'm done...those were too easy.
 
Once again this off-season I will say I don't ****ing care, just win.
 
The basketball team did this under Bz. The back of the jersey had a ralphie logo above the number - nothing else. I agree that this is a cliche, but if it helps them mentally and translates to performance on the field - great move. otherwise...

I love that idea...will give you a rep.
 
Well heck, just take Ralphie off the helmets and lose the numbers as well.

I've had a bad day so I'm probably over-reacting, but I HATE the "no name" thing. The names and numbers are there for the fans and media. It's damn hard to keep up with teams that do this. Are they trying to make 2010 totally unwatchable? Geez.
 
Well heck, just take Ralphie off the helmets and lose the numbers as well.

I've had a bad day so I'm probably over-reacting, but I HATE the "no name" thing. The names and numbers are there for the fans and media. It's damn hard to keep up with teams that do this. Are they trying to make 2010 totally unwatchable? Geez.

it's not like they'll be on television that much. This just puts pressure on the folks in the KOA radio booth.
 
Well heck, just take Ralphie off the helmets and lose the numbers as well.

I've had a bad day so I'm probably over-reacting, but I HATE the "no name" thing. The names and numbers are there for the fans and media. It's damn hard to keep up with teams that do this. Are they trying to make 2010 totally unwatchable? Geez.

:yeahthat: And this really isn't directed at this team or this decision, but in general... how in the hell did having the names of the players on the back of the jersey become some terrible self-aggrandizing thing like a Chad Johnson dance in the end zone, Jeffrey Leonard pimping a home run or LaDainian Tomlinson making a ****ty music video?? It's a way of identifying the players, just as the numbers are. It is a way for fans to look at the players and know who is who without needing a scorecard. We aren't talking about people putting "He Hate Me" or some such bull**** on their jerseys. It's their name, and I really don't see how taking it off the jersey somehow signifies throwing aside individuality and becoming all about "the team". It's roughly the equivalent of an actor not having his name listed in the credits of a movie because he wants to preserve the artistic integrity of his performance. One thing really has nothing to do with the other...
 
meh, this is the least of things to worry about with this program. who didnt know it was RS in 1994 when they saw 19. or DH in '89 when they saw 3. or JD with 44? some new kid comes in and makes a play, take two seconds and look at the roster to see who it is. not all that hard.
 
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