Some people spend the first day of the year nursing hangovers. Others spend it eating collard greens and black-eyed peas. As for me and thousands of others, January 1st means one thing-the Sugar Bowl, AKA college football playoffs!
While the Sugar Bowl is a time-honored tradition and a national holiday (at least as far as football fans are concerned!) I noticed something a bit different during this year’s games. It appeared that the players – including my beloved Crimson Tide – had received a makeover.
In place of their usual uniforms, Nike seized the opportunity to unveil their official Nike Mach Speed uniforms. They sponsored all four teams, and decked them out in some seriously fancy outfits. The uniforms include unique design enhancements such as a fractal diamond-color Swoosh on the front of the uniform, brand new state-of-the-art cleats and a custom-designed hypercool base layer. Alabama’s base layer looked like elephant skin that was actually made of quotes and sayings such as “Tradition of Champions,” “Be a Champion,” and “Beat Everybody.” (If only the had…sniff..sniff….)
While I’ll never say no to diamonds, reading the different ways these uniforms were described was a little strange. Instead of picturing giant linebackers crushing one another, I was reminded instead of my wedding day. For example:
“The University of Alabama Crimson Tide will wear their traditional home and away Mach Speed uniforms, embellished with crimson accents and the addition of a fractal diamond-color Swoosh. The new Nike Pro Combat Hypercool base layer features a newly designed elephant skin pattern composed of Crimson Tide mantras, quotes and team inspirations….the teams’ new diamond-color Nike Vapor Untouchable cleats are also embellished with crimson accents.”
Crimson accents? Diamond colors? Untouchable cleats? Okay, maybe that last one isn’t exactly wedding appropriate attire, but the rest of it hits pretty close to home.
As it turns out, it takes more than diamonds to win the Sugar Bowl, as the Crimson Tide proved on New Year’s Day. While their heartbreaking loss was a painful way to ring in 2015, I’m confident that they’ll get back on their feet and make me proud next season. In the meantime, how about I keep those diamonds safe until they’ve earned them back?
Happy Monday,
Mary
