I don’t understand this. The article says, very late in it, that according to NCAA rules, the road team can’t dictate to the home team what colors they can wear, yet the headline and leed indicate that we were supposedly the bad guy by denying Tulane’s request to wear white. Something isn’t right here.
Without knowing when the request was made, maybe Northwestern only brought the white road jerseys.
It looks like the rules are weird. It’s not quite as simple as “home team picks.” It’s that simple if the home team wants to wear anything other than white. To wear white, sources say they need written consent from the road team and such arrangements are typically made months in advance. According to NU, Tulane made the request two weeks ago. Could we have still accommodated with only two weeks? Probably. But did Tulane breach protocol (and possibly rules; it’s unclear) by asking so late? Yes, definitely.
Incidentally, I saw at least one response on Twitter who was miffed at a coach and players who weren’t in town 20 years ago trying to exploit New Orleans’ past pain, especially since they won the game anyway.
Braun’s response to the uniform issue.
Moving 100+ people and their gear halfway across the country is non-trivial.
With uniform contracts and special jerseys I bet each combo is pre-planned and on order long before the season starts. This is such a low priority and not timely so I’m sure coaches don’t want to have this stuff resolved long before game planning starts.
Can only imagine – in addition to the uniforms/pads, etc., there’s also all of the sideline equipment (communications gear, first aid/medical supplies). I remember what it was like for Band Staff for only 2 or 3 away games and the individual members were responsible for their uniforms and instruments.
Bob.W