So this is the font the lettering and numbering on all the new jerseys will be based on:
Two things:
1. Does anyone really see this text style being something that will be a "timeless" part of MSU's brand and identity? What are the odds the university is using this font in, say, 2020? Why not just expand the use of the existing basketball "State" script that's made it 10 years now--gracing the chests of four Spartan Final Four teams along the way--without yet looking dated?
2. Why, oh why, couldn't they leave the Block S at the front of "State" alone? I'm sure it wasn't intended this way, but after the Spartan logo backlash, that sliver they've sliced out of the S feels like a poke in the fanbase's eye.
I realize we all sound like reactionary, change-hating sticks in the mud, but I truly believe there was a way for the athletic department to build a consistent look across Michigan State athletic teams using the darker green (which has a history at the school) while building on established fonts and logos.
Instead, we get something based on "inspiration from Greek architecture and the Spartan ethos of simplicity and strength." In the words of LVS:
I swear, 300 was the worst thing ever to happen to us.
We all agree, of course, that winning and losing games matters a whole lot more than what you're wearing while you win or lose those games. But these statements from Mark Hollis are over the top:
"But (the MSU community) better be receptive to change because I want to win and I want to win on levels that we haven’t before. Sometimes you have to shake the trees to have something like that fall out.". . .
"I believe in championships and I believe in Rose Bowls," Hollis said. "We do things right at Michigan State and this project is very right. It’s right for our alumni and, most importantly, it’s right for our student-athletes. We’re a sleeping giant. We’re waking a sleeping giant."
Our men's basketball team certainly isn't a sleeping giant. It's simply a giant. We're all hopeful that our football team is a sleeping giant about to rise from its slumber--but Oregonesque jerseys with quasi-ancient-Greek lettering aren't going to do the rousing. I love the aggressive and creative style Mark Hollis has brought to the MSU Athletic Department, but this particular endeavor has been poorly executed and is now being oversold.
If the MSU athletes truly like the new look, that eases my angst somewhat. But this particular alumnus would prefer not to be told that expressing discontent with what looks a lot more like the brainchild of someone in the Nike marketing department than an effort to honor the traditions of a great university is somehow an impediment to on-field success.