Plenty of teams go through uniform changes. For some, like the Saint Louis Rams, a championship season initiates a shift from what has become "unsightly" to more of a "wave of the future" feel. For others, uniform changes are about attempting to shake out of a funk, but (at least in this case) Lordy, let's hope not.
Within the Mid-American Conference, especially when it comes to the first thing some fans see (the helmet), some teams stick with tradition. Central Michigan and Ball State have each only changed their helmet design six times in the last 40 years, and the Cardinals have been rockin' the same brain bucket since 1990. Miami has changed their helmet design 18 times, but 15 of those 18 changes were either changing the font and size of the letter or the presence of the stripe - they've stuck with the simple block letter red-on-white nearly throughout.
Temple is a whole other story, so come after the jump to hear about the latest twist in an awkwardly winding story of the Owls' headgear preferences.
The Owls started into the 70's (1972 to be exact) by switching from a rather putrid and Rutgers-ish fire engine red to the more commonly known maroon that is still around today. Not too bad. You see the helmet, and if you're unsure who you are watching by color alone, the team name is conveniently provided. This design lasted until 1980, when the team made the simple tweak of changing the facemask from grey to white. No problems there, and matching lettering and attachments make sense (whereas changing the lettering to grey would not). That design held up until 1988.
In 1989, the Owls switched to the block "T" logo with a double white stripe down the center of the helmet. Again, I see nothing wrong with this - it's a more modern design while still staying classy and clean, and it lasted all of a whopping five years before messiness ensued. In 1994, the double stripe was dropped but the block "T" maintained, at which point clearly Stevie Wonder was put in charge of the team's uniforms.
The late '90's and early '00's brought about a string of helmets that never should have existed - all of them white, and all of them featuring variations on the absurd and awkward swooshing Owl logo that some poor schmuck decided was a good idea. I'm not going to even waste any of your hard-earned rods and cones on those pictures. Google it if you must know, but it made 1996 through 2003 a dark time for Temple helmet connoisseurs.
In 2004, the Owls switched back to that block "T" and double stripe you see above; in 2007, they switched back to the print "TEMPLE" and white facemask that came before that.
Still with me? Good. That brings us to this season, when Temple introduced their brand new helmet design. It's essentially the exact same design from the '94/'95 campaigns, with the block "T" and no striping, except that the "T" itself is of a smaller size and the facemask is, dare I say, a whiter white? Judge for yourself:
Clearly the Owls have money to burn and no clue what to do with it. Perhaps they should just go a step further and incorporate history by creating a helmet whose logo features an irate John Chaney threatening to kick John Calipari's ass.