Let’s Be MAD Again
Just six days into his tenure as head coach, Fran McCaffery has supplied his Iowa men’s basketball program not only with a much needed spark of energy and excitement, but also a motto and marketing campaign: Let’s Be MAD Again.
“MAD” is a reference to March Madness, and the goal to make the program an annual contender in the NCAA tournament once again. Along with registering the flashy website, the UI athletic department took out a full-page ad in the CRG and other Eastern Iowa papers, featuring a statement by Fran himself. Read all about it in this Mike Hlas blog post.
It’s not the best slogan, but it’ll do for now. As one CRG commenter said, “In one week, he’s done more promotion for Iowa basketball than Alford and [Lickliter] combined.”
Times are a changin’ at Carver as McCaffery makes his mark, and there are a few other vital changes I’d like to see the Hawkeyes use to end the “down decade.”
1) Abandon the “Alford font” currently used on everything associated with the men’s program, especially the court and jerseys. You know — the all-caps, all-italics, all-bold font. I don’t know what it’s called, but get rid of that shit. It came into use under ol’ Steve-o, and the program needs to start fresh and new with something else. However, McCaffery may have no choice. I think the “Alford font” may have given way to a somewhat similar department-wide font popularized by the football program. He may be stuck with it, but I recommend he give the men’s basketball team its own identity and aesthetics. Dr. Tom did, with the special IOWA! logo.
2) Repaint the keys, sidelines, and center circle of the court yellow. (The school colors are black and gold, but the “gold” is really yellow if you ask me.) This would affect both basketball programs, and I’m sure he would need to work with Lisa Bluder on this one. It’s another aesthetic touch. The current black color scheme, I think, makes the court look slow. It’s the same effect as wearing black shoes. The Hawkeyes are pretty slow right now, so they’ll need all the visual help they can get.
3) Redesign the jerseys. They look like shit, especially the yellow alternate with HAWKEYES across the front. I like the traditional look from the ‘80s and ‘90s, which can be seen in this video. It also shows the old yellow court. Both court and jerseys would need to be modernized, though.
“MAD” is a reference to March Madness, and the goal to make the program an annual contender in the NCAA tournament once again. Along with registering the flashy website, the UI athletic department took out a full-page ad in the CRG and other Eastern Iowa papers, featuring a statement by Fran himself. Read all about it in this Mike Hlas blog post.
It’s not the best slogan, but it’ll do for now. As one CRG commenter said, “In one week, he’s done more promotion for Iowa basketball than Alford and [Lickliter] combined.”
Times are a changin’ at Carver as McCaffery makes his mark, and there are a few other vital changes I’d like to see the Hawkeyes use to end the “down decade.”
1) Abandon the “Alford font” currently used on everything associated with the men’s program, especially the court and jerseys. You know — the all-caps, all-italics, all-bold font. I don’t know what it’s called, but get rid of that shit. It came into use under ol’ Steve-o, and the program needs to start fresh and new with something else. However, McCaffery may have no choice. I think the “Alford font” may have given way to a somewhat similar department-wide font popularized by the football program. He may be stuck with it, but I recommend he give the men’s basketball team its own identity and aesthetics. Dr. Tom did, with the special IOWA! logo.
2) Repaint the keys, sidelines, and center circle of the court yellow. (The school colors are black and gold, but the “gold” is really yellow if you ask me.) This would affect both basketball programs, and I’m sure he would need to work with Lisa Bluder on this one. It’s another aesthetic touch. The current black color scheme, I think, makes the court look slow. It’s the same effect as wearing black shoes. The Hawkeyes are pretty slow right now, so they’ll need all the visual help they can get.
3) Redesign the jerseys. They look like shit, especially the yellow alternate with HAWKEYES across the front. I like the traditional look from the ‘80s and ‘90s, which can be seen in this video. It also shows the old yellow court. Both court and jerseys would need to be modernized, though.
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