Those Buckeyes Were Just Copying the Scarlet Knights (and not only by copying the color scarlet)

There's a great article by Ryan Dunleavy on NJ.com this morning with the title, "Did Rutgers, not Ohio State, start helmet stickers in college football? Here's proof." Not only is it worth reading this piece about large stars added to the front of Rutgers helmets for interceptions in 1961 in its own right, but the timing is perfect with the Buckeyes coming to town in two days.

See you there.

Blunt Advice

Before you can even enter the website for Schutt helmets, you must read and acknowledge the following warning. This verbiage will also be placed as a sticker on all their helmets, so you have to wonder if they will also be offering reading glasses or a magnifying glass for each buyer and end user.

WARNING 

Scientists have not reached agreement on how the results of impact absorption tests relate to concussions. No conclusions about a reduction of risk or severity of concussive injury should be drawn from impact absorption tests. 

NO HELMET SYSTEM CAN PREVENT CONCUSSIONS OR ELIMINATE THE RISK OF SERIOUS HEAD OR NECK INJURIES WHILE PLAYING FOOTBALL. 

Keep your head up. Do not butt, ram, spear or strike an opponent with any part of the helmet or faceguard. This is a violation of football rules and may cause you to suffer severe brain or neck injury, including paralysis or death and possible injury to your opponent. Contact in football may result in Concussion/Brain Injury which no helmet can prevent. Symptoms include loss of consciousness or memory, dizziness, headache, nausea or confusion. If you have symptoms, immediately stop and report them to your coach, trainer and parents. Do not return to a game or contact until all symptoms are gone and you receive medial clearance. Ignoring this warning may lead to another and more serious or fatal brain injury. 

NO HELMET SYSTEM CAN PROTECT YOU FROM SERIOUS BRAIN AND/OR NECK INJURIES INCLUDING PARALYSIS OR DEATH. TO AVOID THESE RISKS, DO NOT ENGAGE IN THE SPORT OF FOOTBALL.

There's more about the escalation of alarmist legalese in this NY Times article, "Warning Labels on Helmets Combat Injury and Liability".

Is this the Rutgers Helmet for Saturday's game against Army?

If so, which quarterback will be wearing it to start the game at Yankee Stadium?  Gary Nova or Chas Dodd? 

(Update: Greg Schiano announced this morning that Chas Dodd will be the starting quarterback versus the Black Knights next Saturday.  After his performance at the end of last Saturday night's win against the USF Bulls, it shouldn't have even been a question, should it?)

Believe

In honor of Eric LeGrand, here's the "BELIEVE" sticker that the Rutgers players will be wearing on their helmets during Saturday's Pittsburgh game in place of the normal Big East logos above their face masks.

We'll all be thinking of #52 at noon on Saturday.

In tonight's replay of last Saturday's Army game on SNY, there was no replay of the kickoff during which Eric LeGrand was injured, nor any of the injury's aftermath. That was understandable, and I wasn't looking forward to seeing it, but why didn't they show Chas Dodd's 4th quarter 53-yard completion to D.C. Jefferson? There were so few offensive highlights for the Scarlet Knights that they didn't need to cut the longest Rutgers play from scrimmage, especially when they took the time to show every false start and every sack given up by the Scarlet Knights in the very ugly first three quarters.

A slight name change in order to avoid any confusion.

To avoid any possible confusion in the future, our next opponents, the Ball State Cardinals, and our most recent opponents, the Louisville Cardinals, will be more descriptively referred to here as the "Speedy Cardinals" and the "Pissed Off Cardinals" based on the bird decals that they have affixed to their respective helmets.

It's almost too bad that the Pissed Off Cardinals didn't get a bowl invitation this year, just to see these two helmets clashing across a line of scrimmage.

We're Number Seventy!!, or A quick reminder of how far the Scarlet Knights have come

Memory can be a funny thing, the way it tries to erase past pain. It's easy to forget, when looking at the coming year's preseason rankings, how far our Knights in Scarlet Armor have come in the last few years.



ESPN.com reminds us today by announcing numbers 51-74 in their ranking of the 119 Division I-A football teams over the past decade. Rutgers comes in at number 70, with a .339 winning percentage (39-76) over that span. How low would their ranking be, and how much lower would their winning percentage be without last year's 11-2 campaign? Would the Knights be down in the nineties? Or in the triple digits with Temple and Duke and Buffalo?

In the accompanying article by Bruce Feldman about these midlist teams, the Knights are recognized as a team on their way up:

Of the group of teams in this part of the list, I think there are seven programs with a shot at really moving up: Minnesota (T-52), Pitt (T-52), Washington (T-52), Michigan State (55), North Carolina (67), South Florida (58) and Rutgers (70). If I had to pick three with the best shot of sticking, I'd go with Pitt, UNC and Rutgers.

Rutgers is obviously the farthest along. The Scarlet Knights have a growing fan base. They have strong connections in both the Northeast and Florida. They have a hot coach who sounds as if he is going to be around for a long time. And they are beginning to reap the benefits of their success because they are getting better-caliber prospects out of south Florida and they have begun to fend off the big boys for the best in-state players (namely, prized OT Anthony Davis and OLB Manny Abreu).

Notice though that it's not just the Knights on their way up, it's also the Big East, with USF and Pitt also poised to move into the top tier. The competition's going to be tough for years to come.

LEAVE THE BLOCK R ALONE!, or Nothing Worthwhile Was Ever Designed in a Legislative Committee.

Doesn't anyone remember how unattractive the Scarlet Knights' helmet was the last time it included an "N.J." in the 1990s?? If not, here's a picture.

This old design definitely ranks lower than the profile of a knight's head that was on the helmets in the 1970s, or the "Rutgers" with a dagger for a "t" that immediately preceded the current helmet. And the current block R is the best. It's the simplest and strongest helmet identifier that the Knights have ever worn, at least in the humble opinion of this alumnus and blogger. It's not an opinion shared by New Jersey legislators with too much time on their hands. The following comes from an article on Newsday.com today:

An Assembly committee Thursday approved a resolution requesting Rutgers redesign that "R" logo to include the letters "NJ," a move designed to give the state credit for recent successes at the school, and make it as synonymous with New Jersey as Bruce Springsteen, Bon Jovi, jokes about smelly refineries and "The Sopranos."

Assemblyman Patrick Diegnan said it's fitting that Rutgers display its affiliation to New Jersey. [...] "I just think this is the kind of thing we should encourage." Diegnan displayed a suggested new logo that would place the letters "NJ" in the slanted part of the lower "R."

And if there's an "R" and an "NJ" on the new logo, won't that be pronounced "orange"? Isn't there already another Orange team in the Big East? ... and another orange team just down the road in New Jersey?

Why introduce any confusion when Rutgers finally has a nationally-recognized logo? This is recognition that was earned on the field and the court. Rutgers owns the letter R until someone takes it away from us. If the legislature would like to help the State University of New Jersey, then they should restore some budget cuts!

Leave the block R alone!