At this point with Maryland football, it’s almost as if they’re begging us to make fun of them. Between the on the field product as well as Randy Edsall’s press conference quotes, the Terps have quickly evolved into some of the lowest hanging fruit in the entire college football blogosphere.
Then again, the good folks in College Park don’t really help themselves either, and never is that ever clearer than when it comes to the uniforms they wear on the field. After all, it’s one thing to be fundamentally bad at the game of football; in a lot of ways that’s out of your control. But when you simply look bad in the uniforms that adorn your shoulder pads? Well, in that case you’ve got no one to blame but yourself.
The anti-hype (and yes, I just made up that word) started in the 2011 season opener, when the Terps played in a national TV audience against Miami… that was unfortunately highlighted by the jokes surrounding the uniforms they wore. People hardly remember Cameron Chism’s 54-yard interception return that sealed the win, but they do remember the hideous uniforms that were broken out for the first time that day. As LeBron James tweeted at the time, "OH GOSH! Maryland uniforms #ewwwwww!" Never has the hashtagged use of the word “Eww” been more appropriate.
But apparently, the public backlash to uniform-gate wasn’t enough, as the Terps are back at it again in 2012, with uniforms that are uglier than last year’s edition.
On Monday, the Twitter account of WNST Baltimore radio 1570 tweeted out pictures of the new Maryland uniforms, and well, they’re just appalling as the 2011 version. The actual uniforms are hard to look at, but where the difference comes in is on the helmet. There, an emblem adorns the side which would probably best be described as part racing stripe, part “something you throw up after eating too much fast food then going on an amusement park ride.”
Then again, maybe the hideous uniforms will take away from what is expected to be another hideous year on the field for the Terps. After going 2-10 and seeing a slew of players transfer out of the program in 2011, things hardly look much better in 2012. There might not be any closer to place to rock-bottom than having the same odds to win the ACC as Duke, only that’s where Maryland starts the 2012 campaign.
That’s not good, and neither are these uniforms.
Can you say “50 Shades of Hideous?”
For all his insight, opinion and articles on college football, be sure to follow Aaron on Twitter @Aaron_Torres.
