The second Big T1e2n football meeting between Wisconsin and Nebraska will be in Lincoln Sept. 29.

The Cornhuskers will be attired thusly for the game (from Omaha.com):

Their opponents, the Badgers, will wear these special uniforms:

The Madison.com story understates by beginning:

Say this about the “special” jerseys the University of Wisconsin football team will wear Sept. 29 for their prime-time game at Nebraska: They’re going to generate a reaction.

Indeed they will. My reaction is: They suck. Both sets.

To review from my previous writing on the Cardinal and White vs. the Scarlet and Cream: The first error here is that the Badgers are wearing the wrong shade of red. Cardinal is darker than the red shown here. (I blame Nebraska alumnus Barry Alvarez, although the red has been too bright since the Dave McClain days. Ironically, before coming to Wisconsin McClain coached the Ball State … Cardinals.)

This photo of the 2000 Rose Bowl shows the “road” team, Stanford, wearing the correct cardinal, not the “home” team, Wisconsin:

The only UW game in which the Badgers have successfully worn an alternate uniform (that is, worn it and won) was when UW was paying tribute to its 1959- and 1962-season Rose Bowl teams:

This is the correct shade of cardinal. Not what they are wearing now.

The issue is not with the helmet by itself. UW has worn white helmets for so long most people forget that the Badgers have worn red helmets in the past …

… most recently in 1969 (the back-row far right helmet). That was the season UW’s 23-game losing streak ended. (That 23-game losing streak, during the reign of error of coach John Coatta, who changed the helmets from white to red, is probably why they were switched back to red by his replacement, John Jardine.) During the 1950s the Badgers wore both red and white helmets (the back-row left pair).

You’ll notice, however, that in the two schools’ colors, cardinal and white and scarlet and cream, that the word “black” is nowhere to be seen. I don’t consider outlining numbers or logos in black to make them stand out to be an unnecessary use of black. I do consider a black helmet (and facemask) and a black logo to be an unnecessary addition of black. So are black socks.

This is also a lazy design on Adidas’ part. The W is supposed to remind you of the 1960 and 1963 Rose Bowl teams (both of which, by the way, lost). The Badgers’ Motion W would be more appropriate, but neither the N nor the W belongs on the front at that size. These are football jerseys designed like hockey jerseys, particularly with the red shoulders on UW’s uniform.

I already designed road uniforms for the Badgers, with choice of white …

… or cardinal helmet …

… that (1) are the correct color red, (2) use the correct Badger font (which you see on their basketball uniforms), (3) clean up some issues with UW’s current look (namely the jersey stripes, which look slapped-on) and (4) look neither as hopelessly old-fashioned and cheap as Penn State’s football uniforms nor look thoughtlessly futuristic.

Some argue that out-there uniform designs are designed to appeal to current and prospective future student–athletes, which means that 17-year-olds are choosing their college education based on a 17-year-old’s sense of aesthetics. (Insert acerbic comment about shallowness of today’s youth here.) Others argue uniform design is based on the marketers’ determination of what will sell.

As far as I’m concerned, these two criteria should be the only consideration: (1) how does it look on video, and (2) will the sports media be able to read the players’ numbers and letters. If the uniform doesn’t match criterion 2, then it is, to quote today’s vernacular, an epic fail.

From a Dan Patrick Show interview with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell:

On the possibility of American football becoming an Olympic sport:

“Absolutely. We’re already taking steps to gain that IOC recognition. We have, I think it’s 64 countries that are playing American football now, and that’s one of the requirements. And that’s been growing dramatically. I think it was 40 just five years ago, so we’re seeing that kind of growth internationally. It’s being played around the world. We have a national federation under USA Football Federation, and those are the types of things you have to do to become an Olympic sport.”

On if there’s a timeline in place for that:

“No, again, those decisions are made by the IOC. They look at how the game is being played around the globe, and we’re trying to make sure we continue to broaden the scope of our game, and if they give us the opportunity we certainly would push for it.”

I assume Goodell is correct in his assertion that 64 countries are playing American football. The number of countries playing American football as well as the U.S. is likely to be 63 fewer than that. Only one country, Canada, could touch the U.S. in an international game, and of course Canada plays under different rules.

The history of Olympic baseball (demonstration sport in 1984 and 1988, played in the next five Olympics, now gone) and softball (four Olympics, now gone) are cautionary tales for American football. There is an International Federation of American Football with 62 member nations,

While football has had players from Argentina, Australia (former UW kicker Pat O’Dea, the “Kangaroo Kicker”), Austria, the Bahamas, Barbados, Britain, Cameroon, Canada (former Packer punter Jon Ryan), Colombia, the Congo, Cuba, (the late) Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Estonia, Fiji, Finland, France, Germany (former Packer John Jurkovic), Ghana, Greece, Haiti, Honduras, Iran, Ireland, Italy, Jamaica (former Packer safety Atari Bigby and Super Bowl XXXI defensive end Sean Jones), Japan, Lebanon, Liberia (former Packer defensive back Bhawoh Jue), Macedonia, the Marshall Islands, Mexico (former Packer kicker Max Zendejas), the Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria (former Packer running back Samkon Gado), Norway (former Packer Jan Stenerud and Knute Rockne), Panama, Paraguay, Poland (former Badger Jason Maniecki and former Packer Chester Marcol), Russia (former Badger Charles “Buckets” Goldenberg, credited as the creator of the draw play), Saint Kitts and Nevis (former Badger defensive lineman Erasmus James), El Salvador, Samoa, Sierra Leone (former Badger defensive back B.J. Tucker), South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, Tonga (former Packer kick returner Vai Sikahema), Trinidad and Tobago, Uganda and the Ukraine, that doesn’t mean any of those countries could beat a U.S. football team.

Consider also the fact that the Olympics takes place over 17 days, and football games are usually placed once per week. That leaves three rounds of games, which means a maximum of eight games — four the first weekend, two the next, and then the gold-medal (and perhaps bronze-medal) games. How would you find eight countries, even if you counted Puerto Rico as a country (which the Olympics does and the U.S. doesn’t)? And of those eight, at least three have to be at least somewhat competitive with the U.S. Otherwise, the games could end up looking like Stockbridge(enrollment 68) against Stevens Point (enrollment 2,251).

It would also be helpful if the U.S. would host a summer Olympics, which isn’t in the cards until 2024 at the earliest. (The 2020 Olympics will be held in Tokyo, Istanbul or Madrid.)