Zag fans blast uniform choice

We teeter on the outer edge of a perfect storm.

Tonight at 5, the Gonzaga Bulldogs play at the University of San Francisco, which means there’s a 50-50 chance that the Zags will dress out in their heat-seeking red road uniforms rather than the more soothing navy blue.

Except that most of us here will never know – because the game’s on ESPNU.

Oh, the humanity.

Think of it. Switchboards at Gonzaga, Q-6, Comcast and the newspaper will be jammed like a sumo into size-32 Levis, with callers outraged over being unable to tune in to find out if they should be outraged over the Zags’ choice in couture.

If Tom Hudson can keep a secret on the radio broadcast, the public meltdown will make Chernobyl seem like Shangri-La.

Then again – if the eye of the beholder cannot behold red uniforms, can they still be a curse?

You have to love the Gonzaga fan. Not satisfied to be affronted merely by common hosings at the hands of ragtag referees, he plows all avenues of discontent. In these pages alone we have read complaints of ticket-price increases, the too-small arena, ESPNU games, not enough spirit from the student spirit group, too much spirit in questionable taste from the student spirit group and fat cats who cut out early and return late from their halftime booze run.

This past Sunday, a letter writer decided that not having the telecasts closed-captioned was yet another sign of the school’s greed, though it’s not clear what kind of captioning will aid the thinking-impaired.

And, of course, there was not one but two letters assailing those red unis as both ugly and unlucky.

The authors even kept stats.

This is inspired irritation, though not everyone thinks so.

“Why,” wondered Gonzaga coach Mark Few, “do you guys print them?”

A hell of a question. Perhaps because they class up the product. After all, at least we know these people can sign their names. Of course, we also maintain an electronic edition where our mission is to encourage and even engage anonymous lunacy.

In any case, this is a topic that is On People’s Minds, and while not trying to appear to be pro-red – which this newspaper has been accused of over the years – it may be time to do some myth debunking, starting with:

Tradition. “For more than 60 years navy and white have been the school colors,” said one of last Sunday’s correspondents.

Well, no. The “Gonzaga Basketball Dope Book” of 1952 lists the colors as “royal blue and white.” In the ‘60s, it was “Columbia blue.” By the ‘70s, red had been added to uniform trim, letters, numbers and warmup pants. The school changed to navy about 10 years ago, when it also adopted a new logo.

Then in 1992, Champion – making a big push into college apparel to go with being the Olympic supplier that year – offered Gonzaga two sets of new uniforms. Assistant coach Dan Monson suggested getting a road set in red for a practical reason: by alternating the reds with an older blue set, the Zags wouldn’t have to do laundry on the road – a duty which, in those days before a manager traveled, fell to the assistants.

“So we had red uniforms that year,” said Jeff Brown, the center on that team. “They were about four sizes too small. And they didn’t serve us all that well, but that had more to do with the guys wearing them.”

Greed. This is the deal: Nike supplies the uniforms – red, white and blue – at no cost. The Zags didn’t get a better deal because of the reds. “And there’s no obligation of how many times we’re supposed to wear them,” said athletic director Mike Roth.

The curse. No, Gonzaga’s record is not very good while wearing red – “but people might want to factor in that we don’t wear red at home,” said Few. “We’re wearing them against people like Memphis and Saint Mary’s, Top 25 teams, at their place.”

Said guard Jeremy Pargo: “No uniform has ever been bad luck. The end.”

Against their will. “I can’t believe you make the players wear red,” a caller hissed at Roth last year.

He doesn’t. Nor does Few.

“It’s kind of my choice,” said senior David Pendergraft, the team captain. “Some places we aren’t allowed to wear them – like Memphis, because the last time we wore them we lost. And I don’t think coach Few likes the red unis that much.”

So why does Few let the players choose?

“The kids don’t get to decide a whole lot in a basketball program,” he said. “Every now and then they get to pick a restraurant on the road. This is something else they get to pick.”

Why would they pick red? This isn’t hard if you see an 8-year-old running around at a GU game in a red Abdullahi Kuso replica jersey. It’s called kid appeal.

“I love the red uniforms,” Pargo said. “In fact, I want to wear the red jerseys at a home game this year.”

Uh-oh. Red alert.

Let’s make it an ESPNU home game, at least.