Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, August 13, 1994 TAG: 9408160028
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Jack Bogaczyk
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE LENGTH: Medium
'Hoos wear?
You mean who's there?
No, 'Hoos wear blue this football season. Orange you going to be surprised when you see the Cavaliers.
Virginia just hopes its season doesn't turn the color of its new uniforms - again - when the weather chills this season.
The Cavaliers have won at least seven games in each of the past seven seasons, but the past two years, as in 1990, they have fallen with the autumn leaves.
Again, coach George Welsh's team promises to be interesting to watch. Picked to finish third in the ACC behind Florida State and North Carolina, UVa is expected to have its best defense in memory.
If the offensive line matures quickly and the Cavaliers don't open ACC play 0-2 after September dates at Florida State and at home against Clemson, they will be headed for the polls again, although playing only five home dates won't help.
They certainly won't look the same as Welsh's 12 previous UVa teams. At home, the Cavaliers will wear dark blue jerseys and solid white pants. On the road, it's white jerseys and blue pants. Orange becomes a trim color.
The new helmets are dark blue with a ``V'' over what is two crossed sabers on the sides. No stripe. The old helmets were white, with an orange-and-blue stripe down the middle.
The crossed sabers look a bit like an open scissors, but you might not want to tell that to Welsh - his artist son, Matthew, designed the new logo, which is the one the players liked among three choices.
``Another one was a white V outlined in orange,'' said receiver Tyrone Davis. ``The third one was so bad I don't remember it.''
The Cavaliers sported the road pants at media day Friday, and while no one was crying about the blue hue, there were some raised eyebrows about the switch.
``I'm surprised we changed uniforms,'' said defensive lineman Ryan Kuehl. ``I mean, Coach Welsh is not a big fan of change. I don't think he likes [Bill] Clinton, because he's always talking about change.
``I like these pants. Those old polyester things were heavy. These are nice and light, although they are a little tight in the thighs for me. I'm not really into that 1970s disco tight pants Spandex look.''
There was a notion making the rounds that the Cavaliers, in dark pants, won't look as fast, thereby making their speed deceiving.
``I hope that's right,'' 6-foot-5, 272-pound Kuehl said. ``I'd like to look faster. I do remember when I was in high school they said to wear white basketball shoes because black ones made you look slow.''
Welsh decided to change the uniform colors in the spring, and he kept his idea so hush-hush that some of his staff didn't even know the Cavaliers were turning blue until it was announced.
Welsh ran his designs past some veteran players, ``although I'm not sure what they said would have made much difference,'' one of Welsh's staff said.
The change cost about $30,000, although most of that would have been spent on new uniforms anyway, even without a color scheme change. The major new expense was for 110 helmets, at $85-95 apiece. Each jersey and pants cost $50.
``I like the blue,'' athletic director Jim Copeland said. ``We wore navy jerseys back when I played here.''
And, yes, they did wear helmets when Copeland played at UVa. Those were orange. No one at UVa remembers the Cavaliers ever wearing blue helmets.
Welsh said there wasn't anything psychological in his decision to change uniforms. In one way, it is out of character. In another, it's not.
It is only the second change in uniforms in Welsh's 13 years at Virginia. The first came when the ``UVa'' logo was removed from the helmet in the early '80s.
At the same time, Welsh always tries to bring some physical variety for his players into each season. There have been upgrades in facilities, now new duds, and, next spring, Scott Stadium goes to grass and one practice field will be paved with artificial turf.
``Change is good,'' Davis said. ``Everyone is talking about the new uniforms. Maybe Coach finally realized how bad we looked in those old things.
``Maybe he knew we needed some kind of change. Maybe he wanted to shock us. Maybe he figured he couldn't change personnel, so he'd change uniforms and we'd look different.''
And maybe there's one thing that Welsh - who turns 61 in two weeks - hasn't considered.
With all those blue 'Hoos on his sideline, it will be much easier to see when Welsh throws his white baseball cap.
by CNB