My wife calls me an art snob when I get opinionated about people's art choices. It doesn't happen often but sometimes there are things I can't ignore.
Being a former San Diego resident I followed the Chargers starting in 1979 and saw many uniform changes. Some were really good but the most recent iteration really bothers me and recently I figured out why.
I understand fans love the throwback uniforms but there is a reason they went out of style. Making them a regular look has done the team a disservice. The powder blue, gold, (yellow) and white lacks presence on the field. These three colors are high chroma and it feels like the team will fade away like ghosts. Teams with a dark color, even just one, gives them presence.
The helmet bothers me too. Placing numbers on it distracts from the team logo and looks amateurish/lazy. A while back they had indigo blue helmets and the logo popped against the dark blue. Now it seems like they ashamed of it.
Psychology is just as much a part of football as the field itself. Using a deeper chroma color, and blue is the obvious candidate here, immediately grounds the players and gives them a psychological edge. It is no coincidence that the Raiders have black as one of their colors and the psychological advantage they experience before even stepping on the field can not be overstated.
Ultimately, the Chargers' decision to leave San Diego disappointed me but it is something they threatened to do for years. I'm living in the Midwest now and occasionally follow the local teams but am still shopping. Cincinnati is close or I could follow my original hometown team the Giants. Maybe I'll just follow my college team the SDSU Aztecs. They understand the value of dark colors and winning.
-CJ
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