For the last eight years I have been left scratching my head when Notre Dame unveils its Shamrock Series uniforms.

They are bizarre to say the least.

But this year’s uniform, which was unveiled last week, takes the cake.

While I like the “God. Country. Notre Dame.” being emblazon on the shoulder, the rest of the uniform nearly leaves me speechless.

Notre Dame, which has never lost in its previous seven Shamrock Series games, has decided to go with gold helmets, which do no match the gold on the uniform. The jersey is an Army green, which is not even close to what the Fighting Irish wear on a regular basis.

The regular blue and gold that Notre Dame wears is nowhere to be found.

Fortunately, this is just a one-game deal each year and there will be no Shamrock Series game in 2017.

Notre Dame will wear the uniform Nov. 12 when it plays Army at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.

The first six years, Addidas produced the uniforms. The last couple of years Under Armour have been the designer.

I was really hoping that they would do a better job, but that just has not been the case.

A lot of teams wear “alternate” uniforms throughout the season.

I am more of a traditionalist, so I have not been a big fan of most of them.

With that being said, Nike has done the best job with those uniforms throughout the years.

Their “combat” uniforms have been outstanding.

So why do we need all these “alternate” uniforms in the first place?

It is all about the money.

Schools sell those jerseys to fans that will buy just about anything with their favorite team’s logo on it.

I know that schools need to sell team apparel to help raise money for their institutions. But can they not just sell them the home and away jerseys for that season?

Maybe I am naive. Maybe I am not seeing the bigger picture.

But my point is, can we please limit the number of uniforms of questionable taste. I would not mind them showing up every couple of years.

But please, do not run one out every year because I am not “buying” it.

 

Scott Novak is sports editor for Leader Publications. He can be reached at scott.novak@leaderpub.com.