I See Red

[CloakNNNdagger]

This subject seems now to be of perennial interest........that of uniform color. The majority of us have looked forward to seeing our warriors in combatant red.......better known to Texans fans as Battle Red.

There maybe something to our attraction beyond what lies on the surface. Red cars attract more tickets. Red prison walls create more aggressive inmates than any other color besides purple. Red traffic lights and brake lights announce danger.

As researchers have found, red coloration is a sexually selected signal of male quality and the presence and intensity of red coloration correlates to male dominance and testosterone levels. So, athletes facing off against opponents sporting red uniforms might subconsciously feel thrown off their game:

British anthropologists Russell Hill and Robert Barton of the University of Durham reached that conclusion by studying the outcomes of one-on-one boxing, tae kwon do, Greco-Roman-wresting, and freestyle-wrestling matches at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece.

In each event Olympic staff randomly assigned red or blue clothing or body protection to competitors. When otherwise equally matched with their opponent in fitness and skill, athletes wearing red were more likely to win the bout.

"Where there was a large point difference—presumably because one contestant was far superior to the other—color had no effect on the outcome," Barton said. "Where there was a small point difference, the effect of color was sufficient to tip the balance."

In equally matched bouts, the preponderance of red wins was great enough that it could not be attributed to chance, the anthropologists say. Hill and Barton found similar results in a review of the colors worn at the Euro 2004 international soccer tournament. Their report will be published in tomorrow's issue of the journal Nature.

"Where there was a large point difference—presumably because one contestant was far superior to the other—color had no effect on the outcome," Barton said. "Where there was a small point difference, the effect of color was sufficient to tip the balance."

In equally matched bouts, the preponderance of red wins was great enough that it could not be attributed to chance, the anthropologists say. Hill and Barton found similar results in a review of the colors worn at the Euro 2004 international soccer tournament. Their report will be published in tomorrow's issue of the journal Nature.

Hill and Barton got the idea for their study study out of a mutual interest in the evolution of sexual signals in primates—"red seems to be the color, across species, that signals male dominance and testosterone levels," Barton said.

For example, studies by Setchell, the Cambridge primate researcher, show that dominant male mandrills have increased red coloration in their faces and rumps. Another study by other scientists shows that red plastic rings experimentally placed on the legs of male zebra finches increase the birds' dominance.

Barton said he and Hill speculated some speculated that "there might be a similar effect in humans. And if so, [it] could be apparent in sporting contests."

Setchell, the primatologist, agrees. "As Hill and Barton say, humans redden when we are angry and pale when we're scared. These are very important signals to other individuals," she said.

The advantage of red may be intuitively known, judging from the prevalence of red uniforms in sports—"though it is clearly not very widely appreciated, on a conscious level at least," Barton said.

He adds that the finding of red's advantage might have implications for regulations that govern sporting attire. In the Olympic matches he surveyed for the new study, for example, it is possible some medal winners may have reached the pedestal with an unintended advantage.

"That is the implication, though we cannot say that it made the difference in any one specific case," Barton said.

Red is the color of power..........Let us see more red this season............BATTLE RED, that is.

 

[whiskeyrbl]

Only twice my friend.

 

[Thorn]

Wow. Good thing Mars didn't develop intelligent life. They'd have taken us over by now.

 

[barrett]

i am constantly petitioning to try and get everyone to embrace the white top, blue pant "Texans" uniform.

i don't know how many times I've posted something like this:

The NFL only allows you to wear what is called an "alternate jersey" twice a year. Other than that, you have you're Home jersey and pants and your Away Jersey and Pants. There are not rules as to different combinations of those but the "alternate" jersey can only be worn twice a year.

For the record, I think our white jerseys on blue pants are by and far the classiest look we have. I don't understand why everyone is so giddy about the Battle Red... I'm fine with wearing them once a year but they don't look like the Texans that we are defined as. We are an expansion team and we need to develop our identity and in my opinion the best way to do that visually is through consistency. I'd love it if we were to wear Liberty White over Deep Steel Blue for all games other than road games that the home team forces us to wear Blue over white. And then we could pull out the Battle Red for a big game. By doing that we would develop a much stronger national identity.

How many different uni's does Green Bay have? two. Home and Away. When you think of the Chicago Bears do you think about their orange jerseys? no. When you think of the Dallas Cowboys, you know what you think of. White over silver. Even seeing them in the blue jerseys is odd. The Raiders? The Steelers? Come on people.... Those are solid identities. We could be building the same sort. Sadly, we're not, but at least we're not the Bengals or the Bills or the Jags or the Thumbtacks, or the Seahawks... You get the point.

we're not those teams, yet.

we've only been in the league for a few years. there are teams that have maintained a visual image for decades and if there is one thing that defines laughable expansion teams in the NFL it's loosing and no sense of identity, history or tradition. it's like a shiny new sportscar that's made out of fibreglass and gets a totally new body every 4 years. then there is the corvette. classic lines that can easily be identified. sure, subtle changes are made over the years but the identity of the car, the "look" of the car is maintained. you get where i'm going with that.

i've said it a hundred times. all the great teams of the NFL have consistent uniforms. they don't change them up for special days. they just wear home and away and they win football games.

green bay packers
pittsburg steelers
dallas cowboys (allthough this is not as true for them)
chicago bears
indianapolis colts
these teams are the heart of the nfl and they are consistent symbols of winning football.

red leotards are not.

Lucky pointed out that even the "classic" teams have throwback uni's or special uni's of some sort but who thinks of the bears in their orange? or the packers in the yellow shouldered uni's? nobody. you associate "da' bears" with a certain look, "the pack" with a historic vision of championships in the frozen tundra of the 60's. Same pack today. The cowboys getting beat by the 49'rs in "the catch" is the same cowboys team that blew the win over the Seahawks on the extra point in the playoffs two years ago. the Seattle team that beat them, they wear seaweed leotards now.

I implore ya'll to be patient and embrace your Texans as they are, as they were the first regular season game where we defeated the cowboys in their funny blue "away" uniforms.

 

[ObsiWan]

its da SHOES!

 

[Carr Bombed]

How do you explain the Arizona Cardinals though?

 

[Texecutioner]

This subject seems now to be of perennial interest........that of uniform color. The majority of us have looked forward to seeing our warriors in combatant red.......better known to Texans fans as Battle Red.

There maybe something to our attraction beyond what lies on the surface. Red cars attract more tickets. Red prison walls create more aggressive inmates than any other color besides purple. Red traffic lights and brake lights announce danger.

As researchers have found, red coloration is a sexually selected signal of male quality and the presence and intensity of red coloration correlates to male dominance and testosterone levels. So, athletes facing off against opponents sporting red uniforms might subconsciously feel thrown off their game:














Red is the color of power..........Let us see more red this season............BATTLE RED, that is.

I completely agree. Not only do I want the battle red jerseys to be the main ones, but I also really liked the red pants they had last year. I thought the all red uniforms were the best ones they ever played in. BATTLE RED!!!

 

[ReliantTexan]

To be honest, I like the Steel blue over white pants look. Like in week 2 against Carolina.

 

[CloakNNNdagger]

How do you explain the Arizona Cardinals though?

Who have the Cardinals been overtly superior to would be the question???

"Where there was a large point difference-presumably because one contestant was far superior to the other-color had no effect on the outcome," Barton said. "Where there was a small point difference, the effect of color was sufficient to tip the balance."

To add to the studies mentioned above, dark colors mixed with red, such as black, dark navy, etc would reinforce the effect. Arizona mixes there red with lots of white.

BTW, the calmest, most nonthreatening colors are peach and powder blue. Brings to mind the Oilers..........who yielded their powder puff color to one of our "favorite" rival teams..............they would be enhanced even further with the addition of tutu frills.

 

[ObsiWan]

Didn't I hear someplace that the Titans are switching their home jerseys to that light blue trimmed in dark blue?

yeah... here it is

The team plans to wear light blue for all of its home games except the preseason opener on Aug. 9 against the St. Louis Rams, and the Nov. 23 regular season game at LP Field against the Jets, when they’ll wear navy. The team’s primary road jersey will remain white.

They are 4-0 over the past two seasons and 7-3 overall since the light blue was first introduced as the “third jersey” in 2003.

The Titans are 43-28 in dark blue and 33-30 in the white jersey.

Let's hope that switch to light blue is their doom

 

[mexican_texan]

2 per year. I get enough red at UH.

 

[Dan B.]

Personally I like the idea of going with red as it would help Houston's sports teams develop an identity. Think Pittsburgh. EVERY team wears black and gold. If the Texans went to a red jersey, they would follow in the steps of the Rockets and Astros (yeah I know the 'Stros are more rust colored, but it's still closer than Steel Blue is to anything another Houston team wears).

Basically the Texans erred when they first started by picking by far the most popular color schemes in football. The Giants, Patriots, Bills, and even the Titans all use Red, White, and Blue as their colors (yeah the Titans use a smatter of red and two shades of blue, and some of them also integrate gray into their uni's), and I think they would've been better served to go with an identifiable individual color scheme personally.

 

[Speedy]

Being a native Texan, and therefore an American, I kinda like red, white, and blue.

I like the color scheme just the way it is, although I would like to see the blue tops more often at home.

We get a uniform discussion about twice a year it seems, at least. And people always bring "identity" into the mix. Like the Steelers have "identity". Black and gold at home, white and gold on the road. That's it. You see that, you know it's Pittsburgh. End of discussion.

If there's anything I don't like about the Texans uniform, and really I couldn't care all that much, is that the Texans have 6 different uniform combinations. White/blue, white/white, blue/white, blue/blue, red/white, red/red....just waiting for the white/red combo. Not a whole lot of identity there. What are you, the Oregon Ducks?

Have home colors, blue/white, with the Battle Red for special once a year occasions. Wear the white/blue on the road, and be done with it, so we can stop with the fashion discussions. It's freaking football, people!

 

[Giant Tiger]

To be honest, I like the Steel blue over white pants look. Like in week 2 against Carolina.

Totally agree

 

[CloakNNNdagger]

Being a native Texan, and therefore an American, I kinda like red, white, and blue.

I like the color scheme just the way it is, although I would like to see the blue tops more often at home.

We get a uniform discussion about twice a year it seems, at least. And people always bring "identity" into the mix. Like the Steelers have "identity". Black and gold at home, white and gold on the road. That's it. You see that, you know it's Pittsburgh. End of discussion.

If there's anything I don't like about the Texans uniform, and really I couldn't care all that much, is that the Texans have 6 different uniform combinations. White/blue, white/white, blue/white, blue/blue, red/white, red/red....just waiting for the white/red combo. Not a whole lot of identity there. What are you, the Oregon Ducks?

Have home colors, blue/white, with the Battle Red for special once a year occasions. Wear the white/blue on the road, and be done with it, so we can stop with the fashion discussions. It's freaking football, people!

If we wait long enough, in addition to our red/white/blue combinations, somewhere along the line someone's going to add a cape to our uniforms and we'll be looking up in the sky trying to figure out if it's a bird.....or a plane.........or.............

 

[barrett]

Being a native Texan, and therefore an American, I kinda like red, white, and blue.

I like the color scheme just the way it is, although I would like to see the blue tops more often at home.

We get a uniform discussion about twice a year it seems, at least. And people always bring "identity" into the mix. Like the Steelers have "identity". Black and gold at home, white and gold on the road. That's it. You see that, you know it's Pittsburgh. End of discussion.

If there's anything I don't like about the Texans uniform, and really I couldn't care all that much, is that the Texans have 6 different uniform combinations. White/blue, white/white, blue/white, blue/blue, red/white, red/red....just waiting for the white/red combo. Not a whole lot of identity there. What are you, the Oregon Ducks?

Have home colors, blue/white, with the Battle Red for special once a year occasions. Wear the white/blue on the road, and be done with it, so we can stop with the fashion discussions. It's freaking football, people!

that was my whole point. consistancy forms identity. my biggest issue is the multiple colors too. and for that, stick with the first one. white top/blue bottom. the end.

by the way, the "Texans" colors are the same as the state flag of, uh, um, er... oh yeah, TEXAS.

 

[dalemurphy]

that was my whole point. consistancy forms identity. my biggest issue is the multiple colors too. and for that, stick with the first one. white top/blue bottom. the end.

by the way, the "Texans" colors are the same as the state flag of, uh, um, er... oh yeah, TEXAS.

Here's the real question for the off-season:

would you rather have: Salaam at LT, wearing blue and white

or

Duane Brown at LT, wearing red

or

a healthy Charles Spencer at LT, wearing bright yellow, with pink and purple pok-a-dots?

 

[barrett]

it depends, would this LT match his teammate to his right? matching is very important in football.

 

[Norg]

Kanas City and Arozina wear red all the time........... Nuff said

 

[steelbtexan]

I wish the battle red jerseys could be worn all of the time & the white ones on special occasions. The red jerseys are the best looking jerseys they have.The sea of red creates a great atmosphere in the stands & is intimidating for our opponents.

Besides I look great in BATTLE RED.

 

[ObsiWan]

Here's the real question for the off-season:

would you rather have: Salaam at LT, wearing blue and white

or

Duane Brown at LT, wearing red

or

a healthy Charles Spencer at LT, wearing bright yellow, with pink and purple pok-a-dots?

a healthy Spencer ...with Brown nipping at his heels so Spencer knows if he slips up, Brown will step in.

 

[ObsiWan]

it depends, would this LT match his teammate to his right? matching is very important in football.

well if we're talking about the O-line guys, they should be in the Steel Blue unis... any fashionista knows that dark blue is much more slimming than red.

 

[Brando]

Battle Red Baby!!!!!

 

[AnthonyE]

I love me some red. Now if only more people would come dressed in red we might get some more of that intimidation factor.

And what's the deal with us wearing white all the time in the beginning of the season? i mean, I really like white on blue, but we've seen it like 10 times a season including preseason for the last three years. What's the deal?

 

[michaelm]

i am constantly petitioning to try and get everyone to embrace the white top, blue pant "Texans" uniform.

i don't know how many times I've posted something like this:



we're not those teams, yet.

we've only been in the league for a few years. there are teams that have maintained a visual image for decades and if there is one thing that defines laughable expansion teams in the NFL it's loosing and no sense of identity, history or tradition. it's like a shiny new sportscar that's made out of fibreglass and gets a totally new body every 4 years. then there is the corvette. classic lines that can easily be identified. sure, subtle changes are made over the years but the identity of the car, the "look" of the car is maintained. you get where i'm going with that.




Lucky pointed out that even the "classic" teams have throwback uni's or special uni's of some sort but who thinks of the bears in their orange? or the packers in the yellow shouldered uni's? nobody. you associate "da' bears" with a certain look, "the pack" with a historic vision of championships in the frozen tundra of the 60's. Same pack today. The cowboys getting beat by the 49'rs in "the catch" is the same cowboys team that blew the win over the Seahawks on the extra point in the playoffs two years ago. the Seattle team that beat them, they wear seaweed leotards now.

I implore ya'll to be patient and embrace your Texans as they are, as they were the first regular season game where we defeated the cowboys in their funny blue "away" uniforms.

IMO, Dominant, and winning football defined those teams, and ingrained their images onto our national sports psyche, not the other way around...
Teams that have winning traditions like those teams, and mega fan bases, don't feel they need to add another jersey to generate additional revenue, so they are riding on the reputations they have built through WINNING, not through wardrobe.

 

[Big Lou]

Although I love Battle Red, I would like to see Blue Jerseys, and Blue Pants occasionaly.

 

[Hervoyel]

My strongest feeling on this is that the Battle Red looks good and it works very well as an alternate color. Pulling it out for important games is very, very cool and in those small doses it seems to give the team and the fans a feeling that the intensity just went up a notch or so. That makes it a gimmick in my book and I don't think there's anything to be ashamed about where that is concerned. Every team in the NFL has it's gimmicks. The Cowboys used to do their little offensive line "group-set" thing and the Raiders used to sign crazy people that nobody wanted. The Steelers had their towels and everybody has throwback or alternate jerseys now. Gimmicks are fine as long as things don't get out of hand.

I like the red but you're not doing it any favors by swapping it with the Steel Blue and making it our regular jersey color.

First of all think about what you're getting when you do that. We wear white almost all the time. I'm so sick of wearing white at home and getting to see the Steel Blue only like 4 times a year (or something like that). It seems like we wear white too much in my opinion. So you take Blue out and put the Battle Red in and now you get a couple more games in the red BUT you're still spending the majority of your time wearing white.

What's the point? All you do is make the red less "special" and you're still seeing white all the time.

I'm old school. I can accept an alternate jersey color but for the most part I want to see 8 games in home uniforms and 8 games in away uniforms and that's that.

 

[barrett]

IMO, Dominant, and winning football defined those teams, and ingrained their images onto our national sports psyche, not the other way around...
Teams that have winning traditions like those teams, and mega fan bases, don't feel they need to add another jersey to generate additional revenue, so they are riding on the reputations they have built through WINNING, not through wardrobe.

i was in no way suggesting that by wearing a certain color that we would develop a winning tradition. what are you smoking? i was talking about developing a national visual identity through consistency. there are winning football teams that have 7 different uniforms also, and i for one think those teams that i was talking about have a more storied tradition and a visual identity associated with there winning traditions than the teams that have won in the past and have gone the route of the new fad of stupid swooshy nonsense and red unitards.

 

[dalemurphy]

i was in no way suggesting that by wearing a certain color that we would develop a winning tradition. what are you smoking? i was talking about developing a national visual identity through consistency. there are winning football teams that have 7 different uniforms also, and i for one think those teams that i was talking about have a more storied tradition and a visual identity associated with there winning traditions than the teams that have won in the past and have gone the route of the new fad of stupid swooshy nonsense and red unitards.

communists regularly endorse drab colors and are obsessed with simple, plain uniforms. Nobody should stand out, you know.

I don't know about this Barrett character: he wants plain, white uniforms, strict pay scales, and I'm pretty sure he's an atheist. Put that together and I smell a Marxist!

P.S. this is the same guy who refused to stand for the National Anthem last season. If memory serves!

 

[Speedy]

And what's the deal with us wearing white all the time in the beginning of the season? i mean, I really like white on blue, but we've seen it like 10 times a season including preseason for the last three years. What's the deal?

Not just 10 times a year. Try 13 last year and the year before, 14 the year before that.

In the 121 games the Texans have played, including pre-season, the Texans have worn the white jersey 78 times (64%). Blue shirts 35 times (29%). Red jerseys 8 times.

How about really being bored waiting for the season to start? Here are the Texans records in each jersey. Regular season only.

White - 16-42 .276 overall | 7-10 .412 home | 9-32 .220 road
Blue - 10-20 .333 overall | 7-16 .304 home | 3-4 .429 road
Red - 6-2 .750 overall | 6-2 .750 home

 

[disaacks3]

White - 16-42 .276 overall | 7-10 .412 home | 9-32 .220 road
Blue - 10-20 .333 overall | 7-16 .304 home | 3-4 .429 road
Red - 6-2 .750 overall | 6-2 .750 home

So, we just alternate Red & White at Home and switch to Blue on the Road!

 

[barrett]

admittedly, i love zeppo. what a maroon!

 

[IlliniJen]

i was in no way suggesting that by wearing a certain color that we would develop a winning tradition. what are you smoking? i was talking about developing a national visual identity through consistency. there are winning football teams that have 7 different uniforms also, and i for one think those teams that i was talking about have a more storied tradition and a visual identity associated with there winning traditions than the teams that have won in the past and have gone the route of the new fad of stupid swooshy nonsense and red unitards.

Storied and winning traditions are created by guys with names like Butkus, Montana, Mean Joe Green, etc. NOT uniforms.

 

[TexanSam]

White - 16-42 .276 overall | 7-10 .412 home | 9-32 .220 road
Blue - 10-20 .333 overall | 7-16 .304 home | 3-4 .429 road
Red - 6-2 .750 overall | 6-2 .750 home

 

[aj.]

I think the all-blue is our best looking uniform. When they go red, I like the red jersey and white pant better than all red.

 

[barrett]

Storied and winning traditions are created by guys with names like Butkus, Montana, Mean Joe Green, etc. NOT uniforms.

what the hell is wrong with you? damn capitalists can't read to save their lives.

 

[disaacks3]

I think the all-blue is our best looking uniform. When they go red, I like the red jersey and white pant better than all red.

I'd still like to see Red Jersey, BLUE pants just once...

 

[barrett]

sadly, i'm sure you'll get your wish.