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BYU Gloves Disappoint

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The Gulag returns for the first time in 2011.

Sweet Sweet Lax put us on to a major brand switch Friday night. What is going on in Provo? They have 37 new sponsors every year. Must be taking after the football team and chasing that big money or at least companies that offer the biggest discounts. If we learned one thing from last night’s ridiculous premiere of Spartacus, it’s that everything is for sale. So long STX. Hello, Reebok.

How did Reebok acquire any real estate at a Nike school? BYU has never worn Nike lacrosse uniforms. In fact, we don’t remember a time when they’ve ever worn a brand name uniform. That’s fine. Not every MCLA lacrosse team wears the same brand uniform as their football counterparts. Still, we find it curious that Reebok would secure BYU (the lime green and silver Reebok lacrosse logo is now located in the sponsor section of the BYU website.)

Here is a series of interesting questions.

Did Reebok approach BYU or did BYU approach Reebok?

If Reebok approached  BYU, did BYU reach out to Nike lacrosse in hopes of a counter offer?

If BYU approached Reebok, why Reebok? Why not the 19 other lacrosse companies?

What made Reebok special?

And, why did they bail on STX?

Shame on Nike for losing a lacrosse team at a Nike U school to Reebok. However, if BYU did not contact Nike with Reebok’s proposal, shame on BYU’s negotiating skills.

Industry questions asides, we’d like to offer our aesthetic opinion, because it differs so greatly from tastes of SSL writer @ConnorWilsonLAS. Mr. Wilson writes, “BYU kept it simple and didn’t divert far from the basics but that makes sense, since their color scheme is so basic (navy and white), so it works.”

Did they keep it simple? Reebok gloves cannot match the number of customizable zones of a Warrior, Brine, or Maverik glove. So to say they kept it simple implies that they decided against an outlandish glove design when in actuality they had no choice. Reebok gloves feature two zones of customization. They are naturally simple and therefore creatively limiting.

Take a look at Sweet Sweet Lax’s coverage of this season’s NLL gloves. They all look the same. It’s 2011. More than two zones isn’t a luxury. It’s the standard.

Let’s return to Mr. Wilson’s statement. “BYU kept it simple and didn’t divert far from the basics but that makes sense, since their color scheme is so basic (navy and white), so it works.”

Navy and white?

The only white we see is on the palm. Don’t let the way the light is hitting the cuff fool you. That tab is silver too. (And what’s with the spacing of the player number?)

White is not anywhere else on that unit. We see silver though. Are the Cougars trying to make silver happen in 2011, because they were all about it in the fall. Choosing silver over white seems very out of character for the traditionally straight shooting MCLA power. Therefore, we considered the possibility that white wasn’t a color option for Reebok gloves.

Lacrosse

Wrong.

Consciously going against school colors? Bailing on STX for Reebok? Bailing on anyone for Reebok anything?

Welcome to the Gulag, BYU.

In other “major companies who have recently entered the lacrosse industry, but have previously made suspect equipment” news, how about this tweet…

Pardon me?

LAS responded.

Probably only turning a $14.73 profit on that cleat. Not ready to mention what was said in our meeting with adidas on Thursday. Similar yet different ideas were discussed.

What a fun day. In summary, BYU’s Reebok jokes are a rain cloud over the entire MCLA’s head and @ConnorWilsonLAS needs to get his fangs back or his eyes checked or both.

Skim milk. Avoid it.

About the Author

Tumbas is entering his fourth season as editor of 412 Lax. He was a part of the first ever Wooster team to reach the NCAA tournament in 2004 and later finished his playing career at the University of Pittsburgh. Currently, Tumbas is the head coach at Indiana University and also serves as director of the American Revolution Lacrosse Club.

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  • Guest

    Silver is a secondary BYU color (Basketball team rocking silver warmups). BYU obviously was in talks with Nike, Reebok was a better fit/deal.

  • Dumpster

    Maybe I’m colorblind or it’s just the picture, but those gloves are looking a little too close to purple for me.

  • DJ

    as unnattractive as those gloves are, they’re really quite comfortable and probably one of the better gloves on the market. And that’s no lie.

  • http://twitter.com/Jonny_B_29 Jon Bongiorno

    Knowing what Nike offers as far as deals to MCLA teams, I could see how Reebok would/could have a better offer. I’m becoming more and more disappointed with Nike Lacrosse. Not the gear, but the way the lacrosse division is handling the MCLA teams….

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  • Anonymous

    these are basically stock gloves. When I say they kept it basic, I meant they kept it basic. Like STOCK basic. Like their colors are navy and white they went with Navy gloves. Reebok just puts silver on all their stock gloves. And there’s nothing wrong with that. To me it seems like BYU made the decision to go with Reebok for value, a good working relationship and excellent products. Customization seemed to be low to non-existent on their list of priorities. I tried to applaud this effort in my post but I was doing it while I watched an NLL game, maybe it didn’t come across!

    They prioritized quality over customization; a novel but smart choice. And it could work for a school like BYU. Would I want these gloves? Yes, but that’s beside the point. You might not like them, but they’re perfect for who is using them.

    Honestly, if I were a the coach of an MCLA team I’d try to get with the ‘bok too. Their gear is legit on the field, they have 1 other team on their roster (so you’ll get the attention you need) and they’re only going to grow. Get on that ship before it sails.

  • http://twitter.com/ckerst Cam

    I think this glove looks like a stock glove, and that there are some very poor details to it. I liked the flashier NLL gloves a lot, and you’re right that these are a total disappointment. I will say that whereas I have only tried on a glove, I keep hearing better and better things about Reebok gear.

    And the Adidas thing doesn’t surprise me. They haven’t made much progress, and big brands don’t like even the possibility of being seen as losers.

  • Jason

    How about the fact that despite the aesthetics, these new Reebok 10K gloves are absolutely fantastic. They feel awesome on – better than any glove I’ve ever tried on, especially for someone like me with smaller hands. Palm is incredible. Comfort is top notch – better than anything STX, Brine, Warrior, whoever. Practically feels like you don’t even have a glove on.

    Tumbas, you’re so obsessed with everyone’s aesthetics, and so unbelievable critical of what everyone does. How about giving your opinion on how gear performs instead of ripping everyone’s color zone choices?

  • http://twitter.com/mjgialanella Michael J Gialanella

    The gloves are…meh. I have less of an issue with BYU going with Reebok and more curiosity to going as stock as possible, but then going with a logo and number. @Jason – I tried the 10ks on about a month ago and they are a nice glove. I played in the STX Assaults a few weeks ago and thought they were a nicer glove. Just like the rest of that line of product it really feels like nothing is on, but with great protection. I have Silos (12s) and the Assaults (13s) were a more comfortable and form fitting glove to me.

    After a strong post, you end with a typo? Swim Milk?!!?! Did I miss something or is that a joke? One of my undergrad profs was a stickler for typos, especially when the content of what’s written is solid. If the whole thing is garbage, it’s par for the course and whatever. But when it’s good work and you get sloppy, it’s just disappointing. It decreases the value of the piece. Higher expectations of you, Coach.

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  • Patton

    BYU had a relationship with Harrow for gloves for at least 3 years to my knowledge (also visible in your fall ball photo link). They also got a ton of shafts from them.

    The silver does look especially horrific since they feature solid white so prominently in their unis, and rightfully so. It’s a clean and classy look. Silver on the gloves will be like urine on bedsheets.

    As for Adidas Lacrosse…you guys do know that Reebok is owned by Adidas? Doesn’t it only make perfect business sense that The Adidas Group (AG, incorporated in Germany) divest its lacrosse interests in either the Adidas or Reebok brand? Right now Adidas and Reebok lax gear are competing against one another in the marketplace. The corporation is simply solidifying its overall lacrosse marketing.

    As for specific Adidas lacrosse products being gone forever, not sure how much sleep I’ll lose over that fact.

  • http://laxallstars.com/ Jeff Brunelle

    Dropping knowledge! Thanks for the insight, Patton. I had no clue Reebok was
    owned by All Day I Dream About Soccer!

  • http://412.LaxAllStars.com 412 Lax

    Only a rumor from the LaxCon floor. When I spoke with my adidas guy the
    other day, he made no mention of such a move. We shall see.

  • Guest

    Wrong. Adidas isn’t pulling out of lacrosse, at least not yet. They have licensed the brand of Adidas through another company for the past few years, and that company is pulling out lacrosse and Adidas is deciding if they want to now make Adidas lacrosse a first party brand and have it actually be made by Adidas, or just end their lacrosse relationship. It has nothing to do with Reebok. Even though they are both owned by the same company they are operated as separate companies and are operated independently and competitively.

    But nice research. Though actually finding out what is going on would require talking to people, not just banging at your keyboard. Save that for Tumbas.

  • http://412.LaxAllStars.com 412 Lax

    Not exactly what adidas told me on Thursday, but warming up.

  • Cannon

    Sometimes less is more.

  • Mike

    THIS BORES ME – fantastic allusion to Chappelle’s Prince and the Revolution. I often implore my team to, “Shoot it… Shoot the J!” Well played.

  • Laxerfeld

    Yep, that’s exactly what the multibillion dollars fashion industry is all about; inner beauty… oh, and practicality.

    Let’s face it, if warrior and brine made gloves THIS boring… they wouldn’t get the lax bro cult following, not matter how good the gloves are (on the inside).

  • Godzilla

    Even G-Town and Loyola do away with their silver helmet, and there wasn’t a hint of silver on their gloves (just grey) during the reign of silver bucket of both those schools.. eventhough they could have. At the very least go ALL navy with the gloves, we could have lived with that…

    “Urine on bedsheets” right on, Patton.

  • Guest

    Where can I snag all this cheap Adidas gear thats getting discontinued? Hook the ppl up!

  • Patton

    I guess in the loud noise of my keyboard banging I didn’t realize I was supposed to parse it out for you. Do major brands license out their brand and use other companies to make the products? Yes, of course. Obviously Adidas doesn’t have the market competencies to be making footballs, tennis rackets, clothing, and lacrosse equipment and still pull a profit. Their overhead would be enormous.

    Does it still make perfect sense for the parent corporation to pick one of their TWO brands marketing lacrosse products to STOP making lacrosse products? Yes. Yes it does. I wasn’t saying they are, I was simply reacting to the article’s insinuations throught tweet pictures.

    You know where people aren’t allowed to share their opinions? The Gulag. NIfty.

  • Anonymous

    I love that BYU is rocking the Silver uni’s this year, I also like that they went with the old school look on the Royal Blue uni’s..I applaud them for not going conservative on the uniforms… I like the look, does anyone know who is making thier uniforms?

  • http://412.LaxAllStars.com 412 Lax

    Pro Look uniforms