Ta-Da! I've solved the helmet issue!

If you don't follow us on Twitter, you probably should...because our Twitter feed is filled with fun and frivolity in a bite-sized format. If you're not on Twitter, you should get on there just for when news is breaking; sports news, real news...it's disseminated quicker on Twitter than in any other medium. Sure, there's a ton of misinfo out there too...but but that's where all of the critical thinking that you picked up at Purdue comes into play.

I posted an article from EsPN that answered a lot of the questions that I had about the logistics behind the alternate helmet craze or fad. After reading it, I've gotta tell you that it's crystal clear why Purdue hasn't worn a black helmet yet- it costs money.  Morgan Burke doesn't have a ton of time for spending money on things that don't have a return on investment. I'm guessing that he has an excel file that details studies that show the spending of this money is frivolous...frivolous, I tell you!! At this point, I gotta say he might be right.

Alternate helmets, at this point, are really industry standard stuff.  They're not a recruiting tool, they're a ho-hum expectation. Kids do like them still though, it seems...but I don't know if adding a black helmet once a season gets Tranquil a recruit to sign if he's already leaning another way. J and I have been beating the drum of an alternate helmet for years. I am now officially off the bandwagon...and no, I'm not joking.

I think the fact that high schools wear alternates and that IU has 6 helmets point to the fact that it's jumped the shark. What Purdue really needs to do is get the helmet right...and the one that my Boilers wear now is not, in my opinion.

Nike has dragged Purdue around by the nose for too long. Old gold and black is in the damned song...no mention of metallic beige or shiny urine gold. By the way, Old gold does exist in Nike's color pallet, just Purdue refuses to push the issue...much like the licensing portion arm, Burke and Schott all accepted Nike's lazily-designed train as a gift from the uniform gods in Beaverton, Purdue accepts that her colors have changed. They haven't...We're still old gold and black, dammit. And no, I'm not talking about the brown helmets that were worn in the 80s...I'm talking metallic old gold.

So here's my proposition- make the helmets the same base old gold as Army wore a year ago- rich, metallic gold...and the alternates will merely be change of decals. Simple (I like solutions like that), cheap (Burke loves that), and classic (most Purdue alums will like that)...and still in step with the accepted practice of wearing alternate helmets.

Penn State, Michigan, Purdue and all of the blue blood programs (nevermind part of that statement) have waited long enough that the fad has gotten silly and over-done...it's time to lead by being true to the brand, in my opinion.

Sure, it won't change the fact that Purdue has been playing like rubber dog dung or that Burke still won't get lights when about every high school in America has them...but the Good Guys will look damned sharp on Saturdays if they follow my direction here...