By Matt Lowry
Gridiron Goddess’ ASU Beat Writer

For months Arizona State advertised that there was a huge change coming for the school’s athletic program and  ASU’s University with Videos channel on YouTube was in overdrive hyping the huge announcement. The University didn’t give any information on the change but gave us the date when they would reveal the huge announcement. April 12^th 2011. Tuesday came and everyone had their eyes on Tempe AZ to find out what all of the  hype was about..Well the announcement came and ASU and Nike unveiled new Football Uniforms with a Brand new Logo. Everyone I’ve spoken to at Arizona St has fallen in love with the new gear and new logo.

This was highly anticipated by everyone associated with Arizona State and it really didn’t disappoint many people.  The players love the new uniforms and logo along with the coaches, boosters and alumni. The thing that really didn’t surprise me though was the school’s decision to drop the cartoonish Disney inspired Sun Devil Logo in favor of the pitchfork on the helmets. Sparky didn’t leave the helmet completely because he’s on the back of the helmet. However, all other incidences of Sparky on ASU’s uniforms has been replaced with the pitchfork.

Now the one thing that really shocked me was the decision to have All Black Uniforms. I could see Maroon and Gold and the all whites but Black? Why Black?

I watched a YouTube video explaining the whole thing and apparently the players wanted to go with the black uniforms –  which is something I can understand.  Saturday Night primetime game Students blacking out Sun Devils Stadium and out comes ASU in all black. This is the first time since the 1950’s where ASU has had black on the helmets. Arizona State’s Athletic Director Lisa Love has already told the media she doesn’t know exactly when the team will break out the Black Uniforms so we’ll have to see what happens with that.

The new maroon uniforms do, on first glance, bear a strong resemblance to Pac-12 opponent USC’s classic uniforms,  but looking closely at them they are very different. The Pitchfork on the helmets. PT 42 on the front and Arizona St Lettering under that. The Uniforms don’t disappoint me one bit.

What about the Logo?

Well the logo I instantly fell in love with. The Pitchfork makes ASU look a lot more serious instead of having Disney jokes thrown at them a lot. Sorry Oregon you still own the title for having a Disney Character as your mascot.  The font changed a whole lot and the Pitchfork looks vastly improved. This is, in my opinion, a huge step up from Sparky.  Students hurried to buy the new shirts with the logo and some even put it as their profile picture on Facebook and twitter. Where do I rate the logo on a scale from one to ten? 8/10.

Overall Arizona State is really trying to rebrand itself as we head into the new Pac 12. Arizona St is focused on becoming not only a Pac 12 Athletic Power but a nationally recognized power and they’ve started by rolling out  a new logo and new uniforms for the football team . While the players and coaches love the new uniforms and the hype they’re getting  –will it carry over to the football field?

All we can do is watch and find out.