Black is the new (insert your color here)

“I see a red field and I want to paint it black.”

That used to be the funniest thing I have ever read about Eastern Washington University’s red turf, written on a website back when it was rolled out in 2010. I say used to be because I’ve heard something I think is funnier — more on that later in the column.

But let’s talk black. It’s the new rave in color, or rather absence of color, for many football teams these days in jersey selection.

College and professional, teams seem to desire putting their traditional colors on the backburner, or at best background, for black. I noticed it earlier this season, but it really sprang out at me two Saturdays ago watching the Nebraska-Northwestern game.

I grew up in Oklahoma so I’m familiar with Nebraska somewhat. Thanksgiving dinner’s timing was always dictated by the kickoff of the Sooners-Cornhuskers game, as were many national title bowl match ups determined by the winner.

Nebraska’s colors are red and white. They’re even called, or were, Big Red.

Yet here they were on my TV, wearing black. Probably appropriate since at 3-6, they’re season is pretty much becoming a funeral processional.

Doh, did I say that?

Ohio State, scarlet and gray, wore black uniforms against Penn State Oct. 17. UCLA, UCLA blue and UCLA gold (How’s that for importance!? You get two colors named after you!) wore black against California.

Mississippi State, maroon and white, wears black against Kentucky. The NFL’s San Francisco 49ers have worn black this year, and they’re pro football royalty.

Of course, locally Eastern Washington University has been wearing black uniforms for at least five years. We won the 2010 national title wearing them in Frisco, Texas.

Yet, part of the Eagles fight song goes “Red and white, just fight, fight, fight and Eagles will win the victory!” Red and White!

(Shameless Cheney Free Press plug here – for an interesting take on this, read staff reporter Paul Delaney’s story in our EWU Homecoming section included in this fine newspaper.)

It’s disorientating at times. It’s also pretty cool, though, I will admit.

Black looks sharp when used correctly with other colors. Especially matte black, which in my opinion always looked sharp when I was younger and building airplane models to while away my grade-school era summer time hours.

UCLA’s all black uniforms looked pretty cool with the blue and gold numerals and trim. Nebraska looked sharp, can’t believe I wrote that, as did the Buckeyes.

And of course my alma mater Eastern has always looked spiffy in black. Black is pretty cool, and when used in conjunction with red, as in the end zones and other areas of The Inferno at Roos Field, pretty hot.

Which brings me to the funniest thing I have heard about the red turf. My significant other couldn’t make the Cal Poly game, so my stepson (pseudo-stepson — it’s complicated) asked a friend of his from Gonzaga Prep to go to the game.

Both Rick and Cordell play on the Bullpups freshmen team, and on the way out we were engaging in conversation when I asked Cordell if he had ever seen Eastern’s turf before. It can be somewhat of a shock if you’re not prepared.

“Oh yeah,” he said. “I’ve played on it.”

“So how did you like it?” I asked.

“I didn’t,” he replied, explaining he’d played on it during a summer game, Pop Warner or something like that.

“It burned my feet,” Cordell said seriously.

To which, Rick replied, “Well duh. Why do you think they call it The Inferno?”

Priceless.

John McCallum can be reached at [email protected].