Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1044500
www.BLUEANDGOLD.com NOV. 5, 2018 5 FAN FORUM GOOD AS GOLD I'm a longtime subscriber and have a question. I remember that at one time the student managers "colored" the gold on the helmets. Then, last year or the year before, there was that weird color that did not show well on tele- vision. I like what I see now. How is it done? Four of our kids are Notre Dame graduates. I'm class of '60, follow- ing my Dad, class of '27 and student manager for Knute Rockne. Thanks for your great publication! Paul Beretz Via the Internet Mr. Beretz, that is quite a proud legacy over nearly 100 years! Congratulations. Notre Dame athletics director Jack Swarbrick shared your frustration about the "chrome-like" helmets not so long ago and mandated change there. It began in 2011 for the home night game versus USC. Here are excerpts from longtime Notre Dame administrator John Heisler on a piece he wrote earlier this year regarding those changes: "The Irish football team that night [versus USC in 2011] took the field wearing new, brighter, shinier helmets courtesy of Hydro Graphics Inc., an Or- egon-based company. It was a more im- pactful golden color for the Notre Dame headgear. "The tradition of having 23.9 karat gold in the helmet continued. Those same actual gold flakes, collected when the golden dome was re-gilded, were still in- cluded in the painting process by Hydro Graphics. "The end result became a gold helmet that was closer to the color of the dome than helmets Notre Dame had worn pre- viously — and provided that color on a consistent basis from week to week and year to year. "However, the football equipment staff was forced to decide between continuing the tradition of painting helmets and having a subpar helmet or altering the painting process to obtain a superior version. The consensus was that it was more important to get the color correct. Brighter texture instead of chrome look. "Student managers have still been involved with the maintenance of the helmets each game week, including in- spection, removal of scuff marks and cleaning. But the new paint process was so detailed it could not be duplicated by Notre Dame, so it was impossible to be applied each week. "About half the Irish players will con- tinue to wear the Hydro Graphic version — with an updated color and paint pro- cess — while a significant number will now wear a helmet made by Vicis. The Vicis helmet is engineered to both absorb and deflect contact as well or better than any other product on the market. It rep- resents the latest major commitment to Notre Dame player safety. "Said [Notre Dame equipment man- ager] Chris Bacsik: 'Last year there were three players who wore the Vicis helmet in games — this year it's up to 52 play- ers. We will be among the programs with the most players wearing Vicis.' "Vicis has been able to update its shad- ing by working with a new company, Velocity Chrome out of Florida. Hydro Graphics dips the helmets in a vat and pulls them back out and the paint simply adheres to the shell. Velocity Chrome uses a hand-painting, spray-painting process." Notre Dame's golden helmets have undergone changes the past seven years to ensure the best combination of color, quality and safety. PHOTO BY BILL PANZICA BE HEARD! Send your letters to: Blue & Gold Illustrated / Letters P. O. Box 1007 Notre Dame, IN 46556 or e-mail to: lsomogyi@blueandgold.com FROM THE WEBSITE With Notre Dame finishing its regular season on the road in four of its final five games, including two trips to California, cumulative fatigue was a concern among many BlueandGold.com subscribers. Here's a small sample: DenPetDel: Any concern with our guys having to travel approximately 10,000 miles in November, while the main competition (Alabama, Clemson, LSU, Texas, Georgia, Michigan) will travel less than 1,000? Is there a "wear down" concern? Too bad the committee doesn't recognize travel schedules in their playoff evaluations. Iam4Irish: Ridiculous for people to constantly worry about the November travel. It is what it is. Travel- ing via plane is not going to be an issue. It will NOT be the reason ND loses. If ND loses, it will be due to being either ill prepared or simply overlooking the opponent … not due to travel plans. Rockne1988: Good points, but this is a really goofy schedule to end the season, especially moving the Syracuse game to NY. The top teams schedule strategically to keep them fresh and try to add any little advantage. BigNDFan80: If you had to choose a team traveling 10k miles in November or under 1,000 — what would you choose to ensure they're given the best chance to win? Csryan: With the exception of one game, the travel is what it is. Moving a home game to NYC in November was AD malpractice. MagicInTheName: Do you not think there's a reason Bama never travels far for games? Why they have a bye before LSU every single year? Why they schedule an FCS opponent before Auburn? Because Bama doesn't play around with "well, the kids should be able to put up with anything, any- time. Winners win!" mentality. Despite having the best talent by far in college football, Bama does everything they can to ensure the schedule is maximized for creating a 12-0 or 11-1 season. SJB75: Travel wasn't an excuse for the Miami meltdown [in 2017], and travel isn't a valid excuse if Notre Dame loses to Navy or Northwestern, or any game through USC.