Rarely has a football team won while looking so ugly. Orange on orange? Whose bright idea was that?

I don’t know who looked more foolish, the Temple offense or 6-foot-5 SU punter Brendan Carney, whose dress resembled a life-size Flavor-Ice. It should be cruel and unusual punishment to subject the SU faithful to this, and on Parents Weekend?

No more. Please, from now on, don’t unleash this monstrosity on the innocent Syracuse fans. Because when SU took the field in its bright, all-orange jerseys Saturday in its 41-17 win over Temple, it was the worst game garment since the Orangemen wore khaki moleskin pants in the 1920s.

The jerseys were atrocious, but at least they matched Mom’s ‘Proud SU Parent’ button. After today, these babies should be melted down and fused into traffic cones.

‘They look like giant creamsicles,’ said Tony Hanley, an SU fan.

But didn’t the Orangemen really dominate in their new unis?

‘They just happen to be playing Temple,’ he said. ‘If Virginia Tech were here, they’d look like melted creamsicles.’

So they should be put to rest?

‘Forever,’ Hanley said. ‘I (would have been) content if they burned them by halftime.’

Poor Temple, which has twice been witness to this fashion faux pas. SU last unveiled the orange jerseys and pants in 2001, in a 45-3 win over the Owls.

‘They should have rolled them out for a significant football game,’ said Rich Scanlon Sr., linebacker Rich Scanlon’s father. ‘There’s still a lot of football to be played. They should have brought them out for special motivation.’

Syracuse head coach Paul Pasqualoni handed down the orders for the fashion switch by informing his team in the team hotel Saturday morning. The intent was to honor the great SU teams of the past. In 1958, the last full season using the jerseys, the Orangemen went 8-2, finishing ninth in the country.

The first orange on orange action came in 1949 when SU head coach Ben Schwartzwalder instituted the switch when he became coach. He claimed the ball was camouflaged in the color scheme. The jerseys lasted for three seasons.

But during that time frame, Syracuse went 14-14 and never made a bowl game. Not exactly the squads SU should be honoring.

‘I loved it,’ quarterback R.J. Anderson said. ‘What’s the point of keeping them in the box. We gotta use them.’

Said wide receiver Johnnie Morant: ‘It means a lot. When we wear it, that orange brings a lot of tradition.’

Yeah, yeah, yeah. But aren’t they hideous?

‘We were excited about them,’ Carney said. ‘But I’ll stick with the orange and blue.’

Good move. There’s no reason they should be brought back. Unless, of course, one’s goal is to resemble the Manderina Tangerine Kool-Aid man.

Now that this experiment is over, bring back the blue shirts, which have been used since 1977. It’s traditional, it’s classy and it doesn’t burn your retinas when the Orangemen take the field.

Sure, the players were itching to put the shirts to use. But if they really wanted to make a statement, do so in a more pivotal game. A home game against 1-7 Temple is basically a guaranteed win. This move didn’t ruffle any feathers. Of course, the bookstores surely made a little more cash selling the orange jerseys to all the parents, but I’m sure that was the last thing on Pasqualoni’s mind.

Why not unveil them against Notre Dame? The Fighting Irish can wear their new green tops. Add water. Sprinkle in some sugar. Voila, Ecto Cooler.

But much like the popular Hi-C fruit drink and the green cartoon ghoul on the box, the orange jersey has past its prime. The Orangemen had their fun playing dress up. It’s time to throw the orange shirts into the attic and leave them for the moths.

Michael Becker is an assistant sports editor at The Daily Orange, where his columns appear regularly. E-mail him at mibecker@syr.edu

Published on November 9, 2003 at 12:00 pm