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BSD Article: Wake Forest Student Section

Deacsfan27 said:
I didn't mean "wear this black shirt we hand out", I mean just "wear black because that's what the color is".

I think we are on the same page here, which is why market research (especially among students) is quite valuable in determining what color Wake should identify with.

Personally I like the Old Gold, but as stated, that causes issues with people having that color. Black is much easier to get somebody to wear because everybody has something black in their closet.
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What has been stopping students from wearing black to games for years?
 
It will be much easier to get fans to buy into black. I haven't been to a Wake football game in a couple of years, but it seemed like that had become sort of the standard color for football games.

As the article states, there are way too many shades of "gold." Hell, the tie dyes weren't even gold at all. They were yellow. So, very difficult to get uniformity. Also, I can't recall what year it was, maybe 1997-98, but the Screamin Demons one year had beige colored "gold" t-shirts that completely disappeared on TV, looked like we had an entire section of empty seats.

Anyway, everyone owns something black, and it's not ugly, so the nervous preppy students don't have to worry about looking uncool (not sure if this is still a thing, but it was definitely a thing when I was at Wake). I actually thought that was the best thing about the tie dyes. In addition to popping on TV, they made wearers just kind of own the fact that they looked silly, thus giving them permission to be crazy and loud.
 
Deacfreak07 said:
What has been stopping students from wearing black to games for years?
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Laziness and the over-acceptance of pastels in male clothing. I swear it looks like Lilly is making a line for "men" the way some of the prepsters 19-30 are dressing now.

Everything is available in black. Golf shirts, button ups, even Fruit of the Loom briefs. No limits.
 
Say Hey Deac said:
It will be much easier to get fans to buy into black. I haven't been to a Wake football game in a couple of years, but it seemed like that had become sort of the standard color for football games.

As the article states, there are way too many shades of "gold." Hell, the tie dyes weren't even gold at all. They were yellow. So, very difficult to get uniformity. Also, I can't recall what year it was, maybe 1997-98, but the Screamin Demons one year had beige colored "gold" t-shirts that completely disappeared on TV, looked like we had an entire section of empty seats.

Anyway, everyone owns something black, and it's not ugly, so the nervous preppy students don't have to worry about looking uncool (not sure if this is still a thing, but it was definitely a thing when I was at Wake). I actually thought that was the best thing about the tie dyes. In addition to popping on TV, they made wearers just kind of own the fact that they looked silly, thus giving them permission to be crazy and loud.
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Nervous preppy students are still very much a thing at Wake. Perhaps more so now.
 
So this whole thing narrows down to wearing black at games? How much is Wake going to pay a marketing firm for that.
 
My friends and I started a smaller basketball cheering group called "The Congregation" around 2003/04. We had a lot of fun with the motif and built/brought some funny props.

I’ve always thought there was an angle for WFU sports to use around the theme of a deranged/demonic deacon — I think we’ve tried to add that edge with the motorcycle, but could also do things like deep/heavy electric organ music (a la Phantom of the Opera intro), etc.

Not sure who started the soccer supporters group, or when, but that was interesting to see.
 
Don't know if this has been mentioned, but it's past time to get rid of the tye dye and zombie nation.
 
I hate the all one color schtick. Too Children of the Corn. Be an individual. Wear what you want.
 
myDeaconmyhand said:
Don't know if this has been mentioned, but it's past time to get rid of the tye dye and zombie nation.
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It's been mentioned. Hopefully tie dye is dead. Zombie Nation was used everywhere for awhile....NHL, NBA, colleges all over the country, but I think people are tired of it.
 
Bow ties

Deacfreak07 said:
No. The color of the shirt doesn't matter. Students don't really like to conform. Problem with football games is everyone is trying to peacock about with their own trendy clothes. For basketball you have the additional problem of basketball games, outside of a couple a year, aren't really viewed as "events". Students just come from whatever they were doing for a couple hours if they can be bothered to make it at all.

If we had colors that could more easily be incorporated into dresses, button downs, polos, and sweaters, we would be much better off with respect to the look of the student section.
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Agreed.

Personally, I think that Wake should emphasize the Deacon's bow tie and encourage students to each wear one in school colors. Recognize a "best dressed fan" at halftime or at the gate. Offer officially licensed versions (striped, madras, dots, etc.).

Bow ties are ubiquitous on campus, can be dressed up or down, and are arguably unisex.

Among P5 schools, the Deacon's bow tie stands alone among the neckwear choices of all other mascots:

ACC: Notre Dame (necktie), UVA (cape), and Duke (cape)
B12: Oklahoma State (neckerchief)
B10: Wisconsin (turtleneck sweater)
PAC12: Oregon (neckerchief)
SEC: Vanderbilt (yellow collar) [note: Ole Miss no longer uses Colonel Reb, who wore a string tie]

Even going through other conferences:
A10: UMass (ascot), George Washington University (cravat), and Duquesne (necktie)
Ivy: Harvard (pilgrim collar) and Penn (ascot or cavat)

Bow ties.
 
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Move on from the tie dye. Please. Skip is gone (RIP). That era is gone. We need to evolve.
 
CallowayDeac04 said:
Agreed.

Personally, I think that Wake should emphasize the Deacon's bow tie and encourage students to each wear one in school colors. Recognize a "best dressed fan" at halftime or at the gate. Offer officially licensed versions (striped, madras, dots, etc.).

Bow ties are ubiquitous on campus, can be dressed up or down, and are arguably unisex.

Among P5 schools, the Deacon's bow tie stands alone among the neckwear choices of all other mascots:

ACC: Notre Dame (necktie)
B12: Oklahoma State (neckerchief)
B10: Wisconsin (turtleneck sweater)
PAC12: Oregon (neckerchief)
SEC: Vanderbilt (yellow collar)

Bow ties.
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Hell no. Are you a bow tie distributor?
 
The point is that changes are likely to be made and sports marketing/the AD is not just going to say "we're going to abdicate responsibility to come up with a new student section idea because if we win it won't matter."
 
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