At the end of the day, all sports fans are rooting for laundry.

This fact is as true as when Jerry Seinfeld said it years ago. It's all about the uniforms. They are your tribe's colors. In fact, it's a team's very identity.

This is precisely why I am so pissed off right now at my tribe. The Washington Redskins have taken to wearing a "white on white" color scheme.

In short, it sucks.

First, a little history...

The glory years of Redskins football under Joe Gibbs 1.0 was a time in which the team played 95% of its games in a white shirt / red pants combination. In fact, it was a scheme Gibbs himself initiated for both home and road games.

Previous Redskins teams under coaches Jack Pardee and George Allen had used the red jersey / white pants combo. And under Gibbs 1.0, on rare occasions when playing on the road against a team that also wore white at home, the Redskins were forced to wear the old red-on-white.

We never seemed to play well in red-on-white. I don't know the team's actual record in that color scheme, but I'd bet a crisp stack of bills that it was somewhere south of .500.

I don't care what anybody else says, but the red pants / white jersey combo is one of the cleanest and boldest NFL uniforms out there. Of course I am biased, but just seeing my Redskins run onto the field in those jerseys -- with the deep, rich red helmets bearing the classic Indian head logo -- there is a tranquility that overtakes me.

It is a peace that says: "No matter what happens today, at least my team looks fantastic!"

Well, so long to that.

Gibbs allowed the players to return to the white-on-white this preseason, and look what good it did. Clinton Portis, one of the guys who fought hardest for the color shakeup, got hurt making a tackle on an interception.

Super. Now, can we end this nonsense?

Under Marty, we went back to the red jerseys at home. But at least it was with the white pants. I didn't like it, but it was much better than now. Steve Spurrier sprinkled in some white-on-white, and I hated it just as much.

But the Spurrier tenure was so riddled with bigger issues, I somehow gritted my teeth.

Now, it looks like the 'Skins have the chamber loaded for a monster year, and they might just do it with a ridiculous mix-and-match color scheme that a few knuckleheads from "Da U" forced upon us Redskins faithful.

I told a friend, that if this white-on-white thing doesn't end soon, I am going to have a harder and harder time rooting for the team of my boyhood and first sporting love.

He thought I was kidding.

I assured him I was not.

He the asked: "Okay, exaggerating?"

"No, not really."

Does this make me insane? Have I lost my mind? Am I simply making up something to be cranky about? I don't think so, and here's why.

There are a certain number of teams in the NFL whose uniforms are sacrosanct. And while these teams may, on occasion, wear a throwback or alternate, it's only for a week. These teams don't just start mixing and matching pants because a few guys on the team think they need a "good luck charm."

For anyone who thinks I'm over-reacting, imagine the Green Bay Packers, going to "green-on-green" at home. Or all-white on the road. How about the Cowboys ditching their trademark silver pants, for a white-on-white?

Hell, most Cowboy fans I know don't even like the blue tops, which, like my 'Skins' red tops, they are rarely forced to wear.

The truth is, Cowboy or Packer Nation would be outraged at such a move, and rightly so. They know their franchises are not the Ravens, the Jaguars, or the Seahawks. A Browns fan recently told me that history, tradition, and simple elegance of their uniforms is why they haven't updated much, if anything over the years.

I still love my Redskins. But it's hard to love them looking like this. I think you feel me on this one.

30 comments about this article. Post a comment / write a review.

Recent Talkbacks ...

Posted by OMCreader on Nov. 15, 2006 at 9:44 a.m. (report)

Jenny said: I am so sick of the white-on-white getup. It's really bland and it disrespects our tradition. I agree that if the Cowboys and Packers changed their unis, their fans would lose it. You'd think they would have gone back to the burgundy pants by now. The only reason they went with white on white was because is was supposed to be good luck. But look at our record. Please, Redskins, bring back the uniform we won our Super Bowls in!

Posted by OMCreader on Aug. 28, 2006 at 6:40 a.m. (report)

Ron Dearden said: Great article. I couldn't have said it better myself. I am 59 years old, and have been a die hard Redskin fan for 52 years. When I first saw the all white, I couldn't believe it. If they don't change back soon, they might as well go PC and change their name while they are at it. I was thrilled when Joe Gibbs came back, but now I'm not so sure. Their team colors are a lot more important to me than a few self absorbed players with no sense of history. This may cause me to just follow college football. I hope not!

Posted by OMCreader on Aug. 27, 2006 at 11:25 p.m. (report)

Dr. B. said: I wonder if the away Dallas game will bring a red on red combo. The Skins will litterally be "Redskinned" from head to toe.

Posted by OMCreader on Aug. 27, 2006 at 2:17 p.m. (report)

josh yochim said: yes, white on white sucks! we look like the four time super bowl LOSER buffalo bills.....i do like the throw backs from a couple of years ago though.

Posted by OMCreader on Aug. 23, 2006 at 6:59 a.m. (report)

BTK in Vegas Baby said: Czabe, couldn't agree more with you. The Skins wear white jerseys at home with burgandy pants. However, just be glad you are not a Browns fan. I am so glad they are going back to their classic brown/white OR white/white combo. The past coupl,e of season's I have been cringing with the Orange Jerseys/pants. I was just waiting for them to wear Orange on Orange.