Who has the best game-day apparel?

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Jessica Allen | Assistant Sports Editor | @Jessdaleallen

Sports Column

With Halloween right around the corner, I’ve been thinking a lot about the costumes you see fans wearing on game day. We have all seen fans painting faces, wearing the teams’ colors or wearing those skin suits that cover your face and prevent you from breathing on game day. These are all true signs that you are a fan. However, that is amateur status.

What I want to talk about today is those over-the-top, throw away your personal pride and deck yourself out in full garb for game day fans.  Now, if you’ve ever read my column before it should come as no surprise to you that most of my love of sports is focused on football. I’ve spent many hours watching football, seeing how dedicated fans will get for their team and what they are willing to wear in public and on national television for millions of people to see.

Oregon steals the limelight from their fans with their constantly changing uniforms and dressing up for games in the SEC is an art form. However, I think its Michigan Fans who really show up and show off. Their mascot is the Wolverine but they don’t have anyone dressed as a Wolverine to hype up the fans during their games.  So, they take it into their own hands. This past weekend, when they came up short to Michigan State, during College Game Day on ESPN (the end of that game was unbelievable) they had multiple people in extreme getups. They have had a dedicated fan each week dressing up as a Storm Trooper in Michigan gear but this last week they had something that is indescribable. It was a robot, on stilts with steam guns lighting up. If you have time to build and even fund that sort of costume, you are a super fan.

But, the college kids have a lot to live up to when compared to NFL fans.  We’ve all seen those Packers fan in their cheese heads and dedicated Dolphin’s fans dressed up as, well, dolphins. But, I think what blows my mind the most about the team with hands down the most dedicated and decked out fans is that they consistently have a losing record, like always. No one is more dedicated to their team than Raiders fans.  The have the infamous black hole during their home games where fans have painted their faces black and gray and they are wearing shoulder pads with spikes coming out of them.  In a way it looks like a KISS concert only better. Not only do they show pride in their clothing but they cover their cars and everything they own. We live in Utah County but as I was leaving campus the other day, I saw a car covered in Raiders paraphernalia.  Then you have the Cleveland Browns fans.  There has never been a professional championship in Cleveland, especially in football.  These fans, though, show up in what is known as the Dog Pound. They have dog masks and bones and bark every now and again at players.  It is crazy but chaotic.

No matter who your team is or how bad they might be, it is always a great thing to see fans representing and wearing the gear that shows off their true colors.