It was like every other day at ASU: longboarders surfed the campus malls, classroom commuters scurried every which way, ear buds in, oblivious to the impending “change.”
“It’s time.” Who knew?
Two o’clock, April 12, Memorial Union, second floor: the birthplace of transformation.
ASU hopes.
There was a fashion show inside the Ventana ballroom. It was the work of a Disney producer. You almost expected a robotic hall of presidents to start circling the crowd.
A backlit stage, foggers, a series of rousing video montages, the last earning raucous applause, canned speeches from luminaries, athletes strutting in the new duds, football players twirling around — yeah, catwalk moves.
This wasn’t just an unveiling. There was a central message beyond the cosmetics, a hint of something much larger in the works: ASU athletics is “changing.”
Lisa Love, Vice President of Athletics, said the word “change” three times, “upheaval” twice.
“If you’re going to make a change, you might as well make a splash to do it,” Love said at the podium.
Sure, the new uniforms are sweet. The redesigned trident looks like it’s been pulled from a recent goring. Resounding approval for the black uniforms and black helmets with that threatening trident which now faces fleeting foes, creating a unanimous “sick,” from reporters and players to school big wigs.
It was a polished production. Cheerleaders and a marching band — a choreographed pep rally without the students.
ASU sacrificed a larger student audience for the grandeur of the ballroom.
That was a mistake.
If April 12 was the day the sleeping giant (ASU athletics) awoke, it’s emergence from hibernation was met with the same apathy that defines it. There were no ASU representatives standing outside the Memorial Union reaching out to students.
It seemed like an invitation-only, private event.
ASU is banking on a residual effect.
The campaign could have huge reach.
For it’s exposure dollars, ASU got a horde of cameras, many of the “amateur” variety, and a live webcast on FOX sports with 22,000 viewers — Sparky turned into a global trending Twitter topic.
The cynics among us point us away from the vanity of the day and to the scoreboard. Nine wins they say. That’s what will turn the tide.
We won’t know if this was the genesis of a new day for some time, but we are still left to wonder.
There may be a bigger story hidden from the public. The aura of mystery surrounding the totality of the “change” remains.
What is next?
For now, the new-look is sure to get people talking. The Nike partnership will not turn ASU into Oregon’s Disneyland, but it does modernize the aesthetics for a campus in need of a trendy look. The video montages are incredibly well done pieces that could educate thousands on ASU’s history — a minute and a half to cure the ignorance.
The new digs could mean 5,000 more students, maybe a couple of recruits, but it’s all speculation, the effect is not provable.
But there is chatter. ASU athletics is not yet “in the conversation,” but it’s being talked about.
That can’t be a negative.
Reach the columnist at nick.ruland@asu.edu
