MBBALL What in the actual ...

[EverettGriz]

Northern Arizona men's basketball gears up for 'alternate identity' game

The school unveiled the "alternate identity" over the summer, paying homage to the northern Arizona area's rich astronomical history.

www.espn.com

On Thursday, the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks men's basketball squad will take the court with a distinctive new look. In fact, they won't be the Lumberjacks at all.

They'll be the Northern Arizona Astrojacks.

Over the summer, the Northern Arizona athletic department unveiled a unique "alternate identity" for the school's athletic programs, a temporary rebranding of teams' uniforms and mascot (the "super space pioneer" Blouie the Space Ox) to be deployed in specific games.

The Astrojacks competed in volleyball and soccer during the fall. They also played two games of women's basketball last month. Now, they'll make their men's basketball debut for the program's next two games,

Northern Arizona's uniforms for the Astrojacks' debut offer a stark change from the team's usual all-white home threads. Different shades of blue make up the top half of the jersey, with a cosmic-themed "A" replacing the standard "NAU" nameplate.

The alternate identity pays homage to the rich astronomical history of the region and city the university calls home. One of the shades featured on the Astrojacks' jerseys is "Pluto Blue" -- the dwarf planet Pluto was first discovered in Flagstaff, Arizona. Flagstaff was also named the first International Dark Sky City -- a distinction that certifies a place's commitment to preserving dark sky sites -- in 2001.

The Astrojacks will tip off their inaugural men's basketball game this Thursday at 8 p.m. ET against the Idaho Vandals, before suiting up one more (and final, at least for this year) time on Saturday against the Eastern Washington Eagles. Notably, the Astrojacks have never lost a game -- the school's alter ego is 3-0-1 across all competitions it's been used in.

 

[BelierPeaux]

Well, it's working, they got you posting about it!

 

[oldrunner]

Hey!! They can be the AssJacks if they want. It's how they identify that matters. Cut them some AssSlack.

 

[Griz til I die]

Lol another one of Shane Burcar's stupid decisions? I suppose he's gonna survive for another year since the AD is retiring at the end of the month, but man is he terrible. NAU reminds me so much of the Brian Fish cat teams. They're super talented and have some of the best players in the league and they've all been there a long time, but because of incompetent coaching they can't get out of their own way.

 

[MSU01]

Their women's team already wore "AstroJack" uniforms last month. The men's versions definitely look better, IMO. Alternate jerseys aren't exactly a groundbreaking thing, MSU has has gold and gray alternates in recent years and the Griz had those awesome turquoise uniforms recently.

 

[EverettGriz]

Their women's team already wore "AstroJack" uniforms last month. The men's versions definitely look better, IMO. Alternate jerseys aren't exactly a groundbreaking thing, MSU has has gold and gray alternates in recent years and the Griz had those awesome turquoise uniforms recently.

Yeah, but we didn't change our mascot.

 

[garizzalies]

So Fisty’s alter-ego is AstroJack?

**checks notes**

Yep, that tracks

 

[AZDoc]

My son goes to school up there. I get NAU emails regularly for different things. Just got this Astrojack one maybe last Friday??? I just roll my eyes and shake my head.

 

[EverettGriz]

My son goes to school up there. I get NAU emails regularly for different things. Just got this Astrojack one maybe last Friday??? I just roll my eyes and shake my head.

That's questionable parenting, Doc.

 

[Wolf777]

My son goes to school up there. I get NAU emails regularly for different things. Just got this Astrojack one maybe last Friday??? I just roll my eyes and shake my head.

So you’re an Astrojack supporter and sympathizer now? Hope he’s getting a lot out of that education and not just the yearly photo op with Lumpy or louie or whatever they call that mascot in Flagstaff that could sub in and Moscow without anyone noticing.

 

[goatcreekgriz]

They should use Astro from the Jetsons as their mascot. And designate a player as his boy Elroy.

 

[rocklobster]

Northern Arizona men's basketball gears up for 'alternate identity' game

The school unveiled the "alternate identity" over the summer, paying homage to the northern Arizona area's rich astronomical history.

www.espn.com

On Thursday, the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks men's basketball squad will take the court with a distinctive new look. In fact, they won't be the Lumberjacks at all.

They'll be the Northern Arizona Astrojacks.

Over the summer, the Northern Arizona athletic department unveiled a unique "alternate identity" for the school's athletic programs, a temporary rebranding of teams' uniforms and mascot (the "super space pioneer" Blouie the Space Ox) to be deployed in specific games.

The Astrojacks competed in volleyball and soccer during the fall. They also played two games of women's basketball last month. Now, they'll make their men's basketball debut for the program's next two games,

Northern Arizona's uniforms for the Astrojacks' debut offer a stark change from the team's usual all-white home threads. Different shades of blue make up the top half of the jersey, with a cosmic-themed "A" replacing the standard "NAU" nameplate.

The alternate identity pays homage to the rich astronomical history of the region and city the university calls home. One of the shades featured on the Astrojacks' jerseys is "Pluto Blue" -- the dwarf planet Pluto was first discovered in Flagstaff, Arizona. Flagstaff was also named the first International Dark Sky City -- a distinction that certifies a place's commitment to preserving dark sky sites -- in 2001.

The Astrojacks will tip off their inaugural men's basketball game this Thursday at 8 p.m. ET against the Idaho Vandals, before suiting up one more (and final, at least for this year) time on Saturday against the Eastern Washington Eagles. Notably, the Astrojacks have never lost a game -- the school's alter ego is 3-0-1 across all competitions it's been used in.

Just weird and gimmicky- but if the fans like it, and they beat UNC, I'm all for it.

 

[Allezchat]

Their women's team already wore "AstroJack" uniforms last month. The men's versions definitely look better, IMO. Alternate jerseys aren't exactly a groundbreaking thing, MSU has has gold and gray alternates in recent years and the Griz had those awesome turquoise uniforms recently.

What was the reason for turquoise? I saw pictures od the uniforms but never did hear why. They looked really good. I like the alternate jerseys for basketball. Loved the gold ones from Cat/griz and the pink ones too.

This reminds me of what happened in Great Falls when the Dodgers moved the rookie league minor league team from Great Falls to Odgen. The White Sox came in and I thought the obvious best name would've been the Wind Sox for the windy city combining with the White Sox. The name they picked is the Voyagers with an alien mascot. What does GF have to do with Aliens? Apparently the first UFO sighting that was filmed in the US happened at the baseball field in Great Falls by the then manager and his secretary. And everyone in GF went, "it did?". I grew up in that town and had never heard that until then.

 

[Ursa Major]

URL unfurl="true"]https://www.espn.com/mcaens-college-basketball/story/_/id/43893170/northern-arizona-mens-basketball-astrojacks-alternate-identity[/URL]

On Thursday, the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks men's basketball squad will take the court with a distinctive new look. In fact, they won't be the Lumberjacks at all.

They'll be the Northern Arizona Astrojacks.

Over the summer, the Northern Arizona athletic department unveiled a unique "alternate identity" for the school's athletic programs, a temporary rebranding of teams' uniforms and mascot (the "super space pioneer" Blouie the Space Ox) to be deployed in specific games.

The Astrojacks competed in volleyball and soccer during the fall. They also played two games of women's basketball last month. Now, they'll make their men's basketball debut for the program's next two games,

Northern Arizona's uniforms for the Astrojacks' debut offer a stark change from the team's usual all-white home threads. Different shades of blue make up the top half of the jersey, with a cosmic-themed "A" replacing the standard "NAU" nameplate.

The alternate identity pays homage to the rich astronomical history of the region and city the university calls home. One of the shades featured on the Astrojacks' jerseys is "Pluto Blue" -- the dwarf planet Pluto was first discovered in Flagstaff, Arizona. Flagstaff was also named the first International Dark Sky City -- a distinction that certifies a place's commitment to preserving dark sky sites -- in 2001.

The Astrojacks will tip off their inaugural men's basketball game this Thursday at 8 p.m. ET against the Idaho Vandals, before suiting up one more (and final, at least for this year) time on Saturday against the Eastern Washington Eagles. Notably, the Astrojacks have never lost a game -- the school's alter ego is 3-0-1 across all competitions it's been used in.

Makes perfect sense to me . . .

 

[oldrunner]

What was the reason for turquoise? I saw pictures od the uniforms but never did hear why. They looked really good. I like the alternate jerseys for basketball. Loved the gold ones from Cat/griz and the pink ones too.

This reminds me of what happened in Great Falls when the Dodgers moved the rookie league minor league team from Great Falls to Odgen. The White Sox came in and I thought the obvious best name would've been the Wind Sox for the windy city combining with the White Sox. The name they picked is the Voyagers with an alien mascot. What does GF have to do with Aliens? Apparently the first UFO sighting that was filmed in the US happened at the baseball field in Great Falls by the then manager and his secretary. And everyone in GF went, "it did?". I grew up in that town and had never heard that until then.

Side note. When the Dodgers came to Ogden and Tommy Lasorda was the manager, I was 14 years old and working the graveyard shift at an all night diner. Tommy would bring the team in for a late night meal after games, sometimes. I got to meat him and many of the players before they became more famous. Of course, I was too young to really know the significance of it. They were all nice and polite. Good times.