March 28, 2024

Winning Colors: Power Ranking area school uniforms

You know, it’s been a while since I last wrote one of these. Being understaffed in the sports department for the past month didn’t fit into my column-writing schedule.

Now that there’s a lull in the yearly sports calendar, and the sports department is back at full strength, I wanted to share with the Newton (and surrounding) community some thoughts I’ve had about its sports teams. We cover five different high schools throughout the year — Colfax-Mingo, Collins-Maxwell/Baxter, Newton, Lynnville-Sully and Prairie City-Monroe.

I’ve been covering those teams for the past six months now, and I had some particularly unique observations about each team, but for today, let’s stick with the uniforms.

A wise man once said, “Looking good is more important than being good.”

Each school has its own distinct style and flavor to its attire. Some of the schools do a good job of incorporating their colors into lively, vibrant uniforms, but other schools, I have to say I’m disappointed with the output. So, without further adieu, here are my NDN sports beat uniform power rankings.

1. Newton — The Cardinals' combination of red and black is classic and timeless. The school frequently releases new uniforms and warmups to its teams, and the designs just keep getting better. Make no mistake that the uniform an athlete wears can make a huge difference in his/her confidence.

I give a lot of the credit for the very successful Newton track season to the Cardinals’ attire. When other schools’ athletes are constantly making comments about how “cool” Newton’s uniforms look, it can’t help but provide some sort of mental edge. NHS also does a solid job of using white subtly to accent the black and cardinal red.

2. Lynnville-Sully — This is a bit of a hometown pick for me. Being from San Diego, I am indeed a big time Chargers fan. So it makes sense that the powder blue and gold of the Hawks appeals to me. The school's colors remind me of home. However, that is not the only criteria on which I am basing their ranking.

The Hawks’ home basketball uniforms blow every other school out of the water. The combination of classic white combined with the powder blue and a hint of gold gives the Hawks a clean look. I was also a big fan of the school’s boys track uniforms and wrestling singlets. Both of those teams’ uniforms rely heavily on the powder blue. When you’re banking on that color, few things can go wrong.

3. CMB — The Raiders may not have the most original color scheme, but that doesn't make it any less intimidating. Although I am a Charger fan and absolutely loathe the Oakland Raiders with every fiber of me, I am still able to admire the silver and black for their undeniable style.

Truth be told, the only reason the Raiders aren’t No. 2 on this list is because I’m so biased. With that being said, the combination of silver and black gives the Raiders a classic, gritty look. Zach Samson would not be nearly as intimidating in the shot put circle if he was wearing blue and gold. The athletes for the Raiders seem to harness the swagger from the silver and black and use it to their advantage. Whether it be basketball, baseball, track or any other sport, the silver and black always fits in on a sports field.

4. PCM — This one was difficult for me. When I was writing this column in my head, the first three were, to a degree, set in stone. I battled for a while whether C-M or PCM would go here, but based on execution, I'm going to side with the Mustangs. I'm not a fan of the maroon and mustard yellow color combination. It reminds me of a broken-down McDonalds, but with that being said, the Mustangs do pull it off quite well.

The softball team’s uniforms are some of the best I’ve seen, and I was also a big fan of the basketball team’s home whites. It’s a personal preference issue here. If I liked the color scheme more, maybe PCM would slide up to No. 3, but this is as good as it gets with the presently chosen school colors.

5. Colfax-Mingo — I have some major issues with both the color scheme and execution for the Tigerhawks. Orange and dark blue do not go together. I can't think of a single circumstance outside of a C-M sporting event in which I have seen anyone wearing both of those colors together.

They remind me of the old-school San Diego Padres with how the colors clash with each other. My biggest problem with the execution of the uniforms has to go to the baseball team. The school’s colors are barely present on the home whites, which consist of simply a dri-fit t-shirt with the Tigerhawk logo across the middle.

So there you have it. I’m sure I’ll encounter some unfavorable opinions on these rankings at the next C-M or PCM game I cover. That just goes with the territory, though. And besides, with fall season not starting for another month, most people will have forgotten about this anyway.

Sports writer Dustin Turner may be contacted at (641) 792-3121, ext. 440, or at dturner@newtondailynews.com.