Brooks Hatch

We should know better after 33 years in the business to stay away from stories on high school sports “issues,” because nothing creates a raft of ill-will faster.

But we’re stepping outside the box today and here’s a preview of the Varsity Tuesday story on high school uniform colors that will appear online tonight, and in Tuesday’s G-T.

(Of course there’s nothing even mildly controversial in the story. But seeing as how it’s about high school athletics, some “concerned parent” is bound to get upset, shocked, appalled, or all three, because, well, they always do.)

Anyhow, on into the breech.

Corvallis High School has not adopted new school colors.

But its athletic teams are not required to wear uniforms of Columbia blue and white, the combination selected in a vote of the student body many years ago.

The boys soccer team wore black jerseys and shorts during its 4-1 victory over Crescent Valley on Oct. 27 at the Field of Dreams. The only official school colors visible were the Columbia blue jersey numbers, and some white trim.

“There’s quite a history” behind the black uniforms, boys soccer coach John Callahan said. “Trying to find Columbia blue uniforms for guys is tough; it’s an odd color, it’s much easier to find in women’s.

“So we bought black shorts, and then wanted a color to match,” so black jerseys were added as well.

Callahan said his team generally wears its Columbia blue jerseys but breaks out the all-black look for special occasions, such as the rivalry game with CV or the state playoffs.

“At playoff time we’re trying to look mean and focused and there’s a special energy a certain uniform brings,” he said.

Also, since they are alternate jerseys, the players can keep them as mementos after the season. Before the alternate jersey was added, CHS used to lose five or six jerseys a year to departing players but now that problem has been eliminated.

Athletic director Bob Holt said CHS  has no policy regarding color schemes for its athletic uniforms. But he said it has not added black, navy, or any other shade, to its official school colors.

“Our colors are still Columbia blue and white,” Holt said. “I think what’s happened over time is, our coaches have incorporated more navy blue. We started out with navy as a trim color, because it accentuated Columbia blue.”

Holt acknowledged that some programs have “wandered off on their own” and informally adopted different colors. He also wondered if the students should vote again whether to incorporate navy, black, or any other color, as a third option.

But until they do, Holt said coaches are encouraged to follow tradition and outfit their teams in the hue that dominant CHS athletic programs of the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s made instantly recognizable throughout the state.

“They should wear Columbia blue,” he said. “That’s our color.”

Of course, it’s not any concern of mine what color CHS, or any other high school or college team, wears. (Besides, PNG Jr. will be attending CV, unless the school boundaries change in the next three years. We’re not real hot on black being added to CV’s traditional maroon and gold,  but whatever.)

And we here at The Blog realize that the only true constant in life is change. Traditions come and go, the world evolves, and what’s true today may not apply next month, next year, or 10 years from now. At one time, earth tones, then taupe, and then teal, were all the rage.

But we’re also solidly old-school. Things such as school colors serve as a unifying force across generations, a constant amid changing times, and shouldn’t be trifled with without a very, very good reason.

Beavers wear orange and black.  Richmond Spiders wear red and blue; East Aurora High School Blue Devils wear blue and white.  Wyoming Cowboys wear brown and gold.

And in The Blog’s personal universe,  Corvallis High Spartans wear Columbia blue and white. Or at least they should.

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The Corvallis Knights of the West Coast League will hold a ceremonial ribbon-cutting for their new offices in Madison Plaza in downtown Corvallis at 9:45 a.m. Tuesday. The public is invited.

And speaking of the Knights, here’s an interview with former stars Richie Jimenez, the 2009 West Coast League Player of the Year and perhaps one of the franchises best players since its move to Corvallis, and 2008 WCL Pitcher of the Year  Matt Andriese.

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It appears as if former Beavers defensive back Reggie Tongue is being voted the greatest Kansas City Chief ever  – to wear No. 41, that is.  He has 83 percent of the vote on Arrowhead Pride, the unofficial blog of the franchise. You can vote for Reggie by clicking the link.

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