Aside from world peace, diminishing natural resources and nuclear proliferation, I can't think of a more important issue facing the world than the perceived mismatch of purple tones on the Minnesota Vikings' new uniforms.
I heard from many of you after those uniforms made their game debut last Friday night at the Metrodome. The big concern/question/wail was if the helmet and jerseys were different shades, as they appeared on television and seem to be in the photo accompanying this post as well.
After consulting with the Vikings and ESPN.com's resident uniform expert, Paul Lukas of the Uni-Watch blog, I can tell you there are many more factors involved in the perception of color than just what you see. Here is what Jeff Anderson, the Vikings' director of corporate communications, e-mailed in response to my hard-hitting questions:
"The purple tone of the helmets does match that of the uniforms, aside from the fact that one is a hard surface and the other a fabric. Viewers are seeing two things. The first is that the matte finish plays differently off the light; the angle from which the light is reflecting off the helmets can create an appearance of color change. The other issue is simply a distortion from HD televisions."
(I knew HD was too good to be true.)
In all seriousness, I appreciate the passion many of you have on this issue, and I'll agree: The matte finish of the helmets is certainly deceptive. I'm all for conspiracy theories, but if you were hoping to catch the Vikings and Nike in a uniform color blunder, well, I don't see it. (See what I did there?!)
