Certain things in life are okay to mess with. For example, I had no problem when the Royals tried to upgrade their starting rotation, or when the bowling alley started selling beer bottles in the shape of pins. Those things I can live with. But when people start making changes just for the sake of making changes, that’s when it has to stop. With this in mind, KU, I’m begging you. DO NOT change the football uniforms. In case you missed the latest product from the KU bureaucracy machine, the university decided this week that [Royal blue][1] — not Navy blue — is the official blue of the “crimson and blue.” The new blue will be used on letterheads, mascots, boxers, bobblehead dolls, and anything else you can think of that includes a Jayhawk. Immediately, the athletics department agreed with the new color. “We’ll adhere to anything the university tells us,” Associate Athletics Director Jim Marchiony told me on Monday night. ![][2] For most teams, this is no problem. The basketball team [already wears][3] a similar color, as does the [soccer team][4] and [baseball team.][5] But for the Fighting Manginos, the story takes on a completely different shade. When Mark Mangino arrived in 2002, he immediately set the wheels in motion to redesign the KU football uniforms. He wanted something edgy, tough, and to put it mildly not as butt-ugly as the Terry Allen creations. During the 2003 spring game, Mangino unveiled the [latest look.][6] “If you look good, you play good,” said former linebacker Greg Cole after modeling the new navy unis. But now, KU might go back to looking bad. The new uniforms, after just three years, are on the way out. After all, navy is no longer a school color. For those longtime Jayhawk fans, the new uniforms represented a new start. The Jayhawks ended the K-State streak in the new uniforms, beat Missouri twice in a row, and went to the 2003 Tangerine Bowl. Navy means tough. Navy means football school. It means an identity for a program that has never had one. What do I equate royal blue uniforms to? Mario Kinsey’s pack of hoodlums and 51-7 losses to Nebraska. Simply put, the royal blue threads were also the ugliest in the Big 12. On top of that, there was a lot of bad football played in those duds. Look, KU, it’s just a blue. Certainly there has to be some sort of compromise. If one can’t be reached, let’s just hope that a return to the royal blue uniforms won’t mean a return to the royal blue results.**Puppy Bowl** Forget about the Super Bowl, or whatever that over hyped event on Sunday was called. Next year, I’m just watching the [Puppy Bowl.][7] Here’s what it was. Puppies, in a miniature football stadium, playing with each other and sniffing butts. For nine hours. At one point, a referee came out to whistle a “puppy foul,” and — armed with a paper towel and plastic bag — preceded to pick up the puppy poop. Set under a soundtrack better used on Barely Legal 47, the Puppy Bowl was one of the most mesmerizing programs shown on television in the last few years. Seriously, I was hooked on the Puppy Bowl, like Mark McGwire on steroids. That’s more than I could say for the Super Bowl. Now if only you could bet on it:**P.S.** Do not click on [this link.][8] It may cause nausea and/or stomach cramps. [1]: http://www.ljworld.com/section/kunews/story/195641 [2]: http://www.kusports.com/art/apps/pennynews/ljworld_pn_inlines_8325 [3]: http://www.kusports.com/news/bigger_photo/18344 [4]: http://www.kusports.com/news/bigger_photo/16244 [5]: http://www.kusports.com/news/bigger_photo/14282 [6]: http://www.kusports.com/news/bigger_photo/1587 [7]: http://media.animal.discovery.com/convergence/puppybowl/preview.html [8]: http://espn.go.com/dickvitale/vcolumn050208-Duke-Carolina-preview.html