May 28, 1981—Blue officially adopted as the primary uniform color in place of black after a Board of Regents mandate at its January meeting. Originally suggested to be “the deep blue Colorado of Colorado’s sky at 9,000 feet” by then-Regent Jack Anderson, jerseys were officially an “Air Force Blue” though different than the blue the Air Force Academy’s sports teams wore. Numerals were silver or gold, depending on the sport, and outlined in white. The football pant remained gold, but with a blue stripe, for both home and road. Football helmets remained gold but with blue logos. Other programs switched to blue, ranging from road basketball jerseys to golf bags. CU’s trademark south end zone is painted blue, the first color change since it was created after the track was removed in 1966. July 1, 1981—What would become the longest running logo in school history (24 years) is officially registered as CU’s primary mark. Keystone Resort vice president Jerry Jones helped arrange the design, at a bargain cost of $1,000, by Terry Heckler Associates in Seattle (Craig Marocco was the artist). Heckler’s firm did the Keystone logo, along with many others; because Heckler and Jones are friends, CU gets the $12,000 project for just one grand. Athletic director Eddie Crowder and associate AD Fred Casotti make the final decision on the logo from several mock-ups. The logo catches on and eventually turns into one of the most recognizable logos in college athletics, if not sports, that incorporated the school/team ID (CU) and the mascot/nickname all in one. 1984—The colors are altered slightly, as the blue is enhanced to a darker hue; football goes with gold, borderless numbers and complaints rain in from many, as players can’t be identified from stands. Black and white photos and game films appear as if players wore no numbers at all. Bill McCartney had the football team twice wear black jerseys (against Oklahoma and Nebraska) in a similar way that Notre Dame broke out its green jersey for big games. April 24, 1985—“Black is Back” read the release announcing that athletic director Bill Marolt would allow head coaches of all CU sports teams (then 14 in number) the option of returning to black as the primary jersey color. McCartney’s throwback efforts the previous season were the impetus for the change; the football jersey had a blue stripe on the arm for the 1985, 1986 and 1987 seasons before it was dropped altogether in 1988.