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By Jim Caltagirone
For the Mirror
The marketing mavens of the Indiana Pacers dressed the team's fans in Gold Out T-shirts for Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals, seeking to provide their team with every possible advantage in an elimination game against the Celtics.
While the fashion statement made quite an impression on national TV, the T-shirts failed to score a basket or block a shot, and the Pacers were swept out of the NBA playoffs.
At Penn State football games, the White Out experience long ago completed the evolution from gimmick to tradition.
However, despite former Ohio State coach Urban Meyer's conjecture that the White Out constitutes a 10-point advantage for the home team, Penn State is only 11-8 in games designated as full-stadium and student-section White Outs.
Most certainly, the sight of a capacity crowd in color-coordinated clothing is an awe-inspiring spectacle. But over the course of an entire game, the impact becomes as diluted as the locked-arm formation of football players emerging from the tunnel during introductions.
In the end, what really matters is talent, strategy, game management and execution.
Everything else is a distraction created for fan amusement and entertainment.
Like the fog machine ,which has no impact on a two-minute drill. It's simply a device to stimulate fan reaction.
The common theory in sleepy campus towns and big cities alike is that T-shirts and rally towels will inspire the home team to victory.
Travis Strauss, who writes a blog on ice hockey, cited the psychology of crowd behavior as a rationale for the popularity of the sport's White Out games.
"A White Out game creates a sense of unity among fans, allowing them to feel like they are part of something bigger," Strauss wrote. "The sea of white also has a visual impact, making the game feel more dramatic and intense. Additionally, the energy of the crowd can have a positive impact on players, helping to boost their performance."
Trying to establish a cause-and-effect relationship between a White Out or Any Color Out and athlete performance, whether beneficial for the home team or detrimental to the opponent, is like attributing good fortune to the finding of a penny.
At best, it's fortuitous coincidence.
Using Penn State football as an example, the Nittany Lions were 4-2 when they upset No. 2 Ohio State, 24-21, in the 2016 White Out game at Beaver Stadium.
That Penn State team went on to win the Big Ten championship and finish seventh in the final AP Poll.
By contrast, the Nittany Lions were 3-0 and ranked fifth in the nation when they were held scoreless over the final three quarters and lost to unranked Iowa, 21-10, in the 2009 White Out game.
It is likely that White Out crowds in 2009 and 2016 generated roars at comparable decibel levels, but their influence on the outcomes could hardly be deemed conclusive.
Some of the most historically significant performances by professional and amateur sports teams have been at neutral sites where the crowd is actually an after-thought.
Sure, the Steelers were always supported by a considerably large following at the Super Bowl, but the post-game coverage never credited the fans in attendance for any of the team's six championships.
As the Gold Out in Indiana demonstrated, the best visual at a home game is not produced in the stands.
It's always on the scoreboard after a win.
Jim Caltagirone writes a monthly column for the Mirror.