Comments on: Logocentrism

By: Nell

Nell — Mon, 16 Apr 2007 06:01:48 +0000

A hockey-fan friend in Columbus told me the Blue Jackets’ name was a reference to a Shawnee leader named Blue Jacket. But none of the team marketing has picked up on that, if it’s true, and there are allusions to the Civil War (the ridiculous mascot bee wears a Union cap, e.g.)

By: Nell

Nell — Mon, 16 Apr 2007 05:34:10 +0000

[‘R A N G E R S logo]: It’ll do, but it’s not what you’d call “attractive” or “imaginative.”

Though the Statue-of-Liberty logo on the third jersey is very attractive, made even spiffier by the use of the dark blue rather than “true” Rangers blue.

By: Kevin Rooney

Kevin Rooney — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 09:40:54 +0000

Hey, I like the Bluefish logo. Never saw it before till just now.
And even if the Avalanche was one of the first singular nouns as team name, it does make sense for a Colorado team. And I think the logo on the uniforms does have an appropriately Sasquatch kind of feel.

By: Pinko Punko

Pinko Punko — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 07:40:18 +0000

Maybe this older Canucks one is too Judas Priest, but you gotta admit, it's kinda cool.

By: Michael Bérubé

Michael Bérubé — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 20:02:25 +0000

I actually think of the old Seals and Canucks logos as being in a class by themselves. I think the Seal looks more like a cubist slug than like a cockroach, and that the effect is rather ruined by giving the cubist slug a hockey stick. (But either a slug or a cockroach would be preferable to the word "Seals" in sloppily-proportioned sans serif lettering, which is what you had in the early 1970s as the team became unfathomably bad.) And the Canucks logo is kind of awesome in its minimalist unimaginativeness. Still, that's nothing compared to the pajamas the Canucks were forced to wear for a few seasons. . . .

By: JP

JP — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 14:18:55 +0000

But how in the world did it come out of the World Hockey Association, which gave us not only the terrible logos of the Oilers, Nordiques, and Winnipeg Jets but a whole host of crappy designs, each more cringe-inducing than the next? Don't forget the most absurd logo of them all, from the now-defunct Oakland Seals franchise (enlarged version here). Looks like a cockroach to me. It's really a shame given the awesomeness of the name "Seals," and how much potential there was for an awesome logo. Not a fan of the old hockey stick/letter C Canucks logo either.

By: JP

JP — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 14:13:00 +0000

The Minnesota Wild may also have the worst name in all team sports.

True story: One of the other finalists for the team’s name was “Minnesota Blue Ox” (as in Babe from the Paul Bunyan myth). Not “Oxen,” mind you: “Ox” nonpluralized, like the Miami Heat – as in, the team is collectively one ox.

By: tom hurka

tom hurka — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 13:33:36 +0000

Re #66: The Calgary Hitmen are so called because one of their original owners (I don’t think he is any more) was Bret ‘the Hitman’ Hart of the World Wrestling Federation, a Calgarian and local hero. (In fact, the whole Hart family are Calgary wrestling heroes.) And there was indeed controversy about the logo when it was first introduced, though I can’t remember whether that resulted in a change from something even more violent or not.

By: Crooked Timber » » Hogging time at last

Crooked Timber » » Hogging time at last — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 00:52:46 +0000

[...] and underrated defense, but I have already grown weary of the misguided complaints of the Sabre-Rattling Left in these comment sections. Sabres in [...]

By: rm

rm — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 00:50:59 +0000

Indeed, this sportslogos.net is a treasure trove. Tim, the wimpiness of the WHA(look at the Minnesota Fighting Saints!! A Keilloresque logo, you betcha) looks to be balanced out by the brutality of WHL logos. check out the Calgary Hitmen. That is downright irresponsible. And I thought the Washington Bullets (now Wizards) had an inappropriate name. The Fighting Saints reminds me of some great oxymoronic university team names from North Carolina -- the Demon Deacons, the Fighting Quakers, the Fighting Christians (now the collective-noun Phoenix).

By: ed_finnerty

ed_finnerty — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 23:33:07 +0000

When does the actual hockey talk start

By: spartikus

spartikus — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 23:19:33 +0000

Hmmm…not sure I agree with some of this, but I don’t have much to add other than to make the point that, in my opinion, longevity is the 9/10ths of a sports logo’s cred and appeal.

Also, with advent of new ownership, the Canucks uniforms are being redesigned once again, and rumour has it Johnny Canuck (of the WHL era Canucks) will be making a return. I’m not sure how I feel about that….it’s all in the execution I guess. And the longevity.

By: Gene O'Grady

Gene O'Grady — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 23:15:35 +0000

Interesting info on the Red Wing/Olympic club logo—now if I knew for sure when the Winged O dates from I could answer my own question.

Since the issue of Native American/Indian/you name ‘em team names has come up, some readers may be amused to learn that there is actually a professional hockey team called the Portland Winter Hawks that is owned by the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla.

By: Tim McG

Tim McG — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 21:39:35 +0000

Hey, Michael, you pulled a fast one on us: you started off talking about the most masculine logos and then shifted ground to the best-designed. One could argue that masculinity and good design are orthogonal axes.

On the cock, balls, sweat and muscle measure, Very Scary Animals come in tops every time. Just because you can’t show bleeding corpses on a sweater.

And on the masculinity axis, what exactly was the WHA all about, what with the boobs on the Bulls/Toros, Baltimore Blades (any relation to the Washington Blade?) and Calgary Cowboys (or were those skates dangling low enough to be testicular? Oh, and the that Denver logo really belongs on a figure-skating team.

By: sidereal

sidereal — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 21:38:33 +0000

If we're branching into other sports/leagues, the Las Vegas 51's logo is unassailable. Simple, relevant, and deeply disturbing. I have to admit, until today I honestly thought the Blue Jacket was an insect.