# Question about sports city/market names, abbrev. on insignia **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [December 28, 2012, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-sports-city-market-names-abbrev-on-insignia/645418 "2012-12-28T19:38:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2012, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-sports-city-market-names-abbrev-on-insignia/645418/21 "2012-12-30T22:20:03Z")
> [@R.P.McMurphy](#): > > You’re going to have to come up with a more solid site than just your conjecture. The “Block S” has been been for years the most common logo of MSU athletics. It’s in the center of the football field. MSU is often referred to in Michigan as just “State”. Isn’t that to differentiate from the Wolverines? (not snark) ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2012, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-sports-city-market-names-abbrev-on-insignia/645418/22 "2012-12-30T22:21:35Z")
> [@R.P.McMurphy](#): > > If you live in Michigan you know why college sports teams would find putting an “M” on their helmets to be absolutely abhorrent. > > Eastern Michigan U. used to be the Hurons. Since none of us do, please enlighten us. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2012, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-sports-city-market-names-abbrev-on-insignia/645418/23 "2012-12-30T22:24:11Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Not quite the same thing, but the Oakland Raiders and Miami Dolphins helmet logos include pictures \*of \*helmets. It’s all recursive and meta and stuff, ya know. And come to think of it, the old New England Patriots and original/current New York Jets logos include pictures of footballs. ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2012, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-sports-city-market-names-abbrev-on-insignia/645418/24 "2012-12-30T22:34:01Z")
The “new” Jet _is_ the old one. (same with Giants) ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2012, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-sports-city-market-names-abbrev-on-insignia/645418/25 "2012-12-30T23:06:55Z")
That’s what I meant. And we could get into the multiple hockey teams with pictures of sticks or pucks on their logos, or the St. Louis Cardinals with a bat in theirs. ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2012, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-sports-city-market-names-abbrev-on-insignia/645418/26 "2012-12-30T23:29:27Z")
**Elvis** -Just now noticed “original/current” in your post. :o ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2012, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-sports-city-market-names-abbrev-on-insignia/645418/27 "2012-12-31T05:16:43Z")
> [@etv78](#): > > Since none of us do, please enlighten us. Because “M” is the University of Michigan. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2012, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-sports-city-market-names-abbrev-on-insignia/645418/28 "2012-12-31T05:29:59Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > That’s what I meant. > > And we could get into the multiple hockey teams with pictures of sticks or pucks on their logos, or the St. Louis Cardinals with a bat in theirs. Indeed, the Vancouver Canucks’ alternate logo is nothing **but** a hockey stick. It’s the most baffling logo in sports. It literally says nothing except “we are a hockey team,” as if the fact that the men bearing the logo are already wearing hockey equipment and skates and carrying hockey sticks wasn’t enough to tell you they’re a hockey team. The logo says nothing else; there’s no indication of what hockey team it is. It just says “these hockey players are hockey players.” It’s like an airline choosing to adorn its airplanes with pictures of another airplane. ---
**Author:** ![zbuzz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e19b73/32.png) [@zbuzz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zbuzz)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2012, 9:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-sports-city-market-names-abbrev-on-insignia/645418/29 "2012-12-31T09:05:49Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Indeed, the Vancouver Canucks’ alternate logo is nothing **but** a hockey stick. It’s the most baffling logo in sports. It literally says nothing except “we are a hockey team,” as if the fact that the men bearing the logo are already wearing hockey equipment and skates and carrying hockey sticks wasn’t enough to tell you they’re a hockey team. The logo says nothing else; there’s no indication of what hockey team it is. It just says “these hockey players are hockey players.” > > It’s like an airline choosing to adorn its airplanes with pictures of another airplane. The flip side is that the logo is brilliant in its simplicity. It’s a stick on a rink, with the stick poking out to form the outline of a “C.” But still, at least the Canucks eventually learned to start waking up 5 minutes early so as not to be rushed into playing in their pajamas. [http://www.canadiandesignresource.ca/officialgallery/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/tiger.jpg](http://www.canadiandesignresource.ca/officialgallery/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/tiger.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![TheBoltEater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/779978/32.png) [@TheBoltEater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheBoltEater)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2012, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-sports-city-market-names-abbrev-on-insignia/645418/30 "2012-12-31T22:40:32Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Indeed, the Vancouver Canucks’ alternate logo is nothing **but** a hockey stick. It’s the most baffling logo in sports. It literally says nothing except “we are a hockey team,” as if the fact that the men bearing the logo are already wearing hockey equipment and skates and carrying hockey sticks wasn’t enough to tell you they’re a hockey team. The logo says nothing else; there’s no indication of what hockey team it is. It just says “these hockey players are hockey players.” > > It’s like an airline choosing to adorn its airplanes with pictures of another airplane. Yeah, like **zbuzz** said, you’ve apparently been whooshed by that logo. The “positive space” is a V-shaped hockey stick for “Vancouver”, and the "negative space is a big letter “C”, for (of course) “Canucks”. This is from the Canucks wiki… > [@](#): > > The team’s first NHL jerseys, worn from the inaugural season of 1970–71 (modified for the 1972–73 season) until the end of the 1977–78 season, featured a hockey stick in the shape of a shallow “V” superimposed on a blue rink-shaped rectangle forming the letter “C”, designed by North Vancouver artist, Joe Borovich. A modified version of this logo is still in use, as a shoulder patch on the team’s current jerseys and as the primary logo of their Alternate jerseys. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2012, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-sports-city-market-names-abbrev-on-insignia/645418/31 "2012-12-31T22:56:05Z")
> [@zbuzz](#): > > But still, at least the Canucks eventually learned to start waking up 5 minutes early so as not to be rushed into playing in their pajamas. > [http://www.canadiandesignresource.ca/officialgallery/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/tiger.jpg](http://www.canadiandesignresource.ca/officialgallery/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/tiger.jpg) Still not as bad as the [Philidelphia Flyer Cooperalls](http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikeboon/4217043342/). ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_the\_Turtle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_the_turtle/32/2926_2.png) [@Fear\_the\_Turtle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_the_Turtle)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2013, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-sports-city-market-names-abbrev-on-insignia/645418/32 "2013-01-01T07:22:03Z")
How about the University of Miami just using a “U”? Or does that stand for 'Urricanes? Or is there an ‘M’ buried in there somewhere that I’m just not seeing? [http://www7.miami.edu/ftp/umidentity/logos.html](http://www7.miami.edu/ftp/umidentity/logos.html) ---
**Author:** ![R.P.McMurphy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7993a0/32.png) [@R.P.McMurphy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/R.P.McMurphy)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2013, 9:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-sports-city-market-names-abbrev-on-insignia/645418/33 "2013-01-01T09:55:39Z")
> [@etv78](#): > > Isn’t that to differentiate from the Wolverines? (not snark) Mostly, yes. Within the state of Michigan if you say “Michigan” in regard to universities or college athletics, everyone knows you are referring to the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. If you say “State” it is assumed you are talking about Michigan State University in East Lansing. “State” is never used to refer to Wayne State University, Grand Valley State University, Ferris State University or any other University that has “State” in its name. UofM and MSU are so prominent that saying “Michigan” or “State” is like saying “Elvis”, “Cher” or “Liberace”. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2013, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-sports-city-market-names-abbrev-on-insignia/645418/34 "2013-01-01T15:40:16Z")
What are the common terms for the “compass schools” - EMU or Eastern etc.? ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2013, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-sports-city-market-names-abbrev-on-insignia/645418/35 "2013-01-02T01:33:14Z")
> [@hrhomer](#): > > I always liked [the Minnesota Twins’ logo](http://content.sportslogos.net/logos/53/65/full/1196.gif). The sleeve patch logo is even better - the “M” and “St. P” twin brothers shaking hands across the river. Fantastic. ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2013, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-sports-city-market-names-abbrev-on-insignia/645418/36 "2013-01-02T02:19:01Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > What are the common terms for the “compass schools” - EMU or Eastern etc.? Eastern, Western, Central, or Eastern Michigan, Western Michigan, Central Michigan. Wayne State University, Grand Valley State University, Ferris State University would be Wayne State, Grand Valley, and Ferris State. The block S stands for State. My wife and I both went to MSU. I asked her, with no backstory, what the S in the MSU block S logo stood for. She looked at me like I was nuts and said “What do you mean?” I had to repeat the question to get her to answer “State”. ---
**Author:** ![mkecane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9e8a1a/32.png) [@mkecane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mkecane)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2013, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-sports-city-market-names-abbrev-on-insignia/645418/37 "2013-01-02T16:59:24Z")
> [@Fear\_the\_Turtle](#): > > How about the University of Miami just using a “U”? Or does that stand for 'Urricanes? Or is there an ‘M’ buried in there somewhere that I’m just not seeing? > > [http://www7.miami.edu/ftp/umidentity/logos.html](http://www7.miami.edu/ftp/umidentity/logos.html) It is specifically just the U for University. I don’t remember the details, but it was picked ages ago to differentiate itself from Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, and any other M schools that might be out there. Considering it’s the primary logo and the school uses the phrase “It’s all about the U,” semi-interestingly the baseball team still uses an Old English M on the baseball caps. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2013, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-sports-city-market-names-abbrev-on-insignia/645418/38 "2013-01-02T23:10:30Z")
> [@Fear\_the\_Turtle](#): > > How about the University of Miami just using a “U”? Or does that stand for 'Urricanes? It stands for Uniform. It’s so they don’t show up at games in their street clothes. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2013, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-sports-city-market-names-abbrev-on-insignia/645418/39 "2013-01-03T02:34:21Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > It stands for Uniform. It’s so they don’t show up at games in their street clothes. I thought it stood for “unconvicted”. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Crawlspace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Crawlspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crawlspace)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2013, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-sports-city-market-names-abbrev-on-insignia/645418/40 "2013-01-03T03:37:23Z")
Not worthy of it’s own thread, but: It occurred to me last night that the Brooklyn Nets are the only professional US sports team I can think of that took the name of only part of the city in which it’s located. The only other example I can think of is Chelsea FC. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-sports-city-market-names-abbrev-on-insignia/645418.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-sports-city-market-names-abbrev-on-insignia/645418.md?page=3)