Just what the thread title says. What are the worst logos and/or team names in the history of pro sports? Post your eyesores, embarassments, and “Was the Marketing Department on crack?” franchises and jerseys here.
Since hockey is the sport I follow most and there is a handy logo database at hockeydb.com, I’ll start with examples taken from the wacky world of minor league hockey.
First up, the Toledo Storm. This amateurish scrawl would be an embarassment to a beer league team. Won the Hockey News’ “Worst Minor League Logo” for so many years they don’t give it out anymore.
The Cinicinnati Cyclones jerseys feature the worst artwork ever immoratlized on a jersey. I kind figure out wht’s the worst design element here. A goalie mask with eyebrows? The arms of different length? The inifinite loop?
I vote for the cyclone part, which looks like it the artist had run out of time to get the logo done, so he fired up MacPaint and hurriedly jerked his mouse back and forth a few dozen times to fill up the space.
The Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz. This is the stupidest name I’ve ever heard. It’s too embarrassing to even go to any games. I’ve watch the AFL on TV a couple of times and looks like it might be fun. But Yard Dawgz?! Give me a f**king break. Thank bog for spring ball at OU.
The undisputed champion of terrible logos is the 1995-96 NY Islanders "Fish Sticks logo, which was stupid on all levels:
[ul]
[li]Long Island isn’t really known for its fishing industry[/li][li]Fisherman wear yellow slickers, not teal.[/li][li]The model looks liked he worked for Gorton.[/li][/ul]
The logo was so hated that the team asked permission from the NHL to change it halfway through the season. A league rule prevented is, so the played the entire year with the damn thing on their chests. For year, Ranger fans shouted out “fish sticks” to rattle the Islanders.
There used to be, but apparently isn’t anymore (?), a women’s soccer team called the Oklahoma Outrage.
It’s an odd name; it certainly suggests vehement emotion, but the word “outrage” suggests a sense of moral indignation, and even self-righteousness, more than the sporting fury of the Orlando Rage which was probably what they were aiming at.
World Team Tennis had some interesting nicknames, with the “Hawaii Leis” probably being the worst.
The Brooklyn Bridegrooms baseball club had a pretty stupid team nickname, but some of those players had great sobriquets – Brickyard Kennedy, Oyster Burns, Candy LaChance…
I’m considering going to see some baseball when I’m in San Francisco in early June. The San Francisco Giants (OK name) are away that week but the Oakland A’s (reasonably silly name) are playing the Toronto Blue Jays (OK name) or the Tampa Bay Devil Rays (absolutely atrocious name).
I live in the Tampa Area, and I don’t like the name Devil Rays. They say it’s a reference to the manta rays that reside around here, but I had never heard them called Devil Rays until they announced the name. At least their major color now is green, as opposed the day-glo rainbow thing they had going on a few years ago.
IMHO, they should have been named the Thunder. We already have the Storm (AFL), and the Lightning (NHL), so Thunder would have made sense. Their colors should have been black and gray, similar to the skies in Central Fl right before a summer thunderstorm.
There was some puzzler going around that only X number of teams dont start off with “The” in the offical title.
Then again, I think those that dont start off with “The” are among the worst.
Kennesaw State University, (Kennesaw, GA) Where I am currently a student, used to be known as the Hooters (And the Logo was an Owl). The name was changed in the late 90’s. I think the change was due in part due to the fact that a Hooters Wing Resturant oppened about 3 miles from Campus.
Kennesaw is now Officaly “The Owls”. Which is good, as we didn’t have to go around tearing down the previous pictures of the animal.
I was unaware of the WFL. I clicked the link to see that it was World Football. Given the Rise of the WNBA, I thought it could mean Womens Football. (I wasnt around in the 70s)
Then again, if it was the “real” WFL… I guess it would be the Philadelphia Belle.
My alma mater has a pretty damn stupid name for its teams: the Kent State Golden Flashes. The current logo is supposed to be a mean looking golden eagle
It could be worse, such as for instance the University of Akron Zips.
What’s “reasonably silly” about the Oakland Athletics? The name (and the team) have been around since the early days of professional baseball, as the Philadelphia A’s, the Kansas City A’s and now the Oakland A’s.
Lexington’s minor league team (the Astros’ A-ball club) is the Legends, which I don’t really understand. It’s not as bad as the short-lived Lexington Men’O’War hockey club. The name was a play on the horse, but the mascot was a Viking warrior(?!) named, you guessed it, MOW. Fortunately, they went under after one season, proving what the Kentucky Thoroughblades figured out: hockey doesn’t work in Kentucky, unless you’re the UK Cool Cats.
