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Professional Kübb League (Updates and Expansion)


scottyeagle

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Hey there folks, I thought I would take some time and post my concepts for a professional kübb league aptly named the "Professional Kübb League".  For those of you (read:  most of you) who are not familiar with the game of kübb, it is a lawn game similar to horseshoes wherein wooden sticks (or, if you want to be pretentious (which I do), kastpinnars) are thrown at wooden blocks (or kübbs) with the intent of knocking them down.  Here's a You Tube video showing the game in action (ignore the femurs-and-skulls talk).  This game is believed to derive from the Swedish island of Gotland; as a result, it is primarily played in the United States in areas with substantial Scandinavian populations.  I've played kübb with friends and family for years, and it's a game best played with a beer in your free hand.  With that in mind, I thought it would be fun and somewhat incongruous to imagine a world in which kübb was a serious spectator sport that drew crowds similar in size to American soccer and tennis matches.  And so it came to pass that the Professional Kübb League was born. 

 

The League was founded in 1993 by a group of college kids in Minnesota and Wisconsin who formed teams in Minneapolis, Saint Paul, Eau Claire, and Madison.  Since the game itself does not take very long, they decided to form games into matches consisting of a best-of-5 series.  Each team has four players with two players per team in each game, with the requirement being that each player needs to participate in at least one game.  As the game gained popularity, it added teams in a first wave of expansion to Rochester and La Crosse in 2002 and Des Moines and Milwaukee in 2014.  The league logo is located below, celebrating the game's Swedish heritage with a blue-and-yellow color scheme and showcasing the five kübbs on one's back row and the king in the middle.  I got the crest shape idea from Mockba's excellent League du Nord series, which is the source of a lot of my aesthetic inspirations for this league. 

 

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East Division

Eau Claire Kings

La Crosse Crosscuts

Madison Woodchucks

Milwaukee Growlers

West Division

Des Moines Dragons

Minneapolis Kübbs

Rochester Berserkers

Saint Paul Gray Ducks

 

League Map

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I have all the squads done and intend to release one every other day starting tomorrow to get some C&C between teams.  In the meantime, let me know what you think of the league logo and feel free to express your emotions about this league in whatever manner you see fit. 

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1 hour ago, Whitefoot said:

Great idea for the league crest. Think about making the width of the blue outline of your crest match the width of the 5 kubbs on the top of the crest.

 

Spot on. 

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5th in NAT. TITLES  |  2nd in CONF. TITLES  |  5th in HEISMAN |  7th in DRAFTS |  8th in ALL-AMER  |  7th in WINS  |  4th in BOWLS |  1st in SELLOUTS  |  1st GAMEDAY SIGN

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12 hours ago, Whitefoot said:

Great idea for the league crest. Think about making the width of the blue outline of your crest match the width of the 5 kubbs on the top of the crest.

 

10 hours ago, pianoknight said:

 

Spot on. 

 

You've got it.  See original post.

 

And with that, it's time to introduce the first team of the Professional Kübb League:  The Eau Claire Kings!

 

Eau Claire Kings

Any discussion of the Professional Kübb League must begin in Eau Claire.  One of the four founding members of the league, the Kings are synonymous with greatness in the kübb world.  Far and away the most successful franchise, Eau Claire hoisted the first four championship trophies (affectionately known as the Lutefisk Cup) and six of the first seven.  After a second wave of success that saw three consecutive Lutefisk Cups from 2005-2007, however, they have failed to meet expectations.  Since 2007, the Kings have reached the championship game only once despite constant expectation to do so.  Their most recent season had them favored to win it all but were tripped up in the semifinal round by Des Moines.  This season, they are once again the favorites to hoist the Lutefisk Cup.  Whether they can buck their recent trend of underachieving remains to be seen. 

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I decided to imagine the Kings as a lovechild between the Yankees and Notre Dame, with all of the mystique, entitlement, and overall douchebaggery such a conjugation would entail.  As a result, the home features the Yankees-esque pinstripes while the away is basic navy and gold for the Golden Domers.  They are the only team without names on the back of the jerseys, keeping in line with the Yankees and Notre Dame.  Nothing too exciting about their uniforms; most of the founders (Eau Claire, Madison, Minneapolis, and Saint Paul) favor simpler, time-honored designs. 

 

That's all for Eau Claire; La Crosse will be released on Monday. 

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Edit - tried replying to the original thread but it kept linking the video from OP's post. Can't seem to delete it from my dialog box on mobile. 

 

 

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5th in NAT. TITLES  |  2nd in CONF. TITLES  |  5th in HEISMAN |  7th in DRAFTS |  8th in ALL-AMER  |  7th in WINS  |  4th in BOWLS |  1st in SELLOUTS  |  1st GAMEDAY SIGN

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First of all, I love kubb! They have it in Bryant Park in Manhattan during the summers, it's so much fun. I really suck at it, but I'm just waiting 'til summer time comes again, fingers crossed.

 

Big fan of Eau Claire, but. I feel like a game like kubb needs uniforms that are uniquely kubb. Eau Claire would look perfectly at home on a soccer field. Since we're bringing kubb onto the big stage, you have an opportunity to change things, give kubb a look all its own. Take some risks, add some quirky design features. If you tell us they're classics we'll believe you.

 

It really does look amazing, though.

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On ‎6‎/‎4‎/‎2017 at 4:30 PM, Big Yellow Flag said:

First of all, I love kubb! They have it in Bryant Park in Manhattan during the summers, it's so much fun. I really suck at it, but I'm just waiting 'til summer time comes again, fingers crossed.

 

Big fan of Eau Claire, but. I feel like a game like kubb needs uniforms that are uniquely kubb. Eau Claire would look perfectly at home on a soccer field. Since we're bringing kubb onto the big stage, you have an opportunity to change things, give kubb a look all its own. Take some risks, add some quirky design features. If you tell us they're classics we'll believe you.

 

It really does look amazing, though.

 

Thanks for your comments.  I totally get where you are coming from, and I do have some wilder designs up my sleeve.  I am, however, a big fan of the soccer jersey design aesthetic, so a lot of my ideas will naturally have that influence.  In my mind, good design elements will look good regardless of the medium.

 

With that in mind, it's time to introduce the second team! 

 

La Crosse Crosscuts

After a decade of growing popularity, the Professional Kübb League decided the time was right to expand.  In 2002, they added two teams:  La Crosse and Rochester.  Though La Crosse has the smallest population of any city in the league (only about 50,000), the city fit well into the league's geographic footprint and provided a natural rivalry to their expansion counterpart.  The Crosscuts, named for La Crosse's prominent lumber industry in the late 19th century, burst onto the kübb scene, winning the Lutefisk Cup in their second year thanks to a number of upstart young players.  Since their inception, they have won 3 titles - most recently in 2015 - and appeared in an additional two title games.  They remain a strong contender year in and year out. 

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In order to appeal to free agents and fans beyond their smaller-sized market, the Crosscuts have sported some of the trendier uniforms in the league.  Historically, they have worn plaid to tie their identity into the lumber industry.  The past couple of seasons have seen them move toward design elements that represent not the lumber industry, but the lumber itself, calling to mind the wood with which kübb is played.  This means tree rings and a sublimated wood grain pattern.  Colors evoke the woods and the great outdoors. 

 

Comments on Eau Claire and La Crosse appreciated.  We go with our third Wisconsin team, Madison, on Wednesday. 

 

EDIT

Here's La Crosse with a more symmetrical look on the home jersey. 

 

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Did I say Wednesday?  I meant Thursday :P Not that anyone cared or noticed!  Having said that, let's introduce the next team!

 

Madison Woodchucks

 

The 'chucks are one of the original four teams, founded in 1993 by a group of UW-Madison students looking to create a rivalry with the team that grew in Minneapolis at the University of Minnesota.  Unlike the other original Wisconsin team, Eau Claire, Madison's existence has been anything but illustrious.  In their twenty-five years of existence, they have been to the Lutefisk Cup only thrice (most recently in 2006), each time coming away empty-handed.  As such, the Woodchucks have been synonymous with losing; they are kübb's Cubs.  Like the Cubs, the Woodchucks nevertheless enjoy a loyal following, always hoping that this will finally be their year.  After all, the Cubs finally broke their curse in 2016; perhaps it is the Woodchucks' turn to break through. 

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Uniforms are pretty self-explanatory; very much inspired by the University of Wisconsin with the Bucky Badger-esque stripes on the home.  Madison is the only team with a wordmark on the front of their uniforms, a unique trait they have had since their inception.  Logo consists of two kastpinnars and two kübbs forming the letter M (or an upside-down W if you so prefer).  I notice some of the kerning looks off after uploading it, but it looks fine on Inkscape so I don't know. 

 

I'll be out of town for the weekend, so I won't be releasing the final East Division team (Milwaukee) until Monday Monday.  So that should give you plenty of time to comment on Eau Claire, La Crosse, Madison, or anything else that's on your mind.

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I didn't know what kubb was (sorry, not going to the work of figuring out how to do special characters on my phone) until I read this, and I don't care for soccer designs in general...but you have some solid looks here. (I love that you don't make them wear separate color schemes home and away like in European soccer!) My favorite so far is La Crosse.

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Halfway there!

 

Milwaukee Growlers

Coming out of the Great Recession as the economy continued to gain speed and the league continued to gain popularity, a second wave of expansion was announced with teams set to join the Professional Kübb League for the 2014 season.  Many who followed the league assumed expansion would follow a similar model to the first wave of expansion:  tapping into smaller markets and gradually expanding the league's geographic footprint.  For many, this meant new teams in places like Saint Cloud or Duluth.  Maybe they would push south into Iowa or northwestward up to Fargo.  You can imagine the surprise around the league, then, when Des Moines and Milwaukee were chosen.  Unlike most of the other cities, Des Moines and Milwaukee did not have a traditional Scandinavian heritage; Milwaukee, for example, has a much more substantial German and Polish population.  Nevertheless, league executives determined expansion into the two largest metro areas in the Upper Midwest without a franchise would be the best plan of action going forward.  Milwaukee's franchise was named the Growlers, simultaneously meant as an homage to their prominent history of brewing and the fierceness of an angry bulldog.  The Growlers, however, have displayed zero fierceness during their first three seasons.  Kübb has struggled to catch on in the Cream City; in addition to sporting the worst record all three years, they have also had the worst attendance figures.  There currently does not seem any end to the Growers' misfortune as they have failed to attract quality free agents and their draft picks have not paid off, but league executives remain optimistic Milwaukee can turn things around. 

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The team colors for the Growlers mirror those of the AHL's Hershey Bears:  Double brown and tan.  In brandspeak, these colors are manifested with the Growlers as Porter Brown, Growler Brown, and Cream City Cream.  They sport a mostly classically-minded look with some modern flourishes (the wordmark down the pants is a good example).  The away features a shoulder yoke, meant to evoke the creamy-colored foam at the top of a darker beer such as a porter or stout.  In essence, players are meant to look like walking glasses of beer.

 

That's the final team in the East; I'll start the West on Thursday with Milwaukee's expansion companion, Des Moines.

 

EDIT

Yoke extended to the back. 

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I lived in Minneapolis for ten years without ever having heard of this. Must be one of those things you only know if you're born there. That said, my only complaint is that I want to see the rings on the La Cross jersey align with the patch. Great series so far.

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22 hours ago, Whittier S said:

I lived in Minneapolis for ten years without ever having heard of this. Must be one of those things you only know if you're born there. That said, my only complaint is that I want to see the rings on the La Cross jersey align with the patch. Great series so far.

 

Yeah I'm a rural Minnesotan and I got exposed to it pretty early in my life, which may be anomalous.  I definitely thought La Crosse could have the patch in the middle of the rings, but I opted for a more asymmetrical look; maybe I'll give it another go. 

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I like the colors for Milwaukee a lot. It's a unique uniform, where the colors work really well together. Same goes for the entire series thus far. I'm a fan of the cross-section striping on La Crosses' jerseys too.

 

I think the tan yoke on the dark brown jersey should cross onto the back, though, for Milwaukee.

 

I've never heard of kübb, but you make it look good.

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Alterations to La Crosse and Milwaukee are reflected in their respective posts.  Thanks for the comments, everybody; keep 'em coming!

 

Now it's time for our first team in the West Division!

 

Des Moines Dragons

As I said in the Milwaukee post, it was expected that kübb would make its first foray into the Hawkeye State.  Most thought any Iowa team would be more adjacent to the Mississippi River, most likely Cedar Rapids/Iowa City due to the location of the University of Iowa.  Instead, the league opted for the larger market that was a little farther away in Iowa's capital city.  Unlike Milwaukee, Des Moines has had a little more success developing a kübb culture, partially because they are competing with a AAA team as opposed to one in the major leagues (even if it's the Brewers :lol:).  This past season, the Dragons snuck into the playoffs with a wildcard spot and knocked off the heavy favorite Eau Claire before succumbing to Saint Paul in the final.  With this successful season, some fans consider Des Moines a dark horse to return to the Lutefisk Cup, this time hopefully hoisting it. 

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As one of the league's newest teams, Des Moines went for a more modern look, featuring on their uniforms (and logo) a dragon head reminiscent of those on Viking ships.  No particular reason for the dark royal blue and orange; it's just a color scheme that always looks good in my opinion and there wasn't any orange in the league yet.  I figured the orange could also signify fire from the mouth of a dragon. 

 

Des Moines = done.  On Monday, the first of the Twin Cities squads. 

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On 6/13/2017 at 3:49 PM, Whittier S said:

I lived in Minneapolis for ten years without ever having heard of this. Must be one of those things you only know if you're born there. That said, my only complaint is that I want to see the rings on the La Cross jersey align with the patch. Great series so far.

I've lived in Minnesota my whole life and I've never heard of this game... Great job on this series however! I really like the color scheme! It's always been one of my favorites!

"And those who know Your Name put their trust in You, for You, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek You." Psalms 9:10

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Minneapolis Kübbs

The Kübbs, a whimsical play on words for a popular mispronunciation of the game, spent most of their early years fighting with Saint Paul to see who had the opportunity to lose the Lutefisk Cup to Eau Claire.  For the most part, their rival across the river got the better of them.  Minneapolis finally beat both Saint Paul and Eau Claire for their first championship in 2000.  During the 2000s, they would return to the Lutefisk Cup five additional times, but only won once.  They developed a reputation around the league as a perennial contender that struggled to win the big thing, but they dispelled that stereotype from 2011-2013 with three consecutive championship game appearances and two titles.  Minneapolis remains a favorite for the Lutefisk Cup year in and year out, but their star players are beginning to decline, leaving fans to wonder how long they can continue to contend and how long until they have to start rebuilding for the future. 

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As the team was founded by a group of students from the University of Minnesota, the Kübbs followed a similar model as Madison and modeled their color scheme and uniforms after the Golden Gophers.  I drew particular inspiration from the women's soccer teams uniforms, as I thought this would be a prime opportunity for some hoops.  Not much more to add.  Pretty simple. 

 

Two more teams left:  Rochester and Saint Paul.  Think I'll just post Rochester on Wednesday and Saint Paul on Thursday just to keep comments coming and to get the series wrapped up before another weekend getaway.  So that's that.  Rip 'em apart! 

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Welp, no point in stringing this out if I'm not garnering any comments.  Here's Rochester. 

 

Rochester Berserkers

Rochester joined the league in the first round of expansion in 2002, naming themselves after the Norse warriors renowned for their ferocious fighting.  This maniacal fighting spirit was necessary during their infancy as they were placed into the West Division with two powerful squads in the Twin Cities.  The Berserkers struggled at first compared to their expansion partner, but they slowly developed a solid squad that would eventually win championships in 2009 and 2012.  As it stands now, they are very much a middle-of-the-road kind of team, never a juggernaut but a team that can occasionally sneak into a wildcard spot(note: two wildcards, the third and fourth best teams in the league, were added in 2014 after Des Moines and Milwaukee).  Last year, however, they slunk back into the division cellar due to the upstart Des Moines Dragons.  Challenges abound for Rochester in the future as they are stuck with three strong contenders. 

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Not much to say here.  Nordic knots, Nordic rune R, and I just liked the colors black and yellow for this team.  Not sure why the shorts striping has some spots darker than others, but it is what it is. 

 

Yeah. 

Probably Saint Paul tomorrow. 

 

Comment.  I'm also updating the league map in the initial post to show the team logos together. 

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