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Introducing the Rocket City Trash Pandas


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Introducing the Rocket City Trash Pandas

September 6, 2018 - 12:18 PM

When the Double-A Mobile BayBears relocate to Madison, Alabama, in 2020, they will be called Rocket City Trash Pandas, a name chosen in a recently completed name-the-team contest. More than two-thirds of fans chose the geographic identifier Rocket City (because […]

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They cited the engineering background of Madison Alabama. But, this has to be a Guardians of the Galaxy reference. Rocket and Trash Panda are both in the name. 

 

Disney and particularly their Marvel branch will rule the world one day. 

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59 minutes ago, GrimlockAutobot said:

They cited the engineering background of Madison Alabama. But, this has to be a Guardians of the Galaxy reference. Rocket and Trash Panda are both in the name. 

 

Disney and particularly their Marvel branch will rule the world one day. 

 

U.S. Space and Rocket Center—Huntsville, AL

I still don't have a website, but I have a dribbble now! http://dribbble.com/andyharry

[The postings on this site are my own and do not necessarily represent the position, strategy or opinions of adidas and/or its brands.]

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The Rocket City Trash Pandas is who beat me to win my 2009 fantasy baseball league.

 

Glad to see they're moving up in the world.

 

In all seriousness though, Trash Pandas? Seriously? You expect players to say things like "I'm proud to be a Trash Panda" or "I'm proud to wear the Trash Panda uniform" with a straight face and mean it?

 

I have no problem with giving somewhat ridiculous names to minor league teams. Nothing that's mainly intended for families should be taken that seriously. But this is too much.

 

The one silver lining I see in this is that they finally pulled the plug on Mobile. I'd say roughly half the teams in the Southern League should not be playing at a AA level and I'm all for pulling the AA affiliation from that league and giving it to the Midwest League. But Mobile is the only team in the Southern League I don't even think could be justified at a single A level. On a good day, they're lucky to draw 1,500 fans.

 

That figure would be barely acceptable from a collegiate summer league team. For a AA team, it's pathetic. Quite frankly I don't know how the team can even afford to pay the electric bill.

 

I view the situation with Pawtucket leaving as a bit of a tragedy. The situation in Mobile is more along the lines of don't let the door hit you on the way out.

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I'm from the Rocket City, actually. We used to have a great minor league team with the Huntsville Stars, but poor ownership and relationship with the city led to the ugly breakup and the birth of the Biloxi Shuckers. While the team is technically located in Madison, it's simply a suburb of Huntsville; the two are one in the same to me, especially if they want to use "Rocket City," which is Huntsville's nickname.

 

I hate this name and the support it got. Huntsville deserves a lot better than this. Maybe they wanted to distance themselves from the original Stars? Avoid space-themed team names? 

 

But there's no way in hell anyone can convince me this was a genuine fan-voted poll. The owners said when they revealed the final group of names a few weeks ago that logos and merchandise would be available in just a few weeks after the name was announced. There's no way they could have determined the voting and created a logo and merchandise in such a short turnaround. Brandiose is involved in this project and I bet they already had Trash Pandas selected and a logo already designed.

"I believe in Auburn and love it!"

 

ojNNazQ.jpg

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Of all the names of MiLB clubs, this is the name that breaks your back? MiLB jumped the (Thunder)shark a decade ago in terms of names and we've been in a constant state of freefall since. I'm numb to so many dumb names, that when a silly name holds any appeal to me, I don't mind it. 

 

For me, this is Savannah Bananas / Akron Rubber Ducks territory for me... where yes, it's silly, but it works on a few different levels and the community ( appears ) to have embraced it. I can't deny that while I have no interest in picking up a Huntsville Thundersharks hat... you could probably talk me into picking up a Trash Pandas hat. 

 

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40 minutes ago, pmoehrin said:

You expect players to say things like "I'm proud to be a Trash Panda" or "I'm proud to wear the Trash Panda uniform" with a straight face and mean it?

 

I thought of this when the Rumble Ponies were announced.

 

I'm so disappointed, I was hoping for one of the space names.  The team will be from Rocket freakin City!  This makes no sense. What's the logo gonna be...a raccoon on a rocket?  Yea, that's all MiLB needs is another silly cartoon logo.  Good luck with this one, Brandiose!

 

I didn't notice the GOTG reference before, so I guess that makes it a little more tolerable.

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10 minutes ago, CaliforniaGlowin said:

I thought of this when the Rumble Ponies were announced.

 

I'm so disappointed, I was hoping for one of the space names.  The team will be from Rocket freakin City!  This makes no sense. What's the logo gonna be...a raccoon on a rocket?  Yea, that's all MiLB needs is another silly cartoon logo.  Good luck with this one, Brandiose!

 

I didn't notice the GOTG reference before, so I guess that makes it a little more tolerable.

1

 

I had never heard of the term Rumble Ponies until it was announced as the team name.

 

I saw it as a desperate attempt to revitalize what is clearly a failing minor league team and city, and it hasn't worked. The only reason I think they still have a AA team is because the Mets are too cheap to find another potential affiliate.

 

But as dumb as Rumble Ponies is, at least its not a derogatory term against horses. Why a team would want to name themselves after a negative stereotype of an animal and wear it as a symbol of pride is beyond me.

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I said it in the "Minor-League, Indy & Summer Collegiate Logo" thread and I'll repeat it here. 

Rocket City Trash Pandas? Really? How abject a level of stupidity will what passes for modern, minor-league sports branding have to sink to before some franchise's management team refuses to take part in the exercise?  

This is what happens when a too-self-reverentially-clever-for-its-own-good design firm counsels a team's ownership group to present fans with a predetermined pool of mediocre-to-terrible team identities and then waits for bad taste and human nature to take over in the ensuing "Name-the-Team" vote.

And as if taking the field as the Rocket City Trash Pandas wasn't embarrassing enough, the easily-gulled owners and management in Madison will inevitably double-down on their questionable judgement and allow Jason and Casey to talk them into throwing a "What If? Night", during which they'll don the logo and colors of the Madison Moon Possums. Oh... and let's not forget the inevitable food-themed identity package that the team will be talked into securing for a reasonable up-charge. After all, what's a minor league baseball season without the opportunity to cheer on the North 'Bama Butter Beans for a homestand or two? 

       
Brandiose has gone from creating a sports identity package as classically attractive as that sported by the Clearwater Threshers to... well,  "jumping the ThunderShark".  If this doesn't represent the nadir of modern sports branding, I don't want to see what does.

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I am sorry, but i do not get the purists that are trying to put inject something that was never there into minor-league baseball.  Take a look at Ebbets Field catalogs, they have always had irreverent names.  Let the major leagues (and they often time now fail at this) be serious. Minor league teams often are gone as quickly as their namesakes are in popular lexicon.  Most of them come and go. 

 

Rare are the Durham Bulls and Rochester Red Wings.  

I can appreciate the fondness of the normal naming structures, but its AA ball, and its a team that will probably move or rebrand within 15 years.

 

But hey, whats this board without debate?

 

Just be glad (outside of a few promotional nights) they generally LOOK somewhat traditional when they take the field.

 

They could have a great name and awful uniforms.

 

tucsontoros.jpg

 

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8 hours ago, Brian in Boston said:

I said it in the "Minor-League, Indy & Summer Collegiate Logo" thread and I'll repeat it here. 

Rocket City Trash Pandas? Really? How abject a level of stupidity will what passes for modern, minor-league sports branding have to sink to before some franchise's management team refuses to take part in the exercise?  

This is what happens when a too-self-reverentially-clever-for-its-own-good design firm counsels a team's ownership group to present fans with a predetermined pool of mediocre-to-terrible team identities and then waits for bad taste and human nature to take over in the ensuing "Name-the-Team" vote.

And as if taking the field as the Rocket City Trash Pandas wasn't embarrassing enough, the easily-gulled owners and management in Madison will inevitably double-down on their questionable judgement and allow Jason and Casey to talk them into throwing a "What If? Night", during which they'll don the logo and colors of the Madison Moon Possums. Oh... and let's not forget the inevitable food-themed identity package that the team will be talked into securing for a reasonable up-charge. After all, what's a minor league baseball season without the opportunity to cheer on the North 'Bama Butter Beans for a homestand or two? 

       
Brandiose has gone from creating a sports identity package as classically attractive as that sported by the Clearwater Threshers to... well,  "jumping the ThunderShark".  If this doesn't represent the nadir of modern sports branding, I don't want to see what does.

 

I know, right? Heaven forbid anyone have fun with the creative process. How dare they enjoy designing for a business that caters to families with young children.

I still don't have a website, but I have a dribbble now! http://dribbble.com/andyharry

[The postings on this site are my own and do not necessarily represent the position, strategy or opinions of adidas and/or its brands.]

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3 hours ago, andrewharrington said:

 

I know, right? Heaven forbid anyone have fun with the creative process. How dare they enjoy designing for a business that caters to families with young children.

 

There's "[having] fun with the design process" and there's "throwing s**t at the wall and hoping something will stick". I have no problem with the former. I have little patience for the latter... particularly when a client is being asked to compensate you for the privilege. And believe me, I am well aware that there is a certain amount of trial-and-error involved in the creative process.

Look, I find some of Brandiose's work to be terrific. Their efforts on behalf of the Asheville Tourists, Biloxi Shuckers, Clearwater Threshers, Frisco Rough Riders, and Myrtle Beach Pelicans are amongst my favorite minor pro baseball brands. Perhaps I'm wrong and the principals at Brandiose truly believe that team identities like Trash Pandas, Rumble Ponies, and Jumbo Shrimp measure up to this work as examples of quality sports branding. Me? I see over-the-top goofiness for the sheer sake of trying to come across as outrageous... and precious few identities that will stand the test of time.

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11 hours ago, GFB said:

Of all the names of MiLB clubs, this is the name that breaks your back? MiLB jumped the (Thunder)shark a decade ago in terms of names and we've been in a constant state of freefall since. I'm numb to so many dumb names, that when a silly name holds any appeal to me, I don't mind it. 

 

For me, this is Savannah Bananas / Akron Rubber Ducks territory for me... where yes, it's silly, but it works on a few different levels and the community ( appears ) to have embraced it. I can't deny that while I have no interest in picking up a Huntsville Thundersharks hat... you could probably talk me into picking up a Trash Pandas hat. 

 

 

Oh, my backbreaker was a long time ago.  Now I'm at the point where I just quietly and caustically denigrate Brandiose and their catastrophic lack of taste, creativity, and interest in local themes (outside of a perfunctory scan of google or wikipedia) and just wonder when they'll accidentally overshoot into something that's actually offensive.

On 8/1/2010 at 4:01 PM, winters in buffalo said:
You manage to balance agitation with just enough salient points to keep things interesting. Kind of a low-rent DG_Now.
On 1/2/2011 at 9:07 PM, Sodboy13 said:
Today, we are all otaku.

"The city of Peoria was once the site of the largest distillery in the world and later became the site for mass production of penicillin. So it is safe to assume that present-day Peorians are descended from syphilitic boozehounds."-Stephen Colbert

POTD: February 15, 2010, June 20, 2010

The Glorious Bloom State Penguins (NCFAF) 2014: 2-9, 2015: 7-5 (L Pineapple Bowl), 2016: 1-0 (NCFAB) 2014-15: 10-8, 2015-16: 14-5 (SMC Champs, L 1st Round February Frenzy)

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11 hours ago, tajmccall said:

I am sorry, but i do not get the purists that are trying to put inject something that was never there into minor-league baseball.  Take a look at Ebbets Field catalogs, they have always had irreverent names.  Let the major leagues (and they often time now fail at this) be serious. Minor league teams often are gone as quickly as their namesakes are in popular lexicon.  Most of them come and go. 

 

 

 

There's a difference between irreverent and utterly, stupidly kitschy.  The most bat :censored: insane moniker in Southern League history was probably the utterly  90s "West Tennessee Diamond Jaxx", followed by the Montgomery Biscuits and " Nashville Xpress (90s again)", and that second one at least was slightly grounded.

 

Prediction, they will sell some merchandise on startup online, battle declining attendance, and have a mascot that scares small children at best.

On 8/1/2010 at 4:01 PM, winters in buffalo said:
You manage to balance agitation with just enough salient points to keep things interesting. Kind of a low-rent DG_Now.
On 1/2/2011 at 9:07 PM, Sodboy13 said:
Today, we are all otaku.

"The city of Peoria was once the site of the largest distillery in the world and later became the site for mass production of penicillin. So it is safe to assume that present-day Peorians are descended from syphilitic boozehounds."-Stephen Colbert

POTD: February 15, 2010, June 20, 2010

The Glorious Bloom State Penguins (NCFAF) 2014: 2-9, 2015: 7-5 (L Pineapple Bowl), 2016: 1-0 (NCFAB) 2014-15: 10-8, 2015-16: 14-5 (SMC Champs, L 1st Round February Frenzy)

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