Rays seem ready to dump Devil

[nyk]

This is a here we go again story...Just call yourself the Tampa Bay Rays and call it a day. They dont ever use the "devil" anyway. Either way they'll still be in the bottom the AL East Division kicking rocks.

[Brian E]

yeah they say that when the media refers to them positively, the team is referred to as the rays, but when it's negative connotation, they call them the devil rays. stupiest thing i've ever heard.

i know paul at uniwatch reported the rays were one team thinking about going to powder blue unis on the road for '08. maybe this is the emphasis on blue that's upcoming? nevertheless, the name thing is silly, because they need more than just a name change to fix this franchise.

[njmeadowlanders]

yeah they say that when the media refers to them positively, the team is referred to as the rays, but when it's negative connotation, they call them the devil rays. stupiest thing i've ever heard.

i know paul at uniwatch reported the rays were one team thinking about going to powder blue unis on the road for '08. maybe this is the emphasis on blue that's upcoming? nevertheless, the name thing is silly, because they need more than just a name change to fix this franchise.

Well remember, most of us thought it would be the Royals that went back to the powder blue roadies...that and yellow would be sweet though...

[panameno42]

i think its pointless. if they drop devil they should just drop the whole name together and rename the team .

[sigma716]

i brought this up a week or two ago in the 10 yr anniversary thread, last season they wore "tarpons" white and red uniforms for a throwback game. shortly after that there was alot of talk of using that name.

[Guest]

Yes, and the ramifications of a white and red team called the Tarpons has been just as flogged to death here as "the city1 nickname of city2" or "switch the Jazz and the Hornets."

[Lee.]

You'd be surprised how many nutbars are actually offended by the word "Devils".

In that case then, as an agnostic, I demand that New Orleans immediately stop using the word "Saints" as a nickname.

[Mings]

You'd be surprised how many nutbars are actually offended by the word "Devils".

In that case then, as an agnostic, I demand that New Orleans immediately stop using the word "Saints" as a nickname.

So who is gonna do the "marching in"?

[M59]

So...they've gone from purple and black to green and blue to baby blue and yellow (potentially)?

This is the kind of "progress" that I, for one, can live without!

Their original kit was innovative and attractive, the current version less so. I have VERY low expectations for version three. What do you want to bet that they'll go to some funky, personalized number font, too?

[boardname]

On the one hand, anyone who objects to the name "Devil Rays" for what they claim to be theological reasons deserves scorn and ridicule. On the other hand, it was a stupid name to begin with for reasons unrelated to church.

With a few exceptions, two-word team names just don't work. Heck, three-syllable team names are usually too much for fans. "Rays" isn't much of a team name, but it's certainly more sensible than "Devil Rays" or "Manta Rays" or any other two-word appellation.

As to the colors, I'm underwhelmed. Blue and green is a terrific combo, even if the Rays haven't really made the most of the combination (nor chosen the right shades of each). The AL East is just not crying out for another team to emphasize blue. It's discouraging to hear about blue with yellow accents. Sounds like the modern Brewers. It would be better for TB to use yellow as prominently as Oakland does; that would at least create a distinctive color scheme. But however they do it, blue and yellow is never going to say "tropical" to me in the way that any combination with green would. Even if they're keeping the current de facto name, the redesign should have started from first principles of brand identity. Doing so could not possibly have led to the use of the palette described.

Completely agreed. 3 of the other 4 teams in the division already use a prominent amount of blue (save the Orioles, of course). I really don't like the LA Rams-ish thing i'm envisioning here.

I'd really like them to go more of a U of Miami route. Keep the green (because green is SORELY underused in pro sports, and it would at least tie back to their 'roots', as they were) and add some orange. You'd get a completely unique look in MLB and have a great tropical feel that it sounds like they're going for.

[whitedawg22]

If a team changes its name and nobody goes to the games, does anyone hear?

[jojotarantino]

Forget this name change, why does this team even exist?

[nyk]

Forget this name change, why does this team even exist?

ditto

[rams80]

Forget this name change, why does this team even exist?

To keep other teams from threatening to move there.

[CC97]

Forget this name change, why does this team even exist?

To keep other teams from threatening to move there.

HA!

[Lee.]

Forget this name change, why does this team even exist?

To keep other teams from threatening to move there.

I would think that by this time, the citizens of the Tampa-St Pete metro area would be more than ready to see Major League Baseball in their town.

[TBGKon]

here's a quick Paint mockup of possible colors; I actually used 3 colors from the original rainbow gradient uniforms

[mike2sana]

^^^^ reminds me of the hornets

You'd be surprised how many nutbars are actually offended by the word "Devils". Just last year, some NJ representative tried to make it illegal for the NHL team to continue using that name. As retarded as that is to begin with, it's even more ridiculous because the Jersey Devil (for whom the team is named, NOT for Satan) is a well-known urban legend bigfooty thing.

o really i always thought they were called the devils cause new jersey is hell

[Slickster]

Stingrays isn't an option, apparently.

[Brian E]

here's a quick Paint mockup of possible colors; I actually used 3 colors from the original rainbow gradient uniforms

it does look hornets-esque, but i actually like it. still though, playing in that stadium, they could wear legion of doom-inspired spiked shoulder pads and not be noticed.