Brian in Boston

I love LAFC bringing in Marco Antonio Garces as their Director of Football Operations . As Chief Scout and Director of Football and Sports Sciences at Pachuca, he had a hand in the club's 2016 Liga MX title, its 2017 CONCACAF Champions League crown, and their third place finish at the 2017 FIFA Club World Cup. I also like the fact that he's had stints at Liverpool, Manchester United, and Real Madrid. I can't wait to see what he can do for the further development of the Black and Gold.

To paraphrase Jeff Goldblum's Dr. Ian Malcolm, "Your design team was so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should." Nike headquarters has become the athletic design equivalent of Isla Nublar. Come to think of it, "Chaos Theory" would be an apropos name for a uniform system in which none of the individual unis - home, road, or alternate - exhibits any truly cohesive design uniformity with one another.

While I know you've said that Utah wasn't in your plans as a USBL market, you might want to rethink that decision. Bees would be a natural as the name for a Salt Lake City-based franchise. After all, Utah is "The Beehive State" and a hive - along with several bees - figures prominently in the state seal. Salt Lake City Bees, Salt Lake Bees, or Utah Bees (alternately, Salt Lake City Swarm, Salt Lake Swarm, or Utah Swarm) would be a great brand.

Agreed. I've long hoped that Inter Miami would wear pink jerseys, black shorts, and black or pink socks for evening matches, with either pink/white/pink or pink/white/white for day games. Either of those ensembles should provide enough contrast with a majority of the other kits in MLS. If an MLS club with a pale jersey option elected to trot out said kit against Inter Miami, then the Herons could have a black jersey at the ready as the centerpiece of their change look.

I suppose it should come as no surprise that a completely needless rebrand has resulted in an entirely soulless team identity.

Ahhhhhhh... the IHL's Atlanta Knights/Quebec Rafales. Hard to believe it's been a year shy of a quarter-century since that relocation took place.

Considering Rentschler Field as in "the NY market" is a stretch. A site in Fairfield County? Sure. A stadium in East Hartford, Connecticut? No.

New York City FC are the MLS Cup Champions for 2021. Will capturing the league title do anything to advance the club's efforts to get a soccer-specific stadium built in the Big Apple? Expansion side Charlotte FC - Major League Soccer's 28th side - is set to take the pitch in the new year. MLS NEXT Pro - a new professional league providing a link between MLS NEXT and MLS first teams - is set to launch. What other developments will 2022 bring to the pro soccer scene in the United States and Canada?

TOP TIER USFL 2.0 LOGO PACKAGES In my opinion, the Pittsburgh Maulers are the class visual identity of USFL 2.0. Their primary logo strikes me as the best in the league and a vast improvement over that which was sported by their USFL 1.0 counterparts. Meanwhile, their secondary is also terrific. I'd slot the New Orleans Breakers' visual identity just behind that of the Maulers. While I'd give the edge to Pittsburgh's primary mark, that's not to say that the Breakers' main logo isn't a tremendously effective update on the original design that graced USFL 1.0 teams in Boston, New Orleans, and Portland. I also love the simplicity of the Breakers' NOLA secondary mark. The logo packages for these two USFL 2.0 teams are, to my mind, clearly a cut above the rest of the league. MIDDLE TIER USFL 2.0 LOGO PACKAGES Next up, I'd rank the New Jersey Generals' visual identity as the third best in USFL 2.0. The subtle alterations that have been made to individual components of the Generals' visual identity make for a significant upgrade in its overall feel. The word mark is rendered in a manner that seems less "fussy" than in the original logo. Similarly, the laurel wreath in the mark is depicted in greater detail, imparting a certain strength to the device. The decision to place the five stars in a tighter configuration within - as opposed to overlapping - the wreath, makes for a visually cleaner and bolder mark. And the manner in which the Navy Blue has been added to the color scheme makes everything "pop" just a bit more. Trailing behind New Jersey in this middle tier of USFL 2.0 logo packages are the Michigan Panthers and the Houston Gamblers. Both teams have harkened back to their USFL 1.0 roots in putting their new logo packages together, but have traveled different paths in doing so, The Michigan Panthers - checking in fourth in my USFL 2.0 identity rankings - have opted to alter the design of their original marks to a greater extent than Houston. Their primary mark is once again a stylized depiction of a roaring panther, with said big cat once again situated beneath the team word mark within a rectangular containment shape. As in the original version of the logo, alternating horizontal Royal Plum and Champagne Silver lines provide a backdrop for the depiction of the panther. In the new version of this mark the color balance is reversed, with the panther primarily Champagne Silver in color, rather than Royal Plum. Further, the word mark within the logo is rendered in Light Blue and Champagne Silver, as opposed to Royal Plum and Champagne Silver. Finally, the containment shape is now taller than it is wide, and pitched at an angle. Frankly, there are two aspects of the new Panthers' identity package that bother me. First, in the primary mark, I'd have preferred it if the graphic designer(s) had figured out a way to render the panther primarily in Royal Plum. Other than that, I find said logo's design to be a dynamite modernization of the Panthers' original mark. Further, in the secondary mark, I'd have liked to have seen three Light Blue stripes on each side of the M, as that would have been a nod to the three Light Blue stripes that were featured in the sleeve striping on the original Michigan Panthers' uniforms. The Gamblers are the USFL 2.0 team that clearly made the decision to hew as closely to their market's original visual identity as possible. That being the case, word mark font and the slightest of deviations in the shape of the State of Texas aside, the primary mark for Gamblers 2.0 is a virtual carbon copy of the original main logo. Personally, I always thought that the original Houston mark was a bit overrated, so aping it this closely here doesn't impress me much. The secondary mark, while not necessarily pushing the envelope design-wise, is nicely rendered. All things considered, the Gamblers have turned in a safe - if unremarkable - logo package. I'd rank it fifth amongst USFL 2.0 identities. BOTTOM TIER USFL 2.0 LOGO PACKAGES In my bottom tier of USFL 2.0 visual identity systems - in a dead heat, three-way tie for eighth place - we find the Birmingham Stallions, Tampa Bay Bandits, and Philadelphia Stars. The Birmingham Stallions can celebrate little more than the the fact that the equine mascot in their primary mark is better-rendered than the candidate for the glue factory featured in the main logo of the Tampa Bay Bandits . As LogoFan opined earlier in the thread, Birmingham's primary mark looks like it could be adorning the athletic teams at a middle school. That said, Tampa's primary mark takes the school theme a step further by resembling a homework assignment that a student poured time and effort into early on, only to forget said project's due date until the night before it was to be turned in, and was then forced to slap the final third together on the morning it was to be presented in class. Tampa Bay's word mark is solid, if unremarkable. The bandit is more of the same. However, the horse just says, "I've grown tired of this... I'm not comfortable drawing horses... aaaaaaand, this is going to have to be good enough." The horse's mane, it's face, it's right foreleg... I don't know what to say beyond, "The old gray mare , she ain't what she used to be... and she needs to be put down." Now, where the Stallions could use some help is in the secondary logo department. Is that supposed to be a "B", or did the folks in Birmingham know I was going to rank them co-eighth place finishers and adopt a stylized "8" as their secondary? As for the Philadelphia Stars, their secondary mark is reasonably well-designed and would make a lovely addition to the identity system of a World Football League 2.0's Philadelphia Bell. Beyond that, the team is plagued by the fact that the original USFL franchise that bore their name played three seasons (including one in Baltimore) sporting a logo that already looked dated the minute it was rolled out in 1982. Electing to pay visual homage to said identity going on 40 years later is recipe for graphic design disaster. Speaking of recipe's their old primary mark wouldn't have looked out of place on a late-1970s-to-mid-1980s fast-food restaurant marquee. Despite being well-rendered, the same holds true for the modern update. So, the standings as I see them... NORTH DIVISION Pittsburgh Maulers 10 - 0 New Jersey Generals 6 - 4 Michigan Panthers 6 - 4 Philadelphia Stars 1 - 9 SOUTH DIVISION New Orleans Breakers 9 - 1 Houston Gamblers 4 - 6 Birmingham Stallions 3 - 7 Tampa Bay Bandits 1 - 9

Because neither of the schools' football teams represents a "get" or "must have" program at the FBS level. In ten seasons of play at the FBS level, UMass has compiled a record of 20 and 91 (.180). The program's best finishes have been a pair of 4-and-8 campaigns. As for the "better" of the two programs, UConn's 21 seasons of FBS play have resulted in an overall record of 101 and 151 (.401), including just six winning campaigns... the last occurring over a decade ago. Credit where credit is due, the Huskies' FBS portfolio includes a 3 and 2 mark in the Motor City, Meineke Car Care, International, PapaJohns.com, and Fiesta Bowls. Of course that last one ended up being a 48-20 shellacking at the hands of Oklahoma. At the end of the day, it can be argued that the goal of having UMass and UConn achieve sustained relevance - hell, any relevance - at the FBS level is a pipe dream... and one that stands to waste tax dollars that could be better spent elsewhere at the educational institutions. Instead of buying into the delusions of FBS glamour harbored by the likes of ambitious athletic department personnel and starry-eyed boosters, the state politicians and school administrators respectively responsible for financing and managing both universities should be insisting that the football teams at the schools operate at the FCS level of competition to which they're better suited.

The Midland Rockhounds unveiled their logo refresh earlier today and the Stockton Ports dropped a new alternate cap. Staten Island's identity is scheduled to be introduced at an event that gets underway at 5:30 PM local time. As for Bowling Green, one would presume that their reveal is also scheduled for late afternoon/early evening.

New Tricks: RockHounds roll out logo refresh The Midland RockHounds opted for a modernization of their mascot and logo system. Torch Creative out of Dallas did a very nice job of updating the original logos, which - if I'm not mistaken - were created by Valentine Design.

Guardians Roller Derby v. Cleveland Guardians Baseball Company LLC was filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio today. The roller derby team is alleging issues with trademark and merchandising rights stemming from the rebranding of Cleveland's MLB franchise.

Without question, design A is the best of the three options... in my opinion, by a considerable margin.

Well, those all seem perfectly legitimate reasons for Pizza Rats to not make the list of Name-the-Team finalists for Staten Island's new Atlantic League team. That said, the list of seven identities that did end up as candidates is, in my opinion, none too impressive. Dragon Slayers Ferry Hawks Frontliners Greenbelters Harbor Heroes Responders Watchdogs

The USL Championship's Charlotte Independence are playing out of the newly-renovated Memorial Stadium. The same circuit's Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC moved into newly-constructed Weidner Field this season.

I'm not a fan of the logo's alignment on the helmet. I understand that it references the angled application of the actual franchise's namesake logo image and word mark, but that always struck me as a strange aesthetic choice. I'd apply the logo to the helmets exactly as you elected to display the standalone mark in the graphic above.

As opposed to the pragmatic option, which would be for most schools in the "Group of 5" conferences to honestly assess their football programs and opt to compete in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision.

Seattle Sea Devils

Seattle Sea Devils strikes me as the best of said identities. Why? One simply doesn't regard the Pacific Northwest as being a hotbed of piracy. Similarly, when one thinks of a significant U.S. Naval presence in the Pacific, Pearl Harbor and San Diego/Coronado are the locales that leap to mind, not Seattle. Finally, given the choice between the fantastical Dragons and Sea Devils brands, the latter just seems to fit Seattle better.

The Winnipeg Goldeyes of the American Association have announced that they and their fans will be moving "Forward Together" in 2022. The first step on that journey is the introduction of a sleek new look to accompany the team's name of 28 seasons. CREST ICON CITY MARK BRANDMARKS Winnipeg Goldeyes: Forward Together

There are barracuda in Southern California waters. Which is why San Diego's Roller Hockey International team was named after the fish.

Hard pass on both. The range of barracuda is tropical to subtropical waters... decidedly not the Pacific Northwest. There are far better piscine identities to grace a Seattle-based sports franchise: Steelheads, Sockeyes, Cutthroats, Chinook. As for the Riders identity, I never understood the love. The name is about as generic as you can get, the logo was a mediocrity, and the color scheme just made me think of the San Diego Padres. It struck me as no better than a middle-of-the-pack identity - at best - in the WLAF. WideRight would have to work some real magic to "make a silk purse out of that sow's ear".

I'd forgotten about the Portland Thunder. Further, now that I think about it, WideRight incorporated the CFL's Texans logo in his identity for the Texas Outlaws. Well, in any event, I'm pulling for the Seattle Sea Devils.

Seattle Sea Devils (Hamburg - NFLE) or Seattle Thunder (Orlando - WLAF) Dallas Texans (San Antonio - CFL) or Dallas Posse (Las Vegas - CFL)