Brian in Boston

On 5/11/2023 at 6:51 AM, jags1828 said:

Major Tuddy is

Now all I can think of is barbecue pork.

On 5/5/2023 at 8:20 AM, WideRight said:

Just a quick question to see what folks think.  Not promising anything will happen, but it just could.

 

Which current team in the Alt History of the USFL do you think is a prime relocation candidate between 2008-2018?

It wouldn't shock me to see the Oakland Invaders relocate to San Jose. San Jose is the third most populous city in California, the most populous city in the Bay Area, and is home to more than twice as many residents as Oakland. It is located nearly exactly equidistant between Oakland and San Francisco, thereby making it perfectly situated to draw fans from both of those municipalities. As such, the argument could be made that a San Jose-based USFL franchise would tap into support within both the #13 San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley, CA MSA and the #36 San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA MSA, while drawing viewers from throughout the #6 San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose television DMA. Further, the financing of a stadium project in San Jose might be far easier to pull together given the burgeoning Silicon Valley economy. Finally, should USFL leadership ever seek to pursue placing a team in Sacramento, a San Jose-based USFL team would that much farther away from the catchment area of said franchise than an Oakland team would. 

I could see either the Jacksonville Bulls or the Orlando Renegades - likely, the former - relocating to Miami. The Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, FL Metropolitan Statistical Area is the most populous in the state and the Miami-Fort Lauderdale Nielsen Designated Market Area (#18 in the country) is the third-largest in the state behind the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Sarasota (#13) and Orlando-Daytona Beach-Melbourne (#17) DMAs. Jacksonville, as the 39th-largest MSA and 41st-largest DMA, significantly trails the other Florida markets in population and TV viewership metrics.

In the Lone Star State, I could envision the Texas Outlaws relocating to the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX MSA, only to have an ownership group step up and secure a new team for San Antonio just as soon as possible. On the other hand, I could also see the Dallas market  entering the USFL via expansion, with Outlaws team management subsequently stepping up there game in order to compete with not just one, but two Texas-based competitors. Either way, might a Central Texas-based USFL team opt to divide its scheduled allotment of home games between both San Antonio and Austin?

Also, as both the USFL and the professional sports industry grow, how long will smaller markets such as Memphis (#43 MSA; #52 Nielsen DMA), New Orleans (#47 MSA; #50 Nielsen DMA), and Birmingham (#50 MSA; #45 Nielsen DMA) be able to hold onto their United States Football League teams? 

Interesting scenarios and questions. It will be interesting to see what your fervid imagination comes up with in the seasons ahead.

* Note: All MSA and DMA rankings are from 2020 through the present. 

5 hours ago, 4_tattoos said:

Exactly how many D1 men's lacrosse programs are there in the western states? Are they at a point where they could form their own lacrosse only conference? It's weird as hell seeing teams from the Rocky Mountains in east coast conferences. What's the magic number of programs needed for a western lacrosse conference to be doable?

To the best of my knowledge, there are only four schools west of the Mississippi River that play host to NCAA D1 men's lacrosse programs: Lindenwood University, the United States Air Force Academy, the University of Denver, and the University of Utah.

As for the number of member institutions necessary to launch a western D1 lacrosse conference sanctioned by the NCAA, I'm at a loss. I don't know of the existence of any lacrosse-only conferences operating at the NCAA D1 and D2 levels. That said, the Midwest Lacrosse Conference (6 members) and the Coastal Lacrosse Conference (6 members) both operate as D3, NCAA-sanctioned, lacrosse-only circuits.  

58 minutes ago, raz said:

LA Express... Short-lived league... Las Vegas Locomotives... Hmmmm

By all that is holy, please don’t allow the USFL’s Los Angeles Express to be influenced by the World Football League’s Jacksonville Express and the United Football League’s Las Vegas Locomotives.

AAF’s Memphis Express (who they already share design elements with) and the UFL’s Omaha Nighthawks? Sure. But the WFL’s Express and UFL’s Locos? Oh, dear God… no.

19 hours ago, WideRight said:

 

I really like this update of the Charlotte Monarchs’ secondary logo.  Nicely done, sir.

Realistically, I believe the best candidate for 2008 expansion is that of the Charlotte Monarchs. Though they’d be sharing the market and stadium with the NFL’s Carolina Panthers, the Monarchs would be going into a first class facility in a fast-growing city that is poised to grow from a regional financial power into a national economic player.  I’ve also warmed to a color palette that accompanies an outstanding  logo package. In fact, while I’ll still give the edge to the Virginia Destroyers’ colors of Burgundy, Navy, and Battleship Grey, the Monarchs’ logos are at least the equal of their Tidewater-based counterparts
 

With regard to the other bids, the Tidewater Region’s economic/corporate question marks give me pause about casting a vote for the Destroyers.  As for the Carolina Surge, I feel that they’re the secondary bid  - by a good margin - within their own state… and the less said about their identity package the better. The latter was comprised of a mediocre logo, an insipid name, and a garish palette when it was unveiled by the  WLAF in the early ‘90s and it doesn’t strike me as having aged well since. I wasn’t a fan of the Surge in the California Delta  of 1991 and I’m not pulling for them in the Research Triangle of 2008. 

1 hour ago, WideRight said:

 

 

I prefer Version 1. I don’t think the teal turret roof adds anything to the design. In fact, I prefer the stylization of the C into a tower better in the first version of the mark.

I’d  personally rank the identity packages…

1st - Virginia Destroyers

2nd - Charlotte Monarchs

3rd - Carolina Surge

… with the Destroyers’ brand striking me as being clearly preferable to that of the Monarchs (I’m not a huge fan of the Teal as the primary color in the latter), and both the Destroyers’ and Monarchs’ identities absolutely  outclassing that of the Surge.

I’ll be interested in seeing whether a secondary logo for the Monarchs can close the gap that I perceive between the top two packages, but it would have to be one hell of an ancillary mark.

Monochrome? Guess again. Bird Gang plumage... courtesy of Nike Meh-Nah-Chrome ™.  

Less a uniform unveiling than a uniTARD unveiling.

Leave it to the Cardinals: so focused on preventing a leak that they ended up s**tting themselves. "Meh" at best. 

1 hour ago, bowld said:

How has the Cards look not leaked? The team can't seem to do anything right, yet somehow have prevented this from leaking

Frankly, it would strike me as being definitively Arizona Cardinals-like for the leadership of this franchise to be so focused on preventing a “leak” that they wound up blissfully unaware of the fact that the new uniforms they’d produced looked like “s**t”.

51 minutes ago, TruColor said:

You’d never guess what the Orange will be called…I had to look it up in the dictionary to figure out what it is

Gamboge? Xanthous? Fulvous?

AZ Cardinals Football: Game-boge ON!

5 hours ago, neo_prankster said:

Or maybe the Stags as a nod to that famous neon sign.

I'd love it if the third of the identity system candidates unveiled by the PDX Football Group paid tribute to the sign that has adorned Portland's White Stag Building since 1940. Beginning in 1957, the sign was altered to feature an outline of the State of Oregon and the silhouette of a leaping white stag. This was part of an advertisement that touted the building as "Home of White Stag Sportswear". While the White Stag company has since left Oregon and the lettering on the sign now reads, "Made in Oregon" and "Oldtown", the illuminated outline of the state and the stag remain on the city-designated historic landmark.

I could see a Portland Stags USFL team adopting imagery and design flourishes inspired by Dane Storrusten's identity system for the Chicago Staggs of the proposed A11FL (oh, how I loved that helmet), or the family of marks unveiled by the Edmonton Elks in 2021.   

Prost!!!

4 hours ago, WideRight said:

The team colors are set;  Deep Forest Brown,  Blaze Orange, and Woodland Buff.  

The names are all iconic animals of the Pacific Northwest. 

All three logos are based on real teams from real leagues.   

 

Next up a logo and animal based on a league that predates the USFL.  A modernized classic from a very different part of the country. 

Hmmm. I'm guessing that the PDX Football Group's second identity system candidate will be a tribute to the history of Ursus arctos horribilis in the State of Oregon. 
 

While Oregon is no longer thought to be home to the grizzly bear, it was once part of the species’ range. As such, I could see the name Portland Grizzlies paired with a modernization of the grizzly bear-based logo that graced the Memphis Southmen of the World Football League.

We shall see.

The name Memphis Showboats shouldn’t have been accompanied by a logo depicting a paddle wheel steamboat in the first place. Showboats and paddle wheel steamboats were two completely different types of vessels.
 

Showboats were actually barge-like ships with a performance space built atop them. These watercraft were then pushed by small, steam-powered, tugboat-like  tenders.

As for paddle wheelers, the steam engine needed to power said watercraft would have taken up enough internal space on the  vessels to make the placement of a  performance area  - including a stage and theater seating - impractical.

In my opinion, the original Memphis Showboats’ logo was middle tier amongst USFL marks… at best.

7 hours ago, Unocal said:

Too many upsets can be too much of a good thing

Never. When it comes to the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, I'm all for true March MADNESS!!! Bring on the Mid-Majors! Give me an All-Catholic Final Four (and I'm talking the likes of Loyola Chicago, Saint Joseph's, Saint Louis, and Saint Peter's... Holy Cross, Iona, Saint Mary's, and St. Bonaventure).  I want nothing less than full-on, bracket-busting CHAOS!!!

On 3/7/2023 at 9:08 AM, gosioux76 said:

I'd recommend trying to incorporate the wings onto the shoulders as a design element, maybe reminiscent of the Chargers lightning bolts. Not sure I've ever seen that done before, and it might not work, but I'd love to see what it would look like. 

One option would be for Battlehawk-style wings to be applied to the front of the Skyhawks jersey’s shoulder yoke.  I’m envisioning the same sort of wing positioning as the Arena Football League’s Iowa Barnstormers utilized on their uniforms.

On 2/13/2023 at 9:07 PM, Big Yellow Flag said:

“In the meantime, we’re starting off the season with something fun that has never been done before—uniforms with question marks in the colors of the Maryland flag (red, gold, and black) and black caps with a sole white question mark on the front and a Maryland Flag on the back. We thought this would be a great way to embrace the mystery of the naming contest results until the big reveal in June.”"

Why even bother with “the big reveal in June”? Just adopt the question mark-festooned uniforms full-time and adopt Maryland Mystery Monikers as the team’s identity.  Unless you can get Jake Gyllenhall to come and throw out the ceremonial first pitch at your inaugural game. Then you go with Maryland Mysterios. Well, at least until lawyers from The Walt Disney Company show up with a cease and desist order on behalf of Marvel Entertainment… most likely followed by the suits from Sony, as well.  Eventually, the team folds, the uniforms are bought by some outfit launching a summer collegiate team out of Bay City, Michigan and the players take to the diamond as ? and the Mysterians.

Honestly, between this and the Lexington Counter Clockers fiasco, it’s enough to make a sports branding enthusiast chuck it all in.

6 hours ago, ralphz said:

Skyhawks are military aircraft, which is alluded to in the three aircraft with contrails in the original logo.

Here in the United States, I’d always been under the impression that Skyhawks were primarily carrier-based aircraft flown by Navy and Marine Corps aviators. That’s why the name’s use by a St. Louis-based team threw me a bit. I’d always equated it with locales situated closer to the Atlantic, Pacific, or Gulf Coasts.  Still, as I pointed out, I do like the alliteration of St. Louis Skyhawks.

4 hours ago, WideRight said:

Hmmm. A lot to unpack here.  
 

Personally, I was never a fan of the Raleigh-Durham Skyhawks’ identity. The name struck me as redundant. Seahawks describes avian creatures that makes their home by the sea. Nighthawks describes avian creatures that are nocturnal in their activity. Skyhawks? They’re hawks, so it goes without saying that they’re active in the sky. The modifier isn’t necessary.  I will concede that the St. Louis Skyhawks moniker is pleasingly alliterative. As for the logo, while I understood the symbolic importance of the mark’s shape given the region the WLAF team called home, it always struck me as looking awkward on the helmet. There was no “flow” to it. That said, the palette you’re using for the St. Louis Skyhawks logo, along with the addition of the Gateway Arch to the mark, do make it much more attractive in my opinion.

I really miss the sword in your adaptation of the Battlehawks’ identity, both in the logo and on the helmet. I’m not sold on the shield/football within the primary mark; I think I'd rather just see a football there.  As for the wings, while I think they have the potential to stand alone as a helmet logo, I don’t think they’d mesh particularly well with either the Option 1 or Option 3 logo serving as a secondary mark.

Ultimately, I’d prefer to see the Option 3 logo serving as both the team’s primary and helmet logo, with the Option 1 mark as a secondary logo (on the jersey sleeves, just under the collar, or on the hips of the pants). I would note that, in my opinion, the contrail for the upper jet in the Option 3 logo would look better passing in front of the furthest leg of the Gateway Arch. It would then give the impression that all three jets passed between the Arch’s legs.

Your work continues to impress!

1 hour ago, gosioux76 said:

 

Good point, especially since the left wants more dildos and the right is pushing for more lava. 

Be wary of politicians promising to put the proverbial, “lava flow in every pot. And a dildo in every backyard, to boot.”

I remember being pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to secure souvenir merchandise - including quality, personalized jerseys - for the WLAF teams. There was an entire section dedicated to the WLAF in the NFL souvenir catalog that I would use to order merchandise. I purchased personalized Orlando Thunder, London Monarchs, Ohio Glory, and Frankfurt Galaxy jerseys that my son still has to this day.

On 2/20/2023 at 8:41 AM, GriffinM6 said:

 I think the best nickname is one they left off the list, "Continentals". 

On 2/23/2023 at 8:38 AM, 8BW14 said:

It’s gotta be... Continentals right?

If you're going to dub a team the Continentals, forget about including a depiction of George Washington in the logo.  After all, the visual elements of your branding have to revolve around this guy, no?



Wowee, wow, wow, wow!!! What a mascot! 

3 hours ago, BrySmalls said:

 

One suggestion is to increase the League's size to 40 clubs, dividing them equally into two groups of 20 clubs each, and introduce a promotion and relegation system.

Under such a scenario, it would prove very interesting to see the response of those investor/operators of the MLS  clubs designated for assignment  to the second tier of play during  the initial introduction of a promotion/relegation system. I think it’s safe to say that we’d quickly learn just who was willing to invest in soccer out of a true appreciation - indeed, a passion  - for the sport, as opposed to those who were willing to pony-up because they were banking on securing a spot in a closed-system pro soccer venture similar to North America’s other top-tier pro sports leagues.

5 hours ago, WestCoastBias said:

 

Not sure what the latest on the San Diego Sports Arena site is but that also was floated around before as a potential spot for a soccer stadium. I don't see where they would put one downtown, unless the Padres want to give up their last parking lot. 

In September of last year, the San Diego City Council entered into an exclusive, two-year negotiating agreement with the developers of the proposed Midway Rising project. Said development calls for the 48.5-acre site surrounding/adjacent to Pechanga Arena San Diego to become home to 4,250 units of housing (including 2,000 affordable and 250 middle-income homes); a 450,000-square-foot arena (with a capacity of between 14,500 and 16,500 people) to replace the current facility ; a 200-room hotel; 250,000-square-feet of retail space; a 9.4-acre public plaza; and an additional 11 acres of parks and open space scattered throughout the project.