Digby

I'm not one of those people who roots for your league if your team itself is knocked out -- we don't have the coefficient stuff in North America, rivals can go to hell, MLS is ridiculous anyway -- but I have to say I like the idea of "Columbus, Ohio: continental powerhouse". Obviously MLS will take credit as if they even want that team to exist. How long before Nancy makes the leap to a European side?

It was modernized, but disastrously so. Not that that rationalizes everything that's happened since, but it does explain it. The three stadiums you've mentioned did modernization right. Somewhat shockingly competently in the Ricketts family's case.

I think the hyperlocal stuff is largely the product of Nike putting its full weight into the City Edition-ification of all that it can (even if the roots of that probably trace, before that, to soccer). New teams get to start there, so lucky them. That said, I'd also suggest that part of this is because we're going on a century in some cases of pro sports as an established cultural/economic force... and several decades of the merch-selling, in particular, being an enormous economic piece of the pie. So it's getting harder and harder to do something new. And that's not just the capitalist cynicism of attention being more valuable than quality. There's also the legal element, as evidenced by a Utah pro team nickname getting legally scuttled by a college team mascot on the other side of the country, which is insane. So there's a level of clever trendiness but there's also this piece of being forced to come up with something comically specific and difficult. I do some day-job work in the drinks industry, and the craft brewers have completely run out of reasonable names for beer. With that industry being so localized, I think it's insane that trademark disputes mean two individual beers (not even breweries) can't share a generic-ish name if their distribution areas are time zones apart. But, here we are, and now every new beer I see has a name like a Fiona Apple album title. Same gist.

I don't know that the Mardi Gras color scheme works in a hockey context, at least not this particular one. But the 90s scheme of purple with sky-blue trim seems like a versatile no-brainer regardless of which direction the name might go in.

Honestly I really dig the beehive/mountain combo design motifs that DetroitHockey has been using in coverage, and it's a sharp color scheme too. But I suppose a bees theme are too Blue Jackets (and opens the door to something corny like the Utah Buzz), the mountains and colors are too Avalanche, and the mountains are doubly beaten to the punch by Real Salt Lake's new jersey. (Honestly didn't even realize Utah changed their flag until all of this -- new one is pretty good!)

Much like what I might say at the top one of Snowbird's peak bowls, I'm not sure we want to go down that one.

Love the aesthetic of those posters, but I was even thinking something less travel poster (agree on the Jets though) and more outdoors-gear emblem. Relatedly, Utah's ski resorts are particularly well-represented among resorts with strong mid-to-late-century modernist designs. Best aesthetic for that industry, IMO.

I was hoping that's what we'd get for next season and beyond. At that point I could at least live with the weird stripes and white numbers.

I've always pushed for a retro ski vibe for one of the mountain-region MLS teams but it would work for hockey too. Maybe even better, as a winter sport. Especially at this current moment where REI-chic is still pretty on-trend. Maybe he got a focus group to tell him that the practice-jersey Jazz was simply too galaxy-brained to work.

Qualtrics guy is gonna use his own stupid product to make this happen. Cool cool.

I don't think it's worth expending braincells on the possibilities, this particular Cleveland Browns situation reeks of "sure grandpa let's get you to bed" more than anything with much actual chance of happening.

Lots of overlap with the northern transplants who moved so they could buy a McMansion and performatively proclaim how much they couldn't stand snow-shoveling a couple times per winter. They're not missed back home.

Revs were competing for Supporters Shield with a pretty similar roster at this time last year. This year they have 4 points from 8 games and lost in historic fashion in CCC. Is a Petrovic-level keeper even more valuable than we ever imagined? What is Caleb Porter doing on the training pitch that's making Bruce Arena, of all people, appear to be a tactical genius?

There's no way a competent branding process can't spin out an identity in a couple months, but the placeholder name schtick fulfills three needs of the design industry as it stands in 2024: 1. replacement of craft with as many stakeholder meetings as possible 2. cynical marketing scheme for the first year of Utah's existence -- drag out a whole extra year of drama and intrigue 3. supply chain issues are still real, but self-inflicted; the likes of Fanatics and Nike who've "optimized" so much that they backed themselves into a new version of total rigidity

Zion and Jimmy both sustaining significant injuries in the "play-in tournament" really rubs me the wrong way. The suits will cry, why can't we get our star players playing more often? Well, stop setting up traps that get them hurt in fake-important games to miss the games people actually care about.

Yeah but of all the owners in the Big Four, who's among the most likely to galaxy-brain the first AI logo, with totally annoying press materials to announce all of it?

This seems blazingly obvious to me, and yet. Feels like we're in some neverending loop for farm-system thought of "It would be better for development to have our farm players train with the 1st team on-site... It would be better for business to build separate brands and serve a different market..." repeat ad nauseum. The Revs are having their team, creatively titled Revolution II (was that the French Revolution?), play a few matches up in Manchester, NH this season. Seems smarter to me than having Gillette look even emptier than usual. But they might be too late with the way various levels of USL teams are taking off around New England.

Jack Edwards just rather abruptly announced that he's retiring at the end of the Bruins season, too. Gotta say that one's come as much more of a relief.

It's not just that, it's all over the broadcasts too. Pregame and halftime shows are more useless than ever, and the studio bros seem to RELISH talking about gambling stuff even as they also awkwardly tiptoe around whatever rules are governing it. Weird uncanny effect that's no fun at all.

I think they've done it as long as the CCs have been around, yeah, but then last year there were other seemingly random times when they'd wear them for a whole series. I still abhor them and I silently judge anyone I see wearing the merch.

Well, edibles are marketed and sold to professional classes for whom weed is no longer a taboo, not the people of the street. Plus old habits die hard. Smoking all sorts of things in public is a societal annoyance that's nothing new though. (Also, side effect of legalization is that corporate dispensary weed suuuucks. It's like if we ended Prohibition, but the only legalized alcohol was Bud Light, and half the bottles came out of the brewery flat.)

Yeah sure but who did those Celtics have in charge? ...wait. (However: One of the most egregious screw-ups is that the Bucks, whose home/road splits this year are hideous compared to their competitor teams, lost home-court for a prospective Knicks series in the 2nd round.)

Oh definitely, he's lost a few steps in recent years. Even despite that I'd rather listen to him than most others; there's still plenty of the echoes of why he was maybe the consummate professional PBP guy in history. (And also it's the nostalgia factor. I still miss Tom Heinsohn, for all his flaws.) The new guy is fine as far as Gen-Z'ers go and has good intentions, apart from trying too hard to go viral. I like that he's not afraid to give it right back to Brian Scalabrine when he's being obnoxious (which is most times). Just tough to get used to Generic Sportscaster Voice on the telecast. Still maddening that Sean Grande didn't get the gig.

Bucks fell to the 3 seed on the final day of the season after being 2 seed basically the entire year. Doc Rivers finishes his half of the season with a losing record. One of the worst self-owns by an NBA franchise I can ever remember.

I think this was the original plan for this City Connect jersey. But they were deemed such a success that they eventually got worn for another series later in the year, and then random series throughout the year, and then the manager said that this season they would be Saturday home game specials, so I don't really know what to expect at this point. But in theory, yes, your point is correct, it just requires a level of restraint from the marketing suits that we don't see much.