Digby

This is only slightly less sketchy than that brief era of every third club signing up a crypto token as a sponsor. How the mighty have fallen.

Wake was THE Red Sox guy just because of how long he was there, as a real bridge between the late era of the sad Sox and the World Series victories. I mean, he was there in three different decades! All the way back to my childhood when these things really imprint on your sports-fan mind. And it's absolutely devastating that he has two teens and a wife who also has cancer. And so quick, too -- how do you go from perfectly healthy to dead at age 57 in a matter of weeks? Brain cancer is terrifying, ugh.

I definitely prefer the Brad Stevens approach and I think, other than his shaky first moves when he first took over the FO (but that they papered over quickly), he's done a great job setting this team up. Flip side of these big swings, though, is that these are moves that could backfire. They've basically switched Smart for Holliday, and Rob Williams for Porzingis, while losing Grant Williams and Brogdon for some no-name rotation fillers... I liked the Porzingis move a lot more in the context of his being a a part of a three-big platoon. This was obviously not part of the plan, I get why it had to happen when Jrue became available but the cost worries me. Really wished Oregon native/mediocre rotation guy Payton Pritchard would've been shipped out in this trade but alas. Idk, feels like the Celtics have a higher ceiling but a very tenuous path to reach that ceiling. And ultimately no trade could get them over the Banner 18 hump the way Brown/Tatum finding a consistent, superstar level in the playoffs would.

I feel like Brogdon can/should be moved for another pick or two, as well. We'll see! Ayton/Williams could be a really interesting frontcourt in a few years if everyone stays physically and mentally healthy.

I think he's reasonably famous enough and is the type of cool-cachet personality that the City Program is going after, so it makes sense. I'm not seeing the connection to him really though. I guess the font is kinda that 60s/70s throwback that matches up with Leon's music, but it doesn't suit the color scheme at all.

I think the difference though is, to keep using the Timbers as an example, axes and chevrons are sufficiently generic that you can utilize them to build up something new. The Space Needle is such an already identifiable piece of specific intellectual property, one whose own brand value far outpaces an MLS team... to use that with little else just could be anything Seattle. Seeing it on a polo shirt might make me think you're in the ticket-selling booth for Space Needle elevator rides. I don't know that the crest needs the name again but it just needs something that can make it more uniquely Sounders. Part of me wonders if there could've been a trick from the Kraken/Whalers playbooks and done a visual trick that combined the Needle with an orca tail or something.

Reminds me of the Revolution rebrand, and the Miami initial brand, in that I like all the separate side pieces quite a bit except for the primary logo. The primary logo is a nice cleanup but needs something else that says "Sounders" -- the logo looks like it represents the Space Needle's observation deck more than it does a soccer team. Though I'm glad they've rejected a lot of the recent MLS cliches. Colors are a mixed bag for me. The green seems turned up in a good way, their traditional green has always looked like a bright green that's faded or gone rancid which seemed to miss the point. Aqua as a new color that references the Seattle flag is what they always should've done. Not sure about the blue, there are maybe TOO many bright colors happening now and a navy possibly would've felt like a better base for the other brights. Plus I thought their current shade of blue was pretty pleasant and underrated (opposite of the o.g. Rave Green). The fightin' orca is fantastic. Nice to see MLS embracing a bit of whimsy again after so much of the league has been so self-serious for years.

As I recall Xander Bogaerts had a pretty fantastic run on the way to Boston's 2013 WS title, too, despite having only debuted at the very end of the regular season. Momentum!

I really thought they were going to use standard Bruins yellow but work in some metallic shiny thread to make it sparkle in the light. Alas.

If that stadium was a bit older I could see them getting the Chicago or Columbus or even Chivas/LAFC treatment to a stadium that's better located and a soft (or even full) relaunch. The Bay really ought to be a top market for the league, there is simply too much cultural and monetary capital sitting there, and the Quakes have underperformed wildly both on and off the pitch for a decade or more. That said, it's brazen and a gross precedent, made worse by the league's San Jose history.

Build a house on the cheap and then complain about how cheap it is. Who is surprised with that guy?

Noticed the group's Instagram account is doing more of a shades of green (and greenish-yellow) thing so I wonder if the full color scheme might have more of this worked in. None of this is screaming "Boston" to me quite yet but I guess something in Boston could try leaning into modernity for a change. (edit: actually i realized after posting that Franklin Park is the end of the "Emerald Necklace" of parks that's a real Boston thing -- so, well played deep cut for the locals, and I'd rather crib the Celtics than the Sox/Pats)

^ old concept, which is a shame because I think it's nice and creative. I'm sure the real thing will be a roundel. But hopefully they at least fix the pea-soup green.

Boston's new NWSL team is finally official, now with a placeholder logo (but no real brand yet). Hopefully the glow-in-the-dark green is not finalized. A Zakim bridge identity would be interesting as an obvious choice for a Boston team, but one that's never been used with every other team's identity being fairly set in history at this point... but, their stadium is located on the opposite side of town from the Zakim.

Yeah, I'm pretty disappointed with the Bruins here considering they're usually very good at updating their look in subtle ways without typically losing the plot. They were due for a refresh and the new spoked B was a perfect fit into that legacy, but the jerseys let it down. I guess the sheer number of fauxback mashups in recent NHL history made it tough to dip into that well again for the centennial season, even though it would make a lot of sense. The total drain of their normal yellow is a headscratching whiff.

Interesting choice from Orlando to use that for a classic... not as forgettable as what came after it, or as boring as what came after that and has been worn since. But it's not the classic pinstripes. Maybe those have been beaten to death on the throwback beat, but the sublimated star look was around so briefly that it just didn't make the same impact.

I don't know whether MLS Next Pro belongs in this thread or the MLS thread. Anyway, their second attempt at an indie team starts next year and have unveiled this logo. I absolutely love it (another Matthew Wolff joint I think?) but remain flummoxed at the name of the club, itself.

The Red Sox finally fired Chaim Bloom as GM, or whatever inflated title he had we call GMs now. Seems weird because it sure seemed like he was doing the job that they hired him to do, e.g. save John Henry money. Will be interesting if this represents a shift in teambuilding philosophy from the owner's box; wishful thinking, probably, but hopefully they're feeling the heat of a drop-off in relevance I wasn't sure this team in this city would ever have.

Kinda like they're using shiny thread (or whatever synthetic substitute in the patchwork) just to make it shiny in light, but embedded within the usual Bruins yellow that's not like Vegas or sometimes-Pittsburgh.

The signs increasingly point to there being a toxic work environment/workplace harassment case, it seems like. At least that would explain the apparent schisms and the need for extreme silence even by MLS/Fortress Foxboro standards. If they legally can't explain anything without outing a victim(s). A lot of people were mad at the Celtics over the Udoka situation and the relative silence but that seemed, to me, like they handled it exponentially better than this.

And we have further updates. The Revs are on the interim to the interim. Another longtime assistant and club legend are out. Previous interim/presumed snitch of the whole situation is ???? And we still have no clue what Old Brucie said to kick off this entire fiasco. At least Couva was just on the field!

Latest on Arena-gate. Revs playeres are refusing to train and two of the assistants got in fights with the new interim guy. This continues to spiral!

Everything about that Spokane Velocity logo looks like something from the cheapo create-a-team aesthetic you always see in whatever nascent spring football league is the one of the moment. That said, I weep for the teal/white/black color scheme that the Sounders always should've worn.

Between Bruce getting ratted out by his own longtime assistant, that one assistant blew the whistle (and got the interim job) while another is voicing support for Bruce on Instagram, why Bruce would get an extension but none of this lieutenants would, the fact that "certain" allegations were confirmed by the investigation (suggesting others were not), and the still total lack of info as to what the actual allegations were, the suggestions of an Arena vs Onalfo power struggle... I have even more questions at this point.