DustDevil61

This worries me almost as much as the NHL being hellbent on keeping the Coyotes in Arizona. Owners going to the cities their teams play in to cough up billions in public money for a shiny new arena that seats 20,000+ (depending on the sport) is bad enough. Replace that 20,000+ seat venue with a 5-6k venue but keep the stadium price tag and the jump in prices due to a lower availability—only the ultra-wealthy would be able to afford to take a family to a game more than once every 3 years.

Is there any clarification on this @Conrad., or is this just some kind of damage control?

Just not as bad, as Purple would at least have some historical significance with Utah here, but it would jar badly with the highlighter yellow. I at least kept an open mind about Black/Yellow but held out some hope that there would be a good, well-executed design that would distract me from the fact about the Jazz opted for yet another color scheme, and that maybe the lovely shade of Gold that Utah has worn would survive the rebrand. Seeing that the leaks are pretty much true and that Utah are planning to wear this overplanned-yet-underdesigned postmodern look has all but dashed that hope (barring a last-second change). Hopefully this serves as a lesson to Ryan Smith, Dwyane Wade, and anyone else involved with this project who blindly forged ahead with no consideration of fans' opinions or team history to not just throw stuff out there. (Apparently Ryan Smith told Jazz social media marketing people to not be afraid of throwing out crazy/ugly ideas, when one was an awful 1980s-style computer font for game updates--other Jazz fans on here should know what I'm talking about.) Didn't the Suns add a purple jersey to one of their previous sets at the last possible second (sometime in the early-mid 2010s)?

Hopefully sooner. Not counting on it, but we can hope.

I’m not sure where to post this, but I think this is the best place to mention this, but apparently there was a Baltimore Ravens “Throwback” quickly-pulled-from-production mini helmet that had the 1996-98 front-facing swooping bird on it (the same one that adorned the sleeves in that same timeframe) on eBay. (Sorry, as well—I got outbid on it. Lousy timing, ending during my work shift.) This brings up a few intriguing questions: Did the Ravens ever plan on using this logo? Was it after the logo lawsuit, or was it supposed to be the primary logo? Is this the closest the Ravens could legally get to the winged B-Shield, or was this a fabrication from someone wanting to trick someone into buying it? Here are the screenshots for reference: Similarly, there was a 1993-94 Jacksonville Jaguars Leaping Jaguar mini helmet that was on Ebay. While most people here know about the original unused Jaguars helmet and logo, what’s interesting is that on the bottom of the box where all 30 teams (as of 1995), the Jaguars were in the NFC “West” while the Panthers were in the AFC Central. Was this the original plan for the 1995 expansion? Here's the screenshot of the division from the Jaguars helmet listing: Apologies if the images don't show up or if there's some kind of policy where I shouldn't post these, but this is in case the links don't work and are just to make sure that these images remain after the (already ended) eBay listings are taken down.

Pretty much this. I think that, ultimately, a couple casinos (possibly with some MLB funds) are going to cobble up the $1B+ to privately build a stadium in Las Vegas, because the city of Las Vegas and the state of Nevada are reluctant (as they should be) to cough up a massive amount of money for another sports venue. Not sure exactly what happens with the Rays, but eventually something will give in Montreal, Tampa Bay, Nashville, Vancouver, Charlotte, or [insert NBA roll call city here], one way or another; I just don’t see MLB folding teams when there are a handful of viable markets for MLB leadership to try to extort public funds move into. BTW, hasn’t Manfred said that a new stadium would need to be built using public funds? I can’t imagine that being true if letting stadiums be built by private funds is the likeliest way the A’s and Rays stadium situations get resolved.

I, too, am bummed that the Golden Knights missed a huge opportunity to expand their regional fanbase by not placing their AHL affiliate in Salt Lake, but I feel another factor that may have kept them out (and may still be keeping the AHL out) is current ECHL Utah Grizzlies ownership. The Elmore Sports Group, best known for owning the 3 MiLB teams that shifted around in 2019, owns the Grizzlies and has stated that they are content with staying at the AA level, given their more recent on-ice success and rivalry with Idaho. They also don’t seem willing to hand the reigns over to another ownership group who could move up to the AHL. When the Grizzlies moved down in 2005, it made sense, as there were plenty of nearby teams in the ECHL and no nearby teams in the AHL (the closest team was San Antonio IIRC). However, since the Great Westward AHL Migration of 2015, the geographic footprints of the leagues have largely flipped, with Idaho and Rapid City being the closest ECHL teams and Henderson and all the California teams being close by in the AHL. The LA Kings host the yearly Frozen Fury at Vivint Arena, and a local article mentions that Kings president Luc Robitaille (who spends part of his time ) has been “pushing” for an AHL team in Utah. But the real question then is: What AHL team would go to Salt Lake? There’s going to be a full 32 teams starting next season, many with new arenas, plus I don’t see the Kings moving the Ontario Reign anytime soon.

There are reports out there saying that Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak will block an A’s move to Las Vegas if public funds are being used on a stadium, though his office has denied that. Between this and the lawsuits in Oakland slowing down the Howard Terminal project, the Athletics appear to be between a rock and a hard place. I think they’re more or less Vegas-bound, if MLB is OK letting the casinos/Las Vegas businessfolk fund a ballpark on their own dime.

Potential unpopular opinion: I like the idea of Orange jerseys in the style of the Browns' inverted jerseys... ...paired with their regular White or Brown pants a lot more for an alternate. These orange tops seem to be inspired (whether intentionally or not) by the 1954 and 1955 preseason set: Of course, white numbers would also look good, as Cleveland wore that for the 1953 season opener (according to the same page I linked above).

Thing is, I wouldn’t say that 2020 was a failure, from what we were seeing. If not for the pandemic shutting everything down (including other sports) like it did, the XFL would’ve easily made it to at least a second season. I’m not a huge fan of this rebrand, as it seems to be unnecessary and may invite some unwanted (legal) attention on top of it. I hope I’m wrong here, but with each passing day without any anything tangible (like team/office staff, a draft date, and of course teams and cities), this is starting to feel more and more like the AAF; hopefully we don’t have to wait until June to know where teams are going to play.

Either they’re stupid, or they’re some of the best moles working for Pittsburgh ever.

Me too. If not the main accent color on the road jersey, I like seeing the secondary color on a team’s road set (particularly secondary-colored pants that match the helmet) get some use as well. Off the top of my head, examples of this are the Raiders, Browns (when going with orange pants), Packers, Ravens (with striped black pants), and 49ers.

Count me in the Broncos-should-wear-Orange-first-regardless-of-the-jersey-template crowd, though adapting the Color Rush jerseys with complimentary White pants (while relegating the orange pants to alternate status, if at all) should be looked into further. Regardless of what template they use, the Broncos don’t seem right wearing anything other than white pants. Orange could work when paired with white tops, but Blue pants don’t haven’t ever felt right for the Denver Broncos, and I’m not entirely sure why (again, regardless of template). Another unrelated thought I’ve had: How long until the NFL opens up the use of 0 to players? I’m kinda hoping we get to see it soon.

Immaturity carries a lot less baggage than 22 assault allegations. For that reason alone I’d prefer Mayfield over Watson.

A part of me still remains convinced that Jimmy “was part of Steelers management” Haslam III is, in fact, really a Pittsburgh mole.

Am I crazy if I say that I’d love to see these with a Gray or Black base, or a the original 3rd jersey, but flip the black and gray there?

Still true, RE: Jazz rebrand: (I’m trying to link to @Magic Dynasty’s xkcd post, but keep landing on the post after. The link at least puts you in the ballpark.)

If only someone could level some kind of antitrust suit…this is getting ridiculous.

That bites for Cincinnati. Now can the Rams ditch their bone jerseys for good?

Higgins got away with murder on that touchdown. If OBJ getting hurt wasn’t one, that no-call was a momentum-changer.

I know it will (probably) never happen again, but I’m probably not the only one who would love to see businesspeople in Quebec and, say, 7 or 9 other markets to somehow launch an alternative league (like a new WHA). I don’t think the NHL BoG and Bettman can bend over any further to keep the Coyotes in Arizona.

I said “just about any other fanbase.” Of course Cleveland and Detroit have had it worse than Cincinnati—I even had something to say on that but I felt it detracted too much from the congrats to Cincinnati (and also Rams) fans. Washington and the Jets, at least past 2005 or so, can just about make as good a case as the Bengals IIRC. However, nothing’s going to top losing a team for 3 seasons combined with getting an inferior replacement (Cleveland)—or the overall stench of ineptitude that’s permeated the organization since athletic antiquity (Detroit). Off the top of my head, I don’t think there’s been more than 2, maybe 3, playoff wins between the Browns (v1.0 or 2.0) and the Lions in the last 30 years, unless I’m missing something.

I’m so happy for the truly long-suffering Bengals fanbase. They’ve put up with more crap than just about any other fanbase in the last 30 years. It’s great to see. I’ll also say the same thing, to a lesser extent, for Rams fans, just because they’ve had some sporadic success in that span (including a Super Bowl win in 1999, albeit in St. Louis). Ignoring that sporadic Rams success, both these teams have been either fringe playoff teams at best or league laughingstocks at worst. It’s always great to see teams that have been bad for (what seems like) forever finally be good and break through (again).

I wonder what benefit Jimmy and Dee Haslam had in tanking the Browns? (FWIW, Haslam was in the Steelers front office IIRC.)