Lights Out

Or this all-time classic:

Great name, pretty good color scheme, great uniforms that don't desperately try to look like an Original Six team, decent logo (although the brand is really missing a full kraken logo). All in all, surprisingly competent from Bettman's NHL.

While this is all technically true, the Nique era is still the peak of the Hawks' cultural relevance as a franchise and the first thing most people would think of as their "roots." I'm not sure most modern day sports fans would know who Bob Pettit is. Think of it this way: if they came out and said a few months ago that the new uniforms were going "back to the roots," the Concepts board would be full of modernized Nique uniforms, maybe a few modernized Pistol Pete uniforms too, but not anything that looks like what the Hawks just unveiled.

Still don't like it even after seeing the whole thing. There's classic and then there's dated, and this look is definitely dated. It looks like it came straight out of the 1950s. And although the Hawks are an old franchise, they don't have a legacy as rich as a team like the Celtics, Bulls, Lakers, etc. to pull it off. Modern uniforms also make more sense for the market. The motto of "going back to the roots" makes no sense with the uniforms they've come up with. I think most people would agree that a real "back to the roots" set for the Hawks would look like the Nique era, not this. This look actually reminds me a lot of the Magic's 2003-2008 look. Those uniforms didn't have much staying power and these won't either.

That is awful. Can't see it lasting longer than a couple years before they come to their senses.

Sure, but it doesn't change the fact that this is an entirely performative gesture on Wisconsin's part and does nothing.

I'd say it depends on how the franchise left town. In the Nationals' case, there's really no use in bringing up all the bad memories of the Loria era, the failed San Juan experiment, the contraction threat, the league blatantly sabotaging the Expos in a playoff race by not allowing them to make September call-ups, etc. Especially now that they've won a championship in their new market. Why bother keeping all those negative associations from another city?

"Pigskins" is just too corny to be the name of a professional franchise, IMO. Washington needs a name with more gravitas than that. The logos are kind of neat in the same vein as the Cubs' walking cub logo.

I will never understand how anyone could sign off on that mismatched hem stripe for 26 years without noticing a problem.

Only Bettman could do a draft lottery and still have no idea who's getting the #1 pick by the end of the night. Unreal.

No, that was the actual BP cap. They kept the same design the following year but changed the cap from white to blue. Wordmarks weren't exactly unheard of on BP caps at the time:

The Dodgers weren't the only team that experimented with white BP caps, FWIW: All three were replaced with more conventional BP caps after a year, and I'm fairly certain the Rangers never even wore theirs on the field - at least, I can't find any pictures of them wearing it, not even in spring training.

This is a major downgrade. Not sure what they were thinking with the lopsided C, and the even more lopsided "CLT" mark is even worse.

I'll never understand the narrative that Miami got hosed in that game. Regardless, there's no way they would have ever been 2010s Bama with Coker in charge. Coker was a subpar coach who only got the job because Butch Davis' players wanted him.

I'm not from Toronto, but I have visited before, so I know it's a really nice city. I'm not downplaying Toronto at all, just noting how its brand has changed over the years outside of Canada. I also think from a basketball perspective that the Raptors would be smart to promote Toronto as much as possible. They play in one of the greatest cities in the world. It should be one of the top destination cities for free agents and stars seeking trades. They could definitely capitalize on that like the LA teams, Heat, Warriors, and Nets have done with their markets.