Ferdinand Cesarano

What I remember most is that the Knights had an outstanding colour combination and uniform design.

The Knights were also the first team to use the unwieldy "New York / New Jersey" location name, several years before the founding of MLS and the MetroStars. This was on account of a rule by the public authority that ran the Meadowlands stating that any team that played there (apart from the Giants and the Jets) had to have "New Jersey" in its name. The league had intended to call the team the "New York Knights" (and head coach Mouse Davis wore a sweater with that name knitted on it; sorry I cannot find any pictures), but adapted it to "New York / New Jersey Knights"; likewise, the USFL intended to call the Generals the "New York Generals", before changing the name to "New Jersey Generals".

The first team to challenge this rule was the MetroStars, when they changed their name to the New York Red Bulls. Their own stadium was under construction at the time, so they did not care if the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority kicked them out of the Meadowlands. This evidently gutted the NJSEA's naming rule, as we can see from the XFL's New York Guardians having been able to secure a lease to play at the Meadowlands.

The other significant thing was that the Knights were coached by the aforementioned Mouse Davis, the creator of the run-and-shoot offence. The team had an iconic coach and an overall winning record; nevertheless, crowds for the Knights were sparse, as they were for the other WLAF teams based in North America (though I did one of my rare acts of attending a game at a Knights game in the first season).

That's the Greyhound logo.

Of my approximately 170 hats, the most obscure sports-related one is a bucket hat from the New York Streets.  "What are the New York Streets?", you  might ask.  An excellent question.  It was a team that played one season in the National Arena League in 2019.

The team had a bizarre season.  The Streets won their first two games.  However, the second game, their first at home, was played on a field on which the "yards" were only about 31 inches long, making the field 38 yards instead of 50 yards.

Also, their home was not what was promised to fans.  The team announced that it had reached a deal to play some of its home games at Madison Square Garden.  That was somewhere short of true, as all the home games were played at the 5000-seat Westchester County Center, which, as the name indicates, is not located within the City.

Finally, the last home game of the season (and in team history) ended in fiasco.  The Streets were losing 46-0 at the half, when the Carolina Cobras refused the play the second half because their locker room had been burglarised — by, it later turned out, a Streets employee!  Still, a team does not have the right to unilaterally walk out, and so the NAL correctly awarded the Streets a forfeit victory.  

And then the NAL correctly kicked the Streets out of the league after the season.

I have two Streets hats: a cap, and this bucket hat.

Staying with the sport of arena football, here is a hat of a team that some people will remember (I hope).  The New York CityHawks were members of the Arena Football League in 1997 and 1998.

Unlike the Streets, the CityHawks actually played in the Garden.  This is because they were owned by MSG.

But MSG did virtually nothing to promote the team.  I can remember going to a gift shop in the Garden one day in 1997 looking for CityHawks items.  Not only did the store not have any such merchandise available, but the person staffing the store had never heard of the team (even though there was a larger-than-life-size photograph of CityHawks quarterback Mike Perez on the wall right outside the store).  The team that was owned by MSG.  So MSG not only failed to promote the CityHawks to the public, they didn't even bother to let their own employees in on the secret.

Both the CityHawks and the Liberty debuted that year.  To say that MSG split its promotional efforts regarding its two new teams at 99% for the Liberty and 1% for the CityHawks would be to vastly overstate the amount of attention given to the CityHawks.

Finally, I have a cap of the MLL's Long Island Lizards, the original name of the team whose name was eventually changed to New York Lizards by owner Jim Brown.  While I also have a New York Lizards cap that is aesthetically far superior, the Long Island Lizards cap is more obscure (even though the team won two of its three MLL championships with the Long Island name).

56 minutes ago, tigers said:

I'm so glad this thread is about the English language on a media platform that goes worldwide to a few countries that aren't familiar with the peculiarities of the language.

"peculiarities"

As though it's just some minor detail. 

Astonishing.

6 minutes ago, tigers said:

You know the USA has different English than the rest of the English speaking world?

Wait, you actually think that that is correct? Wow.

35 minutes ago, tigers said:

Should of just gone all black with white script or all white.

35 minutes ago, tigers said:

Though they could of gone with a lighter colour?

Should OF? Could OF?! Come on!

1 hour ago, BBTV said:

2 hours ago, Ferdinand Cesarano said:

I will say that I agree with this from the moral standpoint, even though I know that that is not how the law works.

 

that actually is how the law works, which is why bigger colleges and NFL teams make a lot of these schools sign licensing deals, even if it's only for $1.

Thanks for the further detail.  What I was alluding to was the necessity of obtaining a licencing deal (even for a token amount), a step which I will assume that most schools have not taken.

1 hour ago, BBTV said:

I don't know how educators can teach kids not to steal, and to be creative, and then steal other people's work for their sports uniforms.

 

It's basically like "remember kids, stealing is bad, unless you don't have the budget to make it yourself".

It's really not a mystery.  The Rochester Red Wings once had a hat with an FC monogram, standing for "Flower (or Flour) City".  Well you can bet that I wear that hat, because it shows my initials.  A school called something like "North Central" that uses the North Carolina logo on its football helmet is doing the same thing.  The rationale is that a high school is not profiting from the logo, and the perception is that this justifies the use of it.  I will say that I agree with this from the moral standpoint, even though I know that that is not how the law works.

At my job, I work in a unit that has the initials "SLU". I modified the Cardinals' monogram, changing the T into a U, in order to make an unofficial logo for the unit, one that we use in some internal documents.  Similarly, my brother played in an adult baseball league in which all the teams had nicknames of Major League teams.  I modified the Blue Jays' logo for his team, and then (just for my own pleasure) I made logos for other teams in the league called the Cardinals, the Pirates, and the Dodgers, by altering the logos of the Major League teams.  What the high schools are doing is similar to this.

9 minutes ago, Cujo said:

I don't imagine folks up there straying away from their Rough Riders vs Rough Riders to watch the USFL.

Note that the Ottawa Rough Riders folded nearly thirty years ago.

1 hour ago, BBTV said:

Wile I'm sure broad daylight on gameday would be a safe walk, the Chester Transportation Center isn't a place I'd ever go for fun.  Also since they run a shuttle bus, maybe it's not that close (not sure.)

The shuttle bus from the Chester Transportation Center is run by the Union, so it would not be operating even if the Stars were to play at that park.

There is another station, Highland Avenue, that is half as far from the park, and so is walkable.

I rode my bike through Chester once. It was definitely kind of a bleak nowheresville. But getting to the stadium seems pretty easy.

The problem with Franklin Field is the same one with the Generals in the Meadowlands: a crowd of 5000 to 7000 is going to look ridiculous in there. But the league may well go for the big stadiums, as they are doing in Detroit, and just hope that the crowds will eventually grow.

18 minutes ago, BBTV said:

there's no way to access the [Philadelphia Union's] stadium without a car

There is a SEPTA station walking distance from the stadium.

4 minutes ago, Cujo said:

They won 4 AFC championships (which is the equivalent to 4 AFL titles) in their red lids.

I'm not denying that. But you said nothing happened in the white helmets apart from Simpson's record season. And that is incorrect.

The important point is that the white-helmeted look had already been firmly established when the red helmet was brought in. Even four latter-day AFC titles do not undo the team's foundational history. 

And the team in effect acknowledged this by restoring its signature look (in the manner, as mentioned above, of the Padres, the Blue Jays, and the Orioles).

39 minutes ago, Cujo said:

Aside from a murderer rushing for 2,000 yards in that uniform, nothing of any significance happened in that uniform.

Well before Simpson's great career and record-breaking season, the Bills won two AFL championships in the white helmet, the last two before the Super Bowl era.  They then became part of the "white helmet division" of the AFC East.

Nothing can erase the primacy of the white-hemeted look for the Bills — which they recognised by going back to it. As with the Padres' return to brown, the Blue Jays' return to a version of their familiar lettering and logo, and the Orioles' return to the cartoon bird, all other looks are just a bad dream that is best never spoken of.

9 minutes ago, TBGKon said:

1 hour ago, Ferdinand Cesarano said:

The Generals would have the same problem at Rutgers that the Guardians had at the Meadowlands, as the Rutgers stadium holds 50,000.

 

So explain the USFL playing in 65k seat Ford Field, where Michigan and Philadelphia will be?  Kinda defeats your purpose of smaller venues.

Well, that's true.  But, as @MJWalker45 implied, it's going to look pretty silly if the Generals play in the Meadowlands once the teams get to their home cities.  Then there is the cost.  Imagine paying all that money for guaranteed bad publicity.

That's why I am hoping for the use of smaller stadiums, where a crowd of a few thousand won't look bad.  Anyway, let's see what they do.

1 hour ago, TBGKon said:

I think we're also forgetting that the Generals could also play at Rutgers.

51 minutes ago, MJWalker45 said:

I don't think they'd want to use MetLife just based on how empty it looked when the Guardians played there. 

The Generals would have the same problem at Rutgers that the Guardians had at the Meadowlands, as the Rutgers stadium holds 50,000.

Perhaps they could look into playing at the old Negro League park Hinchliffe Stadium in Paterson, which has been refurbished and will now be the home of the baseball team the New Jersey Jackals, formerly of the Can-Am League now of the Frontier League.  That park seats about 10,000.

I know it's the "New Jersey" Generals; but that is really the New York team.  So I wonder whether there is any possibility of the USFL trying to work out a deal with a university here in the City.  I believe that the Red Bulls and possibly NYCFC have played Open Cup matches at Columbia, whose stadium seats about 15,000.

If the USFL wants to be realistic about its attendance projections, it could consider the 7000-seat stadium at Fordham, or else the similar-capacity Brooklyn Cyclones' stadium, which has been the home of the FXFL's Brooklyn Bolts, as well as the Cosmos and Rugby United New York.  Getting even more realistic, there's also Icahn Stadium at the site of the former Downing Stadium (the original home of the Cosmos, and the home of the WFL's New York Stars before their mid-season move) on Randall's Island, which  seats about 5000.

1 hour ago, Cujo said:

 

Huh? Idk how anyone can say this isn't the Bills' most iconic look

 

[removed for being aesthetically objectionable]

1 hour ago, dont care said:

Huh? They wore red helmets for 26 years. Teams can have more than one “right” uniform and that definitely falls into that category.

No f-ing way.  The Bills' correct helmet is white (featuring either the stationary Buffalo or the charging Buffalo).  The unsightly red lid was a big mistake. 

It's a shame that the team's most important player is associated only with its worst look.  While Elway wore the Broncos' real look for a while before donning the goofy latter-day style, with Kelly we have no choice but to see him in a style that does not represent the team's signature look.

I would say that the best example of this is Jim Kelly,  whose entire NFL career took place during the Bills' unfortunate red-helmet period.

On 2/19/2023 at 7:29 PM, Cujo said:

A problem I have with the Vegas and Orlando identities is that they pretty much got "second-hand" nicknames. They're not like the same players, coaching staffs from those 2.0 squads. The teams are starting from scratch, but somehow got the hand-me-down names from the defunct NY and Tampa teams. If I'm a fan, I want those identities to be fresh and represent the cities. Or at least bring back the Outlaws and Rage from XFL 1.0.

I am a fan of  continuity, so I was pleasantly surprised when I found out that the Guardians' identity would be retained.  Also, few things in life (not just in sports) are worse than the look of the Orlando Rage.

However, even though the Vipers look good, I would agree that the Outlaws looked better. 

On 2/19/2023 at 7:32 PM, McCall said:

I will say "Vegas Vipers" works, but "Orlando Guardians" does not. Hell, "San Antonio Guardians" arguably would've made more sense than Orlando.

It seems to me that the name "Guardians" has no allusions to anything specific, and so works equally well in any city.  The XFL in New York and Major League Baseball in Cleveland found ways to  contrive some kind of local reference; but the name is univerally applicable.

12 minutes ago, Cujo said:

 

That new logo tho. Just recolor the original NY identity. 

 

Right.  I ignored the unnecessary modifcation to the logo.  I can only guess that the change was made because the original logo was meant to be a lion, in honour of the stone lions in front of the New York Public Library.   The new version looks more like a tiger or a panther.

46 minutes ago, GDAWG said:

If the NFL doesn't adopt this rule (and I don't think they will anytime soon, based on Roger Goddell's comments during Super Bowl Week), the NFL will continue to be accused of being rigged, scripted and having the referees on payrolls of certain teams.  

I wish the NFL would adopt this practice because it's educational.  But I hate the idea of pandering to idiots.  The "NFL is rigged" notion is the manifestation within sports of the mainstreaming of crazy that we have seen in so many other spheres.  It's like the sports equivalent of the flat-Earth or Mandela Effect delusions.

Still, the more transparency, the better.  And let's note that it was the Arena Football League that started this several years ago.  The on-field referee would walk over to a replay booth, where he'd watch the replay and analyse it, on-camera and on mic. 

Houston is a horror show, between the helmets and those awful numbers.

Vegas looks sharp, with the contrasting colour on the player names.

The design of the Guardians' helmet is better than it was in New York, where the logo was too big.

Also, the stripe down the middle is a nice addition of a feature that was absent in New York.

12 hours ago, Germanshepherd said:

Yeah lost in all this is that’s normally called a hold

Right. That was clearly and unambiguously a hold, due to the left hand. To let that go — especially in the final minute — would be a travesty.

Some goofballs actually believe that the officials' job is not to penalise illegal conduct but to set up a good ending. 

The reality: if you don't want to get flagged, don't do things that are against the rules.

11 hours ago, JerseyJimmy said:

I will say this, Mahomes at the very least has a tangential connection to the Mets. that's something.

His connection to baseball through his father is what made me care about him, before he had won anything.

41 minutes ago, Seido_Ace said:

WBC hats are now live on New Era's site: https://www.neweracap.com/collections/world-baseball-classic

Wow, what a downgrade for China, which formerly had the best hat. I'm glad that I was able to get one in the previous style.

Of the current batch, I think the best one is South Africa.

The caps for New Zealand and France are good, too.

Most disappointing, along with the U.S., are Italy (here again, I'm glad I got one in the previous style, with the red outline on the white initial), Japan,  and Great Britain.  For Britain's first appearance in the WBC, they had a prototype cap with an interlocking GB.

But they never actually wore it on the field.

And, of course, all the flags are obnoxiously large.

17 minutes ago, CDCLT said:

It seems like in general soccer fans (in the States, at least) are more progressive - they're "unionized" with supporters' groups, generally have no tolerance for intolerance, and are very willing to speak out for what they believe in. I would love to see that kind of culture transplanted to other sports (supporters groups are a thing for other sports but they usually don't get a dedicated section) because IMO sports are more fun when the crowd's into it.

This is generally true, but I am aware of one unfortunate exception:  NYCFC's crowd for a while had a visible group of neo-nazis / white supremacists. But it is definitely the case that a crowd with "no tolerance for intolerance" is much more likely to be found at soccer matches than at games of other sports in the U.S.