Ferdinand Cesarano

Having no teams in the spring training states is a big plus. However, that is cancelled out by the loss of the Braves' identity. The team has dumped the only really questionable part of its iconography, the shouting Indian logo. The tomahawk is borderline; but, I could see getting rid of it, despite its aesthetic qualities and its historical value as having represented the team in all three of its homes. Indeed, the team's current alt uniform without the tomahawk and with the number on the front is very nice. The use of the noun form of the adjective "brave" with no Native imagery would be the best way to go. (Though a logo with a feather would probably be alright, as evidenced by the fact that the L.A. Clippers continue to use a feather logo on their Buffalo Braves throwback with no objections.) Are we to assume that the 1961 expansion team was placed in Washington, as in the real history? Also, you have three 1969 expansion teams in the National League, and only one in the American League. That would give us a 13-team National League and an 11-team American League from 1969 through 1976, and two 13-team leagues from 1977 through 1992, with even numbers restored in 1993. So, this raises the ugly prospect of interleague play dating back to 1969. Not cool. And "Anaheim Angels"? Please no. Whether this team plays in Los Angeles proper or in a relatively unimportant city in the next county over, it is an L.A. team — as were the Rams when they played in Anaheim.

It's not meant to be insightful. In fact it's bloody obvious. Yet people still manage to ignore it and blame the rules instead of the players and coaches. Haven't they already said that they will not? I don't remember for sure, but I think so.

I understand being bored by a lack of flow in the game. But too often the complaint of "too many flags" becomes a complaint about the rules or about the officials. However, if the players stayed within the rules, then you won't have many flags. Last week in a CFL game, a beautifully executed fake punt by Ottawa was called back because the receiver was ineligible, as he had not been included in a list of eligible receivers that must be submitted before the game. I think. Anyway, no one blames the officials on that; the Ottawa coach accepted that it was his mistake. Last year there was an incident in the NFL in which a lineman went in for a sack, and then let go of the quarterback when he saw that his momentum was going to result in slamming the quarterback to the turf. I read plenty of complaints about this, as though it was a bad thing. But, in reality, if a player doesn't do a particular act because he thinks that that act is against the rules, that's exactly how it's supposed to work. After the Hal McRae rule went into effect in baseball, runners stopped creaming the second baseman on a double play by sliding out of the baseline. Another important point is that replay review does not have to be boring. The Arena Football League and later the AAF showed that replay review can actually be exciting if we are shown exactly what the officials are seeing, and if we can hear their conversations and their analysis. All leagues should follow this example.

Well, of course the XFL is inferior to the NFL; it's paying a fraction of NFL-level salaries. The same was true of the AAF. Neither of these leagues is the AFL or the USFL, which paid enough to entice some players to choose those leagues over the NFL. The problem with trying to present a non-NFL league is not that it will be perceived as inferior to the NFL (which it objectively is). Rather, the problem is that some people will dismiss it out of hand. There has developed in the U.S. a bizarre belief that there can be only one legitimate league in every sport, and that any other league's mere act of existing is laughable. Even the USFL suffered from this perception; and that league had an overall level of talent that came pretty close to NFL-calibre, including three consecutive Heisman Trophy winners (though the bottom of that league was far below the bottom of the NFL). That perception has only gotten worse over time. For every fan who is willing to check a new league out to see how it is, there are several fans who consider the very concept to be inherently ridiculous. However, a bit of humour in which the worst NFL team is depicted as being a member of a lower league is not necessarily an expression of this toxic phenomenon.

If that happens, then I hope they take their announcer Steve Stein with them. This guy is nothing short of brilliant; and he deserves to be in a much bigger city. A playlist of Stein's entire 2019 season with the Nebraska Danger is here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLq-LI3YxR4OLgJPvv9YVQLIJQqDkx9nN8 Stein really has network-calibre talent, and is a joy to listen to.

Take another look at the small version of that New York logo. Its details are completely indecipherable. It looks like nothing so much as the back of a stop sign with a few pieces missing. Whereas, in the Houston logo, both the H and the derrick remain visible even at small sizes.

It raises the question. http://BegTheQuestion.info

The accomplishment of creating an intertwining "LA" logo that is truly new really impresses me. And the way the letters interact with each other, each one fitting snugly into the negative space of the other, is very satisfying. The flair on the crossbar of the A is a great complement to the serifs on the L. The natural tendency would have been to leave off both the flair and the serifs. That would no doubt look pretty good; but such a logo would have a more staid and corporate feel. The addition of the flair and the serifs makes the logo feel more vibrant, without sacrificing any of its seriousness. Add to that the delicious colours — and that's what those colors are: delicious. I can almost taste them! I think there's some papaya in there. Also, considering the context of the dearth of letter-based logos in American football, it is impossible not to feel still more enthusiastic about this mark — and, likewise, it is impossible to avoid the disappointment at the league's decision not to create an equally high-quality "NY" logo for the New York team.

You must have a low standard of logos, IMO. Those three are all the worst of their respective leagues The Atlanta and Salt Lake AAF logos were remarkable in the amount of detail they displayed without resorting to cheap faux-3D effects. They were a testiment to the proposition that anything can be done in the two legitimate dimensions. On top of that, the Atlanta wordmark was superb. (The Salt Lake wordmark less so, for it incorporated shadows.) @CaliforniaGlowin mentioned "love at first sight" of the Birmingham AAF logo. However, to me that's the only clunker in that league, due to its clumsy use of bevels, shadows, and depth. Every other AAF logo and wordmark had plenty of merit; and the use of colour by Arizona, Atlanta, and Salt Lake was most impressive. The XFL logos keep to a good standard, generally higher than the first time around (due mainly to the absence of abominations such as the Rage and the Maniax). Of the XFL logos, the strongest are the ones using letters: Los Angeles, Houston, Tampa Bay. St. Louis's graphic logo is impressive; though it, too, contains a kind of hidden letter-based component. The only bad logos are Dallas's, which is blocky and clunky, and New York's, which is undecipherable at smaller sizes. All of the wordmarks except Dallas's are good, being distinctive and full of personality. As far as colours, the ones chosen for Los Angeles and for Tampa Bay are the most striking. It's nice to see bright rather than dull shades. However, taken as a group, the AAF's logos and wordmarks come out a step or two ahead of the XFL's. Of this group of 16, the best logo overall is that of Los Angeles; and the best non-letter logo and best wordmark clearly belong to Atlanta.

The AAF was half baked (everything about it) a good 5-6 of those logos were better suited for MLS. Anybody who thinks AAF logos were better I want what their smoking! The Atlanta and Salt Lake logos were better than anything in the XFL, apart from Los Angleles. And please be clear that this is not a knock on the XFL logos; it is praise of the AAF logos.

For me the New York logo is the worst one. First of all, I dislike that Los Angeles got a letter logo, while New York did not. Secondly the New York logo is the only one that is unrecognisable when rendered small. The "Guardians" nickname is OK. I would have preferred "Gargoyles". Other quibbles: it should be Washington Defenders. And I agree with the tweet shown above that the Dallas logo, the second worst after New York's, is a ripoff of the Dallas Desperados of the Arena Foodball League. The Los Angeles logo is beautiful, the best of the lot; though the nickname is unfortunately generic. The Houston logo is strong, playing on local football history in the same way that the name of the USFL's Oakland Invaders did.

Right. But names such as Demons, Enforcers, and Hitmen, while not exactly traditional, are excellent and are deserving of being revived. The Demons' look in particular was outstanding. And the Hitmen's helmet logo was superb.

No. That’s just an issue that could easily be fixed by not having open fronts on baseball jerseys. Sew that placket shut and it’s fine. The appearance of the lowercase n in that wordmark has nothing to do with the placket. The wordmark imitates handwritten cursive, in which a lowercase n has two humps — and a lowercase m has three humps. (Also, a handwritten cursive lowercase r usually comes out as one hump, despite the style guides that instruct the use of sharp corners.) Most baseball scripts don't follow these handwrting conventions; they present a version of the lowercase n that resembles the printed form.. But some script wordmarks do incorporate a two-hump lowercase n.

We haven't seen the jerseys; but that cap logo is a mess. The cap with the wordmark is not bad; but I assume that that's a fashion item, and that the cap with the graphical logo is the game cap. Anyway, there's no way I would eat one of those quahogs. I am probably the only Italian who doesn't like seafood (except from tuna, which, when I was a little kid, I could not believe was a fish). I have tried plenty of seafood: clams, lobster, shrimp, flounder, etc. It's all totally gross to me. (Apart from my trusty tuna.) Seth MacFarlane is a Renaissance man, and the creator of some of the most trenchant satire of American society in the past several decades. In honour of him, I display my Family Guy caricature at my desk at work. And with The Orville he shows that he has a better grasp of Star Trek than does anyone producing Star Trek. Seth is a straight-up hero.

I do understand that point; no one looking at the logo will know what it is. But, going purely by aesthetics, I don't want a hat mucked up by a wordmark; I want a hat with the helmet logo only.

No way. This logo is good because of its simplicity. And it is quite obviously a manhole cover. This letter logo is far preferable to a wordy logo. It is the helmet logo; and it looks great on a cap, just as do the Giants' "ny" logo, the Bears' C logo, snd the Packers' G logo. The Streets' manhole cover NY logo is most comparable to the Chiefs' arrowhead KC logo, which is often found by itself on a cap or a shirt.

I suppose that's true. As i said - all the sketchy fly-by-night suburban teams. Hey, now! The Dragons may have played their home games out in the suburbs; but they were not sketchy. This was when the Arena Football League was legit, before it voluntarily went out of business just to break the players' union. This was before the farce of single-entity; the teams were all separately owned, and were really competing. The players were well-paid; and the star players made star money. As a result, the level of talent in the AFL in those days was outstanding — as anyone who tuned into NBC could see. The Dragons ran a first-class operation, as did many of the elite AFL teams of that period, such as the San Jose SaberCats, the Arizona Rattlers, the Colorado Crush, the Philadelphia Soul, the Tampa Bay Storm, and the Orlando Predators. That was pro football By contrast, the current AFL is extremely sketchy. It is a bare-bones single-entity operation that should be described as semi-professional, as no player can live on what the AFL pays. The new league bought the assets of the real AFL; and it claims the original league's history. But it is really a separate league, just as the later indoor soccer leagues that used the name "MISL" were distinct from the original MISL. So please do not confuse the current pathetic state of arena/indoor football, in which the AFL is the top rung of a very shaky ladder, with the time when the real AFL was operating at a very high level and made a serious bid at becoming the no. 5 pro sports league in the country (a status that MLS has since nailed down). Peter Schwartz works for a sketchy team nowadays; but when he was working for the Dragons he was in the big time. I'm stylin', bro!

Schwartz is a hard-working and dedicated guy. He has had a long and distinguished career in broadcasting. He called the games of the New York Dragons on radio for the team's entire eight-year run, and his passion for the team was palpable. And I believe that Schwartz was instrumental in getting the Streets' games on MSG Network. Though I can't imagine that the channel was all that pleased with what it got, as so many of the Streets' games turned out to be terrible, including the one that the Streets eventually won by forfeit, in which they were trailing 46-0 when the Carolina Cobras walked off. The deal was presumably a time-buy; so MSG Network made their money. But the calibre of programming was far below that channel's usual standard. I certainly did not expect next-day delivery. A couple of weeks would have been fine. Well, on April 24 I received this text. So I think I can be forgiven for taking the team representative at her word. Perhaps. Clearly there's something wrong with me. But, I wanted to do my part to contribute to the team. I don't enjoy attending games, and I really like hats; so this was my contribution (in addition to promoting their broadcasts to people whom I know). I now feel content that I did my part. And, most important, I got my Streets hats, which I can wear just as I wear my Dragons hats and my CityHawks hat. And the bucket hat is unexpectedly cool-looking.

JRSR. (Just right; should read.) A good theory. But, in this case, the first person whom I spoke to actually had the hat on hand, and even texted me a picture of it sitting on a table in the office in late April. That person claimed that what was holding things up was the wait to have the polo shirt in stock (a wait that, incidentally, goes on to this day). So, by asking for that polo shirt, I evidently committed the NAL equivalent of flying too close to the sun. If I hadn't brought that up, I might have had my hat in late April or early May.

You should have seen the trouble I had getting these people to take my money! At the beginning of the season in April, I wanted to order some merchandise. But the team's online store was down; it would not become operational until well into the second half of the season. So I called the team's offices, and left a few messages. (Nobody ever answers the phones, no matter which selection you choose at the menu.) A couple of weeks later, someone called me back, and agreed to sell me a cap. I could just give my credit card information over the phone right there, this person said, and we could conclude the transaction. Feeling lucky, I asked whether I could also buy a polo shirt of the type that I had seen on some of the team's staff. The team representative said that that would be possible, but that she would have to get back to me on the details. I said fine, but I would like to by the hat now. But the team representative said that we should do it all as one transaction, and promised to get back to me soon. And then I heard nothing of substance for a couple of months. My e-mails and texts were answered in a purely perfunctory manner, with no information offered. I finally took to tweeting the team's announcer Peter Schwartz, to see if he could help facilitate this transaction. Schwartz eventually tweeted me back to tell me that the team's online store was now up and running. This was in June. So I placed my order for the cap that I had wanted since the beginning of the season, even though it was priced at an absurdly expensive price point of $30. There was no polo shirt on offer; but I decided to take a chance on ordering a bucket hat, despite that item's equally obscene price of $30. After a few weeks of not receiving any notice of the items' shipping, I sent an e-mail to an address of someone in the team's sales office, an address which had been included as a cc in one of the useless e-mail responses I had received months earlier. To my surprise, this person gave me a call. She apologised for the delay, and promised to ship my items immediately. She said she'd send me the tracking number as soon as she had it. And then another couple of weeks went by, during which I received no tracking number. I called this person back to ask for an update. She apologised again, and said that, while she was out of town at that moment, she would see to it that the items were shipped as soon as she returned. At that point, I said that, even though I had paid for shipping, I would be willing to come and pick the items up at the team's offices. The sales representative replied that that would not be possible, as the items were not at the team's offices, but we're being shipped from another location. However, to her credit, she said that, in recognition of the very long delay, she could give me a rebate of $32. (Why 32 and not 30? I have no idea.) And she would also throw in a t-shirt. (Alas, the coveted polo shirt was still not available.) So, in the last days of July, I finally received my New York Streets cap, bucket hat, and t-shirt. I had to laugh at the fact that it took nearly four months of effort in order to get them to accept my money in exchange for items that most normal people would consider garbage. And I didn't get to wear these items out in public, and thereby give the team free promotion, until after the season was over. Anyway, I have the items, which are attractive and well-made. So let's call that a victory. But the whole saga left me with the impression of an office dominated by chaos.

The Predators are not in the AFL; they are in the NAL (the league with the New York Streets), which is a rather large rung below the AFL. So that's the league that will have to decide whether to let the Predators return. That league has plenty of issues. The Streets played their first season at the Westchester County Center, on a field that was three-quarters regulation length, so the distance between the end zones was only 37 yards, not 50, and was subdivided into "yards" of less than 2½ feet. The arena featured ceilings so low that practically every kickoff attempt and extra point attempt hit it. The officials were baffled, and ultimately were reduced to awarding extra points if they thought that the ball would have gone through the uprights if it had not struck the ceiling. The Streets lost a game on such an absurd call as time expired. On the "bright" side, the Streets won one game by forfeit, when the Carolina Cobras refused to play the second half after discovering at half-time that some items has been stolen from their locker room at this arena. Finally, the arena seats about 5000; it is used for the games of the New York Liberty, who draw crowds of about 3000. The attendance at Streets games was measured in the hundreds. Early in the season, the league announced that it would be putting a team in Tampa Bay, to serve as a rival to Orlando. But, with the Predators' situation so shaky, it's anyone's guess what will happen with that Tampa Bay team. So the east-coast NAL has quite a few decisions to make — including whether to exist, as rumours abound of an attempt to merge with the midwestern-based IFL, which, in terms of level of play, sits in that enormous gulf between the NAL and the AFL.

The switching of the announcers between television and radio was a key part of the experience of baseball growing up. For the Yankees, Phil Rizzuto would start the game on television alongside either Bill White or Frank Messer, with the other one out of White and Messer on the radio by himself. The Scooter would move over to do radio for the middle three innings (I would sometimes turn on the radio to catch his innings while watching on TV), and then would come back to the TV booth in the 7th; and the one out of White and Messer who had started the game on television finished it on radio. The Scooter usually departed the Stadium early, leaving White or Messer alone to call the 9th inning of home games, and to make mention of Rizzuto being on the George Washington Bridge. Eventually the Yankees brought in Fran Healy to do radio all game, alongside the rotation of Rizzuto, White, and Messer. I believe that, just before my time, Jerry Coleman had served in this role. But I learnt that later; I have no memory of that. The Mets had a similar practice with their iconic trio of Lindsey Nelson, Ralph Kiner, and Bob Murphy: a rotation of two on television and one on radio. For a short time they brought in Steve Albert in the Fran Healy role; and soon after that, Murphy stopped doing television and became the full-time radio voice. Rizzuto, White, and Messer; Nelson, Kiner, and Murphy. That is the sound of baseball.

It wouldn't have been the West; the Mets wanted a divisional alignment that was based on something other than geography. The National League's hesitancy to adopt divisions was admirable, but misplaced. What should have been as obvious to that league's owners as it was to the American League's owners is that nothing about the feel of the season would change as long as only the first-place teams could advance; the magic of the traditional pennant race would endure. It's too bad we had none of this skepticism when the owners brought in the three-division alignment and the wild card, which really did kill the pennant race. Anyway, the team that got the worst deal was the White Sox, who were rightfully angry at being grouped with the Angels, Royals, and Pilots, instead of with their peers the Yankees, Red Sox, and Tigers.

The first time it happened was with the 1985 Blue Jays, for whom Al Oliver wore no. 0, and Cliff Johnson wore no. 00. That appears to be the only example from baseball. Meanwhile, it has happened several times in the NBA. Paul Lukas wrote a Uni Watch post about this topic a couple of months ago.

I'm more of a person who identifies the players by their name rather than their numbers. It's much easier with words at least for me. A facility with numbers as such or with mathematics doesn't enter into it. Players' uniform numbers are just something you remember from exposure. Growing up in a period when the Mets' uniforms (as well as those of the Yankees, of course) had no names, this came naturally. Also, football players' numbers are so big and prominent that remembering them is easy. I am sure that your mental picture of every football player whom you can think of contains his number. I know that we're never going back to no names in the other sports. But the tradition lives on to some small extent in baseball, thanks mainly to the Yankees, and also to the Giants and Red Sox. It was so sweet when the White Sox — who had been the first team to use player names — participated in this tradition upon the introduction of the current set. Anyone can see that those home uniforms look so much nicer with no names. And of course the Cubs have no business wearing names at home. Maybe someday these teams will follow the Giants' lead and will revive this more traditional and more dignified style.