Sykotyk

They're too drunk on the Lions hosting a playoff game to notice...

No. Tonight is not their night.

Especially for the Thrill and Rise. Maybe a bigger outline would've helped?

Underwhelming. Especially for "Thrill". Colors feel 'beach', not desert. The spikes/star in the background feel like the Mariners, not a Las Vegas team. Decent logo. The little blue/yellow Trouble game pieces feel a bit off. The comic sans wording a little off. Feels like it really fails the whole 'can this logo be drawn by a kid' thing just because they'll never get the font just right. As for the Mojo name... does feel like it belongs with something other than a bird/eagle. Only mojo I know are: And Odessa Permian:

It really is a bit strange. Most of the games feel the name is overused to get it onto air. But, the cutbacks to the announcers trying different flavored mayos just feels like 'infomercial mixed with football'.

QBoTY Ashuance

As a Browns fan, I wouldn't say he was much of a surprise. He played horribly injured and the Browns coaches refused to replace him with the backup (seeing our backups play, he was probably the best option). He got thrown under the bus and sent to Carolina who were a dumpster fire and I don't think many quarterbacks at all were able to turn it around without a lot of other roster moves the team just can't/won't make. Bucs are a middle of the road team, and Baker has, from the outside perspective, been given a long leash to do what he does best and not try to shoehorn him into an offense he doesn't run well.

I'm still disheartened to see that Sacramento, now, will probably never be in MLS. I think Phoenix and one of Indy or Louisville happens at some point. I agree with you on Las Vegas. But back to Sacramento. I've been following long enough to remember when Rochester seemed like a shoe-in for MLS, but the owners of the Rhinos didn't want to join (a lot of valid reasons), primarily due to the single-ownership structure where the team could make more being non-MLS. The team would've struggled, but it might have kept the fans coming to (and finishing) their stadium. Being one of the first MLS teams with their own stadium would have been huge. They'd have become one of those 'regional' teams representing all of Western New York. They'd just need to hang on until around 2016. And having their own stadium and still being 'big league' probably keeps the fans with the team.

Orlando just had the Guardians, so rather apropos that they have another team that doesn't really fit to the market.

I can't be the only one that sees it, right?

Only real complaint, as others have pointed out, is the Vibe logo just feels too overtly colored. They could've gone with a great, simple 3 or 4 color logo, even, and been great. The gradient, the chrome... just feels off for a 2D representation. Same problem the SDFC logo suffers. But overall these are great. Some minor nitpicks. The Supernovas logo feels a bit 'background' and less 'identifiable logo' if not for the wordmark. The Rise logo looks like the phoenix is surprised at what city they're representing. Fury is a great logo, it's simple. It works... except I don't like the added color to the Y in Fury. Plain white would've been just fine. From a distance it's gonna look like FUR-Four. That little toe on the R is unneeded as well. But it's a minor quibble. Valkyries is a great logo.... but the incomplete roundel just kinda feels off. Also feels more 'elf' than 'warrior'. Might just be the chin. Also, what's with the hidden E below the neck? Could've been a nice easter egg if E was anywhere of prominence. Seems far too obvious to be unintentional. Overall, it's far better than a lot of other leagues starting or new teams. EDIT: Didn't even notice, but love, the volleyball at the center of the logo. Glanced right over it at first since it's incomplete. But when you see it it suddenly stands out.

That's a name I never thought I'd hear of again.

One way they always could do the MLS in Open Cup is to co-op one weekend of the season as a 'play in' for Open Cup. Take the 13 games, every winner enters the Open Cup. A draw or loss and you're not in the Open Cup. This would keep teams from throwing games with backups because it is a league game. So, half the teams save one game from their schedule. Want to go further, take the next two weeks, and schedule the weeks to coincide with the first week's matchups. Any game pitting two Open Cup teams becomes another play-in round/elimination game. Same thing, win moves on, draw or loss and you're out of the Open Cup. There would, theoretically, be anywhere from 0 (all draws) to maximum of 7 teams entering actual Open Cup play. Any open spots would be a bye for the other side in the Open Cup tournament. Easy way to schedule is it make sure over a three week span the same four teams play eachother three straight weeks. Week 1 A v. B C v. D Week 2 A v. C B v. D Week 3 A v. D B v. C If A & C win, Week 2's A v. C is the next play-in game. If A & D win, Week 3's A v. D game is the next play-in. If B & C win, Week 3's B v. C game is the play-in. If B and D win, Week 2's B v. D is the next play-in. If either Week 1 game is a tie, the other winner gets into the Open Cup and Week 2 and Week 3 games go on as normal. If both are ties, neither team advances to the Open Cup and Week 2 and 3 go on as normal. They'd be MLS regular season games regardless. With 26 US teams, there'd be one two-team 'group' and six four-team 'groups'. Only a small number of MLS teams would face extra games. With up to 7 teams making it into the Open Cup, that's no more than 4 rounds Open Cup playoffs for no more than 2 teams. 3 rounds for no more than 4, 2 rounds for no more than 7.

The 90s may have been best known for the teal/purple/neon trend with the likes of the original Marlins, Rockies, Rays, Diamondbacks, Panthers, Jaguars, Raptors, Grizzlies,... The Texans were among the teams in the next 'wave' where everything was navy, earthtones, dark,... and bland. Patriots rebrand, Texans, Rams rebrand, Seahawks rebrand, Broncos rebrand, D'back AND Rays rebrands, Blue Jackets, Wild, new Jets, Coyotes rebrand, Bucs rebrand, Eagles color shift, Bills first rebrand to the dark shades with gray, etc. They feel dated, especially as the trend seems to be more primary colors, brighter contrasts and away from the dark era. Rams are bright blue and yellow, Broncos embracing the orange again, VIkings going a brighter purple... The only one that really bucked the trend were the Titans going with the primarily dark colors while simultaneously embracing the Luv Ya Blue throwback/fauxback Chargers even brought back both the powder blues and the brighter Air Coryell looks. Bucs haven't switched back the Bucco Bruce look is favorable now than in the past. Pats really going in on the red more than navy/blue as their alternates. Bills are in much brighter colors now. Seahawks are still meandering along with the eye-bleeding green and the darker tones other times. But to say Texans have some type of 'classic' look would be to say that the Kansas City Royals going blue away uniform is a 'classic look'. It's just dated, and nostalgia plays a role. Houston went navy/red instead of light blue/light red because of the Titans, not because they prefered that look. Going darker still, with a dirty white and burnt red and navy wouldn't help any.

That and the high school games were played over Thanksgiving weekend meant new grass apparently.

To me this would be like if Moab or Jackson Hole got a team. There's money there, but the locals won't want to deal with it and the tourists aren't wasting their vacations for a minor league hockey game.

For everyone complaining... This is all because the NCAA doesn't run the fbs post season. The fbs schools do to avoid any money going to other ncaa members. And they only care about themselves, and they only care about the revenue the giant Power 5 conferences can make off of it. It's why it's the "College Football Playoffs" and not "NCAA National Championship Tournament". You know, the one that follows the same general qualification procedures for other levels of football and other sports. League big enough? Champion automatically qualifies. But that means the MAC champ or Sun Belt champ is involved and the big schools don't want that. They'd have to share more of their pie than they're forced to. Look at the new 12 team playoff. They're giving 1/12th of the pie to the best non Power 5 so to keep those with real power off their backs.

My bad.

A two year streak? Is that really noteworthy?

"They" didn't do this. MLB suggested it as they are a "Partner League" and MLB wanted to try it out. The idea being they wanted regular season games over at a decent time. This way everyone knows it's nine-innings. And you get a few minutes for a home run derby if tied. Better than Draft League that just ends it in a tie after 9. The USPBL uses a rule right out of the Savannah Bananas for their games. All four teams play at the same stadium. On game nights, the have a cutoff for how late games take. They have a 9/2.5 rule. Game is 9-innings. But, the rule is an inning can't start after the 2.5 hour mark. Whatever inning they're in, the team leading wins. In the event that the inning ends in a tie, then they'll play extra innings from there. This is to ensure games are over in 3 hours as much as possible. Especially for fireworks nights. I'm not entirely thrilled with the idea. But it did make for a quick night the one time I went to a USPBL game.

And Athletics sounds like a baseball team name?

I like the little home plate in the B. Would've been cool had they put 2nd base diamond inside the top of the B.

Also, the Pioneer League's Missoula PaddleHeads have an alternative identity that is the PowderHeads:

https://www.pioneerleague.com/sports/bsb/2023/releases/20231128g5j6bw Pioneer League adding the Oakland Ballers for 2024. A bit outside their footprint, but it is what it is.