2001mark

This is one that really bugged me at the time. Joe Juneau scored the goal that knocked the Sabres out of the conference finals in 1998 (the year the Caps got demolished by the Red Wings), then he was on the Sabres the next year.

Michael Peca as a Leaf was always a weird one for me.

#yousawwhatididthere

@2001mark:

Here's the Gillick banner, complete with Alomar's original banner (they hung both on opening day, and then replaced Robbie's when they retired his number a few months later).

Yeah, it'd be better if they kept Alomar's name on it with number.

It bothers me that the Blue Jays have retired 'Pat Gillick' & the '# 12'.

Future gens of fans won't all know right away that retired 12 is for Roberto Alomar. It's just a nameless number banner with the HOF logo.

I googled this to be sure you were saying what I think you were saying. That his number (and not name) was on his retired number banner...and it is. I actually like that. However, that banner is kinda ugly...fitting in the HOF and team logos makes it far too big to just have the number. It almost needs a "watermark" photo or something. I wish they'd just use the "12" from his ceremony.

I actually like just seeing the retired number and no name. For one, I just think the below looks really good...They have similar numbers at Fenway and I suspect some other places. Second, it's kinda a conversation starter. "Hey dad, what are those numbers for?" "Why does the 42 look different?" "Who wore number 29?" And in this day and age, it's pretty easy to look up.

The team has a "Level of Ecxellence" for honoured players along the 500 Level ring. I couldn't fing a pic of Alomar's, but while the other players have just their names, he has both his name and number.

Here's the #12 hanging on a giant flag, with the HOF logo no less. Gillick's is adjacent (I couldn't find a full image), with his name on it, & he is also in the HOF, inducted the same year as Alomar. Guess if you're a GM without a number, your name gets to be on the banner.

As for the Level of Excellence, I love it. I like seeing the worthy & notable player names, guys who were core to their eras & successful. Not everyone will be a HOFer, yet dozens of guys are worthy of club honour in the home park.

Alas, I grew up with the 'honoured numbers' because of the Leafs... Toronto teams really made it feel secondary that numbers weren't being immortalized while pretty much every single other franchise was doing it.

I prefer fully painted/wordmarked/logo'd endzones, like Madden '94!

Enough with the retro chalk lined &/or blase wordmarks. NBA floors are unique & interesting to look at... time for the NFL & NCAA to step up.

I know that Notre Dame has a hard-on for its sexy old school chalk lined endzones... how very hipster of them.

I wonder if we'll ever see college football's playoff geographically structured like basketball, & that's with or without the NCAA years from now.

West, Midwest, Northeast, Southeast. 4 regional title games with any FBS school eligible. In essence it would be an 8 school playoff without officially being an 8 team playoff as is now.

I.E. Some ACC teams like Boston College, Syracuse would be Northeast competitors... FSU, Miami, etc would try to win a Southeast birth against most SEC teams. And there also, Texas A&M would be a Midwest, & so on.

Conference titles would be rewarded entirely on table standings, like Euro soccer.

The Pac-12 I find is an attractive entity not least its uniform geographic set up like pro sports.

What makes a good banner? I think simple banners in a quality set make the best.

Edmonton Oilers might have the best banners imo, & not just because they were the greatest teams - there are Montreal Canadiens' of the world with plenty more...

It bothers me that the Blue Jays have retired 'Pat Gillick' & the '# 12'.

Future gens of fans won't all know right away that retired 12 is for Roberto Alomar. It's just a nameless number banner with the HOF logo.

From my favourite teams...

Blue Jays - Rickey Henderson

Leafs - 2003 Doug Gilmour, lookin' aged & less fit (he played a single game, for 1.5 shifts)

Raptors - Hakeem Olajuwon

Patriots - Doug Flutie (I watched his CFL career too much to make sense of this)