GFB

The Pickles would be a great name for a baseball team.

Because with Brandiose wouldn't be just Teddy Roosevelt themed... It would be a Teddy Moose-Bear with a mustache and spectacles riding a rocking horse while carrying a comically large bat in one hand and a chicken fried steak in the other.

I always find Brandoise odd. I love and hate there stuff. It's like they seem to wanna do the same thing with every team.

I for sure see why a lot of people love or hate their stuff. I for one am a fan of Brandiose because of their out of the box ideas that tie into the region or team name. MiLB is supposed to fun and not dull. The reason you see the "same" tendencies for most teams that hire them is because that is what the team wants. Brandiose rebrands bring in big bucks comapred to other company rebrands. Plus another thing to keep in mind with Brandiose stuff and whoever else creates rebrands. They are all tied down by what the team wants. If a team wants 2 caps and 2 jersey's thats what they will get. They want 6 caps and 6 jerseys...thats what they will get. The problem isn't so much with Brandiose. Its with the era of the rebrand we are in now. The more caps, logos, alts. etc... the better and more revanue for the teams. Is some of the stuff overkill....absolutley. However thats what the teams want.

You're right to an extent, but you could also make the argument that as the designer, they have the responsibility to steer the client in the best direction. And, at some point, restraint might be needed for that best direction.

Because with Brandiose wouldn't be just Teddy Roosevelt themed... It would be a Teddy Moose-Bear with a mustache and spectacles riding a rocking horse while carrying a comically large bat in one hand and a chicken fried steak in the other.

From outside appearances, it's almost as if Brandiose has been secretly overthrown from the inside by a parody account of themselves. Every year, their designs get more obscure, nonsensical, and just plain dumb. Before they used to only get a little zany when the project called for it; now, they can't seem to release a logo package without including some strange stadium food personified into a baseball player. Brandiose is now like a hipster who has taken his love of irony so far, he's lost track of everything he actually enjoys and can now only communicate through obscure Golden Girls quotes while riding his Razor scooter.

On a related note, this happened today:

Awkward.

That's a disaster. And Kokomo, Indiana is hell on earth, so it's oddly appropriate in that sense.

Nice job Mr. Dillon!

I actually pitched some designs to some people within Silverhawks organization a couple of years back. The name is actually pretty cool, throwing back to the Studabaker car...

It's unfortunate that their entire identity was caught up with that awful "Swoop" logo for so many years.

If we want to go old school, AAO, RogerClemente and Discrimihater had some absolute stellar concepts all around in the mid-2000s.

Don't worry -- The old guard will be well represented.

...

// GUIDELINES //

Recipients of the prestigious Creamer Award will be measured against the following guidelines:

• Quality over Quantity (10 exceptional concepts are better than 95 standard concepts)
• Original Ideas
• Deep and Well Rounded (does the concept go above and beyond?)
• Concept Originated on or near the CCSLC

None of these criteria are impossible by any means, but they will require dedication, innovation, and a certain "x-factor" that is not found commonly in concepts.

// AWARDS //

On an ongoing basis, we will be awarding 6 awards per year:

• Best Overall Concept
• Best (Individual Sport) Concept
• Best Concept Series
• Rookie Of The Year
• Most Improved
• Best C&C

...

I'm gunning for Rookie or Most Improved.

Although, I technically first posted a third kit in August 2013, so maybe not Rookie.

The way The Creamer Academy Awards will be run is that the 2014 Creamer Awards will recognize all the work and activity completed in 2013. Any work completed in this calendar year will be eligible for the 2015 Creamer Awards.

/// Reasoning ///

These awards are not a competition. We don't want people rushing their concepts, trying to sneak in under-the-wire to make the awards. In fact, we're hoping for the exact opposite, that this causes the artists of this forum to slow down and really dive into their concepts. We're trying to recognize the artists and members who go above and beyond, even when there wasn't seemingly an award for it.

Love the fact that Conrad got in, but no love for Eriqjaffe? Ouch.

People have short memories.

The BP logo is nice. The rest can burn.

Really? That's the one I don't like

You have to understand, their name and logos are already so far out there to begin with... but the logos were well-designed and the team had a semi-professional look to them. That gave the absurdity of their name and mascot room to breathe. This is just taking the punchline of the joke and adding "LOLZ #YOLO" to it.

The BP logo is nice. The rest can burn.

At least the Elvis cat is well drawn... I thought it was a Simon drawing.

The Aberdeen Ironbirds of the NY-Penn League changed their colors to black, orange, and blue to simply black and orange, to match the parent club Orioles. They also got new jerseys, which are Under Armour. Basically, the new uniforms are racing stripes 2.0.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/orioles/blog/bal-aberdeen-ironbirds-to-switch-colors-to-orioles-black-and-orange-20131114,0,5284643.story

I actually really like them. Certainly not something you'd normally see from a short season team.

Julianne Hough endorses that template.

While not minor-league, the new Worcester-based franchise in the Futures Collegiate Baseball League has announced the five finalists in its "Name The Team" contest. They are:

Worcester Bravehearts - an homage to Worcester's brave men and women in uniform serving locally and abroad as well as a reference to "the Heart of the Commonwealth"

Worcester Canal Diggers - reference to Worcester's industrial history where scores of Irish immigrants dug the Blackstone canal through the region

Worcester Freight Trains - a reference to Worcester's proud past and present operation of locomotives

Worcester Mighty Caseys - a nod to the "Casey at the Bat: A Ballad of the Republic Sung in the Year 1888" poem written by Ernest Thayer on Chatham Street in Worcester

Worcester True Blues - meaning "unwaveringly or staunchly loyal, especially to a person, a cause, etc.; the real deal" and a reference to Worcester's pride and blue collar heritage

Frankly, I can't say that any of them strike me as being particularly good. My gut tells me that they're going to go with Worcester Bravehearts. Of those five, I'd go with Canal Diggers. That said, my real preference would be to pay homage to Ernest Thayer's "Casey at the Bat" by naming the team the Worcester Nine. Barring that, I'd opt for the Worcester Blast in honor of the role the city has played in the fields of rocketry and space exploration (birthplace of rocketry pioneer Robert Goddard... home to David Clark Company, which has designed, developed, and manufactured air/space crew protective and communication equipment for the Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, and Space Shuttle programs... original home to Wyman-Gordon Company, one of the global leaders in forging aerospace parts... the first rocket propelled by liquid fuel launched in nearby Auburn, MA).

Canal Diggers is a bad dirty joke waiting to happen.

Just wait until the checkered-flag pattern uniforms come out with tire marks up and down the side.

What's worse is that this is probably Brandiose's best work of the offseason.

I think that the current Pacers uniforms are by far the best they have ever looked.

I'm a fan of the Titans helmets and flaming thumbtack. I like the Greek fire and the way the flames wrap around the helmet. The only change I would make would be getting rid of the little pointy stripes.

im not sure if anyone dislikes the CBJ's identity but i think its the best in the NHL. the logo, the jerseys, the alt, the whole package is just beautiful and full of Ohio spirit

You've been in Columbus for a few weeks and you're already an Ohio slappy? How long until you start Cleve'jacking threads...

(CBJ's look is definitely underrated... Top in the league is a little nuts, but Top 10 isn't out of the question. It's that awful alternate jersey that brings it down... And bumping up the piping off the hem like on the original version would help as well IMO.)

Also, Notre Dame. I don't want them in the Big Ten-they wreck every league they are in solely because they are hellbent on looking out for themselves alone; their loyalties within the league would always be suspect; and they make unreasonable demands that would instantly cause the league to fly apart.

Ding, ding, ding. We have a winner.

If you are attacking ND you don't do it through Maryland. That's not going to ruin the ACC. It'd be FSU, Duke, or UNC.

As other people pointed out, adding Rutgers and Maryland does zero for competitiveness outside of Maryland basketball, but is all about getting the Big Ten Network into 15 million extra homes. Offering the bigger boys a chance to get in on that revenue stream is going to be the main attraction of a potential offer.

Thinking end game here:

Phase 1 - Nebraska and Colorado leave the Big XII to join the BIG 10 and PAC-10, respectively. Utah leaves the WAC to join the PAC-10 to make the PAC-12

Phase 2 - Texas A&M, fed up with the catering to Texas, leaves the Big XII for the SEC. Mizzou, although favoring the BIG 10, does not receive and invite, thus joining the SEC.

Phase 3 - Big XII on the verge of collapse, adds TCU (via the Big East) and West Virginia to bring their total up to 10.

Phase 4 - The Big East, on the verge of collapse, adds Boise State, San Diego State, and Navy.

Phase 4 - ND, still spruning the advances of the BIG 10, leaves the Big East to join the ACC for all sports, but maintaining their football Independance.

Phase 5 - The BIG 10 pissed at ND, invited Maryland and Rutgers to the BIG 10, throwing the most traditionaly rich conference somepletely untraditional.

__________

So what's next?

The SEC has made it clear that their expansion will not include schools that are located in a state that already has a school in that State. So the SEC taps NC State on the shoulder. NC State accepts, wanting to get away from North Carolina. This leaves the SEC at 15. The Virginia Common Wealth will not allow Viriginia and VT to separate conferences, unless its for the BIG 10 and SEC. Virginia, being an AAU member, applies for acceptances into the BIG 10, with VT doing the same to the SEC. SEC accepts. BIG 10 accepts.

With the writing on the walls, Texas, Texas Tech, Oklahoma, and Oklahoma State leaves the Big XII to join the PAC-12, bringing the total to 16. The Big XII collapses in on itself. TCU and Boise State join the PAC-12 to bring the total to 18. The newly formed amalgamation of the ACC and The Big East, under the ACC name, pick up the scraps from the Big XII, Big East, and ACC. The BIG 10 invites Kansas and Kansas State, thuse bolstering their basketball more than their football clout, bringing the BIG 10, to 17 teams. Meanwhile, the SEC invites Florida State and Clemson, bringing their total to 18.

The BIG 10 finally makes 1 last push at ND, advertising the ND is the last dominoe to fall in the massive College Football Realignment of the 2010's. ND accepts. PAC-18, the BI8 TEN, SEC and ACC are the only remaining conferences. The BCS ammends rules for the number of games that are allowed to be played in a season, thus allowing each conference to have a 4 team playoff within their conference, with the winner of each being Seated 1-4 for a 4 team playoff for the BCS Title.

A few opinions:

Texas is in no hurry to do anything. They are the captain of the Big 12. They are going to see if the Big 12 is salvageable (perhaps by grabbing a FSU or Miami) before jumping to the PAC 12 boat.

I really do think there are some spurned feelings by the B1G toward ND for the ACC move. The ND/Big East agreement was always viewed in "oh, that's cute." terms. Personally, I would love it if the B1G has had the ACC in their crosshairs for some time now and then ND went and anchored themselves to that target out of nowhere. Now whether or not those feelings will still be strong enough 5 years from now when the ship is leaving dock to offer one last time remains to be seen. I think it's just as likely ND ends up in the B12 as the B1G at this point.

Just personal opinion, but once conferences reach 16 teams, I think expansion will slow. At that point, you'll have enough to form a 8 team football playoff between those 4 conferences. The conference basketball tournaments will be mini-March Madnesses in themselves. These events will be marquee TV entertainment and will bring in bank. Once we get to that point, I don't foresee conferences bringing in more schools for the heck of it and having to split revenue any more than they already have to.

I've always got the vibe the couple of times I've been around the Beltway that they care about Maryland at least a decent bit.

But yeah, it's all about getting BTN in more households -- hence why you'll see the Big Ten probably make a play for UNC and Georgia Tech.

Hearing rumors that this is another step in Jim Delaney's master plan (which I have to imagine is written with crayon in the middle of a Lisa Frank coloring book) of a 16 team super-conference that ends with getting North Carolina into the B10.

Going back to rams' point, if this is nothing more than the B10 playing the role of "spurned lover turned arsonist" to Notre Dame, I would be slightly surprised. Don't get me wrong, nothing would make me happier than a 4 super conference alignment with ND freezing out in the cold of football independence, but I'm not sure what Rutgers or Maryland bring to the table outside of being located somewhat near large metropolitan areas. If you ask me, a school like Boston College would be a much better fit than a Rutgers from an academic and athletic tradition standpoint.

Notre Dame aligning themselves with the ACC for all sports seems to make sure they'll have an "in" if it comes down to that.

I wouldn't be so sure... If we have to get down to four 16-team conferences, of the five major conferences left, three are safe bets (SEC, B1G, PAC) for the final table. That leaves the ACC and B12 fighting over that last spot at the dinner table.

Also, it appears that with the B1G moving into the Atlantic, they're looking for 2 more ACC schools (UNC, GA TECH?) to round them into 16. Then you pair that with rumblings that FSU and Clemson are looking to split for either the SEC or B12... And all of a sudden, that leaves the ACC with VA Tech football, Duke basketball, and Big East leftovers. You really think ND will leave football independence for that?

It will be interesting to see what happens first: the B1G and SEC getting to 16 (which, odds are, will pick the ACC dry and save the Big 12) or the PAC 12 expanding southward and getting to 16 (which will likely kill the Big 12).

Hearing rumors that this is another step in Jim Delaney's master plan (which I have to imagine is written with crayon in the middle of a Lisa Frank coloring book) of a 16 team super-conference that ends with getting North Carolina into the B10.

Going back to rams' point, if this is nothing more than the B10 playing the role of "spurned lover turned arsonist" to Notre Dame, I would be slightly surprised. Don't get me wrong, nothing would make me happier than a 4 super conference alignment with ND freezing out in the cold of football independence, but I'm not sure what Rutgers or Maryland bring to the table outside of being located somewhat near large metropolitan areas. If you ask me, a school like Boston College would be a much better fit than a Rutgers from an academic and athletic tradition standpoint.

I really think the NHL needs to go down to just two conferences and that's it. Put each team in either the East or West and be done with it. As for teams going bye-bye everyone could argue that until blue in the face. Ever since Bettman has been in charge a lot of teams have came into the league that shouldn't have been (or moved to places they shouldn't have). The NHL is overpopulated as it is with 30 teams. There really should only be 24 teams at most. Teams like the NY Islanders, Columbus Blue Jackets (I live an hour south of Columbus, but honestly they are a joke), Florida Panthers, Anaheim Ducks, and Phoenix Coyotes have no place in pro hockey. Not saying that because some are in places where it's hot 85 percent of the year/ doesn't really matter Stanley Cup is always played in June when it's hot everywhere. You go to anywhere in Columbus and all you see is scarlet and grey. Heck most sports stores don't even carry Blue Jackets merchandise.... but point being, the NHL should be fixed, sooner than later. Just like baseball, it was better when there were less divisions and better rivalries. Do cities in the "Sun Belt" deserve hockey? Some have proven that they do i.e. Tampa, Raleigh. There shouldn't be two teams in LA, nor should there be three teams in the NYC metro area/send the Islanders packing. As the saying goes we can wish in one hand and crap in the other. But as long as Buttman is in charge just think the most rediculous thing and it will probably happen.

I'm curious to hear your reasoning why Tampa Bay and Carolina have "proven" themselves as productive hockey cities while Anaheim and NY Islanders are contraction fodder. Please elaborate.