Logos that Sell the Sport rather than the Nickname

[Pharos04]

Something that I randomly thought of the other day as I was listening to sports radio.  The host kept mentioning the "Bullets" when talking about the then-upcoming Game 3 between the Celtics and Wizards and it made wonder if he was doing it intentionally because he hates the name Wizards, or if because the Wizards are playing Bullets dress up.  My mind wandered to the logo of the Bullets before the name change how it went from an actual bullet through a basketball to....well this:

and I wondered about other logos that showcase nothing about the nickname but instead focused on the sport in some form or another.  Some that came to mind were:

 

Any other ones you can think of that seem more to advertise the sport itself rather than the team?

[leopard88]

[Gothamite]

There's usually a very good reason for that. 

 

You'll notice a common theme; most of the names involve an abstract concept, or occupation, or diverse group of people, or something much harder to represent than an animal. 

 

And the names that do have a more concrete namesake have been represented by a more literal logo at some point; the Caps' alternate showcases the capital building, and the Bullets were trying to get away from the negative connotations the name carried. 

[Big Yellow Flag]

 

 

[Gothamite]

Again, more abstracts.  

 

I am kind of sad that the Giants never developed a logo of ballplayers standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the city's more famous skyscrapers; perhaps if they'd stayed in Gotham that would have come in the more whimsical 1950s or 60s. 

[oldschoolvikings]

                                                         

 

(Pistons and Nets are not just abstracts.)

 

And of course, the obvious...

 

[vikmurphy]

Twins and Yankee's primary logos

[Ferdinand Cesarano]

4 minutes ago, vikmurphy said:

Twins['] and Yankee[s'] primary logos

 

Not the Yankees' logo.  The hat is associated with the song "Yankee Doodle Boy", popularly known as "Yankee Doodle Dandy".  That hat is seen in the poster for the James Cagney movie Yankee Doodle Dandy.

 

 

[CreamSoda]

I think the "Yankee" hat excludes it from this list.

[SFGiants58]

28 minutes ago, Gothamite said:

Again, more abstracts.  

 

I am kind of sad that the Giants never developed a logo of ballplayers standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the city's more famous skyscrapers; perhaps if they'd stayed in Gotham that would have come in the more whimsical 1950s or 60s. 

 

A long time ago, I thought about "What if the baseball Giants stuck around?" and I produced a Giants-ified version of the Mets' logo (just assume that the Brooklyn Bridge is the George Washington Bridge or another suspension bridge in the city):

 

 

I think that's in a similar spirit to your idea (but with the buildings being the titular "Giants").

 

As for the thread's main topic:

 

[leopard88]

37 minutes ago, SFGiants58 said:

As for the thread's main topic:

 

 

I think the 76ers are a close call.  The base of the logo is a basketball, but the 13-star circle is derived from the Betsy Ross flag and references the nickname.  It's similar to the Yankees hat.

[hawk36]

This one, I felt, was one of the biggest designer fails. Doesn't represent the mascot at all, but instead adds in a beach/wave theme. Guess the designer couldn't come up with any good Padre graphics but had some cool wave graphics and thought, oh, well, it's San Diego so yes, that will work. Lazy, completely lazy. 

[leopard88]

"What sports do those guys play, again?"

 

"Baseball."

"OK.  Change the shield to a home plate shape."

[AgentColon2]

[WavePunter]

1 hour ago, hawk36 said:

This one, I felt, was one of the biggest designer fails. Doesn't represent the mascot at all, but instead adds in a beach/wave theme. Guess the designer couldn't come up with any good Padre graphics but had some cool wave graphics and thought, oh, well, it's San Diego so yes, that will work. Lazy, completely lazy. 

 

a bit off-topic, but random thought that was inspired by this logo while reading through this thread..

 

at the time this logo was current (and up until recently), the Padres' colors were essentially Navy and Sand (yes, white and sky blue were included, but mainly just for the primary logo).. 

NAVY and SAND is basically DARK BLUE and LIGHT BROWN

about half of the recent Padres concepts have utilized a Dark Brown and Light Blue color scheme..

there HAS to be a connection there.. likely subconscious.. but viewing the Navy & Sand as a form of Blue & Brown makes the transition seem more logical..

i never viewed the sand in that way - but rather as a form of "beach themed" vegas gold - which i attributed to being an evolution of Yellow/Gold->Vegas Gold, tying in the team's history of using Yellow/Gold - which seemed to be confirmed with last year's Yellow-trimmed alternates, but looking at this image just brought so many potential possibilities to mind of what they might have been thinking.. Perhaps the team itself has viewed sand as a way of including a form of "brown" in the color scheme..

idk - its been a monotonous day at work and my mind is in a haze by the time i'm getting a few minutes to visit the boards, but it definitely got me thinking.. 

[hockey week]

I don't think I ever realized it, but I hate every logo mentioned here except that old Packers logo, which I think gets a pass because it's so old and I never think of it as a primary. 

 

I like logos that include the sport, but I hate logos that show the sport and NOT the nickname. I find it lazy and an example of a bad nickname - if you can't display it in any way, maybe it shouldn't be your nickname. 

 

I learned something about myself. Cool.

[wildwing64]

16 hours ago, oldschoolvikings said:

 

                                                        

 

Nordiques logo features an igloo which is... kind of relevant to the name but not really I guess.

 

Amusingly, the Nets share their name with one piece of equipment while the logo depicts another.

[Gothamite]

Yeah, I've always hated the Nets name.  They chose the one piece of basketball equipment that you don't actually need to play the game (and which is often absent from the local courts in the city, working against their street-level marketing). 

[leopard88]

1 hour ago, Gothamite said:

Yeah, I've always hated the Nets name.  They chose the one piece of basketball equipment that you don't actually need to play the game (and which is often absent from the local courts in the city, working against their street-level marketing). 

 

Interesting point about the street level marketing angle.  Maybe they could make a logo with a chain net for authenticity.  

 

Obviously, their choices were limited when they looked for a one syllable name that rhymes with Mets and Jets.

[Gothamite]

8 minutes ago, leopard88 said:

Obviously, their choices were limited when they looked for a one syllable name that rhymes with Mets and Jets.

 

True enough, but I'm of the opinion that they should have rebranded when they moved from New Jersey.  The uniform overhaul was excellent, hampered only by holding on to the dumb name.