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Cleveland Indians become the Cleveland Guardians


Bill0813

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Spiders is far and away the best choice and most would agree on that I think. That said, Citizens is actually kind of neat to me too. It's got a sort of classic baseball sound to it and plays well off of the proud regional identity that the city has built for itself. I think that it would also provide an opportunity to potentially use the Guardian as a logo/mascot too without using the clunky Guardians nickname. 

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Cleveland Citizens sounds very weird and like a team named in some comic book as an afterthought by someone who knows nothing about sports at all. You cannot get more generic than that. Cincinnati Citizens would at least have some alliteration, but would still be as equally generic and bad.

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7 minutes ago, henburg said:

 I think that it would also provide an opportunity to potentially use the Guardian as a logo/mascot too without using the clunky Guardians nickname. 

I've been a proponent of Guardians but I'm not married to it by any means. I'm curious what makes it "clunky," though. Care to explain? I feel like Commodores is much more clunky. I presume it has something to do with the three syllables? I don't think Guardians rolls off the tongue any worse than Indians, Mariners, or Orioles does. It is interesting that most of the three syllable names are shortened to A's, M's, or O's. Guardians to Guards seems like an acceptable shorthand, although it isn't as punchy as Tribe would be.

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6 minutes ago, oldschoolvikings said:

As for the Guardians, am I the only one worried about the obvious confusion with the team from Gotham City?

 

If they went the Guardians route, I'd try to avoid a literal representation of the figure and lean more into the Art Deco. In other words, stay far away from something like this, which looks far too college or minor league:

 

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10 hours ago, Cujo said:

And?

 

Hehehehe.   Did you literally stop reading there and immediately respond?   I did explain that it sounds minor league due to our brains recognizing patterns and accepting what is orthodox as orthodox just because it's always been.

 

 

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16 hours ago, BBTV said:

Here's my take.  A human-spider would be the ultimate player, being able to wear 5 gloves (and spin webs to catch balls too.)

 

Couldn't figure out how to watermark it, so if you post this elsewhere, please give appropriate credit, and if you use it for merchandise, I get 50%.

 

 

 

 

dHnSMK4.png

 

16 hours ago, selgy said:


But tell me this...

How would it wear its pants? 

Tucked into stirrups if he wants to be taken seriously!

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1 hour ago, Marlins93 said:

I've been a proponent of Guardians but I'm not married to it by any means. I'm curious what makes it "clunky," though. Care to explain? I feel like Commodores is much more clunky. I presume it has something to do with the three syllables? I don't think Guardians rolls off the tongue any worse than Indians, Mariners, or Orioles does. It is interesting that most of the three syllable names are shortened to A's, M's, or O's. Guardians to Guards seems like an acceptable shorthand, although it isn't as punchy as Tribe would be.

 

It's ultimately subjective of course, but I think it just sounds sort of try-hard and awkward. There's no alliteration or rhythm to it and I just can't really imagine it in a real context. In fact, I'm pretty sure that the major reason that Commodores is being thrown around is due to the nice alliteration it contains, but it wouldn't be my choice either.

 

1 hour ago, McCall said:

Cleveland Citizens sounds very weird and like a team named in some comic book as an afterthought by someone who knows nothing about sports at all. You cannot get more generic than that. Cincinnati Citizens would at least have some alliteration, but would still be as equally generic and bad.

 

The fictional comic book team description is pretty on-point actually, hahaha

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3 hours ago, gosioux76 said:

 

I don't get this argument. You're suggesting it would be better if it were a specific kind of spider? Is Spiders really any more generic than, say, Bears or Reds? Penguins, like Spiders, is its own genre of creature, yet nobody would consider it to be generic because the team isn't called the Emperor Penguins. 

 

I just don't see how a name that's so little used in pro sports, but with so much visual potential, can be described as "generic." 

IMO, it would sound better if it were a specific species. Bears and Penguins hit me different because in comparison to Spiders there are much fewer types in nature. Reds is something different entirely. Colors are elemental and convey messages on a subconscious level. Instantly iconic.

 

Imagine the difference between a team names the Birds and a team named the Eagles. I see tremendous potential with using a spider as a mascot design wise. The name doesn't sound cool to me though. Even doing something akin to what the Mighty Ducks did would punch the name up.

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7 minutes ago, O.C.D said:

IMO, it would sound better if it were a specific species. Bears and Penguins hit me different because in comparison to Spiders there are much fewer types in nature. Reds is something different entirely. Colors are elemental and convey messages on a subconscious level. Instantly iconic.

 

Imagine the difference between a team names the Birds and a team named the Eagles. I see tremendous potential with using a spider as a mascot design wise. The name doesn't sound cool to me though. Even doing something akin to what the Mighty Ducks did would punch the name up.

 

You're right. If I see an eagle, I call it an eagle. But unless you're an arachnologist -- and apologies in advance if you are -- do you really think the average person looks at a spider and refers to it as a brown recluse or an American house spider? No. You call them spiders.

 

Black Widows may be an exception to the rule, but calling the team the Cleveland Black Widows makes about as much sense as calling them the Rocks. 

 

And, really — the Mighty Spiders? I would call that the opposite of cool. But as we like to say, it's all subjective. 

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2 hours ago, henburg said:

 

It's ultimately subjective of course, but I think it just sounds sort of try-hard and awkward. There's no alliteration or rhythm to it and I just can't really imagine it in a real context. In fact, I'm pretty sure that the major reason that Commodores is being thrown around is due to the nice alliteration it contains, but it wouldn't be my choice either.

 

I don't see it this way at all, but you're totally right in saying it's ultimately subjective. For me, the alliteration of the double Cs adds very little and the word Commodores is phonetically more of a mouthful, to the point that it negates any benefit of alliteration in the first place.

 

I'm a little surprised that Spiders is getting so much traction. I'm not an arachnophobe but it sounds skeevy in a way that Rays or Diamondbacks doesn't. It could work graphically if they go a more abstract route and focus more on the web as a visual identity rather than an eight legged creature.

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I would choose Spiders because of all of the headlines and puns:

 

"The Spiders crawl back for the win in extra innings!"

"The Spiders get washed out by the Twins"

"The Spiders are tangled up here in the bottom of the 8th"

"The Spiders with a silky double play!"

"The Spiders are in a web of disarray after todays loss"

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1 hour ago, gosioux76 said:

 

You're right. If I see an eagle, I call it an eagle. But unless you're an arachnologist -- and apologies in advance if you are -- do you really think the average person looks at a spider and refers to it as a brown recluse or an American house spider? No. You call them spiders.

 

Black Widows may be an exception to the rule, but calling the team the Cleveland Black Widows makes about as much sense as calling them the Rocks. 

 

And, really — the Mighty Spiders? I would call that the opposite of cool. But as we like to say, it's all subjective. 

There are well known types but in general I agree with your point. There are a lot of species and most aren't common knowledge (Cleveland could pick a new one to popularize. Like how Tampa Bay adopted the Devil Ray) . I wouldn't want Cleveland to adopt Mighty, I was pointing out the Ducks as an example of a team adding an adjective prefix to their name. Adding a prefix would make the Spider name less general, more specialized.

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1 hour ago, MinnyHockey said:

I would choose Spiders because of all of the headlines and puns:

 

"The Spiders crawl back for the win in extra innings!"

"The Spiders get washed out by the Twins"

"The Spiders are tangled up here in the bottom of the 8th"

"The Spiders with a silky double play!"

"The Spiders are in a web of disarray after todays loss"

 

"The Spiders have been exterminated from the playoffs."

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