USFL (Alt History)

[WideRight]

18 hours ago, neo_prankster said:

At this point, will we see the Rhein Fire's flame in Atlanta?

 

I feel like when you did the WFL scenario two years ago, you could've done the Chicago Fire this:

- Chicago Fire original logo 1974 thru maybe '86?

- Birmingham Fire flame from 1986 thru maybe '94.

- Rhein Fire or MLS Chicago Fire logo starting in the mid to late 90's.

Well, the Atlanta Fire were created as a 1995 Expansion club, so I used the WLAF template for them.  They will adopt another element of another team later in the 2000's, but not one of the ones you mentioned.  For 2002, they will get a new look, but one from me, not from a real world team (I am doing this a bit more as I move through the years, but as much as possible I am trying to retain the true USFL identities in some form or, if not possible, using real world parallels where they fit well.  I have deviated on occasion (Seattle Dragons using D&D dragon head, not Barcelona Dragons logo, Chicago Machine borrowing only very tangentially from the lacrosse team with that name after starting as a WLAF borrowing, etc.)

 

[WideRight]

Working on the 2002 Reebok updates.  Starting off with two modified logos. 

 

1. Philadelphia Stars

• Decided to go halfway between the original logo (with wordmark) and the logo of this year's new USFL, adding the orange as an intermediary color and simplifying the fading star effect.  Still a bit of an issue of the logo fading too much on the helmet, but will maintain a metallic gold helmet.  Here is the new version of the Stars logo. 

 

2. Tampa Bay Bandits

• A tweak that includes a new script wordmark and a more detailed rider & horse logo.  The inspiration to add silver highlights to the horse comes from Brandon Williams's design for the A11FL Bandits, but I wanted to keep the original form of the horse & rider (not adjusting the legs) and I did not add the red to the horse's mane or legs as BW did.   So, again, somewhere between the original and a very good concept from the 2010's. 

 

The final new logo for 2002 will be the Atlanta Fire.  Still a couple of touch ups to do on it, but I should be ready to post it soon.  The Olympic reference of the torch will be gone and a new, more modern (non-WLAF) flame will be at the center of the logo, one that pays a bit of homage to the Atlanta Flames NHL team while still being very much along the lines of the WLAF and now USFL Fire.  Coming soon, along with 2002 uniforms. 

[Skycast]

Not a big fan of the two-tone horse, other than that I dig all the changes.

[WideRight]

And the Atlanta Fire, a franchise in need of some new life.  They take a bit of inspiration from the Atlanta Flames NHL club, creating a new fiery A logo.  The flames will feature heavily on the helmet (as they always have) but the new monogram logo will also appear on the uniforms and in most media formats, replacing the older 1995 Olympic torch.  Will this new look inspire a change to one of the league's perennial also-rans?

 

[neo_prankster]

38 minutes ago, WideRight said:

And the Atlanta Fire, a franchise in need of some new life.  They take a bit of inspiration from the Atlanta Flames NHL club, creating a new fiery A logo.  The flames will feature heavily on the helmet (as they always have) but the new monogram logo will also appear on the uniforms and in most media formats, replacing the older 1995 Olympic torch.  Will this new look inspire a change to one of the league's perennial also-rans?

 

Nice tribute to the NHL Flames.

 

Out of curiosity who supplies the uniforms to the USFL? Is it just one company for the whole league or can the individual teams partner with whoever they want?

[WideRight]

It was by team, with Russell Athletic and Champion each with teams in their camp through 1993. 

 

From 1993-1999 it was a leaguewide contract with Nike (Phil Knight was a league owner in Portland)

 

Starting in 2000 the contract has moved to Reebok. 

 

it will shift again, perhaps 2 times, before we finish the league. 

 

 

 

[WideRight]

Ready to post 2002 USFL Uniform updates.  We have 3 on tap.  None are radical departures from IRL, but some modifications based on early 2000's style.  Despite my better judgement, after watching some college football this weekend I realized I cannot ignore the trend against pant stripes.  While I find it quite boring and in most cases leads to bad unitard looks, it is a real trend in football design, so 2 of the 3 clubs in 2002 will jump on that bandwagon (in whole or in part).  We will see how long that lasts. 

But, we start with a club that went in another direction.  Gone are the thin "Bronco" style tapered stripes, and in there place are side panels and thicker stripes on all aspects of the uniform. 

 

 

So, two thick black stripes with a thin red stripe in the middle is the dominant feature of the new Bandits look.  They retain a side panel from their previous uniform, but without the "swoops".  Instead it is more black.  Reebok symbols are on the sleeve cuffs, with the league's U symbol on the left chest.   A pretty standard look for TBY, but with a very 2000's emphasis on side panels. 

 

Philly, then Atlanta coming up. 

[neo_prankster]

Nice job with the Bandits. Although, I wonder if they might be a farm affiliate for the Bucs because of the color similarities.

 

Also, on that new Atlanta Fire logo, I think that will look great if you do an NHL series with the Flames staying in ATL.

 

One more thing, where do the Fire play their home games? Turner Field, Bobby Dodd Stadium or the Georgia Dome? Did Ted Turner or TimeWarner own the Fire at one point?

 

How about the Stars? Do they play at Franklin Field? I wonder if there would be too many scheduling conflicts with the Phillies if the Stars want to share Lincoln Financial Field with the Eagles.

[Skycast]

52 minutes ago, neo_prankster said:

Nice job with the Bandits. Although, I wonder if they might be a farm affiliate for the Bucs because of the color similarities.

 

The Bucs were still creamsicle when the Bandits came into existence, so perhaps the Bucs, if they made a color change in this fictional universe, were trying to be more like the Bandits. Back in the 80's when the USFL started the Bucs were abysmal and the Bandits were good and a ton of fun. 

 

I grew up in the Tampa area, graduated high school in 1986 and went to many games from both teams.

[WideRight]

1 hour ago, neo_prankster said:

Nice job with the Bandits. Although, I wonder if they might be a farm affiliate for the Bucs because of the color similarities.

 

Also, on that new Atlanta Fire logo, I think that will look great if you do an NHL series with the Flames staying in ATL.

 

One more thing, where do the Fire play their home games? Turner Field, Bobby Dodd Stadium or the Georgia Dome? Did Ted Turner or TimeWarner own the Fire at one point?

 

How about the Stars? Do they play at Franklin Field? I wonder if there would be too many scheduling conflicts with the Phillies if the Stars want to share Lincoln Financial Field with the Eagles.

Yes, the Bandits were red with silver long before the Bucs ditched the creamsicle look.  Maybe they don't in this world because they would be accused of trying to look like the Bandits.  

 

The Fire play at Bobby Dodd, and they are owned by a newspaper magnate from Athens whose name eludes me.  

 

The Stars currently play at Veterans Stadium (The constrction of Lincoln is ongoing) but scheduling won't be any worse than it is for other teams that have shared multiuse stadiums in the past, like Veteran's Stadium, the Astrodome, or Oakland's stadium.  Besides, it is only for a couple of years until the Phillies get their new ballpark.  The Stars will play 1 season at Franklin Field during the final stages of construction since the Vet will be razed.  

[WideRight]

Thinking about the Buccaneers redesign.  I do believe that they would still abandon Bucco Bruce around 2000, but the presence of the Bandits as a major rival for sports attention means that there is no way the Bucs go with pewter, red and black as their dominant colors.  

So, what to do?

 

Well, if you look at some of the design ideas pitched for the change, you can find the answer.  They move to the flag logo (or a version of it) but they do not abandon the creamsicle look in its entirety.  

 

I may make a design just to show this off, but I am going to work from the premise that the Buccaneers chose the design in the upper right of this image as their new look, never adding pewter and not adding quite so much black as they did IRL.  

 

[neo_prankster]

Whichever direction you choose for the Buccaneers, I would try to find a way to keep the pirate ship on the sleeves.

 

Also, the Bandits and Bucs will both share Raymond James Stadium, right? Or does one of them share Tropicana Field with the Rays?

[WideRight]

17 hours ago, neo_prankster said:

Whichever direction you choose for the Buccaneers, I would try to find a way to keep the pirate ship on the sleeves.

 

Also, the Bandits and Bucs will both share Raymond James Stadium, right? Or does one of them share Tropicana Field with the Rays?

Yes, the Bandits and Bucs, like many USFL/NFL clubs in the same city, work together to finance a new stadium and then share that stadium.  This is a good arrangement for both clubs as it differs some costs, and a better deal for the city since they get twice the number of games in the stadium each year.  Sharing a stadium with an MLB or MLS team is much more problematic due to scheduling, and the USFL teams with the biggest stadium issues tend to be those who are the only tenant (Portland, Memphis, Birmingham, Jacksonville, etc.) because it is hard to convince the city to spend $$$ on renovations much less a new stadium. 

[WideRight]

Ok, here we go again, the second of 3 new looks for 2002.   Here are the Philadelphia Stars.  It is hard to portray using the template and colors I have available, but the gold for Philly remains a very saturated metallic gold, not the yellow used in the actual 2022 USFL Stars.  So, metallic gold pants and helmet to go with the red jersey.  Philly is the first of our clubs to go with a stripeless pant set, but only in gold, not white.   You can also see (particularly if you zoom) that the orange is used very sparingly in the sleeve stripes and as part of the logo.  We will see if it becomes more visible in later iterations of their uniform. 

 

 

 

[ManillaToad]

On 8/26/2022 at 10:18 PM, WideRight said:

it will shift again, perhaps 2 times, before we finish the league. 

 

How far are you taking the alt history? Present day?

 

2 minutes ago, WideRight said:

Ok, here we go again, the second of 3 new looks for 2002.   Here are the Philadelphia Stars.  It is hard to portray using the template and colors I have available, but the gold for Philly remains a very saturated metallic gold, not the yellow used in the actual 2022 USFL Stars.  So, metallic gold pants and helmet to go with the red jersey.  Philly is the first of our clubs to go with a stripeless pant set, but only in gold, not white.   You can also see (particularly if you zoom) that the orange is used very sparingly in the sleeve stripes and as part of the logo.  We will see if it becomes more visible in later iterations of their uniform. 

 

 

 

 

This rules. I love that Philly's kept the same logo, it's a classic

[WideRight]

4 hours ago, ManillaToad said:

 

How far are you taking the alt history? Present day?

 

 

This rules. I love that Philly's kept the same logo, it's a classic

The goal is to go until I catch up with real life, so yes, 2023 perhaps?  Not sure what happens after that, maybe I start over with a different premise.  I still have 22 seasons to go, with 18 in the books.  

 

[WideRight]

And the last of the 3, the new look for the Atlanta Fire, still trying to get a foothold on the sports market in Atlanta (and still waiting for a winning season).  Will a new look in 2002 help them along?  (Or will they improve in 2001 and kick off a new look with a winning club in 2002?)

 

 

The new flame design adorns the helmet, and the new A logo is on the pants and the sleeves.  The basic jersey design is not changed, though the collars now contain an ombre effect shifting from gold to red or white to gold.  The numbers do the same, with gold at the top of both sets.  No pant stripes (We will see how long this lasts) but three pant sets, with the orange being the least used to be sure.  

[WideRight]

BTW, there is one missing piece to these 2002 uniforms.  I am designing a 9/11 commemorative patch that all USFL clubs will wear (patch on jersey, perhaps sticker on helmet too) in 2002.  New Jersey, Washington and Pittsburgh may take it a step further, we shall see.  I thought about altering history and not having 9/11 happen, maybe having Gore win the 2000 election, but decided I should stick to one big historical change (no move to fall for USFL) and not mess with the rest.  

[ManillaToad]

38 minutes ago, WideRight said:

And the last of the 3, the new look for the Atlanta Fire, still trying to get a foothold on the sports market in Atlanta (and still waiting for a winning season).  Will a new look in 2002 help them along?  (Or will they improve in 2001 and kick off a new look with a winning club in 2002?)

 

 

The new flame design adorns the helmet, and the new A logo is on the pants and the sleeves.  The basic jersey design is not changed, though the collars now contain an ombre effect shifting from gold to red or white to gold.  The numbers do the same, with gold at the top of both sets.  No pant stripes (We will see how long this lasts) but three pant sets, with the orange being the least used to be sure.  

 

Big improvement compared to their former unis. For such a moribund franchise, Atlanta has a great aesthetic. Wish I could see these on a real life field

[Kooky01]

1 hour ago, WideRight said:

BTW, there is one missing piece to these 2002 uniforms.  I am designing a 9/11 commemorative patch that all USFL clubs will wear (patch on jersey, perhaps sticker on helmet too) in 2002.  New Jersey, Washington and Pittsburgh may take it a step further, we shall see.  I thought about altering history and not having 9/11 happen, maybe having Gore win the 2000 election, but decided I should stick to one big historical change (no move to fall for USFL) and not mess with the rest.  

Surprised Denver did nothing to commerate Columbine like the other Denver teams but maybe that got butterflied too.