Farewell to the Mooterus

[ColeJ]

Stars' alternate jersey calls it quits

11:34 PM CDT on Sunday, April 2, 2006

By MIKE HEIKA / The Dallas Morning News

The Stars tonight bid farewell to maybe the most controversial figure in franchise history.

Goodbye, dear bull head, it's um, sad (?) to see you go.

Well, maybe that's overstating it. The Stars' alternate sweater and logo ? a constellation outline of a bull's head with a shooting star for a horn ? will be worn for the final time in a game.

"Good riddance," Stars owner Tom Hicks joked, echoing the sentiments of many fans. "The funny thing is that you can't find anyone around here who will take credit for designing it. Nobody's left."

In fact, with no hope of getting another alternate sweater until 2008-09, the Stars would rather not wear anything than return to the bull head, which debuted in 2003-04. Each NHL franchise must contract with the league to market their alternate sweaters with the first-year minimum of 15 games. The Stars cut that down to eight games this season and did not want to take that same responsibility for next season.

But in designing and marketing a new look, the Stars learned plenty of lessons. And those lessons will prove invaluable as the team seeks a new third sweater in the future and takes part in the NHL's plans to redesign the look of the league in 2007-08.

The league has contracted with Reebok to streamline uniforms, and the two had planned to launch the new look next season. But after running test markets on uniforms that are more form-fitting, both sides decided to take more time to perfect not only the fit and flow of the uniforms, but also the look.

The Stars will have to do away with the star outline on their sweater because it won't fit the slimmer jersey.

"The fact that the league is holding off a year, I think, is a great thing," Stars president Jim Lites said. "We've learned from past mistakes that you can't go rushing into these things. You need to get test markets, you need to get input from the players. The design of the sweater is definitely going to help the players' performance, but we also have to take the fans into consideration, too."

Jill Moore, the team's senior director of merchandising, said she already senses great teamwork is coming up with a new Stars look.

"We were working toward getting this done for next year, so we've already done a lot of work," she said. "And the one thing I can tell you is the players have been great. They want to take a role in this, they want to have an impact."

And so will the fans, Moore said. One of the problems with the bull head was that it was designed undercover by an outside service during the days of the Southwest Sports Group. The conglomerate had a plan ? trying to mix the thought of a constellation (stars) with a Texas icon (the bull head).

In financial terms, the sweater was a success, bringing in about $400,000 from sales. On the ice, it served the Stars well, too. They have gone 13-6-3 while wearing it. But the mixture of too many ideas and the fact it was released with little testing led to the backlash.

Lites jokingly said the jersey is the one thing in franchise history he had nothing to do with. It was hatched when he was spending nine months with the Phoenix Coyotes. He'll even remind people that he had a significant hand in designing the Coyotes' new look.

"I'm a traditionalist, and I would say anything I would have a hand in will have a traditional look," Lites said.

Stars fans can look forward to that for the new regular-season uniform in 2007-08 and the possibility of a third jersey in 2008-09. And also expect fans to have more say in what the team unveils.

"You don't want to just spring that kind of thing on people," Moore said.

E-mail mheika@dallasnews.com

ONE OF THESE THINGS IS NOT LIKE THE OTHER

While the Rangers, Mavericks and Cowboys went old school in their alternate looks, the Stars tried something space-aged. Staff Writer Mike Heika looks at the third jerseys of the area's four major sports teams:

Cowboys: Classic, in a Funky Winkerbean sort of way. Yes, the white helmet and shoulder patches scream Pop Warner, but this is the look that made you fall in love with your local heroes.

Rangers: Borrowing from the Tigers and Pirates, the Rangers threw together a look that makes you believe they wore this back in 1966. The piping and sleeveless shirt make it classic, but can we shorten the pants just a little?

Mavericks: Designed by Sean "Diddy" Combs, the Mavericks' green uniform is perfectly retro. Like the new VW Beetle, it borrows from the past, but in a cool sort of way. Blue inserts offer contrast and "Mavs" lettering is "right on."

Stars: Too many messages as the logo marries the constellations (stars ... get it) with the Texas icon of a bull's head. It's supposed to be Taurus, but the end result is something that really says nothing about the team. Could do without the red, too.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dw...ey.785ec00.html

you have to be registered to read it... i suggest bugmenot.com, if you want to read it directly from the source.

[rainmaker17]

The Stars will have to do away with the star outline on their sweater because it won't fit the slimmer jersey.

aww crap! I love the Stars' unis. Glad Mooterus is being put out to pasture, though. I wonder if they'll use the gold fashion jersey I saw a few years ago.

[ColeJ]

The Stars will have to do away with the star outline on their sweater because it won't fit the slimmer jersey.

aww crap! I love the Stars' unis. Glad Mooterus is being put out to pasture, though. I wonder if they'll use the gold fashion jersey I saw a few years ago.

i doubt it, for multiple reasons...

the biggest reason being that the gold jersey you're talking about is star shaped, and by the time the stars can have an alternate sweater again, the star shaped design will be impossible.

i hope we end up with something a little north starsy... maybe like the iowa stars, only with black included in the outlines.

[Coast2CoastAM2006]

glad to see mooterus gone.

speaking of alternates isn't the cowboys alternate basically the 1960 throwback uniform but with royal blue replaced with navy?

the thing that bothers me about the mavs alternate is the word mark.

as for the rangers, the grey uniforms seem more retro than the alternate. i don't see the retro feel to the rangers in their alternates.

[ColeJ]

glad to see mooterus gone.

speaking of alternates isn't the cowboys alternate basically the 1960 throwback uniform but with royal blue replaced with navy?

the thing that bothers me about the mavs alternate is the word mark.

as for the rangers, the grey uniforms seem more retro than the alternate. i don't see the retro feel to the rangers in their alternates.

i agree with everything you just said, except the mavs wordmark thing.

i love the mavs alternates for some reason. i wouldn't change a thing about them, except maybe drop the logo from the back.

[spyboy1]

Lites jokingly said the jersey is the one thing in franchise history he had nothing to do with. It was hatched when he was spending nine months with the Phoenix Coyotes. He'll even remind people that he had a significant hand in designing the Coyotes' new look.

"I'm a traditionalist, and I would say anything I would have a hand in will have a traditional look," Lites said.

It sounds like Jim might be swimming upstream if he likes things traditional and has to fit within Reebok's plans for the future. Good luck to him and I hope he's an advocate for keeping things from getting out of hand (Nike Swift).

I suggest buying your Mooterus jersey now, because some day it's going to be the next Wild Wing Alt, LA Burger King or Islanders Fisherman jersey that is highly collectable for it's awfulness and short life span.

[Discrim]

The Stars will have to do away with the star outline on their sweater because it won't fit the slimmer jersey.

aww crap! I love the Stars' unis. Glad Mooterus is being put out to pasture, though. I wonder if they'll use the gold fashion jersey I saw a few years ago.

i doubt it, for multiple reasons...

the biggest reason being that the gold jersey you're talking about is star shaped, and by the time the stars can have an alternate sweater again, the star shaped design will be impossible.

...I, too, love the Stars' jerseys. this is the freaking 21st century, you'd think they could figure out a way to keep it around-this aint rocket science, people

advanced material my ass

[winters in buffalo]

The Stars will have to do away with the star outline on their sweater because it won't fit the slimmer jersey.

aww crap! I love the Stars' unis. Glad Mooterus is being put out to pasture, though. I wonder if they'll use the gold fashion jersey I saw a few years ago.

i doubt it, for multiple reasons...

the biggest reason being that the gold jersey you're talking about is star shaped, and by the time the stars can have an alternate sweater again, the star shaped design will be impossible.

...I, too, love the Stars' jerseys. this is the freaking 21st century, you'd think they could figure out a way to keep it around-this aint rocket science, people

advanced material my ass

I was thinking the same thing? How hard would it really be to translate the current patterns onto the new template?

[NJTank]

May they be hidden in a drak chamber and never seen again

[Michael_Studebaker]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!! Mooterus 4-life.

[ROCHitman]

I kinda liked Mooterus, but thought the Stars wore them too much.

Overkill!

[ColeJ]

I kinda liked Mooterus, but thought the Stars wore them too much.

Overkill!

8 times a year is the league minimum... and that's how many times they wore them this year.

i'll agree they wore them too much... about 8 times too many this season... but they wore them as sparingly as the league allowed.

[Coast2CoastAM2006]

The Stars will have to do away with the star outline on their sweater because it won't fit the slimmer jersey.

aww crap! I love the Stars' unis. Glad Mooterus is being put out to pasture, though. I wonder if they'll use the gold fashion jersey I saw a few years ago.

i doubt it, for multiple reasons...

the biggest reason being that the gold jersey you're talking about is star shaped, and by the time the stars can have an alternate sweater again, the star shaped design will be impossible.

...I, too, love the Stars' jerseys. this is the freaking 21st century, you'd think they could figure out a way to keep it around-this aint rocket science, people

advanced material my ass

I was thinking the same thing? How hard would it really be to translate the current patterns onto the new template?

if they altered the new template they could easily stick the current template on to the new template.

[ColeJ]

but then who would buy the new ones?

if it's a new design, people will buy. if it's just new tighter material, people are going to stick with their old mesh sweaters.

i know i wouldn't go out and buy a new stars jersey, if it was exactly like the old ones i already own, except for the cut.

but if they come out with some new striping pattern or design, i'll want to be up to date

[KrazyHorse]

The Stars will have to do away with the star outline on their sweater because it won't fit the slimmer jersey.

aww crap! I love the Stars' unis. Glad Mooterus is being put out to pasture, though. I wonder if they'll use the gold fashion jersey I saw a few years ago.

i doubt it, for multiple reasons...

the biggest reason being that the gold jersey you're talking about is star shaped, and by the time the stars can have an alternate sweater again, the star shaped design will be impossible.

...I, too, love the Stars' jerseys. this is the freaking 21st century, you'd think they could figure out a way to keep it around-this aint rocket science, people

advanced material my ass

I was thinking the same thing? How hard would it really be to translate the current patterns onto the new template?

if they altered the new template they could easily stick the current template on to the new template.

It sounds like Reebok is just being lazy and wants all of the teams to use the same template. Although some of the unis may actually look good, what's the point if they all have the same scheme with just different colors? This is going to be another fiasco for the league.

[ColeJ]

not sure it's going to be a fiasco.

i think the NHL learned during the lockout that it can do whatever the hell it wants to the fans, and we'll always come back.

if refusing to play games didn't lose us, then why would a simple league wide re-uni-fication?

[Coast2CoastAM2006]

i know since the lock out my interest in the sport has dwindled to little to none. i probably do more talking about the isles and there logos than watching them. i actually find my self spending more time watching cooking shows than watching hockey games by choice mind you. i guess i find more interest talking about a hockey sweater than i do actually watching the game.

[edensker]

Did you notice that the cowards at the Dallas Morning News declined to use the term "mooterus" in the article? That's weak. All of the fans and sports talk shows refer to it as the mooterus jersey, so why can't the newspaper?

[KrazyHorse]

The Stars will have to do away with the star outline on their sweater because it won't fit the slimmer jersey.

While watching the Rangers/Flyers game the other night I wondered if "RANGERS" will be able to fit on the slimmer jerseys. That made me think of other teams. What about Atlanta, because of their sleeves, or Colorado who has a similar template to the Stars. The Kings have "LOS ANGELES" at the bottom of their jerseys, which wouldn't be visible at all if the jerseys are going to be tucked in.

[Draft Dodger]

In fact, with no hope of getting another alternate sweater until 2008-09

there'd been some chatter earlier on that all the alternates would be going away when the re-design happened, as unlikely as that would have seemed. thankfully, this seems to shoot that rumor down.