St Louis "StL"

[BBM]

UCLA's baseball cap has always bothered me

1. Because I *h*a*t*e* when teams use their nickname initial as their logo (B browns) and even when it is locale and nickname (like CR for Colorado Rockies, always makes me think Cedar Rapids)

and

2. Because of the obvious similarity to the Boston B.

In fact when I first saw the hat in the early 90s it was a dark blue or black hat with a yellow B and being a boston bruins fan I thought it was a cool Bruins/Red Sox hybrid.

You mean like this?

That's not EVEN their nickname initials, just the last part of the nickname.

But yeah, that IS the Boston B. I had to even think for a minute why UCLA would have a B on their cap to begin with (but the Bruins thing, obviously). It's pretty silly.

[Gothamite]

I can't stand it, either. City initial belongs on the cap or helmet, not the nickname initial.

[Ferdinand Cesarano]

Here's a couple photos of Ozzie Smith wearing the strange BP STL and a different cap STL. No idea why one image is reversed, but you can still see it.

Sorry to be dense, but what is so strange about the StL logo on the BP jersey? And how does it differ from the cap logo?

I must admit that the two StL logos don't really look that different to me. Are you saying that is it just a matter of a little extra thickness?

Anyway, these two are certainly closer to each other than the two Yankees NY logos are, aren't they?

[STL FANATIC]

Yeah, the differences in the Yankee's two different (and stupid) NY's and Tigers two different (and also stupid) D's are probably bigger. Still, the STL's are plenty different (and I'd call them stupid too if the team hadn't corrected the problem).

The one on the cap is basically (if not exactly) the current version of the STL.

http://sportslogos.net/logo.php?lo=1336

You can see that the one on the jersey is not only thicker, but also has much more exagerated serifs and angles.

[STL FANATIC]

An interesting note I just realized...pretty much all Cardinals fan caps (whether authentic, replica, or style) feature an STL logo where the cross of the T has angled sides. This is obviously different from the official STL logo. I haven't found a photo close enough that I can confirm, but I think the players caps may feature this angle too. Again, no confirmation, but I have a feeling the batting helmet may feature the straight edged T like the familar logo. Interesting.

[Gothamite]

An interesting note I just realized...pretty much all Cardinals fan caps (whether authentic, replica, or style) feature an STL logo where the cross of the T has angled sides. This is obviously different from the official STL logo. I haven't found a photo close enough that I can confirm, but I think the players caps may feature this angle too. Again, no confirmation, but I have a feeling the batting helmet may feature the straight edged T like the familar logo. Interesting.

Good catch.

This Ozzie Smith game-used helmet has the straight T.

Add that to the list with the Yanks and Tigers - teams that use more than one variation of their logo on the uniforms.

[hawk36]

I can't stand it, either. City initial belongs on the cap or helmet, not the nickname initial.

Add to that the missing initial issue for Green Bay.

[ucnu112]

Wow...that really looks goofy when you portray it that way.

[Gothamite]

Add to that the missing initial issue for Green Bay.

I agree. It's always bugged me. I prefer the interlocking "GB" that the Vince Lombardi used to wear in practice.

[BBM]

Add to that the missing initial issue for Green Bay.

I agree. It's always bugged me. I prefer the interlocking "GB" that the Vince Lombardi used to wear in practice.

If I didn't know that was a GB I wouldn't have known that was a GB.

[powersurge]

I can't stand it, either.  City initial belongs on the cap or helmet, not the nickname initial.

Add to that the missing initial issue for Green Bay.

Thats why I've always thought that Georgia's version of the Packer "G" makes more sense then the way the Packers use it.

[Gothamite]

Can't say as I really argue.

Doesn't matter, though. They still copied us.

[paynomind]

Can't say as I really argue.

Doesn't matter, though. They still copied us.

They sure did. Unoriginal bastards.

The interlocking GB has two issues in my mind: The taller letter tends to be the one I, personally, see and thereby see first, plus, the G barely has a cross bar, so it looks like a serifed C to me. So, i'd have alled that cap a BC.

But, I do agree Green Bay should use both G and B.

[Gothamite]

Well, that cap isn't the best representation of the logo (looking at raised lettering from the side). It's clearer in the original.

[Mingjai]

I can't stand it, either.  City initial belongs on the cap or helmet, not the nickname initial.

Add to that the missing initial issue for Green Bay.

I'd never really given much thought to the Green Bay "G." Just like I'd never given much thought to the BYU "Y." I always figured that's how it was, and that's how it'll stay--it wasn't until I went to BYU did I realize the reason behind the Y.

I can't think of any other schools similarly situated to BYU that use one letter. The closest I can think of is Ohio State simply using the "O" (as does the Oregon State baseball team) or all the state schools that simply use an "S" (though there's some tradition behind that).

[STL FANATIC]

Add that to the list with the Yanks and Tigers - teams that use more than one variation of their logo on the uniforms.

The interesting part is that while the Yanks and Tigers both list two NY's and D's respectively as official logos, I believe the Cardinals just list one (save color variations). I would also guess that on the Cardinals official uniform file, you'll see the straight edged T as the logo that goes on the caps.

I correctly assumed the helmet had the straight edged T, because the decal seems like such a simple printed item. It just makes sense to me that they would have the official logo art printed.

That said, I can't for the life of me figure out why they'd have different are for the cap stitching.

Again, as far as I know, they only have one official STL logo (where as the Yanks and Tigers have two official monograms), so this inaccuracy is perplexing.

[Mingjai]

Don't these sorts of things go into the public domain after a certain amount of time, like 75 years?  It's like the Mickey Mouse case from 1998.

If Mickey Mouse has to be "rescued" from the public domain, I wouldn't think that the "NY" or "STL" or any logo that has been around most of the last century would be protected.  Mickey Mouse is bigger than the New York Yankees (regardless of what Big Stein thinks).

Copyrights are only granted for a term of years (as demanded by the Constitution), though as a matter of practice, few have expired recently because Congress keep expanding the term. Copyrights are only protected at the federal level.

Trademarks, on the other hand, are protected so long as they are used as distinctive identifiers of a product's source. Trademarks have no term, though they can be lost through abandonment or "genericide." In addition, trademark rights exist at both the federal level (protected by the Lanham Act) and at the state level (protected by both common law and the state's unfair competition law).

This is just a long of saying that the Yankees' and Mets' respective "NY" and the Cardinals' "StL" are protected trademarks and will therefore never expire into the public domain.

[STL FANATIC]

I can't think of any other schools similarly situated to BYU that use one letter. The closest I can think of is Ohio State simply using the "O" (as does the Oregon State baseball team) or all the state schools that simply use an "S" (though there's some tradition behind that).

There's Miami's stupid U...

Why does BYU just use the Y, by the way?

[hawk36]

I can't stand it, either.  City initial belongs on the cap or helmet, not the nickname initial.

Add to that the missing initial issue for Green Bay.

I'd never really given much thought to the Green Bay "G." Just like I'd never given much thought to the BYU "Y." I always figured that's how it was, and that's how it'll stay--it wasn't until I went to BYU did I realize the reason behind the Y.

I can't think of any other schools similarly situated to BYU that use one letter. The closest I can think of is Ohio State simply using the "O" (as does the Oregon State baseball team) or all the state schools that simply use an "S" (though there's some tradition behind that).

To me, BYU's Y is ok since it is the last name of a person. Likewise, if Sam Houston State only had an H, in my eyes, that would be fine too.

[IceCap]

I can't stand it, either.  City initial belongs on the cap or helmet, not the nickname initial.

Add to that the missing initial issue for Green Bay.

I'd never really given much thought to the Green Bay "G." Just like I'd never given much thought to the BYU "Y." I always figured that's how it was, and that's how it'll stay--it wasn't until I went to BYU did I realize the reason behind the Y.

I can't think of any other schools similarly situated to BYU that use one letter. The closest I can think of is Ohio State simply using the "O" (as does the Oregon State baseball team) or all the state schools that simply use an "S" (though there's some tradition behind that).

I've always thought BYU should add a small "B" and "U" on either side of the Y.

As for the Packers, yeah, they need a "B" on the helmet. I actualy like the "GB" Gothamite posted.

Question for Packers fans. If the Packers ditched the G in the oval for the Lombardi "GB" would there be that much of a backlash?