First look at SB Field

[SFCOM1]

This morning as I was getting up the local CBS Affiliate in Phoenix had some real quick pics of the SB XLI field as it was being prepped.

From what I could see the field had the NFL "Shield" at the 50, SB XLI logos on the 25's, no indication of the small NFL "Shields" as in the regular season. The Colts end zone looked like it was going to be the same or similar design as last years teams (no idea on the "racing stripes" as it only had the horseshoe logo and the "A" conference painted. no wordmark or color...yet) Nothing on the Bears endzone as the field was just being finished. Orientation for the end zones was not very distinguishable.

I am sure as the game gets nearer more of the field will be seen (Media day in particular).

[Burning River]

The only thing that may potentially bug me regarding the COLTS end-zone is that their word-mark is SO condensed. There is really nothing you can do. They won't make it taller. They seem to stay within a certain height. Plus, It wouldn't look right double spaced.

Ddin't they modify the CHARGERS word-mark in Super Bowl XXIX ?? It swear it looked a bit spaced out.

[jasoul07]

I think the worst endzone design for a Super Bowl was the Tennessee Titans in XXXIV. Their wordmark was really condensed and the Light Blue endzone was horrible. That sucks because I believe that the uni matchup in that game was one of the best if not the best in Super Bowl history. Titans navy home unis v. Rams old skool road whites.

But back to the subject matter. I don't think you can do much with the Colts wordmark because i agree it would look funny being double spaced out.

[psilcosyn]

But back to the subject matter. I don't think you can do much with the Colts wordmark because i agree it would look funny being double spaced out.

I agree. The Rams logo from Superbowl XIV was spaced out to fill a larger area of the endzone and it looked terrible.

Plus I think the NFL has grown much stricter on how team identity is presented.

--

A slightly related fact: I was watching and old dvd of Superbowl XVII the other day and there was an interview with George Toma (the Nitty Gritty Dirt Man) in the pre-game show. George said that due to the lack of a bye-week due to the strike, they had to make up the Jets end zone stencil just in case they made it to the big game. They already had endzones for the Redskins, Cowboys and Dolphins.

Still waiting to see that Jets end zone...

Just a quick question.

Was there a specific year when the NFL made all of the teams have clearly defined wordmarks and logos?

I get the impression from looking at the superbowl endzones that this was sometime around 1973. The Endzones for Superbowl VIII were The first ones where the logos looked fairly accurate to the logos that we know today (given the Dolphins and Viking wordmarks have changed a bit since then) prior to that the Dolphins end zone was Just 'DOLPHINS' written in a monolinial sans serif.

[broncoempire]

This is a link I found containing some aerial shots of the stadium from earlier today. It looks to me that the field is going to have a similar structure to the field last year. The Bears end zone is to the left of the 50 when viewed on television, the Colts are to the right. Based on the color of the wordmark in the Bears endzone, they are going to paint the endzone blue. The Colts logo and wordmark are in white, meaning their endzone will be blue. I hope they use this opportunity to paint around the numbers like they used to. They have not done that since SB XXXIII, also in Miami. Sorry, no helmets again. This is my first post, I hope everything comes out all right.

http://www.nbc6.net/slideshow/sports/10843...;p=sports;w=400

[rainmaker17]

nice find. Thanks.

[SteveR]

I think that's the best possible outcome there. BEARS needs to be orange-on-blue and COLTS needs to be white-on-blue -- no option there since the out-of-bounds is white.

I like having nice as-big-as-possible logos. Some of the detail (like in the Steelers and, yeah, the Redskins, gets lost when it's confined to the helmet).

[Alphabet Man]

It looks okay to me so far. Hopefully the ground looks in better condition come Feb 4/5.

[Fyrwulf]

God, it kills me to see Dolphin Stadium desecrated like that.

[TheOldRoman]

The endzones will be decent, despite the lack of helmets. Hopefully they will bring them back one of these years.

As for the rest of the field, it sucks. I believe they should have the Superbowl XLI logo at midfield. They could always have the shield at the bottom of the XLI logo, overlapping it. If the shield was so important, they could have incorporated it into the design of the superbowl logo. Furthermore, who gives a about the shield? If the shield is so important, why was it reduced on the jerseys so they could let you know it is EQUIPMENT?

Most importantly, the helmets should be somewhere on the field. If not in the endzones, they should be at the 25, bumping the XLI logo to midfield.

[Puckguy14]

I'm stll guessing this is what its likely going to look like.

[panameno42]

i think the bears endzone should be orange. just to make the field more unique instead of using the common navy blue.

for example the next super the patriots play in i think their endzone should be in red instead of navy blue. i would've said grey but i think it will interfare with the game in terms of white and grey being close colors.

[Chazberg]

It looks okay to me so far. Hopefully the ground looks in better condition come Feb 4/5.

Dude seriously, enough with the yellow and green. I don't care where you're from. Just stop.

[BBTV]

Seriously, I don't type in red white and blue on Independence day. Canadians don't type in red and white on Canada day. Grow up.

As for the field, the XLI logo should def. be at mid-field, with either the shield, or little helmets on the 25. I'm not a big fan of the racing stripe behind the conference logos, but it's not terrible.

[Burning River]

From the link above, Images 6 & 9 seems to show the COLTS' Horseshoe painted white. It looks rather thick to be just the outline.

Puckguy's concept looks right, needing tweaks. Although the "racing Stripes" with the the "A" and "N" was thought to be a Detroit specific "touch". It looks like they are centering the "horseshoe" between the "C" in COLTS and the out of bounds. It seems to fill out the endzone a bit better. It also appears that they centered the BEARS "C" logo between the "B" in BEARS and the side line.

[TruColor]

I'm stll guessing this is what its likely going to look like.

Except for - as I pointed out earlier - the horseshoe will be White, not Blue.

NFL Properties clearly states that the horseshoe MUST be White when on a Blue background.

[SFCOM1]

From the link above, Images 6 & 9 seems to show the COLTS' Horseshoe painted white. It looks rather thick to be just the outline.

Puckguy's concept looks right, needing tweaks. Although the "racing Stripes" with the the "A" and "N" was thought to be a Detroit specific "touch". It looks like they are centering the "horseshoe" between the "C" in COLTS and the out of bounds. It seems to fill out the endzone a bit better. It also appears that they centered the BEARS "C" logo between the "B" in BEARS and the side line.

I agree, but from shots I found on the CBS Affiliate in Miami (cbs4.com), the colts logo for the team area is on the top (north) bench with the Bears on the bottom (south) bench. The horseshoe in the endzone was painted white but that might be the Background color.

Reading above post I stand corrected on the endzone horseshoe

[Puckguy14]

Correctamundo PANTONE! I'll make the changes. I agree the racing stripes are Detroit specific, however, that same stripe pattern is noticable from the league's Kickoff, Thanksgiving, and Playoff logos from this season as well. Also it looks like Mr. Sod God and his crew have put some spacing between the lettering in Colts.

Keep the pics coming Super Sigs & Wallpapers will be up soon.

[psilcosyn]

Just found this Dolphins Stadium Cam.

http://www.instacam.com/showcam.asp?id=PROPL

That ugly blue shape around the conference logo seems to follow the curvature of the bottom of the Super Bowl Logo.

Whatever it is it doesn't look good.

[averyj]

You'd think they'd put down the blue base color first. But I guess it's so they don't waste extra paint. Instead of painting the whole endzone, they'd just paint around the wordmarks.