Rays seem ready to dump Devil

[HowBoutThemFins]

lame

[rams80]

Well...I'm still terribly underwhelmed.

[Artmanc3po]

Sensational, spectacular mediocrity. That, plus the lack of "cyber yellow" on the cap, serving another dollop of "Oh, yeah, we forgot to think this thing through over the past two years."

[logodawg]

Looks like someone just discovered the Clip Art feature in Microsoft Publisher.

[Survival79]

Tampa Bay ends deal with the Devil

Rays unveil new team colors, uniforms at celebration

Posted: Thursday November 8, 2007 9:16PM; Updated: Thursday November 8, 2007 9:24PM

Sternberg said the team began with more than 1,000 suggestions for a new name and whittled the list down to about 80.

Rays was the owner's first choice, however the organization considered others like Cannons, Stars, Wave and Dukes before settling on Rays and developing a logo featuring a bright yellow sunburst.

"We strayed a little bit. But after looking at everything, it was pretty clear that this was the one," Sternberg said.

[STL FANATIC]

Turns out, I actually like them.

Weird.

[Mac the Knife]

Rays was the owner's first choice, however the organization considered others like Cannons, Stars, Wave and Dukes before settling on Rays and developing a logo featuring a bright yellow sunburst.

What's sad is that any one of those names would've been preferable to 'Rays.' Any of 'em.

[BigShoop]

As a Rays fan, I'm disgusted. I was in attendance this evening at the unveiling, and although it was a GREAT turnout (announced 7,000 strong) and a well organized event, I just cant bring myself to like what they've given us.

After ALLLLLLLLLL the hype and hoopla about a "brand new identity" and "breaking away from the past", we still have a fish as the sleeve patch............which is my BIGGEST problem.

none of it makes sense.

so what are we? are we rays of sunshine or rays that swim?

at the unveiling, they spent 15 minutes telling us about the "glint", as they call it, and how it signified the rays of sunshine and the "energy" that it represents.........and then they come out and the fish is on the sleeve.

WTF?!

I could live with the yellow "sunshine thing"(im not calling it a glint. thats just stupid). But why is that the ONLY hint of yellow on the entire set?! Seems kind of out of place, doesnt it?

I'll have to find a pic, but the only thing I liked at the whole unveiling was the jacket that Zimmer was wearing. It had yellow piping/trim, and looked pretty sharp.

Oh yeah, one more thing........in person, our colors are white and purple. On paper they're blue, but I had to call my brother who was watching on tv at home, because I saw purple.

3 times the Rays have had a chance now to give us a color/uniform set that are worth a damn, and 3 times they have failed miserably. Dont think so? The most telling thing of the whole evening for me was after the HUGE build up, all the hoopla and fanfare, the jerseys were unveiled...............and the crowd took a big crap on them. Easily 50% of the crowd moaned/groaned. Easily.

[BigShoop]

double post. sorry. delete me.

[CubsFanBudMan]

I still think these look fine. Underwhelming? Yes. The "glint"? Pointless. Is blue better than the green? No. But overall not a terrible look.

And I don't mind the Devil Ray making an appearance on the sleeve. It's not like they really overhauled their identity. Had they switched to Cannons or Dukes or some of those other names in the article and still had a fish on the sleeve, sure. I mean, the same name is on the front of the jerseys as the last edition.

But what's with the authentics at $219?! Talk about price gouging.

[rmackman]

I can't help but think they were going for some kind of soccer look? I don't know. The "R" reminds me of Real Salt Lake:

The sunburst reminds me of the stars that soccer teams use to signify championships. Overall it's very college/soccer looking. I don't know. That's just what I think. All I can say is the Rays went from just whatever looking to...well...whatever. Oh and on a side note...like we needed another navy blue team? Would've been nice if they'd stayed green.

[BallWonk]

^^^

Awesome -- thanks for the from-the-scene reporting!

so what are we? are we rays of sunshine or rays that swim?

Both. Either. That seems to be the point. Not sure why this bothers so many people. Why should they have to choose only one? And since we've spent the last two years hearing people complain that they can't be the sun rays since they play indoors, and they have a tank of fish rays in the outfield, it's a bit unfair to knock the team for not killing the fish entirely. Besides, it could be worse. Your team isn't wearing an obsolete, unmatching logo-that-won't-die on its regular home cap like both of my favorite teams do.

I could live with the yellow "sunshine thing"(im not calling it a glint. thats just stupid). But why is that the ONLY hint of yellow on the entire set?! Seems kind of out of place, doesnt it?

Excellent question. Why is there no "glint" on, say, the inside of the top loop of the B on the cap? Or a yellow button on top of the cap? Either seems obvious, and some inclusion of the yellow seems absolutely necessary.

Oh yeah, one more thing........in person, our colors are white and purple. On paper they're blue, but I had to call my brother who was watching on tv at home, because I saw purple.

That's the rich navy of the Cleveland Indians and a few other teams. Admittedly, if you're used to assuming that the Yankees' shade of almost-black is what navy blue is supposed to look like, then seeing actual navy blue like the Indians wear can make a person think "purple," especially under fluorescent light or on a CRT. Been there, done that. In the recent thread on purple as a color, someone pointed out that as a kid watching the Indians on TV, he thought their colors were purple and red, and I nodded silently because I experienced the same thing once. But the shade of cap we're talking about is actually very close to the color of blue fabric that's supposed to be in the American flag, and it doesn't look anything like purple if there's any actual purple in the room to compare it with. Trick of the lighting, not bad uniform design. (Which still leaves plenty of actual poor uniform design to complain about here!)

Also, your otherwise excellent from-the-scene report failed to deliver the most important information from the event: What does Kevin Costner, musician, sound like?

[M59]

Two tweaks, and the Devil Rays first uniforms would have been damned nice looking. This is their second sartorial giant step backwards. Look for new new "Rays" uniforms in 2011.

Well, at least Jesus is happy with the name change...

[DDR]

The EXACT same wordmark on three jerseys, awkwardly spaced on all but the BP, an awkward identity clash with the new Jesusburst and the Stingray on the same jersey, a custom designed snoozefest cap logo, no sign that anybody actually thought about these at all...just bad.

[Milo Meningocele]

I'm getting a definite Mariners vibe on both jerseys. It's got the piping, the font is vaguely similar, and the "glint" reminds me too much of the compass. Anyone else see it?

[Gothamite]

So are they Rays of light or Rays the aquatic animal?

Both. No, wait - neither.

They're trying to have it both ways, which is why this still gets a failing grade from me. Murky concept nets bad design.

[Gothamite]

3 times the Rays have had a chance now to give us a color/uniform set that are worth a damn, and 3 times they have failed miserably. Dont think so? The most telling thing of the whole evening for me was after the HUGE build up, all the hoopla and fanfare, the jerseys were unveiled...............and the crowd took a big crap on them. Easily 50% of the crowd moaned/groaned. Easily.

Come on, YouTube - don't let us down!

[Survival79]

Wait, it gets better.

Rays show off new blue duds

Exorcising 'Devil,' franchise continues its major makeover

By ROGER MOONEY

Posted on Friday, November 09, 2007

Sternberg said he started with "Ray" as the team's new name but considered more than 1,000 other names, like Cannons, Dukes, Wave and Stars.

"My first choice was Tampa Bay Baseball, and you can't do that," Sternberg said. "We wanted something that said baseball and we had some others that we sort of liked, but to clear them we just couldn't do it. . . . This was a name we started with, and it was just pure coincidence that we were able to change it and bring it over to the sunshine portion of it and the glow and the whole aspect of it. We strayed a little bit, but after looking at everything it was pretty clear that this was the one."

[TruColor]

I could live with the yellow "sunshine thing"(im not calling it a glint. thats just stupid). But why is that the ONLY hint of yellow on the entire set?! Seems kind of out of place, doesnt it?

For what it's worth, there IS Yellow in the Devil Ray on the sleeve.

Doesn't make your point any less valid however.

[DDR]

New blue "duds" indeed.