Snapshot of a HS District

[ManCalledAmp]

I know there are many threads here about high school sports, branding, pride, etc...but this seemed just unique enough to warrant its own thread.

I'm interviewing next week for a job in Jacksonville/New Bern, NC, and having lived my entire life in Middle TN, it's going to be a huge change for me. Out of curiousity I decided to check out the area high schools, at least in Jacksonville, to see if there were any that I greatly liked or disliked.

I was kind of surprised by what I found. A lot of schools. A lot of different brands. A couple unique ones, a couple of "usual suspects," and at least one sucktastic logo. I decided to share what I found...especially because of the awful logo I found, and will save for last.

For whatever reason, all the templates of the school sites load awkwardly for me in Chrome, and I can't link to the logos or even view them in new windows. Therefore I'm just linking to the schools' main pages, which feature the logos prominently.

First off, the green and gold White Oak Vikings. Using the generic, often-used branding, but in different colors. Not bad.

In the same vein, the Jacksonville Cardinals. They've got a continuity problem going on...I see 3 different logos on the main page: the realistic cardinals on the school crest, the varsity J with the old AZ Cardinal, and the wtf-is-that main (?) logo on the left featuring teeth and crazy eyes. Yikes.

The Dixon Bulldogs are still generic, but with better execution. Bold colors, a decent logo...it's nothing award-winning, but it's solid, I suppose.

Next is Richlands HS, the blue and gold Wildcats. Color scheme isn't rare, but isn't used to death; logo looks very cool, but is probably too detailed. (Where have I seen that 'cat before?) Taking off points for the generic Wildcats name, however.

Probably my favorite of the bunch? The Northside Monarchs. Solid, uncommon name by comparison, with a darker blue and gold color scheme (a lot of gold in this school district...) that looks quite regal. And I love their Monarchs "lion-head" logo. At first I thought it was the green and gold college redesign done by one of our board members...but I'm beginning to think it's LMU's logo instead. Not 100% sure, however.

And thus, we come to the end. I saved the worst for last. I looked to see if there was another logo that the athletics department used. I saw a block S, but couldn't find any pictures on the site, however. So as far as I know, the site's main logo is also the schools. So with an epic shudder, I give you....the Swansboro Pirates. It speaks for itself, I think.

[Billy B]

That Pirates logo looks like the logo of a school in my conference that they had an 8 year old copy with colored pencils.