Mississippi State Unveils Basketball Court Design

[Jaybird]

Mississippi State University has announced the basketball court design that will be used at Humphrey Coliseum (AKA The Hump)in Starkville, MS.

This is a picture of it:

These were the three choices for the court design that were voted on by people who visited the MSU website:

Choice#1:

Choice#2 (the one that won):

Choice#3 (the one I chose and should have won):

What I would have done is this:

On the sidelines: The words "BULLDOGS" in block letters

On the endlines: either "HUMPHREY COLISEUM" or "WELCOME TO THE HUMP"

The lanes should have painted maroon with the SEC logo either in white or gray (grey)

White Women's three point line

Maroon Men's three point line

My choice for the center court logo should have been the one where it was a maroon circle with "Mississippi State" on it and the bulldog's head inside of it. Here is a pic of it along with several other logos:

Let me know what do you think.

[WJMorris3]

Wait, they have a logo with a cowbell?

What, do they have a fever or something? Because a cowbell is a good prescription for that.

[Arts11]

Don't like it. The elements in the wordmark just dont seem to match together. I would've liked the M-state logo.

[CDixonDesign]

I agree #3 may have been the best choice, but the one that was chosen could be worse.....

+1 for the cowbell!

[Jaybird]

On the history of the cowbell as a symbol of Mississippi State University, here is an article from collegefootball.com :

The Cowbell

The most unique and certainly the most resounding symbol of Mississippi State University tradition is the cowbell. Despite decades of attempts by opponents and authorities to banish it from scenes of competition, diehard State fans still celebrate Bulldog victories loudly and proudly with the distinctive sound of ringing cowbells.

The precise origin of the cowbell as a fixture of Mississippi State sports tradition remains unclear to this day. The best records have cowbells gradually introduced to the MSU sports scene in the late 1930s and early 1940s, coinciding with the 'golden age' of Mississippi State football success

prior to World War II.

The most popular legend is that during a home football game between State and arch-rival Mississippi, a jersey cow wandered onto the playing field. Mississippi State soundly whipped the Rebels that Saturday, and State College students immediately adopted the cow as a good luck charm. Students are said to have continued bringing a cow to football games for a while, until the practice was eventually discontinued in favor of bringing just the cow's bell.

Whatever the origin, it is certain that by the 1950s cowbells were common at Mississippi State games, and by the 1960s were established as the special symbol of Mississippi State. Ironically, the cowbell's popularity grew most rapidly during the long years when State football teams were rarely successful. Flaunting this anachronism from the 'aggie' days was a proud response by students and alumni to outsider scorn of the university's 'cow college' history.

In the 1960s two MSU professors, Earl W. Terrell and Ralph L. Reeves obliged some students by welding handles on the bells to they could be rung with much more convenience and authority. By 1963 the demand for these long-handled cowbells could not be filled by home workshops alone, so at the suggestion of Reeves the Student Association bought bells in bulk and the Industrial Education Club agreed to weld on handles. In 1964 the MSU Bookstore began marketing these cowbells with a portion of the profits returning to these student organizations.

Today many styles of cowbells are available on campus and around Starkville, with the top-of-the-line a heavy chrome-plated model with a full Bulldog figurine handle. But experts insist the best and loudest results are produced by a classic long-handled, bicycle-grip bell made of thinner and tightly-welded shells.

Cowbells decorate offices and homes of Mississippi State alumni, and are passed down through generations of Bulldog fans. But they are not heard at Southeastern Conference gamesnot legally, at leastsince the 1974 adoption of a conference rule against 'artificial noisemakers' at football and basketball games. On a 9-1 vote SEC schools ruled cowbells a disruption and banned them.

This has done little harm to the cowbell's popularity, however, or to prevent cowbells from being heard outside stadiums in which the Bulldogs are playing. They can still be heard at non-conference football contests, as well as other sporting events on campus. And bold Bulldog fans still risk confiscation for the privilege of keeping a unique Mississippi State tradition alive and ringing at SEC affairs.

IMHO, aren't band instruments "artificial noise makers"? Isn't the cowbell sometimes used as a musical instrument?

A rule was passed in the SEC, where by an 11-0 vote (Then MSU president Charles Lee abstained from voting), all artificial noisemakers would be banned at all events, not just football.

The rules concerning cowbells for football games are as follows:

1st warning-the referee will call a referee's timeout and issue a verbal warning though the PA system.

2nd warning-home team will be penalized five yards

3rd and subsequent warnings-home team penalized fifteen yards.

The rules also effect the South Carolina Gamecocks, who would play the sound of a crowing rooster nearly all the time during their sporting events. In football, the rooster crow can only be used when the Gamecocks enter the field, after a touchdown, field goal, extra point, or safety, at halftime, and the end of the game.

Other changes to the SEC policies include re-positioning cheerleaders in relation to the sidelines and limiting the number of songs a band can play after the game.

Christopher Walken wants "More Cowbell", the SEC and NCAA says "Less Cowbell". We all know what happens when Christopher Walken doesn't get his way.

[Wasatch]

I wish they would have chosen #3 too, but I can also see why they went with #1. Their primary Bulldog logo doesn?t exactly scream out ?Mississippi State? when you see it on TV.

[Jigga]

I knew they were going to pick that one. It was the worst of the three. They should have picked the Bulldog.

Will, that was actually funny.

[oddball]

#3 is completely horrible!

[statebully]

they held the pole on the website for a while, but i have a feeling they already knew which court they wanted. the AD says the wordmark makes our full name more noticeable than the other two designs.

Not too sure about 'The Hump' on the baselines. I would have left the old logo in the somewhere!

[lbr218]

Quick tidbit:

did you know that the address of Mississippi State University is technically not in Starkville, MS, it's a PO box in Mississippi State, MS. Seriously. That's the zip code.

I thought it was interesting...

PS- Design #1 is my favorite, and I hate how it says "The Hump" on the baselines.

[BrandMooreArt]

i like it. im not a hoops guy so this may be a dumb question, but why are the 2 smaller logos staggered to the side and not centered? like on the half court line