Beltway Bombers

[BallWonk]

My local suburban newspaper this morning had a story on a local kid who signed to a semipro basketball team I'd never heard of, the Beltway Bombers. The story gave the impression that the DC-area team is relatively new. The story included a logo I've never seen:

Reasonably catchy cartoon logo, though it looks like something straight from the late 1970s and like a Mark Fiore political cartoon. Looks like the league, the Eastern Basketball Alliance, has been around for 14 years or so. Mostly terrible logos, and most of the non-terrible logos are ripoffs, which makes me wonder if the Bombers logo actually is a Mark Fiore political cartoon, with basketballs drawn in.

[aci]

What a name... guess it's better than calling them the 'Snipers', though.

[Don]

Some of the names in this league are quite interesting...The Newark Patrons, Hudson Valley Hype, Cincinnati Century, just an odd league with a bunch of teams in the metro DC area then others spread out.

[Lights Out]

Most of those logos are hideous, but I love the Newark Patrons and the Delaware Destroyers logos!

I love how you can clearly see the iStockPhoto watermark on the N.J. Pros' logo. And is that this year's NBA All-Star Game logo I see hastily re-edited for the Metropolitan All-Stars?

Also, you've got to love the Hudson Valley Hype's hand-drawn logo. That's... um... unique.

[aci]

It's also funny that the Connecticut Stallions play in New York, but the New York Legion play in Connecticut. Talk about logical.

[Hoopskid]

WOW the new aba has some competition.

I swear that Elmira Bulldogs logo was designed by a member on these boards, i'll look around, but I can't remember who it was.

[chickenfish13]

Yup, I recognize it to, im not sure who it was though.

[scottysprings]

cyandlux or something like that I think

[Lee.]

Scrumtrulescent.

Also, HAY GUYS JACK KIRBY DRAWED THE ALEXANDRIA LOGO

[gueman]

Well at least they didn't call them the Washington Bullets because that would not have been politically correct. Accurate yes, PC no. Maybe as a promotion they can have an underwear night!

[Buster]

I was just thinking, they force the Bullets to change but allow the Bombers logo? That looks more potentially-offensive than the Bullets, which were not offensive AT ALL.

Please tell me the Bronx team is in the process of designing!

Also, Harrisburg (near where I live) is NOT in Florida, although the logo isn't bad.

New Jersey and Washington Rainbow Warriors are hideous also. Wow.

[koizim]

Guys, no one forced the Bullets to change their name. Their owner, the recently deceased Abe Pollin, decided to change, not the NBA. And it wasn't that anything about the name bullets was offensive either; it was because of the violence that the name entailed (which I think is silly, but that's just my two cents).

As for the various teams themselves, I find it hilarious that Alexandria, VA is home to the Beltway Bombers, rather than the Alexandria Avengers, who play in Woodbridge, VA. Also, the Delaware Destroyers play in Morristown, NJ, which is in the top half of Jersey and much closer to New York and Pennsylvania than it is to Delaware. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I think we may have discovered a rival for the ABA in terms of ridiculousness. Now all they need is 150 teams on 4 continents.

[gueman]

I was just thinking, they force the Bullets to change but allow the Bombers logo? That looks more potentially-offensive than the Bullets, which were not offensive AT ALL.

The Bullets were never forced to change by anyone. The late owner Abe Pollin made the change on his own, he said it was a reaction the assassination of Israeli PM Yizhak Rabin. I guess all the inner city youth that were getting killed in DC up until 1995 were not a big enough deal to him. It took the YR's assassination to make the difference.

[Buster]

Well, politics forced his decision-making...bad choice of words by me. As a Bullets fan, I still hate the Wizards moniker. I respected Abe as an owner and he made great decisions overall and ran a very respectable organization, but that's one I can't agree with. The incident had nothing to do with violence and especially the event.

It's also a shame that Gilbert Arenas probably just ensured the team will never get to return to its true identity.

[BallWonk]

Well, politics forced his decision-making...bad choice of words by me. As a Bullets fan, I still hate the Wizards moniker. I respected Abe as an owner and he made great decisions overall and ran a very respectable organization, but that's one I can't agree with. The incident had nothing to do with violence and especially the event.

It's also a shame that Gilbert Arenas probably just ensured the team will never get to return to its true identity.

It's just not true that "politics" forced anybody to do anything. For whatever reason, Pollin made that choice based on strongly felt personal feelings. You just have to watch or listen to any interview with Pollin from that era to see that he really felt strongly about changing the Bullets name. I agree with you about the name; it's the one big mistake I think Abe made, and I'd just as soon have them re-adopt the name Bullets. But not everything we disagree with is the result of a liberal political conspiracy to force PC down our throats.

As for Arenas, I agree that his behavior means the team will never resume the Bullets name. But the problem there isn't that Arenas brought a bunch of pistols to the locker room. No, the problem is that he brought unloaded guns to the locker room. Which is to say, no bullets. After the team's star forgets to bring any bullets to a gunfight, how can the team ever be called the Bullets?

If Bullets are off the table, and Bombers is in use, what would be a good replacement for Wizards? My choice would be either Monuments or Americans.

[gueman]

...It's also a shame that Gilbert Arenas probably just ensured the team will never get to return to its true identity.

What identity is that exactly? Pathetic losers? That is Washington Bullets/Wizards true identity. The franchise's heyday was when it was located in Baltimore. With the exception of the late '70's they have been about as good as the Washington Generals, and the Generals get paid to lose!

[Discogod]

Scrumtrulescent.

Also, HAY GUYS JACK KIRBY DRAWED THE ALEXANDRIA LOGO

Looks more like Neal Adams to me...:b

[-kj]

...It's also a shame that Gilbert Arenas probably just ensured the team will never get to return to its true identity.

What identity is that exactly? Pathetic losers? That is Washington Bullets/Wizards true identity. The franchise's heyday was when it was located in Baltimore. With the exception of the late '70's they have been about as good as the Washington Generals, and the Generals get paid to lose!

This man makes a point. And besides the "it's old so it must be good" sentiment, Bullets is a stupid name.

[Buster]

...It's also a shame that Gilbert Arenas probably just ensured the team will never get to return to its true identity.

What identity is that exactly? Pathetic losers? That is Washington Bullets/Wizards true identity. The franchise's heyday was when it was located in Baltimore. With the exception of the late '70's they have been about as good as the Washington Generals, and the Generals get paid to lose!

So you actually LIKE the name Wizards? It would be more fitting as a soccer team's name, but is far too weak of a name for an NBA team. The Bullets name itself is a far better name, regardless of the history attached to it. As a Bullets fan, and speaking with other fans, most of us HATE the new Wizards identity, colors...everything.

[BallWonk]

So you actually LIKE the name Wizards? It would be more fitting as a soccer team's name, but is far too weak of a name for an NBA team. The Bullets name itself is a far better name, regardless of the history attached to it. As a Bullets fan, and speaking with other fans, most of us HATE the new Wizards identity, colors...everything.

Nah, the colors are just fine. Blue, metallic, and black are perfect colors for Washington. Much more locally appropriate than red, white, and blue. Blue and gold are the dominant colors of the federal government, and black is a nice complement to that scheme. Plus they'd be even better colors for a team named the Bullets.

As for being "too weak" for NBA, um, no. Clippers. Jazz. Lakers. Heat. Magic. 76ers. Nuggets. Pacers. Nets. Knicks. Not only is Wizards not the weakest name in the NBA, it's not even in the bottom third. The problem is that it has no particular connection to DC. Then again, neither did the Bullets name. So give it time; in ten more years nobody but the boring old geezers in the corner are going to have any idea what the appeal of "Bullets" ever was. And if in the meantime the Bullets ever manage to make the NBA finals, even us boring old geezers are going to have a hard time remembering what we ever liked about the Bullets, too. Then again, this is Washington, where only the soccer team (and maybe, fingers crossed, the hockey team) ever make the playoffs, so our Bullets nostalgia will probably be undisturbed for a long time to come.