NARBA

[RevNet]

I'll be presenting not only a new sport, but also a new league. But first, a back story:

When I was in high school, I made up a sport called roller bowling, which is exactly what it sounds like: bowling on roller skates. For this sport, I made team identities and uniforms for over 100 teams located all over the globe. I had teams such as the Mexico City Phoenixes, the Prague Coyotes, the Tokyo Wind, a Sydney (Australia) team that eventually became the Sydney Zephyrs, and even the Jerusalem Blue Jays. Sometime 2-3 years ago, I got rid of the folder that had all my teams because I was so busy with college.

But now that I'm out of college, and my two Aussie Rules football threads have gotten good reception, I'm bringing this imaginary sport back. I decided that instead of the lofty global league (I called it the World Rollerbowl Association, or WRA for short) I had when I was in high school, I would pare it down to 36 teams (30 in America and 6 in Canada) in six leagues, and that I would call it the North American Roller Bowling Association, or NARBA for short. Here is the association's logo:

Here is the logo that would go on all NARBA equipment, including uniforms, caps, and helmets.

Here is a map of where all 36 teams are located:

Finally, here are the team names and league breakdowns:

Corridor League

Baltimore Mariners

Boston Rebels

New Jersey Gunmen

New York Power

Pennsylvania Hawks

Washington Quake

Southeastern League

Atlanta Argonauts

Carolina Mavericks

Florida Piranhas

Memphis Pharaohs

Nashville Night Owls

New Orleans Cajuns

Midwestern League

Chicago Cavaliers

Detroit Kings

Minnesota Bruins

Ohio Barons

St. Louis Lions

Wisconsin Robins

Big Western League

Arizona Stealth

Colorado Wolfpack

Dallas Titans

Houston Inferno

Portland Axemen

Seattle Jets

Golden State League

Anaheim Express

Los Angeles Stars

Oakland Outsiders

Sacramento Senators

San Diego Vipers

San Francisco Wizards

Great White North League

Calgary Southerners

Edmonton Freeze

Montréal Mountaineers

Toronto Warthogs

Vancouver Vanguards

Winnipeg Arrowheads

Now here is where you come in. In the first poll, you can select which of these six leagues you want to see first. The order in which these leagues are presented will be dependent upon the results of the poll after 48 hours from the time of this posting. The league with the most votes will be posted first, and then the league with the most after that will be posted, and so on. You can still vote after the first 48 hours. In fact, I encourage you to. I've also put in another poll question concerning the teams outside US and Canada, and I have more than the ones I mentioned in my back story.

[zpqmaowl]

Wow, this seems like an interesting idea.

[RevNet]

^Thank you, zpqmaowl.

Now, a little information when seeing these uniforms: When you see that the sleeves of the shirt are a different color than the body of the shirt, it's a Ragland-style shirt, like in baseball. Other than that, it's a regular shirt.

NARBA is the 4th incarnation of the sport or roller bowling, and in each team bio:

"Original Team" means that the team was born in the first era of roller bowling.

A "relatively old team" means that the team was created in the first WRA era.

A "relatively new team" means that the team was created in the second WRA era,

the last era before I deleted all of my old files.

And of course you'll know what "a brand new team" means.

Now on to the polls. As of 12:38 pm, there's a tie between the BWL & the GWNL, each with 3 votes, so I'll post those today, and unless something happens, I'll post the other leagues tomorrow and Monday.

With 10 Ayes to 3 Nays, I guess I'll post some international team identities in another upcoming thread. Thank you for your support.

And now on to the leagues.

Great White North League

Here are the teams:

Calgary Southerners

This team is a brand new team, but the name was taken from the Toronto team called the Southerners, which was an original team. The Southerners name, in Calgary's case, comes from the fact that Calgary is politically considered a conservative city.

Edmonton Freeze

This team is a relatively new team, has always been named the Edmonton Freeze, and has always had the colors of dark blue, Arctic blue (originally light blue), and white. The Freeze name comes from Edmonton being the northernmost city to have a team.

Montréal Mountaineers (Alpinistes)

This team is an original team, has always been the Montréal Mountaineers, and has always had the colors of purple (violet here), white, and black. It even has had the same logo throughout the team's history (although with minor changes). The Mountaineers name comes from Mount Royal, a city landmark and where Montréal got its name from.

Toronto Warthogs

This team is an original team, but with a brand new name. Originally, it was called the Toronto Southerners, because at the time, the team was in the southernmost location in Canada. The original team had the colors of hunter green, white and black, but now green has been replaced with rust, a muted red color. The Warthogs name comes from Toronto's nickname of "Hogtown".

Vancouver Vanguards

This team is an original team, but it has had two name changes. It was first named the British Columbia Britons, but then in the first WRA era, it was called the Vancouver Vandals (I know it's real stupid, but at the time, it sounded so good). But for this league, I wanted to get away from the association with the recent violence that Vancouver has had, so I brought back the British association, a reference to George Vancouver (for whom the city is named), but kept the "V" logo that the team had become known for with the Vanguards name. Throughout the team's history, it always has had the same colors of gold, blue, red and white.

Winnipeg Arrowheads

This team is a relatively old team, and can trace its history to the original Central Canada Chargers, which included the provinces of Manitoba and Saskatchewan. The Chargers had the colors or maroon, gold, and white, whereas the Arrowheads have the colors of green, blue, and white. The Arrowheads name is a tribute to the Métis people. (BTW, that is supposed to be Pantone Dark Blue C)

[RevNet]

Big Western League

Here are the teams:

Arizona Stealth

This team is a relatively old team, has always been the Arizona Stealth, but has dropped the red and yellow colors for NARBA. Besides that, the team has had the same colors of (pine) green, black, and white. The Stealth name comes from the Spirit of Arizona, a B-2 Spirit stealth bomber.

Colorado Wolfpack

This team is an original team, has always been the Colorado Wolfpack, and has always had the colors of blue, gray, red, and gold. The Wolfpack name comes from the abundant wolf population in the state.

Dallas Titans

This team is an original team, but has had one name change. For the longest time, the team was known as the Dallas Patriots, and had the colors of red, blue, and white. For NARBA, the only thing they kept is the blue color, and even that is a different shade from their Patriot days. The Titans name has no origin as a result of this makeover.

Houston Inferno

This team is a relatively old team, but has had one name change. It was originally known as a name I can't remember right now. They have always had the colors of red, black, and yellow, but the orange was added for NARBA. The Inferno name comes from Houston's role in NASA.

Portland Axemen

This team is a relatively old team, but has had two name changes. It was originally known as the Portland Axes, and then in the second WRA era, they were known as the Oregon Axemen. Throughout the name changes, they have always had the colors of teal and silver. The Axemen name comes from the lumberjacks that contribute to Oregon's economy.

Seattle Jets

This team is a brand new team. The Jets name comes from Boeing, founded in Seattle in 1916.

[walkerws]

So what's roller bowling? Is it modified roller derby?

The base ideas for the logos are good. Keep at it & they'll come along.

[RevNet]

So what's roller bowling? Is it modified roller derby?

The base ideas for the logos are good. Keep at it & they'll come along.

Sort of, sort of not. It's like regular bowling, but on roller skates and longer lanes.

Corridor League

(formerly the Northeastern League)

Here are the teams:

Baltimore Mariners

This team is a relatively old team, has always been the Baltimore Mariners, and has always had their colors of teal and sky blue. The Mariners name comes from the Baltimore harbor on Chesapeake Bay. (Updated 01.03.12: Cleaned up the anchor logos.)

Boston Rebels

This team is a relatively old team, has always been the Boston Rebels, and has always had the colors of blue and orange. The Rebels name comes from the fact that three of the original "rebels" of the American Revolution, John Hancock, Samuel Adams, and Paul Revere were all born in the Boston area.

New Jersey Gunmen

This team is a relatively old team, has always been the New Jersey Gunmen, and has always had the colors of black, green (which is a double reference to both the military and that NJ is "The Garden State"), and white. Before you ask, no, this team is not homage to the Mafia, nor is it homage to gang violence. It's better to think of the name as more of a general homage to the military. Newark is near Fort Lee, where George Washington and the Continental Army camped in 1776.

New York Power

This team is a relatively old team, changed their name from something I can't remember right now, and originally just had the colors of red and gray. The Power name comes from Thomas Edison, who started the Edison Electric Light Company in Manhattan in 1878. The company is now known as General Electric, or GE.

Pennsylvania Hawks

This team is an original team, but it has had two name changes. It was first named the Philadelphia Golden Hawks, and then by the second WRA era, the team had dropped "Golden" and became the Philadelphia Hawks. Then, to show that it was an all-state team, it moved west from Philadelphia to the capital of Harrisburg and is now the current team you see. When it was the Golden Hawks, the gold color was more of an olive gold, and there was more white than black in their uniforms.

Washington Quake

This team is an original team, has always been called the Quake (although it was originally called the DC Quake), and has always had the colors of purple and gold. The Quake name comes from the tumultuous action of American politics that has occurred since the city's founding in 1790.

[RevNet]

Southeastern League

Here are the teams:

Atlanta Argonauts

This team is an original team, but has had one name change. It was originally known as the Atlanta Knights. For NARBA, however, I changed it to Argonauts. For the colors, through the first WRA era as the Knights, the team had just navy and gold, but a second darker gold color was added in the second WRA era. For NARBA, as Georgia is "The Peach State", peach replaced the dark gold as a color. The Argonauts name comes from the Argonauts being "the knights of the sea", reflecting back to their Knights name.

Carolina Mavericks

This team is an original team, and has always been the Carolina Mavericks. It also has had the same basic spade font throughout its history. For NARBA, however, Carolina blue replaced the original teal color. The Mavericks name comes from the fact that this name represents the two Carolina states.

Florida Piranhas

This team is an original team, but has had two name changes. First, the team was known as the Florida Wildcats and had the colors of maroon and white. By the first WRA era, they were known as the Miami Piranhas, and had the colors of teal, gold, and white. For NARBA, the gold was dumped in favor of a teal, navy blue, and white color scheme. The Piranhas name has no immediate origin.

Memphis Pharaohs

This team is an original team, has always been the Memphis Pharaohs, and has always had the colors of purple, black, red, and gold. The Pharaohs name comes from the city being named after the legendary Egyptian city.

Nashville Night Owls

This team is a relatively new team, has always been the Nashville Night Owls, and has always had the colors of neon green (called GITD green here), black, and white. The Night Owls name comes from the reputation of Nashville's nightlife.

New Orleans Cajuns

This team is a relatively old team, but has had one name change. It was originally known as the New Orleans Gators, and had the colors of black and green. In the second era of WRA, the name was changed to Cajuns, and the colors to maroon, red, and white. The Cajuns name comes from the Cajun people of Louisiana.

[RevNet]

Midwestern League

Here are the teams:

Chicago Cavaliers

This team is an original team, has always been the Chicago Cavaliers, and has always had the colors of black, red, gold, and white. It also has had the same basic shield logo throughout its history. The Cavaliers name has no immediate origin.

Detroit Kings

This team is an original team, but for a brief time were known as the Detroit Ride before changing back to their first name of the Detroit Kings. The colors have always remained the same colors of purple, silver, and black. The Kings name comes from the Big Three automakers of Ford, GM, and Chrysler, the "kings" of Detroit.

Minnesota Bruins

This team is a relatively old team, has always been the Minnesota Bruins, and has always had the colors and sky blue (flag blue here) and gold. The Bruins name comes from the abundant bear population in the state.

Ohio Barons

This team is a merger of three Ohio teams, the Cincinnati Sunbursts (purple and orange), the Toledo Outlaws (black, red, and white), and a Columbus team (blue and red), all relatively new teams. The team has always had the colors of black, red, and white. The Barons name comes from the fact that most of Ohio's foreign ancestry is German. The four stripes on each shirt represent the 4 Ohio cities of Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, and Toledo.

St. Louis Lions

This team is an original team, has always been the St. Louis Lions, and has always had the colors of green, orange, and white. The Lions name has no immediate origin.

Wisconsin Robins

This team is a brand new team. The Robins name comes from the robin being the state bird of Wisconsin.

[RedSox44]

This is fantastic. An incredibly unique concept, but you've managed to hit it out of the park. Great job.

[walkerws]

The concept like Redsox Fan said is great. The logos need some work. The base for the teams is solid. They just need some polish and some need to be relooked. Great start point.

[RevNet]

Thank you both for your feedback. Last league coming up...

Golden State League

Here are the teams:

One thing to consider is that this league had originally started out as one team (the California Stars), and the split of this team into six happened over the course of the two WRA eras.

Anaheim Express

This team is a relatively old team, has always been the Anaheim Express, and has always had the colors of red, blue, and white. The team was originally the Central African Republic Express, but when the African League ceased operations in the first WRA era, Anaheim took the name and the original team colors or blue and red and, for NARBA, switched team around. The Express name has no origin.

Los Angeles Stars

This team is a relatively old team, but has had one name change. It was originally the Los Angeles Vikings, but since there is no clear association of LA with Viking or Scandinavian people, the team changed the name to Stars to reflect the original team of the California Stars, which had the colors of blue and white, whereas this Vikings/Stars team has always had the colors of yellow and gray. The Stars name comes from the stars of Hollywood.

Oakland Outsiders

This team is a relatively old team, has always been the Oakland Outsiders, and has always had the colors of black, maroon, and white. The Outsiders name comes from the fact that Oakland is not San Francisco and the team wants to make that clear.

Sacramento Senators

This team is a relatively old team, but has had one name change. It was originally known as the Sacramento Capitals, but when I found out that it was the same name as their tennis team, I changed it to Senators. The team originally had blue and gold as their colors, but red has now taken gold's place. This presented a problem because another team, the Anaheim Express, also has blue and red as their team colors. What I decided to do for their uniforms was to make Sacramento the blue California team, and Anaheim the red California team. The Senators name (as well as the Capitals name) comes from Sacramento being the capital of California.

San Diego Vipers

This team is a relatively old team, has always been the San Diego Vipers, and has always had the colors of green, red, and white. The Vipers name has no immediate origin.

San Francisco Wizards

This team is a relatively old team, has always been the San Francisco Wizards. For NARBA, however, the team's colors of light purple and red were transformed into their gemstone equivalents of amethyst and ruby. The Wizards name has no immediate origin.

[RevNet]

Now that everyone has had a good look at all 36 identities, which ones are your favorites? Mine are the Wizards and the Mountaineers.

[sparkychewbarky]

I'm liking the Stealth.

This is really impressive. You've laid a great foundation for a very interesting and unique concept.

Your leagues and team concepts/names are very well thought out.

I'd like to see you expand and improve on the logos.

Some, like the Mariners and Robins are too stick-figurish; the line work needs to be thickened.

I would call this a very impressive "first draft".

Nice work.

[RevNet]

You requested them, and now, here are 5 international roller bowling teams. These teams have always had the same colors and nicknames, except where noted.:

Bucharest Whiplash

The Whiplash name comes from the traffic in Bucharest, which can result in snafus like this:

Mexico City Phoenixes

The Phoenixes name comes from the city's history as Tenochtitlan (founded in 1325), its conquest by Cortes and the Spaniards in 1521, and its rise to becoming the most populated city in North America with more than 20 million people. Very much like a phoenix.

Reykjavík Tritons

The Tritons name comes from the fact that Iceland is completely surrounded by water in the form of the Atlantic Ocean, and this is Iceland's team.

Sydney Zephyrs

The Zephyrs name has no immediate origin. The team used to be a name I can't remember right now.

Warsaw Warhawks

The Warhawks name comes from the Warsaw Uprising and the devastation left in Warsaw after WWII.

[Patchey13]

I'm sorry, but these are REALLY poorly executed.

[raysfan24]

I'm sorry, but these are REALLY poorly executed.

Agreed