Illinois Student Submission Contest

[joechicago]

The U of I continues its search for something to replace all that Chief Illiniwek coolness that it just can't do anymore.

Here are some samples from the student design competition.

Here is the one getting buzz on Illinois' message boards and the clear favorite on facebook:

I'm not a fan. It's basically a compromise to try and keep the old logo without keeping the old logo by bringing in a *ing eagle. It's busy, and it took me a bit to figure out it it's supposed to be flying at a weird angle.

My personal favorite non-ironic from the page of all submissions, which is a real mixed bag if ever I've seen one, are the two WW1-era submissions and (I know I'm probably in the minority) the oak tree one. The former two are the actual depiction of what "Fighting Illini" originally meant. The latter is a play on what Stanford did re: their native American mascot while giving Illinois a unique secondary nickname/symbol that actually has something to do with Illinois.

Would love to hear what y'all have to say on this. Apologies if this has been posted, I did a search and didn't see anything.

[illwauk]

I'll refrain from picking apart the design flaws in most of those, but the ones that caught my eye were the ones that involved Abraham Lincoln... particularly the one that explicitly rebranded the team as the "Illinois Abes." Illinois is one of the few Big Ten schools that's their state's flagship public institution, yet doesn't have a mascot based on their states' nickname. I always did like how Eau Claire Memorial HS in Wisconsin was nicknamed the "Old Abes," perhaps the U of I could drop "Fighting Illini" for "Honest Abes."

[CS85]

All of those suck. Illinois is so desperate to wash their hands of the "Illini" brand that it wouldn't surprise me if they become some sort of terribly lame bird or corn/lincoln/dildo.

Pick some weak-ass logo, water down the team name to "Flyin' Illini, remove all native-influenced designs on the uniforms, and complete the degeneration into the flavorless, gutless half-hearted sports institution you so thirst to be.

[rams80]

It's like the Athletic Director is trying to be fired. Granted he probably should be given the turn the basketball season has taken.

[CS85]

It's like the Athletic Director is trying to be fired. Granted he probably should be given the turn the basketball season has taken.

Probably, but I doubt that's too far off from their intentions. The school puts on a show like it wants to be a perennial contender in basketball/football, but fact is they know well and good that they're a 3rd and 4th choice for athletes who want to play in the B1G, and they'll never, ever shell out the money to pay a big name coach to come here, much less find a big name coach that would want to.

They're ashamed of their team name/logos, they're ashamed of the lawsuits and sanctions surrounding that, they're angry that they can't be more than what they are, they're ashamed that they can't draw talent from Chicago, but they'll never be able to do anything about it. The University's becoming quite content in giving mediocre coaches a shot, letting them half-suck for awhile, then firing everybody, rinse, repeat, all while getting a bare minimum of standout players. U of I perpetually hopes that they can underpay a nobody coach that will turn out to be a 30-year NCAA monolith, endlessly loyal to the school, and get Illinois competitive again, all as long as he's willing to accept a pittance for his salary. (re: Bill Self)

TL;DR, Illinois sucks, knows they suck, people come to games anyway, hire crappy coaches, draw crappy talent, fire everybody, descend into quagmire of conference embarrassment, become The Fighting Poodles.

[TheOldRoman]

Well, CS85, I have to admit, at least you're consistent with your self-loathing, chicken little sports fandom. You hate all your favorite teams equally.

As for all these logos, every last one of them sucks. All the people who thought they were SO witty the last decade to say, "ZOMG! We should be the Drinkin' Lincolns!" deserved to be kicked repeatedly in their privates. No mascots, no name change. Just use a block I and be done with it at this point.

[pianoknight]

These logos make me want to stab my eyes with a golf pencil.

[DC in Da House w/o a Doubt]

Why can't they just stick with this:

[Billy B]

Why can't they just stick with this:

The Giants ripoff is bad. It looks like the block I might even be taking it's place on the football helmets this year. They've been moving to the plain block I on pottery much all applications recently.

Coincidentally, the kids behind me in class are taking about this right now. I would hate if they did anything other than keep the Fighting Illini or if they changed the logo to anything that remotely resembled these logos. Unless the chief is coming back (unfortunately this won't be happening anytime soon), just stick to the block I, state, and zig-zag.

And if they bring in some new mascot, the athletic department wouldn't be seeing any money from me for a while. If we can't have the chief, fine. But don't try to replace him with a mascot.

[illini1]

None of these will be chosen. They will just keep Fighting Illini. We've never had a mascot, so why start now?

Also, I find it funny we had to retire Chief Illiniwek because the NCAA said he was abusive, but the NCAA is still selling Chief items on their website.

[Billy B]

It's like the Athletic Director is trying to be fired. Granted he probably should be given the turn the basketball season has taken.

Probably, but I doubt that's too far off from their intentions. The school puts on a show like it wants to be a perennial contender in basketball/football, but fact is they know well and good that they're a 3rd and 4th choice for athletes who want to play in the B1G, and they'll never, ever shell out the money to pay a big name coach to come here, much less find a big name coach that would want to.

They're ashamed of their team name/logos, they're ashamed of the lawsuits and sanctions surrounding that, they're angry that they can't be more than what they are, they're ashamed that they can't draw talent from Chicago, but they'll never be able to do anything about it. The University's becoming quite content in giving mediocre coaches a shot, letting them half-suck for awhile, then firing everybody, rinse, repeat, all while getting a bare minimum of standout players. U of I perpetually hopes that they can underpay a nobody coach that will turn out to be a 30-year NCAA monolith, endlessly loyal to the school, and get Illinois competitive again, all as long as he's willing to accept a pittance for his salary. (re: Bill Self)

TL;DR, Illinois sucks, knows they suck, people come to games anyway, hire crappy coaches, draw crappy talent, fire everybody, descend into quagmire of conference embarrassment, become The Fighting Poodles.

Okay, I'm bored in class right now so I'll break this down. Illinois won't shell out for a top coach? If Shaka Smart is single, he's probably making top dollar coaching Illinois right now. Personally, I'm happy he had a change of heart and didn't accept the job, but that's besides the point. They were willing to pay for the top guy. They could have paid Brad Stevens too, but mutually agreed it was a bad fit. It came down to one of your next comments. Football is another story. You didn't see them pay a top guy, because no top guy wants to come here. To be in that position, you have to do what Iowa and Wisconsin did and hire the right "nobody" to put you in a position to seriously compete in the Big Ten every year. Is Tim Beckman that guy? We don't know yet, he's still trying to crawl out of the hole that Ron Zook dug him. I didn't like the hire, but I just hope he gets a fair chance to prove if he is the right guy.

As far as winning Chicago, that's the reason Brad Stevens is still in Indianapolis right now. They're trying to win Chicago and John Groce is off to a pretty good start. He's already landed two of the best seniors on Chicago's best team. They're arguably the two best players on the team this season, ahead of some Parker guy. Both basketball and football are trying to recover from coaches that were awful at putting together their team.

[joechicago]

None of these will be chosen. They will just keep Fighting Illini. We've never had a mascot, so why start now?

Also, I find it funny we had to retire Chief Illiniwek because the NCAA said he was abusive, but the NCAA is still selling Chief items on their website.

Yeah, I think "no winner" will be the winner.

CS85 isn't alone in his chicken little/self-loathing/whatever. The Illinois athletic department is like the bell-ringer of cheap mediocrity with a small town mindset. We got a new AD last year and he finally fired Zook and Weber (good), but replaced them cheapo hires. The basketball stadium hasn't changed since the 70s and they don't have the courage to move the decrepit boosters who sit in the first section but only show up to half the basketball games. The last AD effectively killed the great football atmosphere that existed in the late 80s/early 90s with crappy hires and a backwater media mentality. The football team ripped off the Giants 20 years ago and only the last year experimented with changing anything. On the sports logo front, you have a division between people wanting to go back to the Chief and people wanting to dump Fighting Illini altogether. So you get a mish-mash of identities and a logo competition that results in mostly suckage and half-baked irony.

[pcgd]

Personally I hate that mark with the giants rip off text. The best logo outside of the Chief (which I know isn't and shouldn't come back) is the Circle I that Nike did. I'd love to se a nice block I and be done with it as well and a updated better word mark. I'd be fine following the basketball team's lead on that front.

[Gary]

All of those suck. Illinois is so desperate to wash their hands of the "Illini" brand that it wouldn't surprise me if they become some sort of terribly lame bird or corn/lincoln/dildo.

Pick some weak-ass logo, water down the team name to "Flyin' Illini, remove all native-influenced designs on the uniforms, and complete the degeneration into the flavorless, gutless half-hearted sports institution you so thirst to be.

We could always combine the two and have the Illinois Flying Dildos. Just imagine the possibilities

[illwauk]

All of those suck. Illinois is so desperate to wash their hands of the "Illini" brand that it wouldn't surprise me if they become some sort of terribly lame bird or corn/lincoln/dildo.

Pick some weak-ass logo, water down the team name to "Flyin' Illini, remove all native-influenced designs on the uniforms, and complete the degeneration into the flavorless, gutless half-hearted sports institution you so thirst to be.

We could always combine the two and have the Illinois Flying Dildos. Just imagine the possibilities

I mean, Illinois does already kind of, sort of, look like a penis.

[rtrich11]

Here is the one getting buzz on Illinois' message boards and the clear favorite on facebook:

While this is neat in some ways it cannot stand on its own. In ten years, after the Illini head logo has gotten even more scarce, this design won't make any sense to people seeing it for the first time. Not to discard the idea, though. It could be resurrected somehow.

[Pizzaman7294]

My buddy and I came up with this logo:

[PhlyBoy]

The design is horrible, but the name of that "Colonel Kernel" is so awesome. Nebraska needs to adopt that some how for anything like a mascot name. Or just one of our goofy names for logos.

[nash61]

Here is the one getting buzz on Illinois' message boards and the clear favorite on facebook:

Well considering it's a rip-off... (look at the head and feet)

[CS85]

Well, CS85, I have to admit, at least you're consistent with your self-loathing, chicken little sports fandom. You hate all your favorite teams equally.

I'm not sure whether to say "Thanks" or not, but years of losing in pretty much every facet of my favorite teams has indeed made me an insufferable bastard. Sorry to exist, pal.

Okay, I'm bored in class right now so I'll break this down. Illinois won't shell out for a top coach? If Shaka Smart is single, he's probably making top dollar coaching Illinois right now. Personally, I'm happy he had a change of heart and didn't accept the job, but that's besides the point. They were willing to pay for the top guy. They could have paid Brad Stevens too, but mutually agreed it was a bad fit. It came down to one of your next comments. Football is another story. You didn't see them pay a top guy, because no top guy wants to come here. To be in that position, you have to do what Iowa and Wisconsin did and hire the right "nobody" to put you in a position to seriously compete in the Big Ten every year. Is Tim Beckman that guy? We don't know yet, he's still trying to crawl out of the hole that Ron Zook dug him. I didn't like the hire, but I just hope he gets a fair chance to prove if he is the right guy.

As far as winning Chicago, that's the reason Brad Stevens is still in Indianapolis right now. They're trying to win Chicago and John Groce is off to a pretty good start. He's already landed two of the best seniors on Chicago's best team. They're arguably the two best players on the team this season, ahead of some Parker guy. Both basketball and football are trying to recover from coaches that were awful at putting together their team.

You're right regarding basketball, I was a bit....perturbed at the time of writing my previous post (or as Roman implied, I had my head up my ass). Groce's gotten off to a decent start, and I think he could turn out to be alright in the long run, but only a marginal improvement over Weber. Did they offer the right money to Smart, yes, and I personally felt that was their best chance. Groce's young and will get his honeymoon period, but my faith is only half-hearted at this point.

Football just outright sucks. Beckman is Just A Guy, and I don't know how U of I ever becomes more than what they with their program.

CS85 isn't alone in his chicken little/self-loathing/whatever. The Illinois athletic department is like the bell-ringer of cheap mediocrity with a small town mindset. We got a new AD last year and he finally fired Zook and Weber (good), but replaced them cheapo hires. The basketball stadium hasn't changed since the 70s and they don't have the courage to move the decrepit boosters who sit in the first section but only show up to half the basketball games. The last AD effectively killed the great football atmosphere that existed in the late 80s/early 90s with crappy hires and a backwater media mentality. The football team ripped off the Giants 20 years ago and only the last year experimented with changing anything. On the sports logo front, you have a division between people wanting to go back to the Chief and people wanting to dump Fighting Illini altogether. So you get a mish-mash of identities and a logo competition that results in mostly suckage and half-baked irony.

Pretty much. But hey, I'm a terrible fan so what do I know?