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Cubs focus-grouping a rebrand?


bradsbeard

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I'm a little surprised to read this. I had posted here years back that I figured the Cubs would eventually wear navy on the road, flying in the face of the "tradition" they sell. That was when the Tribune owned the team and started making most of the merchandise in navy instead of royal. However, around 2009 or so they went back to royal on everything, and I figured the navy experiment was dead for good. Ricketts is supposedly a life-long obsessed fan, so it's kind of surprised to hear him thinking of making changes. However, if you asked 100 Bears/Packers/Cowboys fans what they want their teams to look like, you'd find at least a handful of morons who'd want black monochromes with iridescent numbers because it's TUFF or something, so I guess it's wrong to assume Ricketts' fandom would keep him from altering the look.

I don't think the Cubs should change much. I disagree with people saying they should change things up just because they haven't won a World Series in 104 years. A team should try to look its best. It's dumb to change just for the sake of changing, which that line of thinking would be doing. There isn't much wrong with the Cubs' look now. And while the Cubs wore navy 90 years ago, and used the crude bear-holding-bat logo which is lame but just scmaltzy enough to sell on slouch hats, "the Cubs brand" which we all either love or hate has been built around the identity they have used since the '50s or so. Them going to navy, revamping the dumb bear/bat logo or losing the pinstripes wouldn't make sense for them, regardless if they have done it in the past.

First off, the circle primary logo is fine. Either come up with a wordmark which matches it or tweak the UBS to match a wordmark. That's all. It might not be the best logo ever, but it's plenty iconic. No need to reinvent the wheel here. The walking bear/limp-wristed bear/dumpster bear logo is terrible. It is even worse that this logo has become the default primary logo. They should go with a front-view face logo for the alternate, maybe one of the ones they have used already. The home uniform should be unchanged except for that sleeve patch. The road uniform should be something close to what they wore in the '60s. Chicago on the front, all characters blue with red outlines, no white outlines. They could use a pinstripeless throwback on Sundays if they want, and all they'd have to do to the blue alt would be to have the logos/patches match the home jersey. Also, keep the current cap as the cap for all uniform combos.

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I'm an out-of-towner, but seeing the Cubs in their pinstripes is part of the "Experience". I was ticked the first time I went to Wrigley and they were wearing their blue alts that looked like practice jerseys. I'd feel the same way if I went to Yankee Stadium and the Yankees weren't wearing their normal uniform. They're one of those few teams that just shouldn't have home alts. I do like that they (at least used to) switch up the road every few years. I didn't even hate the Cuba uniform design. Mixing some red in, like the throwbacks shown above, would be fine.

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if you asked 100 Bears/Packers/Cowboys fans what they want their teams to look like, you'd find at least a handful of morons who'd want black monochromes with iridescent numbers because it's TUFF or something, so I guess it's wrong to assume Ricketts' fandom would keep him from altering the look.

The Ricketts family is a handful of morons.

Do the Cubs even need a sleeve patch at home? The White Sox don't have one. I guess maybe they could wear the City of Chicago flag, mismatching blues be damned, but it's not necessary.

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Lose the collar/sleeve trim and that's the perfect road uniform. Maybe use the Cubs primary on the sleeve instead of any bear head.

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This would be a tolerable BP/ST logo (without Iowa, natch), as it keeps some sort of bear logo without having him looking for neglected potato salad.

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Do the Cubs even need a sleeve patch at home? The White Sox don't have one. I guess maybe they could wear the City of Chicago flag, mismatching blues be damned, but it's not necessary.

I guess they don't need one, but I think they would look better with one. I preferred the Sox with the sleeve patch, too. After they changed the name of the park, I guess everyone assumed the awesome diamond sock patch would replace the Comiskey patch. However, I have seen that logo against pinstripes, and it doesn't look good. Something just looks wrong about the pinstripes and the angular diamond. I think having no patch is best in that situation, but I prefer sleeve patches in most situations. Something seems professional about it - replica jerseys don't have them, but if you pop for the authentic, the patch is there. I prefer when sleeve patches add something clever and unique to the identity, like the diamond sock and the front-faced cub logos. I think the only time sleeve patches shouldn't be used is when a team doesn't have an alternate logo (Yankees, Tigers), when they use script (Giants) and when it's a contrived roundrel, particularly when the roundrel contains the same damn logo that is on the chest (hi, Nationals).

And yes, the jersey Ernie Banks is wearing is perfect. I actually prefer the piping.

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To hell with that patch. It always irked me that it's on the wrong sleeve. Also, it's strange to use it there. No other teams use League logos, and the Cubs only use it on that one jersey. It's as if they put the walking bear logo on the sleeve, realized it was already on the chest, and then said, "Daaaaaaaaah, go with an NL logo there. Yeah, that'll do. Whatever."

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I'm an out-of-towner, but seeing the Cubs in their pinstripes is part of the "Experience". I was ticked the first time I went to Wrigley and they were wearing their blue alts that looked like practice jerseys. I'd feel the same way if I went to Yankee Stadium and the Yankees weren't wearing their normal uniform. They're one of those few teams that just shouldn't have home alts. I do like that they (at least used to) switch up the road every few years. I didn't even hate the Cuba uniform design. Mixing some red in, like the throwbacks shown above, would be fine.

This might be because my first experience of Wrigley Field was during the blue pullover era, but the defining element of the Cubs' uniforms to me is the C-ubs circle, not the pinstripes.

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I think the NL patch goes back at least to the 80s when the road uni was a blue top with white pants. I agree it doesn't make any sense and no one would miss it.

As for the prowling cub, look up pictures of bear cubs, that's exactly how they walk. Maybe they could modify the posture to give it more of a threatening pose. I dunno, I don't see the gripe with the illustration at all.

As for the prior straight ahead bear logos, the Banks era one is probably the best they've had and I wouldn't mind that returning or a modernized version. The 80s angry cub patch looks like a chipmunk, and there was always something awkward to me about the furrier follow up. Maybe if the chipmunk logo were a bit less rounded I could get on board with it.

As for tradition and the current look being untouchable, I'm sure some fans want a break from the past. But I gather that most people who think the look is bland or associated with losing aren't Cub fans anyway. I seriously hope the Cubs don't give those opinions too much consideration. There is a ton of fan connection to the current colors, home unis, and main logo. They can probably get away with tweaks, but if they ditch the current look, it will come back within a decade just like the Blue Jays did. It would be very hard to make fans forget the current identity and accept a new one.

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They can probably get away with tweaks, but if they ditch the current look, it will come back within a decade just like the Blue Jays did. It would be very hard to make fans forget the current identity and accept a new one.

The fans would get upset if they significantly changed the home unis, but I don't think all that many would care if they changed the road set significantly, including going to navy. Part of it is because the fans see the home set when they go to games at Wrigley, and part is because the Cubs have had so many different road designs while the home uni basically remained unchanged. That is one of the curses of teams like the Red Sox, Cubs and Tigers who have had continuity in the home uni but changing road unis - fans are used to them changing, so they don't become as attached when they have a good one, and they probably wouldn't get upset if they changed to something really bad, as they figure it will change to something new in a few years.

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I'm not sure I understand the Sacred Cow mentality towards the Cubs' uniform. They wore blue road uniforms for the whole of the 70s and 80s. Their current look is only about 20 years old.

Personally, I hope they don't darken their colors, but beyond that, I'm fine with them mixing it up.

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I probably wasn't clear. I don't have a problem with small tweaks to any of the current identity, and as far as I'm concerned the road and alts are pretty much fair game for reinvention. The biggest untouchables to me are the home pins and the main logo. An alternate home uni might be ok, but I and a lot if people would really miss the current home set if it were completely redone.

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Just for clarity's sake, the NL patch was a part of the current blue alt only. So about 1997 or 1998. (I swear the blue was just a BP in '97 when the rest of the curent set was released, but... I can't remember for sure.) The 1980s blue road had the "mad Cub" patch, and in the 1984 NLCS, the NL East Champs patch, but that's it.

And the "Cuba" script note is interesting. It's had staying power for something that only appeared on unis ffrom 1994-96. I believe the Iowa Cubs still use it. I have a soft spot for that jersey and like the blue outlined in red, but I'm not sure that's the direction to go.

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Just for clarity's sake, the NL patch was a part of the current blue alt only. So about 1997 or 1998. (I swear the blue was just a BP in '97 when the rest of the curent set was released, but... I can't remember for sure.) The 1980s blue road had the "mad Cub" patch, and in the 1984 NLCS, the NL East Champs patch, but that's it.

And the "Cuba" script note is interesting. It's had staying power for something that only appeared on unis ffrom 1994-96. I believe the Iowa Cubs still use it. I have a soft spot for that jersey and like the blue outlined in red, but I'm not sure that's the direction to go.

Basically. The 1997 BP jerseys used the walking cub on the chest (negative space filled-in with white), but the NL logo on the left arm (I think they may have moved it to the right arm to match the alt jerseys later on). However, the BP jerseys had some wonky block font on them. They wore the BP jerseys a time or two during the regular season to change their luck during what was a historic losing streak to start the season. They didn't wear the BPs during games after mid-April. I'm pretty sure the blue game jerseys (with the proper font) actually appeared sometime around August or September of 1997. I don't know if they were originally intended to be part of the package or if the Cubs requested them midseason because the players liked the look of the BP set.

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Just for clarity's sake, the NL patch was a part of the current blue alt only. So about 1997 or 1998. (I swear the blue was just a BP in '97 when the rest of the curent set was released, but... I can't remember for sure.) The 1980s blue road had the "mad Cub" patch, and in the 1984 NLCS, the NL East Champs patch, but that's it.

And the "Cuba" script note is interesting. It's had staying power for something that only appeared on unis ffrom 1994-96. I believe the Iowa Cubs still use it. I have a soft spot for that jersey and like the blue outlined in red, but I'm not sure that's the direction to go.

Basically. The 1997 BP jerseys used the walking cub on the chest (negative space filled-in with white), but the NL logo on the left arm (I think they may have moved it to the right arm to match the alt jerseys later on). However, the BP jerseys had some wonky block font on them. They wore the BP jerseys a time or two during the regular season to change their luck during what was a historic losing streak to start the season. They didn't wear the BPs during games after mid-April. I'm pretty sure the blue game jerseys (with the proper font) actually appeared sometime around August or September of 1997. I don't know if they were originally intended to be part of the package or if the Cubs requested them midseason because the players liked the look of the BP set.

I remember the blue alts being unveiled before the '98 season and then wondering late summer if they were ever going to wear them...they rarely did that year.

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Just for clarity's sake, the NL patch was a part of the current blue alt only. So about 1997 or 1998. (I swear the blue was just a BP in '97 when the rest of the curent set was released, but... I can't remember for sure.) The 1980s blue road had the "mad Cub" patch, and in the 1984 NLCS, the NL East Champs patch, but that's it.

And the "Cuba" script note is interesting. It's had staying power for something that only appeared on unis ffrom 1994-96. I believe the Iowa Cubs still use it. I have a soft spot for that jersey and like the blue outlined in red, but I'm not sure that's the direction to go.

Basically. The 1997 BP jerseys used the walking cub on the chest (negative space filled-in with white), but the NL logo on the left arm (I think they may have moved it to the right arm to match the alt jerseys later on). However, the BP jerseys had some wonky block font on them. They wore the BP jerseys a time or two during the regular season to change their luck during what was a historic losing streak to start the season. They didn't wear the BPs during games after mid-April. I'm pretty sure the blue game jerseys (with the proper font) actually appeared sometime around August or September of 1997. I don't know if they were originally intended to be part of the package or if the Cubs requested them midseason because the players liked the look of the BP set.

I remember the blue alts being unveiled before the '98 season and then wondering late summer if they were ever going to wear them...they rarely did that year.

You must be thinking of 1997. They rarely wore them in 97, but 1998 was the Race to the Asterisk between Sosa and McGwire, and the Cubs wore the blue alts pretty regularly that year.

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Have the AL and NL logos been changed to the appropriate number of stars yet?

EDIT: Wrong thread but I'll leave it because it has to do with the Cubs' uniforms.

the worst helmets design to me is the Jacksonville jaguars hamlets from 1995 to 2012 because you can't see the logo vary wall

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