New Orleans Reclaims a Bit of Heritage

The NBA franchise in New Orleans, currently named the Hornets, has opted to change their name to the Pelicans as early as next season. The Hornets, as a name, is mostly associated with Charlotte. I once wrote a  piece about team names and places, and the association of the name "Hornets" and the city of Charlotte dates back to the middle 1700s.

The NBA team that was founded in Charlotte in 1988 moved to New Orleans in, what, 2002? So far the most important thing accomplished by them is to show that Oklahoma City can support an NBA franchise (the Hornets moved to OKC in the aftermath of Katrina).

So what do we have? The Hornets, as a name, will likely be moving back to Charlotte, replacing their current "Bobcats" moniker, and that makes sense. The current Hornets will become the Pelicans, and again, that makes a sense. Here's a mock-up of what the logo COULD look like:

Now, their logo most likely won't ever look like that, but that looks pretty cool. I've read many fans comments who thing that the Pelicans as a name is stupid, or lame, and should be something fearsome. Like a Wizard, or a Buck, or a Celtic, right? Some people say that the team in Utah, the Jazz, originally from New Orleans, should send their name back to the Big Easy. Other people suggest that they should have chose something else, like the Brass.

"Pelicans", though, goes way back with the city of New Orleans and the state of Louisiana. Here's a vintage T-shirt from their long-standing OG minor league team:

And here's one of their jerseys. The Pelicans won many pennants in their own league throughout their existence. Minor league baseball returned to New Orleans a few years ago, but now they're called the Zephyrs.

Living where I live now, in Southern California, I've had the opportunity to go to the beach and watch the pelicans hold court, the largest and most regal of our sea-birds. Their dive-bombing for fish is a great sight and like watching a highlight reel from a nature show. When it's feeding time, it's on.

Anyone who's ever seen a dive-bombing pelican would never complain that they'd make a lame mascot.

A Pair from Middle Earth

Tolkien's Middle Earth has been realized in the flesh of grass and rocks and mountains and canyons in the Southern nation of New Zealand, but anyone familiar with the Peter Jackson trilogy knows that information.

Today I bring two flags from the Down Under's cousin.

One is the symbol of the All Blacks, the name given to the national teams from New Zealand, and it'll look weird here wit the black background:

The Silver Fern. I'm not totally clear how the silver fern, or here, what looks like a white fern, became the symbol for all New Zealand international sports teams, but it is. If you ever see a silver or white fern on a black field, rest assured you're looking at something associated with kiwis (the affectionate demonym for a New Zealanders).

Here's the next, one I came across a while back randomly and snatched it up:

This is called the Maori flag, the flag for the indigenous Australnesian peoples who inhabit the islands of New Zealand. I think it looks pretty cool. (Also, it may look cool with the black background.)

NFL Helmets: Old and Prototype

Here are some of my favorite old and no longer used helmets, and some of the more interesting prototypes that aren't used at all.

This is the Jets helmet from between the white variations, and for some reason I always liked it.

This is one of the early Oilers blue and white derrick deals, very classic and simple colors:

The dark blue and gold bolt is underrated and easily forgotten amid the excitement of the new/old white ones, or something:

Being a Giants fan, don't ask why an Eagle's helmet show's up here, but this old school look has always appealed to me (plus eagles kick ass):

How awesome? In the early '60s the 'Niners rocked the silver helmet with their classic logo:

And now for the prototypes.

Not so much a prototype as a gift, this is kinda cool, the reverse Bangles:

After the Oilers moved to Tennessee, they pondered the idea of becoming the Tennessee Copperheads, with a color scheme of copper and green, with an homage to their Oiler roots. It's not surprising that this look didn't go: teams usually try to make a splash with a rebrand (Brooklyn Nets notwithstanding), and even this would be pushed out for a bad idea (Titans?)

The best prototype here, this Dolphins helmet should be put into use right away:

This is the crazy disaster helmet known as the "One Day Helmet"; as in, the 49ers unveiled it and the outcry was so strong they retracted it:

Here's one of the early Falcons ideas. When they joined the league, they went with this same look, only with red instead of white:

Some Cool State Flags

There are some cool state flags out there, besides the state you live in, right?

Here's Arizona, taking design cues from Tibet:

Here's New Mexico, one of the best uses of simple aboriginal American imagery:

South Carolina is defined by the crescent moon and palmetto tree, as seen on their rather sweet state flag:

The White Helmets of the Old AFL

The main professional league of American Football is the NFL, and within it are two conferences, the NFC and the AFC. The history behind these are kind of interesting. Originally there was the APFC, which turned into the NFL, which absorbed the AAFC (adding the Rams, Browns and Niners), which was challenged by the AFL, a rival league. Eventually they merged, and the conferences take their names from the merger.

Originally the Super Bowl was called the NFL-AFL Championship Game.

Something struck me about the helmets around today in the AFC. The Dolphins and Jets and Bills and Chargers, old school teams from the AFL, and with a throwback helmet from the Patriots, I realized there were many helmets that are white with a logo.

I went and collected some of the old designs. With teams like the Jets and Dolphins, you can see that their helmets from today haven't changed very much.

The first is for the original Boston Patriots, now the New England Patriots. Now they play in Foxboro, Mass. This design, with the payer in the three-point stance, was used until 1992, when they switched to the silver look. They still break it out every year for at least a game.

This is an early Buffalo Bills helmet. Now they use the white with the stylized buffalo, which will follow it.

In fact, the new helmets from the same teams will directly follow these old AFL helmets from here on out.

This is from the Houston Oilers, but isn't their original design (that was blue with a white derrick). This team moved to Memphis and became the Tennessee Titans. The Titans still use a white helmet with the powder blue:

Here's an old look from the San Diego Chargers, which is remarkably close to today's look, minus the player's numbers (like Alabama):

Here's the Dolphins, one of the least changed designs in the league:

And the Jets, another team that adopted an old school look, resembling this old school, after their 80s era solid green look:

It's remarkable how little some of these things change.

And, because I found it, here's an unused helmet for the new Houston team, the Texans:

One of my Favorite Flags

I realized during the Olympics that there is a flag that speaks to me, and I didn't even know it. You know it's got to be cool when NBC italicizes it and it still looks cool. No joke, they italicized the flags.

In any case, the more I thought about it, the shapes, color scheme, symmetry, and lone non-symmetrical elements are so well executed that it really appealed to the mathematician in me. Here we go:

Brazil, baby. While italicized you couldn't really make out the stars, which represent one for each state (and one for Brasilia, the capital) while also mapping out the night sky over Brazil, have the Southern Cross lined up on the meridian, and even have a star above the equator (representing the state of Amazonia), but, while italicized, you could make out other things. Green rectangle, yellow rhombus, and the combo of the blue circle and white band turned that into a sphere. Rectangle, rhombus, sphere. Seriously sweet.

The motto, "Ordem e Progresso", order and progress, makes sense for a country that doesn't really wage wars of choice.

This flag just speaks to me.

Rainier Caps

The Pacific Coast League started out as a Minor League in baseball. It was only minor in the sense that it wasn't stationed on the east coast. The quality of play and feeder system for players were diverse and good enough to, at it's height, qualify as a third "major" league, servicing the west coast.

This is precisely what happened, too. The PCL was granted "Open Status", which meant that it was beholden to no league and could operate in it's markets as it always had, as if it were the top tier of the sport, because, in essence, it was.

It was granted Open Status, though, in 1957, right before the Dodgers and Giants moved to California, supplanting two of the most well known teams (the SF Seals and the LA Angels) in the league, and sapping all the momentum they'd built up over the years to get to that point.

So, I commemorate the PCL here with two caps. They're from the same team, the first from 1939, and the second from 1955:

I like the contrasting color schemes. Know the team? The Seattle Rainiers  one of the natural team names for Seattle teams. Have you noticed that some city team names just come naturally, while others are forced. Look at Seattle. There's the Sounders, Seahawks, Mariners, SuperSonics, and Rainiers. How about the San Jose Sharks? The Washington Wizards? For every Hartford Whaler there's a Sacramento King.

I was watching a ballgame earlier this season, a local Angel game. The Angels played the Mariners in Seattle, and both team wore their 1955 PCL uniforms. The Mariners, normally navy and teal, wore the red caps and red lettering from this Rainier scheme, while the Angels, normally red, wore the dark navy scheme that fit that same season. It was cool; the teams dressed in each other's colors. Plus, it was King Felix pitching, which was cool.

I Sense Something Here...

These two flags I felt like needed to be put next to each other. The second I've used before. They each have the plus-sign cross, and the both have canton jazz in each canton.

This first is the flag for Quebec, both the province and the independent nation that occasionally almost come into existence. I like the blue. In each canton is the fleur-de-lis, one of the standard French symbols.

The next is the flag for Georgia, named for St. George, and sporting five St. George crosses on the banner:

These design commonalities are kinda what this blog is about.

Go Muskies!

There were two movies that historically were used by myself and Corrie over the years as "hangover" movies, silly comedies that are well paced and hit familiar beats, and that make the early hours of a hangover more bearable, while the coffee, water and aspirin do their magic. Well, them and a bowl mixed in usually helped.

Both of those movies had Allison Janney in a supporting role, which is where our appreciation for the actress stemmed.

Once you reach a certain age, the likelihood for a hangover increases precipitously.

In any case, the movies were 10 Things I Hate About You, which starred Julia Stiles, Heath Ledger, and Joseph Gordon-Leavitt. It also features David Krumholz and Allison Janney, and got very poor marketing. It was played up as a teen-rom-com, when it's actually a retelling of the "Taming of the Shrew", and done pretty well, actually. Shakespeare is just good. Also, Seattle looks very nice as the backdrop city for the filming.

The other movie was called Drop Dead Gorgeous and stars Kirsten Dunst, Kirstie Alley, Ellen Barkin and Allison Janney. It's funny and paced like a lightening bolt, and filmed in a faux-documentary style that shows off how ridiculous beauty pageants are and how maniacal pageant moms can get. It's done well, and isn't bad for something light and full of filler. Allison Janney as the horny unmarried neighbor named Loretta is featured more prominently here than in the last film, and she's great, stealing most scenes in which she's featured.

All the pageant contestant girls attend the same small-town high school in rural Mt. Rose, Minnesota, and the mascot of which is a muskie, a type of fish. One of the pageanteers is also a cheerleader, and she shows off a "Go Muskies!" cheer, where she makes a ridiculous fish&gills pantomime as part of the cheer.

Then I found a small-town Minnesota minor league hockey team named the Muskies, and I cracked up.

Go Muskies!

Navy Fields and Balls of Fire

These flags are some of my favorites.

The first is the European Union flag, and I'm not saying this because I prefer some archetypal European model of government to our own American one (although I might).

The EU flag is a circle made of golden stars on that navy field. I like those star shapes, I like circles, and I like the combo of gold/yellow and navy. 12 stars represent not twelve nations, rather an idealized world, where twelve is one of the ancient perfect, magical numbers. It's just a solid design and look. If they were green stars on a red field it'd be different for me, certainly.

This next isn't in use anymore, and may have only spent a very short time as an official, if ever. I know it'd be in the running for my own flag. I don't know, I just love the Inti:

Inti is the name of the native sun god for the some of the South American cultures. This particular design is the same as the Argentinian flag, as this was an early design during the revolution. It was also the "logo" we used on our wedding paper products (save-the-date; invitation; favors) by way of stamp.

Compared to this next flag, those two look more like "light navy".

Another navy and star that's hits home for me is the state flag for Alaska:

This is one of my favorite flags ever. I like constellations. The fact that balls of fire being a specific distance away from the earth form a symbol on to which people can latch, to which people can assign meaning has always inspired me to some degree.

Unlike the Southern Cross, which is on multiple flags, Ursa Major, or the Big Dipper, only seems to be here, for Alaska. No Orion yet? (I'm working on it, actually.)

I think, actually, my allure with this color scheme stems from my elementary school days. The color scheme there was gold and navy, which to me always seems to represent some idea of "California" for me.

Logo Integrity

A recent trip to Escondido, and specifically to the Bistro of the Stone Brewery, gave us a hint of how to properly brand one's company. The integrity of the logo, if you will.

For Stone, like their most famous beer's logo, they use a gargoyle. The Arrogant Bastard gargoyle is changed a bit for the entire company, and here we see it on the menu:

Ignore the stinky cheese, I guess. We actually had that plate, now that I think of it. Only one cheese was particularly stinky.

Then, see the logo having been carved onto a light fixture:

Instead of holding a plate with stuff, it's holding a beer. Sweet.

Then, see it again on the wall in a large relief sculpture:

Branding and logo integrity, two things I haven't really touched on here so much, this being usually more about how the symbols were created or how they effect the populace they represent. But integrity of look is important.

Cool Fictitious Flags

These following flags represent some of my favorites, but they're all fake.

They are all fake.

They represent fictitious municipalities, or are from real places but are fictitious banners.

The first is one of my favorites, and is from the Simpsons. "Disparaging the boot is a bootable offense!"

This next flag is from the television show "The Big Bang Theory", and represents the two main characters' apartment. I think it looks pretty cool, the walking lion on the powder blue field.

I guess this is supposed to be for Bikini Bottom, the town where Spongebob Squarepants lives and works. I've seen a few episodes, and can't place it.

The next two are both from the same episode, the first episode from Season 4 of the Simpsons, and represent a before and after situation:

This flag I remember from the episode in which it appeared. It was an episode where South Park explores a current event at the time, namely old city and state flags that have images that are insulting or prejudice to a segment of the populace. See if you can figure it out:

Here's Springfield's flag:

And especially for my internet nerd buddies, Strongbadia: