Awesome Sports Logos Blog

Sports Logo Spotlight on the Joliet Slammers

We have a first of its kind here at Awesome Sports Logos. We’ve blogged about animals, mythical creatures, and various other unique sports logos. That’s why we are excited to tell you about a sports logo named after a prison.

The Joliet Slammers play in the Independent Frontier League. They are named after the well known Will County Correctional Center as well as the Stateville Correctional Center. The name has double meaning of course because baseball uses the term “Slam” in various forms. A grand slam or even a pitching “Slamming the door”.  The Slammers have been around since 2010 and won to division crowns, one in 2011 and just last year in 2016.  They even have some creative mascots. J.L. Bird short for Jailbird wearing the black and white pinstripes and the other is named Spikes.

So how do you create a logo out of a prison? Let’s take a look.

 

Logo Courtesy of SportsLogos.net 

I thought that Dan Simon of Studio Simon who created this logo did a nice job of making a prison look similar to a ballpark. It’s open like a prison yard yet it takes that diamond shape like a ball field. You also have the guard tower and the barbed wire. The font on both Joliet and Slammers really sticks out.

 In an interview with the great sportslogos.net last year, Simon pointed out how proud he was of the alternate logo which he felt should be the primary. “They opted not to go with this direction because they wanted the primary logo to focus on the law side of the Joliet prison story, not the lawless side.”  Once again kudos to sportslogos.net for digging up an interesting aspect of this sports logo.

 
Logo Courtesy of SportsLogos.net 

Personally, I’m with Dan Simon, I love the Jail Bird logo but I understand their philosophy. They need to cater to their fans, many of which work in the prison system on a daily basis.

Overall, I’m a fan of the name and their logos. It’s creative and it embraces a huge aspect of Joliet and that is so important when creating a sports logo.

Opening Day is Tuesday for Joliet. Go Slammers!

Opening Day is everyday here at Awesome Sports Logos. We’re always open and trying to bring a smile to your face with our awesome t-shirts.

Let’s look at a few of our baseball t-shirts.

 

We just talked about featuring what the area is known for in a sports logo. That’s why we are so proud of our Idaho Taters baseball logo. A “tater” is a long home run. It’s also a huge export for the gorgeous state of Idaho.

The Boca Raton Cougars

 

Okay, Boca Raton is known for a lot and maybe Cougars isn’t at the top of the list but we hear they roam the streets of Boca at night. They know what they want and they usually get it. Go Cougars!

We also feature some other cool baseball t-shirts like the Boston Accents, The Dallas Doughboys and the Decorah Trolls. Check em’ out and support the cause if you can. Our T-shirt of the Month Club is a great way to pick out a couple of them and enjoy savings and free shipping.

Thanks as always for reading,

Gavin Spittle

Founder, Logo Lover, T-shirt Fanatic

Awesome Sports Logos

Posted in Awesome T-shirts by Gavin on 5/14/2017 at 9:40:04 am.

Thoughts on the New Spring Training Logo Caps

Now that the football season is over, sports fans can look forward to Major League Baseball. Spring Training is finally here, and teams have announced their kits for the Cactus League and Grapefruit League. MLB has found a great revenue source with Spring Training gear, specifically their baseball caps. Whether you like them or not, you have to hand it to Major League Baseball. All of the cap and other gear are available at MLBShop.com. In my opinion, the logos that some of the teams decided to use are amazing while others fell a little short. SportsLogos.net put out a great article featuring some of the Spring Training caps that are going to be used this year. I want to take a look at a couple of these cap logos that the Major League teams should think about implementing as their primary logos.

First off, we have the Seattle Mariners. Now, this team needs improvement on their primary logo in a desperate way. Once I saw their Spring Training look, I was shocked. It’s absolutely AWESOME!

 
Hat Photo Courtesy of MLBShop.com 
 
This logo is a throwback to their previous trident logo, which ran from 1981 to 1986. It’s a modern, revitalized reworking of that look from the 80s. This thing is just phenomenal. The trident is upside down, giving their clear resemblance of the letter “M” for Mariners. What a fantastic way to make a logo represent the actual team name, and what the team name means. A mariner is a sailor, and the team should honor that with a clear logo of the sea. Nothing does that better than this trident, the featured weapon of Poseidon, Greek God of the sea. Seattle should make this their permanent logo (again). Now let’s touch on a team that went the wrong direction with their Spring Training logo. And that’s the Tampa Bay Rays.
 
Hat Photo Courtesy of MLBShop.com 

Now the Rays didn’t really have a drastic change, like the Mariners did. Tampa Bay already uses their sunburst logo on their regular season hats. For Spring Training, the logo has a bit of a tweak, and is placed in the powder blue ballcap. Honestly, the sunburst doesn’t say much about the Rays. It doesn’t let you know who they are, or where they are from. Probably a stretch saying the sunburst “resembles a ray of sunshine”. But let’s face it, that’s a stretch. The team really needs an improvement on the image they are going to carry on their hat. If you have any ideas on what they could use, drop them in the comments below!

We at Awesome Sports Logos have our own two logos for the Grapefruit League.

First up, the Boca Raton Cougars

 

This minor league baseball team is named after the ferocious animal called the cougar. The overpopulation of cougars is prevalent mostly in the upscale Boca Raton neighborhoods. You can find cougars in shopping areas during the day, but mostly they are nocturnal beasts working the bar and club scene stalking their prey. They are ferocious except when they are on our super funny Boca Raton sports t-shirt. That’s when ferocity turns into awesomeness.

Next up it’s the Dade City Kumquats

 

This citrus cousin of the Grapefruit fits in perfectly. You know this fruit is swinging for the fences and not a slap hitter. This logo name is a tribute to the Dade City Kumquat festival held each January. Go Kumquats!

Now that baseball season is on the horizon, you can add these super soft tees (and our other awesome baseball tees) to your t-shirt of the month club list! You can be the talk of all your friends when you get a brand new super soft t-shirt on your doorstep, at the first of every month during baseball season! Sign up today!

Thanks for reading and following us!

Keep Calm And Stay Awesome!

Blake Cole

T-Shirt Wearer, Logo Lover

Awesome Sports Logos

Posted in Awesome T-shirts by Gavin on 2/15/2017 at 7:48:55 pm.

Creative Valentine's Gifts For Men

I completely get it. It’s a busy time of year. We’re coming off the holiday season, the NFL Playoffs are making their way into the Super Bowl and you are sick of shopping. Before you know it, Valentine’s Day will be here. You know that kind of but not real holiday where creativity points can go a long way.

Guys, you need to be ready. You need to be creative. She may say she doesn’t want anything but it’s worth it to disregard that request and get that mind thinking. Here’s why gents, she could for instance get you some of our awesome t-shirts as part of a T-shirt of the Month Club gift. It’s the perfect Valentine’s Day gift for a guy.

Let’s show you some of our top sellers.

 

What if she got you Hookers on February 14th?

Especially if you are a fishing fanatic, this is the perfect addition to your wardrobe. Super soft with perfect placement of bobbers and hooks. If you think there isn’t any fishing around Las Vegas, there certainly is in Lake Mead. Largemouth Bass and Striped Bass are what the local anglers go after. I wouldn’t suggest fishing in the Bellagio Hotel Casino fountains. Even if you are wearing your Las Vegas Hookers Fishing Club t-shirt, you won’t end up with a “Happy Ending”.

How about if you received the Cocksville Blockers?

You don’t want to be Cock Blocked on Valentine’s Day but you do want to wear this super soft t-shirt like Pitcher Derek Holland. Three time Super Bowl Champion Ted Johnson  also looks great wearing his Blockers t-shirt.

 

 

Nothing says, “I dig you” like the Portland Tree Huggers
 
 

Tree Huggers love the forest and the environment. Is she expressing her love to you with this awesome t-shirt? You will get tons of laughs and the question, “Where did you get that shirt” every time you put it on. I wouldn’t want to mess with this sports logo. They say that players “drop the gloves” in hockey. Although this tree doesn’t have gloves, he looks like he is up for a fight. I would think it’s because he’s holding his cousin who was made into a stick.

We have so many logos to choose from in our T-shirt of the Month Club. The best part is, unlike other t-shirt monthly clubs, you pick the shirt. No guessing with this club and we offer a sweet discount and free shipping.

Time to drop hints to that special someone in your life that Awesome Sports Logos is the way to go for Valentine’s Day!

Here’s hoping that Cupid is good to you,

Gavin Spittle

Founder, Sports Logo and T-shirt Lover

Awesome Sports Logos

Posted in Awesome T-shirts by Gavin on 1/22/2017 at 8:49:53 pm.

Sports Logo Spotlight on the Carolina Panthers

We’re nearly at the one month anniversary of the Super Bowl so I think things have calmed down and we can move our minds from a Panthers loss to focusing on their awesome logo they dawn on their helmets. 
 
 
Logo courtesy of sportslogos.net 
 

The Carolina Panthers were announced as the NFL's 29th franchise in 1993, beginning play two years later in 1995. In their second season the Panthers made the conference championship game, falling short to the eventual Super Bowl champions, the Green Bay Packers. 

For the most part, the Panthers have maintained the same logo throughout its franchise's history, with the exception of some minor changes that were made between the 2011 and 2012 seasons. The lack of changes in the sports logo are for good reason, considering that this logo is among the best in the NFL.

This image contains personality as it depicts a roaring panther with angry fangs providing intimidation. In a physical sport such as football, you don't expect the logo to be friendly or inviting. Carolina’s logo sets the proper tone. 

I like the simple detail with the laser light eyes, the whiskers extending from each side of the nose, the shaping of the teeth, and the lining in the neck that creates a sense of muscle and strength. Simple detail has always been a very important part of a logo is far as I'm concerned. You don't want it to be overwhelming, nor do you want detail absent.

I am a big fan of the colors: black and "process blue." The blue color, which is a shade lighter than Duke's blue and a shade darker than North Carolina's blue, not only meshes well with the black, it’s a unique combination that we don't see often enough in sports. 

My biggest gripe about the logo is Panthers have little significance with the region. According to Charles Chandler of the Charlotte Observer, the Richardson family who owns the club, did not run any focus groups to determine the nickname. Instead, the principal owner, former NFL player Jerry Richardson had always wanted Panthers to be the nickname. As a matter of fact, according to that same story, Richardson began driving a car with the license plate PNTHRS as early as in 1989, four years prior to the Panthers entrance into the NFL became official. While that story is neat, it does not supplant the fact that the nickname and the location don't share any sort of true tie in with the Carolinas. That would be a long migration north from the Florida Everglades for the Panthers that exist in that region, thus the NHL’s Florida Panthers. With that said, the Carolina Panthers logo is enough for me to consider this a top-notch logo.

With a top notch defense and Cam Newton at the helm, this logo should be a contender for years to come. 

Just like Jerry Richardson’s affinity towards a name, the Cocksville Blockers awesome t-shirt shares a similar story. Of all the logos that Awesome Sports Logos creates, Cocksville is the only made up city. As you can imagine, the name was just too juicy to resist. The name actually popped into Founder Gavin Spittle’s head early one morning. Yes, he dreams of sports logos. He ran to the computer to try to find an area called Cocksville but the search fell short. The final product certainly delivers as this Rooster means business and will get in your way if you try anything he doesn’t like. This is our best-selling t-shirt and for good reason.
 
 
 
Pick it up today or add it to your list when you join our t-shirt of the month club where you get discount prices, a smile in your mailbox every month and free shipping. Now that’s awesome!!

Thanks as always for reading,

Jared Sandler
Awesome Sports Logos
Posted in Awesome T-shirts by Gavin on 3/1/2016 at 10:10:32 pm.

Review of the 2016 NBA All Star Logo

With every All-Star Game, there comes a new logo and the NBA's All Star Game logo for 2016 is outstanding. Hosted by Toronto this year, the game's logo features all the two characteristics that make up a great logo: city, state, or regional relevancy; and simple detail. 


Let's start with the iconic CN Tower as the logo's centerpiece. That particular building is the most known structure in Toronto--and maybe even the entire country of Canada. It's a big part of Toronto's identity and being that the Raptors are the country's only team, it does a great job of representing Canada too. 
 
I think having such an icon is so important, in general, but specifically for an event like this because it is a truly a showcase for a specific city while opening doors to an entire NBA community. You want to show off what you're about and the CN Tower does that. And how about the simple detail? It's magnificent. Let's start with the glass floor at the base of the actual tower: it's lined like the black indented seams of an actual basketball. Beneath than, consider how the tower's shaft is colored and decorated. To me, it looks like paint or the key of a basketball court. 
 
These are simple examples, but these examples, tastefully injected and not obnoxious at all, are part of what makes this logo so special. 
 
Beyond those two important elements, I think the logo has a strong supporting cast of characteristics starting with the placement of the necessary information. This logo specifically places four key things: the “All-Star” lettering, the NBA logo, the host city, and the year. They all blend in so well. It’s seamless, quite frankly. Part of what allows this is the geometrics of the logo itself. The vertical nature of it makes the vertical NBA logo fit perfectly. Pair that with the horizontal shape of the CN Tower’s observation deck and, boom, you’ve got a perfect landing spot for “All-Star” and “Toronto.” I like that the former is placed above the latter because that’s how they rank in terms of importance to the logo relative to the event. Finally, the year is fit nicely on the vertical shaft.
 
In addition to the shaping and the placing of elements, the coloring makes sense. Grey is the dominant color, but after initially being disappointed that red wasn’t featured more, it would be unfit to color the CN Tower red. Instead, red is featured nicely within the logo and outlining the CN Tower, making it the more dominant of the actual colors.
 
Overall, this is a perfect example of a job extremely well done. Toronto is an awesome city and we can’t wait to see it featured in full display this upcoming All Star Weekend.
 
If you like hoops, we think you will dig our basketball t-shirts. Let’s begin in Louisiana with the New Orleans Curse.
 
 
 
Mess with this basketball team and you are in some serious trouble. Love this logo of a voodoo doll going up for the two handed slam.
 
How about the El Paso Luchadores?
 
 
 
This basketball themed masked celebrates the Luchador tradition in one of America’s border towns.
 
We also feature several real Panamanian Basketball League logos. One of our personal favorites is the Caimanes de Rio Abajo. No Caimanes have ever been caught in this region but the locals have sworn that they are in these Panamanian waters. Real or not, the Caimanes have an awesome logo.
 
 
 
We suggest grabbing a few of these at discount prices by joining our T-shirt of the Month Club. We are bringing back the fun to your mailbox. You deserve more than just bills. You deserve a super soft awesome t-shirt once a month that is sure to become a closet favorite. 
 
Thanks as always for reading,
 
Jared Sandler
Awesome Sports Logos Columnist 
Posted in All Star Game by Gavin on 2/9/2016 at 8:36:24 pm.

Is it Time to Change Home Jersey Colors in the NHL

According to jersey expert, Paul Lukas, NHL teams had just one uniform until 1951. In 1955, the league mandated that teams wore colors at home and white on the road. Fifteen years later in 1970, that arrangement was reversed and teams began wearing white at home. Thirty-three years after that, the league made another reversal and asked that teams predominantly wear their colored jersey at home. Then, seven years after that--just kidding...it hasn’t changed since 2003.

Which do you prefer at home for NHL teams: white or colors? 

For me, it's a no-brainer: WHITE!

Maybe it is because that is what I grew up knowing. I guess it's tough for me to remove that from the equation. 

When I think about it, I just like the way white looks especially at home. When you go on the road, you should show off your main color and represent yourself in enemy territory, but at home you should go for the better look and in the NHL, for me, that's white. 

After speaking to a handful of folks who cover hockey for a living, all but one agreed that the league should go back to white at home. I asked for reasons why and got some interesting responses. One gentleman said that the pants look better contrasting with the white jerseys. Another chimed in and used the reverse as his argument, suggesting he doesn't like the way road uniforms look with the pants being the same color, which is the case for many, though, not all teams. 

In the NBA and in MLB, white is most common home color. Football is the opposite, except for the Cowboys, who rarely wear anything other than white. I have no issue with how those sports arrange their uniforms, including football, which adopts the format I want hockey to eliminate. 

One hockey person told me the reversal of the decision in 2003 was influenced by the growing amount of alternate uniforms, many of which were of the colored variety. With home teams wanting to show them off from time-to-time, it made life tougher on equipment guys who now had to pack both uniforms in the event a team went the alternate route. 

With all due respect to equipment guys and I was one of them for baseball at one point in my life, I'm pretty sure they can deal with it. 

Please, Mr. Bettman, PLEASE!!!!!! White at home. White. At. Home.

Speaking of hockey, we have some awesome hockey t-shirts. 

How about the Texas Roadkill
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


We even have the Brooklyn Leg Breakers
 
 

You can get all three as part of our t-shirt of the month club where you’ll get an awesome t-shirt each month with free shipping. We also have another great deal. If you buy 3 t-shirts, you get the 4th shirt free. Just put in the coupon code 3ThenFree at checkout.

Thanks for being awesome!

Jared Sandler
Columnist
Awesome Sports Logos
Posted in Awesome T-shirts by Gavin on 11/14/2015 at 10:14:49 pm.

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