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The Hornets are back

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by KYSportsWriter, Dec 21, 2013.

  1. KYSportsWriter

    KYSportsWriter Well-Known Member

    The Hornets unveiled new logos tonight, and I must say I dig it.

    http://news.sportslogos.net/2013/12/21/revived-charlotte-hornets-unveil-logos-wordmark/

    This just may get me to be an NBA fan again.
     
  2. Mystery Meat II

    Mystery Meat II Well-Known Member

    I was telling my cousin down that way that I'm kind of torn. It seems cool enough ... but maybe too cool. As in cold and somewhat austere. I don't think you can do a near-copy of the original logo, but it's lacking its warmth and likability. I do like the Hugo update -- in my world, that'd be the primary mark and the current one would become a secondary mark.
     
  3. Sam Mills 51

    Sam Mills 51 Well-Known Member

    Until it starts functioning like a professional franchise, bringing back the Hornets' colors and logo won't save it.
     
  4. Mystery Meat II

    Mystery Meat II Well-Known Member

    I don't think anyone's saying that. But the franchise desperately needed a PR win and they got one here by bringing back a beloved nickname and colors as quickly as it could. Nobody thinks Zo, LJ and Muggsy are going to saunter through the doors of the Charlotte Coliseum. But they've been wanting the Hornets back in whatever fashion from the day Shinn took it all away from them. This gives them a reason to feel a little bit of enthusiasm about their basketball franchise, and maybe symbolically bury the ragamuffin, never-embraced Bobcats and all that it entails. You can say that's no big deal in the grand scheme, and sure, they could go back to winning 10 games a season and the Hornets will be playing in front of houseflies, but this is one of the few things they didn't screw up.

    Imagine if Jordan held a presser a few weeks after New Orleans announced its intention to become the Pelicans, and he says something like "the Hornets are a treasured part of our past, but we need to focus on the future with the Bobcats". Because I wouldn't have put it past him or anyone else in management to do it. And it would have taken a giant dump right in the heart of Uptown.

    I'll go so far as to say that this will easily be the most well-received rebranding of a major sports franchise in at least the past 30 years.
     
  5. Baron Scicluna

    Baron Scicluna Well-Known Member

    So does this mean they get back the original Hornets' history, or does New Orleans keep that?
     
  6. linotype

    linotype Well-Known Member

    On the court, Sam is 100 percent right. That franchise has a long, long way to go.

    But this unveiling did what it was supposed to do -- hokey or not, it rekindled that attachment and reminded me of what it felt like to root for them when the franchise was born and I was a seventh grader hundreds of miles from Charlotte who inexplicably started rooting for them.

    EDIT: What Meat said, word for word.
     
  7. Sam Mills 51

    Sam Mills 51 Well-Known Member

    This can't hurt. Don't get me wrong.

    But the only two things Michael Jordan has done correctly was go get the Hornets' old moniker and colors back after Tom Benson wanted to name New Orleans' team the Pelicans … and bring back PR and marketing after Bob Johnson foolishly banished it not long after getting the Bobcats. The second move was a no-brainer. Didn't take brilliance to do so, but at least Jordan did it.

    And while bringing back the Hornets' moniker and colors should have been an easy move, Jordan was overly concerned that it would cost too much money. Penny wise and pound foolish … more Hornets swag will move in the next two years than moved during the Bobcats' entire reign of error. This will pay for itself and put them in the black quickly.

    But anyone who thinks this is solely a reason to believe Charlotte's franchise actually wants to function and give a crap about winning is kidding themselves. And, believe it or not, I hope I'm wrong.
     
  8. DanOregon

    DanOregon Well-Known Member

    I don't know who does the design work on logos - but to me they all look very similar Timberwolves, Grizzlies…this.
     
  9. Baron Scicluna

    Baron Scicluna Well-Known Member

    I was a little young to understand when the Mavericks came in the league, but I fully remember when the Hornets, Heat, T'wolves and Magic came in. It was pretty fun reading about expansion drafts and wondering if the teams were going to be any good. I kinda thought it was cool to see Kelly Tripucka, Tony Campbell and Terry Catledge kick some ass.
     
  10. wicked

    wicked Well-Known Member

    Hornets never should've left Charlotte in the first place.
     
  11. Versatile

    Versatile Active Member

    Why would a logo make you a fan of a league?
     
  12. Stoney

    Stoney Well-Known Member

    Can't believe the franchise is just tossing away all that Bobcat history and tradition.
     
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