Am I the only person who doesn't hate the Houston Rockets' new logo? Kevin, Jack, and Larry all heap scorn on it.
I'm not saying it's a thing of beauty, just that it's an improvement over the cartoon character rocket-ship-with-teeth that they've been using, which admittedly isn't saying much. Still, I'm willing to cut them some slack until I see the actual uniform. In the meantime, here's a tip for Les Alexander: No one in Houston will complain if you go back to the pre-1995 uniforms and logos. We'll just pretend everything that came after it never happened. We promise.
UPDATE: For comparison purposes, here are the Rockets' uniforms throughout their history. I'll take the ones Hakeem and Clyde are wearing, thanks very much. And let's face it: the logo could be worse:
That was their logo from 1971-1972. Can't imagine why they didn't keep it longer than that.
Posted by Charles Kuffner on July 10, 2003 to Other sports | TrackBackNow that I think of it, the rocket R seems to be coming out of a silo.
Houston's NASA is all about rockets firing from launch pads into space, not missiles launching from silos to nuke people. Sounds like warmongering to me.
Besides, the space industry is dying, thanks to government cutbacks. For crying out loud, we named out football team after the state and the baseball team after the stadium they used to play in. Isn't there ANYTHING this town is known for?
Posted by: Laurence Simon on July 10, 2003 5:43 PMThe two R's adjascent looks really silly, and the entire mess rather reminds me (like Lar) of the hammer and sickle - not something I expected Texans to embrace.
Besides, if the R's start coming up through the hoop, they'll be called for goal tending.
Now please welcome, the 2003 Houston Brockets!
Posted by: Danil on July 10, 2003 5:51 PMHi Kuff':
I like it. I heard someone say it looks like a 70's rock album cover on the radio. But I like 70's rock!
I'm a big fan of 93.7...
(Damn hippies).
~ Jimbo
Posted by: Jim D on July 10, 2003 6:23 PMI like it -- it's a very futuristic-in-1959 kinda design.
The rest of the typography does seem to me to be a bit off, but remember -- I'm not a designer, I just play one on the internet.
Posted by: Frankenstein on July 10, 2003 6:23 PMIt looks more like a logo for a fast food chain than for a basketball team. I preferred the old Rockets logo (pre-1995) to anything since. The new logo is a vast improvement, however, on that video game / arcade reject they were using the last few years.
It could be worse. They could bring back the Astros uniforms from the early 1980s.
Posted by: William Hughes on July 10, 2003 9:13 PMAs a disinterested party (I enjoy watching basketball, but don't feel passionate about it), I kind of like the logo. It's simple and evocative.
William: At least the Astros won with those uniforms.
Posted by: Chris Quinones on July 10, 2003 9:46 PM"William: At least the Astros won with those uniforms."
By blinding their opponents. ;)
It's a tossup between the Astros 1980s uniforms, White Sox late 1970's softball uniforms with shorts and the Vancouver Canucks "I'm so glad I live on the east coast so I don't have to see them more than a few times a year." early 1980s disaster for ugliest uniform of all time.
Special mention must be made, however, for the snot green on the (RIP) AHL's Beast of New Haven's jerseys and the beer-league reject logo on the New York Rangers' third outfit (and I'm a Rangers fan at that).
Posted by: William Hughes on July 10, 2003 10:10 PMThat's the thing, Chris - the Rockets won their two championships with the plain old red, white and yellow uniforms, then switched to what they're wearing now, which most locals describe as "pajamas".
The Rockets web page has a look at their uniforms throughout the team history. I'm no fashionista, but I see nothing wrong with either of the unis that Hakeem and Clyde are pictured in.
Posted by: Charles Kuffner on July 10, 2003 10:11 PMAgreed, the old championship unis aren't bad either.
What about the Padres yellow-brown monstrosities, and the A's yellow-green ones from the Finley era? Now them's ugly.
Posted by: Chris Quinones on July 11, 2003 11:53 AMThe Oakland A's "Mix and Match" look wasn't too bad. As for the Padres, we'll just file that under "things that shouldn't have happened".
Here's an ironic twist: While boarding the Staten Island Ferry this morning, I saw a boy no older than 11 wearing the Astros early 80's style uniform.
Forgot to mention the ultimate in bad logos. The mid to late 90s AHL Cincinnati Cyclones retired the trophy with a goaltender raising his arms to form the letter C.
Posted by: William Hughes on July 11, 2003 12:40 PMI actually liked the A's yellow and gold look. I'm not saying I'd base my wardrobe on it, but I thought it had style.
The Padres...well, the less said, the better.
Posted by: Charles Kuffner on July 11, 2003 12:53 PMAm I the only who looks at this logo and sees a clear "chinese lettering" look to the whole thing? Particulary in the logo that includes the words "Houston Rockets" on it. My thought was that maybe this was done as a pitch to Yao Ming and the international flavor he brings to the team. If they make some spiffy lookin' uni's, then I say the logo is a success. If they make some ugly lookin' ones, then I say this logo lasts about as long as James Posey did in H-town...
Posted by: Rob Greene on August 5, 2003 2:08 PMInteresting point, Rob. It does have the look of being drawn with a brush, as Chinese characters traditionally are. Hadn't thought of that before, but it wouldn't surprise me if that was part of the influence.
Posted by: Charles Kuffner on August 5, 2003 3:51 PMyour crazy i love the new jersey