South Shore Shooters

So anybody who thinks that a good nickname for a Gary, Indiana based sports team would be the Shooters, please raise your hand. Seriously, Andrew Haines and the rest of you team owners, you can put your hand down - you don't count.

And don't go defending it by telling me that it honors the local casinos, either. That's almost as bad as it's other connotation.

Wait, it's not actually in Gary? It's in Dyer, 10 miles away? Well that makes it soooo much better.

Oh yeah, and while we're at it, Dyer - enjoy your half season of ABAish hockey. Good luck with Mr. Haines there. He's never burned anybody.

Doesn't anybody do research before investing in sports franchises anymore?

Team: South Shore Shooters
League: Mid-Atlantic Hockey League - What a joke
Location: Dyer, Indiana - the greater Gary area
Arena: Midwest Training & Ice Center

Indiana University

Happy new year everybody! The Sports Logo Pundit is back and I hope to keep this thing rolling along at a nice pace after this. I'll probably add in a little bit of general sports talk since I just don't have anywhere else to write about sports, but I'll try to keep it focused on logos as much as possible. So stay tuned, please tell your friends, and enjoy at least until my little girl is born in February and I totally disappear.

For my first post of the new year, I just simply want to point out the logos of the lesser schools of the Indiana University system. I couldn't believe how cheap they went with these. I guess I can understand it for NAIA schools like IU East, IU Northwest, IU Southeast and IU South Bend, but IUPUI? A large Division 1 school gets the same generic treatment as IU East? And why didn't IPFW have to conform?

And seriously, what the hell is going on over there? Should their motto be "The Indiana University system: keeping a weary eye on Illinois since 1820"?

Fort Wayne Mad Ants

Thanks to one the SLP's advance scouts, Benjamin K. Shown, for pointing me to the brand spanking new Fort Wayne Mad Ants logo.

I'm loving it! It's about time that the D-League had a team with some cojones. General "Mad" Anthony Wayne would be proud. I didn't think that I could take anymore Los Angeles D-fenders, Anaheim Arsenal, Bakersfield Jam bore-fests.

This is one of the freshest nicknames and logos released this entire year. It has some flaws - the ant in the circle is a little awkward - but I don't care, the whole package works especially when you take into consideration how cool the dunking ant on this poster is...

Now that's how you build an identity and a brand. I'd be willing to bet that merchandise will be going "Mad Fast" too!

Team: Fort Wayne Mad Ants
League: D-League
Location: Fort Wayne, Indiana
Arena: Allen County War Memorial Coliseum

Fort Wayne Fusion - UPDATE!

From my February 12th review of the Fort Wayne Fusion's logo - "I keep thinking that this is a temporary logo and the real thing is on it's way"

I'm so happy to announce that the feeling that I had in the pit of my stomach when I saw the awful, disgusting Fusion "eyeball" logo was correct. Earlier this week the team released a new logo and identity that is much more pleasing to the eye.

I really like the lettering used on the script. It gives it both a retro and modern look all at the same time. And the "FW" logo that is featured on the helmets is one of the most creative two letter combinations that I have seen in a long time. It would make an interesting cap logo for a baseball team.

However, I don't like the dot on the "I", it looks more like a snowflake than anything. Part of the problem with the name in general is that the concept of fusion is hard to visualize and so far they haven't figured out a way to successfully present fusion graphically.

I also don't like how burnt the burnt orange is. It makes the purple look muted, almost more like it's a navy blue. As much as I didn't like the old logo, I feel like they should have found a way to split the difference between the orange in that logo and the burnt orange featured here. Instead of jumping off the page the way that it should with a brighter orange, it just kind of lazily lays there, despite the improvements.

I'm hoping that my power is so great that within the next few days the Fusion will re-release this logo with an improved color scheme. Why not? It worked last time.

Fort Wayne Fusion

Whoa. This seriously is the logo of the af2's Fort Wayne Fusion. I don't even know where to begin. I keep thinking that this is a temporary logo and the real thing is on it's way, but given that the season starts in six weeks, that might just be wishful thinking.

That's it, this review is done. I can't take it anymore....my head hurts just looking at it.

Team: Fort Wayne Fusion
League: af2
Location: Fort Wayne, Indiana
Arena: Allen County War Memorial Coliseum