Saturday, September 26, 2009

Inconsequential Clash: Introduction / Jerseys & Logos

Due to the G-20 roaring through Pittsburgh this week, hockey has been the last thing on anybody's mind. However, life goes on in the hockey world, as does Orange, Black, & Gold. So, continuing with our Faceoff Spectacular here at OBG, we're going to take a break from our "Top 10 Most Painful Moments" feature in order to introduce a new feature, which I know will be one of my personal favorites.

So, ladies and gentleman, boys and girl, Flyers and Penguins fans, let's start the "Inconsequential Clash"! The "Inconsequential Clash" will be pitting the Flyers and the Penguins against each other in an unusual manner. The two teams will be stacked up against one another in erroneous fashion, as we look at the Keystone Clash from various angles that are often ignored by hockey fans. Each post will look at the rivalry from a certain standpoint, and the winner of each blog battle will receive a point. We'll keep a running score, and perhaps, over time, we'll see who is the true champion of irrelevancy is.

To get the Inconsequential Clash rolling, we're going to be taking a look at each team's symbols...

Logos: The current logos of the Flyers and Penguins are polar opposites in a sense. The Flyers' logo is baffling at first glance, yet unique when given thought. It is supposed to resemble a wing, but one doesn't think of a wing when they see it. Even though I am a huge Flyers fan, the idea that their logo is a wing-like shape very rarely crosses my mind. Instead, the logo just seems to represent the team, as it has a feeling of abstractness to it that makes it unique, and thus does a great job of symbolizing the organization. On the other hand, the Penguins' current logo, which was also their original logo, is an uninspiring Penguin on skates. Their secondary logo, which was used mainly during the 90's and the early 2000's as the team's primary logo, is a bit more distinctive, with a Penguins head pointing coming out of a triangle. The triangle is also present behind the skating Penguin in their current logo, and it symbolizes the "Golden Triangle," which is the area in downtown Pittsburgh near the intersection of the Allegheny, Monongahela, and Ohio Rivers. Personally, I love numerical symbolism in logos, so that gives the Penguins bonus points. I think the real debate here is whether or not the Penguins were wise to go back to their uninspired original logo. In the end, I'm going to have to give this one to the Flyers, because the Flyers have used their puzzing name and logo to form a unique identity for their organization that clearly sets them apart from any other similarly named team in sports.


(Also, if you're wondering what a new Flyers' alternate logo could look like, take a look at this interesting blog post)

Winner- Flyers
Score- Flyers 1, Penguins 0


Jerseys: Logos obviously come into consideration here, but not in the way that you might think. The Flyers primary logo has come to define the organization, but because of that it's tough for the Flyers to create an inspiring third jersey. Their only attempts at one have been throwbacks and a lackluster silver-lined orange jersey that showed up for a few years before the lockout. The Penguins, on the other hand, have varied their jerseys well, and they have used many combinations of speciality logos and colors that have served them well over their history. There are too many jerseys for me to post the images of all the jerseys here, but if you're already familiar with them, I think you'll agree with me that the Penguins have the edge here, in creativity and aesthetics.

Winner- Penguins
Score- Tied, 1-1

I apologize for the lack of images in this post. Blogger is quite incooperative when it comes to images.
Anyway, we'll pick up with more of our "Top 10 Most Painful Moments," more Inconsequential Clash posts, and more from our Faceoff Spectacular soon! Only six days away from the season...

No comments:

Post a Comment