Bernreuther, the $100K is spent on market research, designing numerous concepts, preparing clothing, websites and mockups, etc. In other words, it's a process, not just drawing a cat. /graphic designer justification
Nobody in the NBA has to worry about their mascot being too lame as long as the Raptors remain in the league, though... What are the mascots for the Jazz, Magic, Heat, Lakers, Nets, Clippers, Sonics, Pistons, Nuggets, Pacers, etc (non-obvious mascottable (sp?) team names)...do they even have mascots?
Two, there were actually a lot of bullets flying around DC, it was one of the NBA's only relevant nicknames. You do know that's why they changed the name, right?
Yes, I'm from VA. Yes, I know they changed the name to be politically correct. I just thought it was a mistake. I say be politically incorrect, keep the Bullets name, keep Rasheed Wallace & Chris Webber, trade for Ron Artest and Scottie Pippen (don't forget about that weapons charge). Ron Artest ...Washington BULLET ... that's got a nice ring to it.
The logo isn't too bad, and I definitely prefer Orange to the aforementioned Teal plague (that struck the Hornets, Marlins, Jaguars, Devil Rays, and Panthers, amongst others). Frankly, I'm just glad to see that Charlotte got their team back. I'm looking forward to the expansion draft (next summer, right?).
Well the logo isn't THAT bad, and the colors are ok, but I still hate the name Bobcats! I mean, even Wildcats sounds more professional than Bobcats. However, thank God they didn't go with teal. May Alexander Julian burn in Hell forever for making that color popular!
Teams with cats as their mascots seem to have trouble winning recently. Detroit Tigers - worst team in basball right now. Cincinnati Bengals - won two games last season. Carolina Panthers - were 1-15 in 2001. Jacksonville Jaguars - three straight losing seasons. Florida Panthers - 4th worst record in NHL this year. I personally prefer the name "Flights"... at least that name has some historical relevance to North Carolina (Wright Brothers, Kitty Hawk, first flight). And I bet they could swing a pretty sweet deal with Nike with a name like "Flights".
I loved the Hornets teal. I would have prefered that we got that name back, and the unis. I don't like the Panthers uniforms though, I'd like to see them go to something predominatly black. Carolina Panthers - were 1-15 in 2001. Yeah, but 7-9 last year. Things are looking up! As long as we can find a decent QB that's under 35 years old.
jhwoo, don't forget about the Detroit Lions (3-13 last year). And pro hoops in North Carolina will always be second fiddle to Big Four/ACC hoops.
more surprising than the lack of teal to me is the lack of black. Everyone is adding black, as a 3rd jersey or new colors or whatever. I'm glad that the Mets seem to have gone back to Blue, that was the worst black addition, I think... I wish the Marlins would go back to bright teal hats, those were cool :) dusted, I know what goes into it. Still, 100 grand though... lots of cash.
