All I was saying, GT, was that it is ONE reason why Explorers fits, not even that it is the BEST reason. Hey, I'm not picky - as long as it is Oregon's team, I'll be pleased as punch to support it (although I'd prefer no collective nouns).

Along the Herons line and maybe being a bit unique how about calling the team the Portland Great Blues?

It seems to me that most baseball team names have a tendency to follow the heritage of an area. This supports the argument that the Pioneers would be a suitable fit - if you assume that Explorers comes too close to the Trail Blazers moniker.

That being said, there's something about the Pioneers name that almost seems too simple - it needs to be jazzed up or modified into something a bit more local - such as a local nickname for a certain kind of Pioneer - something that's unique to Portland? Is there something in Portland lore that might point to an option?

My thinking here is that AZ didn't name their club the rattlesnakes, they named the club after a certain type of rattlesnake unique to the Sonoran Desert; hence, the Diamondbacks.

Maybe someone out there has an idea to expand on. Let's put the Portland historians to work!

M's fan

BC-
I like "Evergreens." Not sure how, in all of the names threads we've had, how that never came up...

As per "Great Blues," I have a thing with adjectives...RiverDogs, Forest Dragons, etc. I'm not sure why, but they just seem kinda minor league to me. "Great Blues," is of course two adjectives--with no real subject noun. And there's already a regular "Blues" in major league sports. I'm not trying to rag on the suggestion, I just personally don't favor it. But I don't like "Blue Herons" for the same reasons. Its just superfluous. Anyway...lets keep brainstorming, this is fun...

'Cuse Playa...the member formerly known as Reno Playa.
Go Herons!

Portland Summits?
Portland Alpines?

If they don't use the "Portland Beavers" What about the "Portland Knights" just like in the movie "The Natural" not sure about copyrights, but the Portland Knights would fit nice if Mr. Nike (Phil Knight) wanted to purchase the team.

Anyway...lets keep brainstorming, this is fun...

Portland Hoods.

Oh wait, that's what we call the Blazers....

Mark

Isn't Washington known as the Evergreen State?

okay, here we go... The actual logo isn't done yet, but I put together this little teaser. I absolutely love this thing...

'Cuse Playa...the member formerly known as Reno Playa.
Go Herons!

cedars_patch.gif (12 KB, 110 downloads) Cedars' Patch

Very nice logo, 'Cuse Playa - except that doesn't look like a cedar tree to me. Portland Totems, anyone?

quote:

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Portland Totems, anyone?

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When I first read the above from BC, I read Portland Tokems. Too much press about the Blazers I guess.

I like the logo, although a little too close in colors to the Seachickens.

Its not supposed to look like a Cedar tree. Its supposed to make you think about cedar trees. so here's the rationale...

With "Cedars" the obvious thought is to use a big tree. Boring. I tried it, and short of ripping off the Stanford Tree, I thought it should be avoided.

So, then I wanted to go the Native American route. Quick history lesson: Tribes like the Chinook used the Cedar for almost everything--longhouses, smoking food, clothing, boats, currency, and especially art. So it seemed like a neat route to go. Those masks you always see are almost always made of Cedar, so i wanted to try that out. The mask I used is a Great Horned Owl--an animal prevalent to the Cedar forests of the Northwest Coast Ranges. That afforded me several tie-ins to "Cedars," while being slightly more sophisticated and interesting than just using a big tree. It also allowed me to draw on Northwestern Tribal art which I consider to be extremely beautiful, elegant, and very unique to our region.

And, for what its worth, I liked the idea of a logo that has some deeper, less obvious meanings. I love my "Herons" logo, but its pretty straight forward. I wanted something to "suggest" cedars. The prominent use of woodgrain, a wooden mask, the use of the owl, and the Northwest Native motif are all meant to make you think "Cedar," while being more than just a picture of a tree. This isn't the final logo, just a teaser.

'Cuse Playa...the member formerly known as Reno Playa.
Go Herons!

WOW! That looks cool! I really, really, REALLY like it! Is there some way you can throw some blue in there somewhere?

Correct me if I am wrong but the Indians Tribe that is known for Totem poles is from the Puget Sound area and up into British Columbia.

Jeez guys. He was just being a little creative in his free time. No need to jump all over him. I liked it a lot, for what it's worth.

Free the Montreal 9

Didn't mean to make it sound like I was "jumping him", Sodo. I can see the line of reasoning, but I just sort of expect a logo to look somewhat like what the name implies. It is a very cool and sharp design; without following 'Cuse Playa's train of thought, however, I doubt it will conjure up many thoughts of tall, spreading cedars in the minds of others.

But, nothing's been decided yet, and this is definitely the place for new and creative ideas. I certainly don't want to squelch anyone's ideas right now.

Well I just joined today and figured I would jump right in the mix. I am a designer by trade and baseball fan at heart.

My concept is below with an explanation of colors and why elements were used. It is a start which I plan to work on. I believe I would have to refine it more maybe add a more powerful text etc, make it less cartoonish, but liek i said just a start.

Oregon Baseball Design

All comments are welcome

Not being a designer, I'm not expert, but your designs look nice. All such input is more than welcome here.

A couple of things I might point out to you, however, and this is in regard, not to the uniforms, but the the team name. While not everyone will agree with me (and that's OK), I think most baseball fans (at least the ones that I know) would not be in favor of ANY collective-noun nickname: Thunderclouds yes, Thunder no. Collective nouns for teams are too gimmicky (IMO).

Second, most people around here would probably favor using "Portland" rather than "Oregon" in the team's name. While the park would be located in Oregon, and income tax from Oregon but not from Washington is being used in the stadium financing package, to use the state name would probably not help in getting fans from southwest Washington over to the ballpark. Washingtonians don't mind identifying with Portland as the core city of our metropolitan area, but we ARE on the border, they ARE proud Washingtonians, and we are probably better off not risking any sort of "alienation". The Trailblazers and Beavers have both focused on the core city, and I believe a major league baseball team should as well.

Just food for thought. Keep working, and maybe this thread will revive again in light of the current happenings in D.C.

Welcome to the site-nice work!

I agree with BC o nthe collective noun theory....

How about Thundersticks?

quote:

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Originally posted by Mal29:
Well I just joined today and figured I would jump right in the mix. I am a designer by trade and baseball fan at heart.

My concept is below with an explanation of colors and why elements were used. It is a start which I plan to work on. I believe I would have to refine it more maybe add a more powerful text etc, make it less cartoonish, but liek i said just a start.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v285/whchoclte/Oregonsketchgold.jpg

All comments are welcome

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Welcome aboard, Mal29!

I hope to see you here often, and thanks for doing the creative work.

Maury Brown
Information Director
Oregon Stadium Campaign

Co-Chair
SABR Business of Baseball committee

Vice President
NWSABR