rayonsports.com

Logo of a team that played in the Arena Football League from 1995 until 2000, the Iowa Barnstormers. The team played their home games in the Des Moines Veterans Memorial Coliseum, affectionately known to their fans as “The Barn”. The team is most famous for producing an alumnus who went on to greatness in the NFL – quarterback Kurt Warner – who lived the Hollywood story of rising from supermarket bag boy and Arena League player to NFL Super Bowl champion. The Barnstormers were resurrected in the short-lived AFL2 league, and most recently as an entry in the newly reorganized Arena League in 2010.

Logo of another women’s pro basketball team, the WNBA’s Detroit Shock, who played in the league from 1998 until 2009, when they were relocated to Tulsa, Oklahoma. The club was the sister team to the NBA Pistons, and was one of the league’s most successful franchises, winning three championships in their Detroit era. Their first coach was Hall of Famer Nancy Lieberman. They were also coached by two members of the Pistons’ “Bad Boys”, Bill Laimbeer, and later Rick Mahorn. Two of the team’s star players were Deanna Nolan and Katie Smith.

Minor league baseball features many unique team names with creative logos, and this one, belonging to the Batavia Muckdogs of the New York-Penn League, is one of them. The club is currently affiliated with the St. Louis Cardinals, but from their inception in 1988 until 2006, they were the Class A affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies. Before the Muckdogs came into existence, Batavia housed other minor league teams dating back to 1957. Some notable players who played for the ‘Dogs are Ryan Madson, Chase Utley, Marlon Byrd and Ryan Howard.

Logo of the Baltimore Blades, a nomadic franchise  that played in the World Hockey Association for part of one season in 1974-75. The club, which played as the Los Angeles Sharks from 1972 until ’74,  started out the ’74 season as the Michigan Stags but folded in January of ’75, moving to Baltimore, where they were operated by the league, to finish the year before folding for good. The Blades’ top player was forward Marc Tardif, who went on to play in the NHL, but unfortunately he was traded before the move to Baltimore.  The team’s goalie, Gerry DesJardins, was able to work his way out of his contract at mid-season, and signed with the NHL Buffalo Sabres, helping lead them to the Stanley Cup Finals.

This is the original logo of the National Football League Atlanta Falcons, used from their inaugural season as an expansion team in 1966 until 1989. The Falcons were originally owned by Rankin Smith Sr. and their first ever draft pick upon entering the league was Texas All America linebacker Tommy Nobis, who became the face of the franchise for their first 10 years of existence. The team has mostly a history of losing, with only 10 playoff appearances in 45 years of existence, and also made the collossal mistake of trading away a young Brett Favre early in his career. Besides Nobis, other notable Falcons over the years include Claude Humphrey, Steve Bartkowski, Deion Sanders, Michael Vick, Jamal Anderson and Michael Turner.

Logo of a defunct team from the WNBA (Women’s National Basketball Association), the Cleveland Rockers. They existed from 1997 until 2003, entering the league as one of its’ original franchises. They were owned by Gordon Gund, who also owned the NBA Cavaliers. The team nickname was derived from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame situated in Cleveland. Their most notable player was Lynette Woodard, who prior to joining the Rockers had made history by being the first female player  to play for the Harlem Globetrotters.

Logo of the Montreal Royals baseball team, a minor league franchise that played in the AAA International League from 1946 until 1960, when the team moved to Syracuse, NY and became the Chiefs. The Royals were known for their long-time affiliation with the Brooklyn Dodgers, and were the first professional team that Jackie Robinson played on after signing with the Dodgers. The winningest pitcher in Royals’ history is Tommy Lasorda, legendary Dodger manager. Other famous managers who either played for or managed the Royals include Gene Mauch, Walter Alston and Sparky Anderson. Players who honed their skills with the franchise include Robinson, Roy Campanella, Duke Snider, Roberto Clemente, Don Drysdale and former actor Chuck Connors.

Logo of the Philadelphia Blazers hockey team, who played in the old World Hockey Association for one season, in 1972-73. They started out as the Miami Screaming Eagles but never played a game there, as a suitable arena in Miami wasn’t available. Their lone season in Philly was a disaster, starting with the cancellation of their opening home game, when the Zamboni malfunctioned and tore a chunk out of the playing surface. The Blazers’ ownership made a big splash by signing NHL players like Bernie Parent, Derek Sanderson and player/coach John McKenzie, but all of them wound up with injuries and the club had little success. They relocated to Vancouver for the 1973-74 season.

The logo of a football team that entered the NFL in 1961, the Minnesota Vikings. The Vikings, along with the Buffalo Bills, have the distinction of having lost 4 Super Bowl games, and never having won a single title. They were upset in Super Bowl IV by the Chiefs, when CFL veteran Joe Kapp was their quarterback, then lost 3 more times in the 1970s with Fran Tarkenton at the helm. Bud Grant was the coach for all 4 losses. Despite their Super Bowl failures, the Vikings were one of the strongest NFL teams throughout the late 1960s and into the ’70s. To add to their hard luck, in 1998, the Vikes won 15 of 16 regular season games and advanced to the NFC Championship game, where they were upset by Atlanta. Their kicker, Gary Anderson, who had been a perfect 35 for 35 on field goal attempts during the season, missed for the first time all year from 38 yards out with a chance to win the game, and they wound up losing in overtime.

This is the iconic logo of one of pro football’s winningest franchises, “America’s Team”, the Dallas Cowboys. The logo came into use starting in 1964, which is just about when the franchise began winning with regularity. The Cowboys have played in eight Super Bowls, and won 5 of them. The franchise had a record 20 consecutive winning seasons under coach Tom Landry, winning 2 titles during those years. When Jerry Jones bought the club in 1989 he unceremoniously dumped the legendary Landry, the only coach the franchise had known in its’ history, and replaced him with flamboyant college coach Jimmy Johnson. Jones took a lot of flak for the move, but it turned out to be the right one as the ‘Boys won 2 Super Bowls under Johnson, then another under Barry Switzer.