rayonsports.com

Logo of a minor league baseball team that plays in the Class A Midwest League, the Great Lakes Loons. The club is located in Midland, Michigan and affiliated with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Five former Loons have made it to the big leagues, including Dodger pitcher Clayton Kershaw and Cleveland catcher Carlos Santana. Like most minor league clubs, the Loons have a mascot – an energetic bird named Lou E. Loon, and his signature cheer, the “Funky Feather”, won minor league baseball’s best in-game promotion award in 2009.

Logo of the Minnesota North Stars, who played in the National Hockey League from 1967 until moving to Dallas in 1993. This logo was used from the team’s inception in ’67, when they joined the NHL along with 5 other expansion teams, (doubling the league’s size from 6 teams, known as the “original six”, to twelve), until 1974. The team’s notable players in their early years include goalies Gump Worsley and Cesare Maniago, Bill Goldsworthy, Ted Harris, Danny Grant, Lou Nanne (who later served as the team’s GM), Jude Drouin and Bill Masterton, who unfortunately is the only player in NHL history to die from an on-ice injury. During a game against the California Seals in 1968, he fell backwards while skating, hitting his head on the ice, and never regained consciousness, dying 2 days later of a “massive brain injury”.

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.