Wednesday, September 06, 2006

Go, Nagano Blizzards!


When in Japan, Rob and I and our friend Sue went to a Hiroshima Toyo Carp baseball game, but we were disappointed to find out that Carp merchandise mimics Cincinnati Reds swag, so isn't nearly as cool as we had hoped.

Apparently we should have gone to a Sino-Nippon football (soccer) game, because just how cool are these numerous team logos?

Just goes to show you the NFL doesn't need to keep relying on the same boring animal names. Swords, Stealth, Typhoons, Emperors, Forest Demons, Samurai, Sky Thunder...these are all names the US needs to look into. Sue says her favorite is the uber-cute polar bear kicking the soccer ball with his feet in the Nagano Blizzards logo, and I agree. Although I also have a soft spot for the Maebashi Volcanoes, since we had such a good time in Gunma Prefecture, that team's home turf.

Also cool: All 50 states in katakana.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

But Aomori has The Pirates! Complete with skull and crossbones logo! I don't see how you could top that, cute polar bear or no.

Anonymous said...

I've once seen japanese play soccer. They aren't that bad at all. They're great in fact.

Anonymous said...

I'm always looking for Hiroshima Carp merch on eBay, as well as Nippon Ham Fighters merch. I know it's supposed to designate the team as belonging to Nippon and Ham, but it's way more fun to believe that ham-fighting is involved.

Northern California used to have a team called the Prune Pickers, long defunct, for which the infamous Hal Chase played on and off, but nowadays team names are focus-grouped to death.