A Stern Warning has a brand new site!! Click the logo or go to http://www.asternwarning.com
It has been a little while coming, but what you are looking at above is the winner of ...a stern warning's competition to find a better logo for the OKC Thunder. The announcement of the winner has been a little delayed due to my having to sift through the thousands of entries that were received from all over the planet.
The designer of this simple yet effective masterpiece is Ethan aka The Ethanator over at NESW Sports. Who better than E himself to describe the vision behind the work of art?
"All of the factors are there. You have the OK sign. You have the “C”. You also have Thunder in the background. So I will be expecting this on some throwback jerseys in about 25 years."
What does Ethan win? Well... a big pat on the back from Mr Stern. That's what.
Caption Competition
Here's one for fans of Australian basketball in particular, but it really only needs a bit of creativity to come up with a response on this one and you could win a nice prize from JR, On Fire. Check it out and come out with a better caption than the one I fabricated.
Battle of the Bloggers : Fantasy NBA
The rivalry is hotting up as the tenth and final spot has just been filled in the Battle of the Bloggers Fantasy NBA tournament. We are 11 days away from draft day, so further updates (including a list of all the entrants) will be forthcoming in the countdown to game day. Bring it on!!
A Stern Warning has a brand new site!! Click the logo or go to http://www.asternwarning.com
There has been a lot of criticism out there of the new Oklahoma City Thunder logo. We've seen everything from detailed critiques to hilarious cartoons about the saga.
Good friend of this blog, Jeff Wong (formerly of Hoops Addict and The Score) came up with a very good question: CAN YOU DO BETTER?
What we're asking here today is, if you can do a better job of designing a logo for the Thunder, then please step up to the plate. There is a veritable treasure trove of great designers out there in the world of NBA fans -- we've seen them time and time again.
So if you have the skills, please post a link to your re-design of the OKC Thunder logo in the comments here, or email them to me at mookie (at) asternwarning.com and we will post all of them here. Submissions will be taken up until September 20th.
Who knows... when the time comes to revamp the OKC Thunder logo again, perhaps Clay Bennett will come knocking at your door, with a cup of Starbucks in hand...
Actually, scrap that bit about the Starbucks, that's just taking it too far.
The sports apparel shop where Colby Ousley works was one of the first places to get new NBA T-shirts featuring Oklahoma City on the front.
There's still a big question on the minds of Ousley and others who are eager for the NBA to make its official arrival in the city, though.
"I'm anxious to know what they're finally going to be. The colours, nobody knows anything about that," said Ousley, a 19-year-old who's studying athletic training at the University of Central Oklahoma.
The NBA expects that parts of Oklahoma City's new identity might be announced next month, but the final deadline will be late September - shortly before the start of pre-season games.
The actual names under consideration aren't being revealed, but Bennett has said there are several names being cleared through the league and that the team took in recommendations through letters, naming competitions at schools and a contest run by the local newspaper.
"We've got lots and lots of names, so we feel like we have absorbed much of the flavour of what the citizens have considered and have certainly put that into the equation," Bennett said.
When it comes to Oklahoma City's yet-to-be-named NBA franchise, a for-sure, can't-miss nickname is difficult to come by. Marketing experts say the easy choices are already taken, long ago gobbled up by the hundreds of professional franchises.
Good names, Orza said, are terms that are positive, short, easy to spell and easy to pronounce. The best ones also reflect strength and characterize the team's region.
"You kind of want a fun term also,” Orza said. "Four letter names are always the best if you can get them. If you think about it, Ford, Oreo, Coke, the reason those names are so successful is they're easy to say, easy to remember and easy to spell.
"Simple means bigger, and the bigger you can get it on a uniform and cap the easier it is to see the image and the impression of the name.”
Nickname fever is sweeping the state, and no one is immune. With the impending arrival of Oklahoma's first major-league sports franchise — one that's leaving its name, colors and history behind — folks from Guymon to Gotebo are talking about what the team should be called.
Who among us hasn't thought about it, talked about it, debated about it?
This has become fodder for the casual observer every bit as much as the hard-core fan. The debate is just as likely to rage in a Sunday school class as at the local watering hole.
Heck, the obsession extends to The Oklahoman. Our fair newspaper conducted a 64-name bracket competition within hours of the relocation vote, and even though we've told all of you that we have no sway in the naming, you still keep calling and writing with your suggestions.
Meanwhile, OKC's (newly) own Kevin Durant will highlight the USA Select roster as one of 10 young players to give Team USA a run for their money in the lead up to the Olympics.
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