Thursday, July 10, 2008

Iowa Chops? No, I'm Not Kidding

So the American Hockey League will have a new team this fall based out of Iowa which will serve as the Anaheim Ducks' minor league affiliate. And they're called the Chops.

Yes, the Iowa Chops. I'm not even making a joke here. And if I was, it would be a bad one. What is a Chop? See below for the logo.



All right, now that you've peeled yourself off the floor, wiped away the tears of laughter and stumbled helplessly back to the computer, take another look at it.

Still bad, isn't it? I'm surprised because nowadays I think we've come to expect more from new expansion clubs. Better names, better logos. I mean, consider the Ontario Reign of the ECHL. Great name, great logo — though I'm embarrassed to admit I didn't initially realize Ontario was a city in California. Despite living in an ECHL town, I pay almost no attention to that league.

Anyway, I'm eager to hear what you guys think of the Iowa Chops and their new logo. I'll be putting together new logo tournaments for the AHL and ECHL some time this year, by the way.

33 comments:

blake said...

Oh, I couldn't believe it either. They'll have some pretty awesome guys on their team next year though. I'm a big Portland Pirates fan, and we were affiliated with the Ducks until they switched to the Chops.

Damme said...

Iowa "Pork" Chops? I think that name is humiliating. Well, it's original, but humiliating. Well at least it has a meaning.

Michael said...

i seriously foud this team out like an hour before the post

and i red they are named after the iowa pork industry

uggg the logos really bad tooo

the colours dont fo together very well

Kevin Y said...

I actually knew about this before it was posted here; it was posted at battleofcalifornia.blogspot.com sometime yesterday in the late afternoon. I'm still not sure what i think about it. I like the red and gray and it's comical enough that I actually made it my laptop wallpaper (crazy, huh?).

But whenever I look at it, it just makes me feel like I'm in the mood for bacon.

Unknown said...

Ewwwwwwwwww

Kevin Y said...

As for the Ontario Reign, as a Kings fan it's nice that the Kings have an affiliate relatively close to the city of Los Angeles. Our other affiliates have been in Reading, PA and Manchester, NH, not anywhere near Los Angeles.

As for the ECHL, I live in Long Beach, CA, and when we had the Long Beach Ice Dogs I actually had an interest in the league (thanks to the NHL Lockout) and went to a lot of the games, paid attention to the league scoreboard, et cetera, even though the Ice Dogs were an affiliate of the Canadiens and Stars.

Nolo said...

makes me hungry!

scott said...

I like the colors and the overall look but the name would make we work extra hard to stay in the Ducks lineup. Maybe that was the reason they chose such a horrible name - to keep Bobby Ryan motivated to stay a Duck.

ecoulson1 said...

Atrocious. Name and colors. Just putrid. Shame on you Chops ownership. You're a disgrace to the sport.

ParallaxG said...

They better be careful about their mascot. The AAA baseball Lehigh Valley IronPigs started play this year and originally named their mascot Pork Chop. After protests, they had to change it since apparently Pork Chop is a derogatory term for a Puerto Rican.

http://preview.tinyurl.com/5a7so8

Chip said...

Nothing surprises me any more when it comes to logos and names, especially in hockey. I give them an A+ on originality and for doing something that reflects the industry of the area (right?). I'd be very angry if I was a Rockford Icehogs fan and had to play a team 9 times a year that had a similar name, logo, and color scheme.

Unknown said...

i am surprised PETA isn't all over this

nogoodbye said...

Suddenly I am hungry for some pork.

Unknown said...

Pork Chop Sandwiches!
(GI Joe PSA parody)

I just realized, now there are two pig based teams in the AHL. Rockford IceHogs and now the Iowa Chops. What's this league coming to?

Actually, I'm not opposed to the thought of using a pig as a mascot (like the old AK Razorbacks logo), but this was extremely poorly executed. Also found out about this on battle of california, and reading girl with a puck's blog, i'd say she makes valid points.

It ain't NHL, but I'd like to see some of the designers here come up with a better Pig logo than what they have here. I'm sure they could come up with something cool.

Jason said...

Is someone in the Ducks organisation is somehow involved in the meat industry? Ducks and now Pigs. Their AHL team is the Condors. I wonder if they eat those too?

It's a silly name and logo, but I don't mind. Most minor league logos are a bit goofy.

Cale Putnam said...

If there isn't at least one Shari Lewis song played at each of their home games, I shall be sorely disappointed.

Jason said...

Isn't Carolina's mascot a pig? This team would be a good fit for their AHL affiliate. The colours match, even!

Unknown said...

I laughed so hard I vomited.

May I suggest a "Worst Logo in the AHL" contest? Between this, the Rockford IceHogs, and the Syracuse Crunch, it should be an interesting fight.

sakaiser7 said...

As an Iowa resident I at first thought "oh holy S%@t" but after really looking at the colors and the name and logo all together and what is represents. I really have started to like this design. Agreed that the whole Rockford/Iowa likeness should have been looked at a bit more carefully. But its kinda a fun name to cheer for and as a fan I'm behind my team and am excited to the see the CHOPS hit the ice @ the Well!

Lax Guy said...

As a Des Moines resident, I was more than a little pissed when the announcement came. Originally we were hearing the team would be "Thunder" to allow shared marketing schemes with the Barnstormers AFL2 team. Then a women's football team took that name. Up until the announcement, we were hearing "Dragoons," which is a specific type of French soldier that patrolled Fort Des Moines before the Louisiana Purchase (there's your history lesson). That idea was cool - "Goons" would have been all we would have yelled; can't get more hockey than that.
When "Chops" was announced and our Rockford-esque logo was presented, I wanted to cry. It's been a hard fight to increase attendance and awareness of the sport (our local NBC affiliate repeated the same weather info and only showed less than 1/2 a screen of coverage as Detroit won the Cup this year), now those idiots did this. As a player and fan, I weep for the effects of corporate sponsorship and influence. The Iowa Pork Producers/Council threw some serious dough into the team. I guess "Chops" is the price we have to pay for more local control.

Anonymous said...

I'm Puerto Rican and never once have i ever been called a pork chop i think if someone called me that I would probably laugh just as hard as when I saw this logo. Congratulations Anahime Ducks for making your colors the bastard offspring of the Penguins and Flyers then making your affiliate team my dinner. Your ECHL team should be the Petaluma Eggs.
Yeah I looked up the former egg capital of the world.

Charlie @ Sabres Not Slugs.com said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Charlie @ Sabres Not Slugs.com said...

The wife grew up outside Des Moines in Indianola...While they do make a great pork chop, I'm embarassed for the region that somehow these crackpots thought that would be a good identity for the team.

Just check out the poll on the Des Moines Register...

VeryProudofYa said...

All that research and you couldn't look up the correct spelling of Anaheim, penguinslord67?


Anyhow, I don't mind the logo or the colors. It presents interesting enough marketing schemes.(calling home arena the pen, or the meat locker, or whatever) and those colors could come together to make a sweet jersey. Still though, if you had to go the pig-route, I'd have got with a boar or something. You can still tie it in to Iowa's pig industry and it's not as ridiculous a logo.

Well, at least they didn't implement a stick/puck into the logo.

Mike Phoenix said...

I can see so much fun beeing poked at this. I mean what is up with the AHL. I love my Toronto Marlies but there 3rd Jersey logo is not somthing i like to much. and 4 team now have simler look or names. There are the 2 admiral Teams. now 2 Teams With PIGS! on them. the AHL is looking like the CFL of hockey. What every happend to a good oldfasion contest for a team name and logo. no wonder we have so much talent on this site. becsaue there is no guess work, if the owners think its cool then its ok. who care about the fans. Sheesh!!!.

Anonymous said...

Apparently, C.H.O.P.S has an alternative meaning according to this.

J said...

(I just realized, now there are two pig based teams in the AHL. Rockford IceHogs and now the Iowa Chops. What's this league coming to?)

Before you know it, there will be two teams in the AHL with identical names! Oh, wait.....

ParallaxG said...

<<<
VeryProudofYa said...
Well, at least they didn't implement a stick/puck into the logo.
>>>

That could have worked, the pig could have been roasting over a fire skewered on a hockey stick rotisserie...

Jerm Deeks said...

latrell, you did point it out, but I want to make this blatantly clear.

Take a look at this.

Why, oh why, did the Iowa C.H.O.P.S include the dots in between the letters? It's a team name, not an acronym. What is an acronym however is C.H.O.P.S which (somehow) stands for Changing Homosexuals into Ordinary People. I wish I was kidding. I'm not.

This is what happens when no one researches the crazy idea to not only name a team "Chops" but "C.H.O.P.S".

Drew Celestino said...

Taking logo design tips from Larry Quinn ain't helping.

sacredblue said...

A pig in distress, because it's about to get it's throat slit in an Iowa abattoir. Great positive image. Maybe they want to get the fans geared up for the violence they hope is about to occur on the ice.

Damme said...

VeryProudofYa: Yeah, they could've add a puck to it's mouth to represent an apple. And maybe some applesauce on it's head.

Everyone are bullying the pork Chops. Bad parents, bad.

Anonymous said...

Before I seen the acronym, I thought this name would just live as one of the worst ones ever in hockey history. But after seeing the acronym, I think it just needs to be changed immediately.

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