The Wisconsin Boxers

Went with the Boxer's since I always enjoyed checking out the hall of champions in the Field House of all the great boxers UW had (do they still have those pictures around I haven't been there in awhile). Unbeknownst to some Wisconsin has a somewhat rich, albeit tragic tradition in the sport of boxing especially at UW. But I guess just for strictly the dog part of it, we do fairly well in that category too, and I don't think any pro teams are named after dogs, what gives?

From 1933-1960 UW won 8 NCAA titles (most of any NCAA school all time), and 38 individual titles in the sport. I'm not sure if they still have all the pictures up in the Field House of all the champions but that's what eventually led to this name. Crowds of 10,000+ used to routinely watch the matches and tournaments in the Field House. Muhammad Ali even had bouts there in his younger days.

Sadly prominent boxer, and defending national champ Charlie Mohr went into a coma after his fight on April 9, 1960, eight days later Charlie passed away. After this tragic event, faculty members re-evaluated the program and decided to end the sport at UW, the following year the NCAA would follow suit.

The National Collegiate Boxing Association continued college boxing in 1976 through today with about 36 school participating. Is it weird to name one pro sports team after another professional sport? Boxing and hockey do have a couple things in common.

Alternates

The Wisconsin Cudas

Nothing really to do with Wisconsin (I think), just like the name, love the car. The most perfect car ever made was the 1972 Cuda. Granted this sounds like a team name for a 'single A' baseball team. Made the fish hook look like a "W" for Wisco. Da Cudas might be a good thing to say in our nice midwestern accent, maybe too close to da bears.

The Wisconsin Icemen

Wait for it...

I was really struggling with the Icemen one (thanks Holly from Facebook for the idea). I couldn't find any info on what they were looking to name the possible expansion team in the 80's, but the Icemen could work. There are a few minor league and amateur teams named the Icemen, they take it in a few different directions.

Didn't know what to do with our logo. The Minnesota Iceman was a freak show event that toured the midwest, including Milwaukee, in the 1960's. The frozen man was touted as a missing link, big foot type creature.

That could possibly be the mascot, or secondary logo but I'm not a good drawer. Instead made ours kind of like a iceberg/Ice Mountain/Glacier.

Or should we go with this?

A couple alternates,

This is just comical, but could be good in the year 2040.

A couple months ago a forum user named "Erica" made the suggestion of the Milwaukee Braves as a team name. I loved it, I thought that team would be perfect, you tie into Milwaukee's sports history as well as Wisconsin's overall history. Many of us are too young to remember the effect the Braves had on the state, and the devastation of when they left. From what I hear they were fully beloved, and probably would rival the Packers for attention if they would have stuck around. Part of the reason for that was how successful they were. They didn't have a losing season for all 13 years they were in Milwaukee, also winning a world series and having players that rival the stature of the Yankees didn't hurt either. Maybe if you bring a team there with the same name you get a little kharma rubbed off, and perhaps a pavlovian response of happiness everytime you hear that name, "and introducing the MILWAUKEE BRAVES!". Ahhhhhhh.

I don't know about these logos though. I like them, think it's a good start, but maybe we need to be a little more distinguished. I didn't want to use a tomahawk since Atlanta goes with that, and we don't have the legal right to use the screaming/laughing native yet. Can you tell that is a spear above? I wanted to spell it out as a opposed to go with a big logo of something, kind of like how the Chiefs did it in Slap Shot, or what the Ducks changed to. Just the name without a lot of fancy stuff around it. The colors are also reminscent of the Madison/Wisconsin Capitols.

Thoughts?

Last week I was thinking back when we launched and beginning to wonder if we had decided to pick the worst time to begin a frivolous website campaign. You had devastating floods all over the world, mass deaths of fish/birds as probably a sign of the apocalypse in January, Packer's winning the Super Bowl (apocalypse avoided), the Middle East overthrowing their leaders, and what probably will be a month's long protest in Madison over Union's rights. And I'm supposed to sit here and say, hey everyone please ignore history being made as we speak, and once in a generation occurances, and focus your attention on this.

We finally have an idea to tie ourselves to at least something going on. A proposed team name of the Wisconsin Union. Before I get into reasons of why I think it may work, let me just say we are not trying side with anyone completely from a site standpoint, people who know me personally know what side I'm on but I don't think it's appropriate to leak it through a hockey website. We will remain as much as we can a sports website. I abhor those that try to step back and forth between many different lines. There is enough politics in the media enough as it is with talking heads babbling incoherently non stop, it might be nice to have some places that are void of that and just try to focus at the topic at hand. Not to mention I think it alienates readers when there is no need to. Unless it is politics in relation to the NHL or hockey we'll leave it to those sites that you expect it from and ones you probably read on your own already. Or I could just be avoiding the inevitable.

But for the most part which ever side you are on, it is hard no to appreciate the dedication the protesters have show to a cause they believe so strongly about. Isn't that what America was founded on? I've never been more proud to be from Wisconsin than during this time.

Great Things About the Name Union/logo:

We'd instantly become a trivia question on what sports teams don't end in the word "S". Most are from the NHL anyway.

Used a hammer which is symbolized in the Wisconsin flag to reprsent our recognized manufacturing industry.

It would connect with Wisconsin's history as a major force in the Union army during the Civil War.

The significance of the Memorial Union, boom.

And yes it would tie back to the storied tradition of Unions in Wisconsin and as they exist today.

We'll have this logo available in our store shortly.