Just my take: The Colorado “C” gets an “F”

The Colorado flag is completely played out. They hand you a beer coozy and a t-shirt emblazoned with the well-worn Colorado “C” when you cross the border or get off your plane at DIA, wide eyed at the wonder that is the Centennial state. The Colorado “C”, once the realm of local hipsters trying to show pride in the Rocky Mountain region, is now more common than a small brewery churning out nearly undrinkable IPAs. And just when you thought the exploitation of the Colorado “C” could go no further, the local sports scene is now grinding it into the fertile Colorado earth.

The Colorado Avalanche trotted out its newest third jersey this week and lo and behold, it’s got more “C’s” on it than a Metro State student’s report card. What was once a source of pride for Coloradoans has now become a Johnny-Come-Lately cash grab that seems all too passé.

The new design is reminiscent of the old Colorado Rockies (hockey team) logo from the 1970’s and while it’s a nice nod to that era of hockey in Colorado, why wasn’t this done a few years ago? Why do sports franchises wait so long to give fans what they want? I know it’s not easy changing a whole team’s logo and uniform scheme but by the time they get around to it, fans have moved on. The Colorado “C” is already on everything now from coffee mugs to socks. But this is like the Chinese Democracy of team logos: after such a long wait to put it on a Colorado sports team jersey, no one really cares anymore.

The Nuggets debuted a new jersey last week and it looks good but all we really want is the rainbow Tetris skyline design of old. The team introduced an ugly dark blue and yellow atrocity with the bad Nuggets script a few years back – a design no one asked for – when they could have trotted out the rainbow skyline. A modified version of the vintage Tetris style with the powder blue and yellow motif has appeared but it’s just not the same. It’s a missed opportunity to sell more merch and to get people excited about the team vicariously through clothing.

The Rockies haven’t changed much over the years and they don’t really need to. The CR logo is here to stay and that’s fine by me. What I don’t get is the horrible combination of the black hat with the purple bill. That is not a good look and they should go with the all black hat. Oh and not horrifically sucking next year would be a good step in the right direction too.

English soccer teams change their “kit” on a yearly basis. Probably because the garish sponsorship on the front changes rather frequently, but they keep things fresh by changing up the look of the jerseys regularly. This is definitely a cash grab and some feel it’s too much change, but if variety is the spice of life, maybe a slight change for our local teams every few years would be a nice, sensible dash of salt.

Either way it’s a great path to keeping fans interested in another aspect of the team that doesn’t involve the play on the field. Rockies take note.

But the Broncos are a prime example of this rigidity. For years fans have wanted the old school “D” with the horse busting through to make a comeback but so far the Broncos have refused. I get that the team has bigger fish to fry, but someone in the organization should be paying attention to this. The Steelers wear some sort of uniform abomination every year and they don’t skip a beat. The Patriots wear that awful helmet with a revolutionary war soldier seductively bending over on a regular basis. Wouldn’t you love to see Peyton Manning run out onto the field wearing the same uniform his boss John Elway wore?

I dare say most would knock down an old lady for the chance to see it and yet the Broncos refuse to give fans what they want.

I’m thrilled the Avs finally incorporated the Colorado “C” into its design. The question isn’t why they did it, but what took them so long? With the “C” becoming as ubiquitous as a Subaru and a fleece vest in Colorado, it seems a bit behind the times to introduce it now. It’s a little too late to the party if you ask this proud Coloradoan, but if it confuses a few transplant Chicago fans into thinking it’s an alternate Blackhawks jersey, I’m all for it.