Eugene Emeralds

33

Any time I see scenery in a logo like this, the first question in my mind is whether you can actually see a view like that in the city in question. The answer here is "sort of". The mountain in the background is indeed a real mountain, with the name Spencer Butte. And there is a river that runs through Eugene. So in theory you could see this exact view (minus the word "Emeralds", of course) from somewhere in Eugene. There's even a point where you could stand and the curves of the river would approximate those of the river in the logo. Of course there's one small problem, which is that there's a city in the way. But a little artistic license is allowed, right?

I want to like this logo. I've always thought green and blue is a good color scheme that doesn't get used enough, and it is a pleasant-looking logo. But I just can't get into it. For one thing, I can't shake the feeling that the logo of a team called the Emeralds ought to have an emerald in it. Not only does this logo not have an emerald, it doesn't really have anything at all. The scenery is effectively the background (even the river, which is technically in the foreground, is effectively part of the background). The word "Emeralds" is the most prominent part of the logo, but doesn't quite manage to look like the focus of the logo. Everything looks specifically like a supporting element, and there is no primary element.

Next, if the team name is "Emeralds" then I'd expect green to figure more prominentaly in the logo. It should either be the primary color in the background, or the word "Emeralds" should be green. Instead, it's basically the third color in the logo after blue and white, and the word "Emeralds" is white (albeit with green "sides").

As for the name, I'm not sure what to think. The name comes from Eugene's nickname "The Emerald City". (I suppose, given this fact, I should at least be thankful there's not a lame Wizard of Oz reference in the logo.) It certainly has local color, literally as well as figuratively, but it's not a very intimidating name, is it? Then again, baseball names tend not to be as testosterone-injected as names in other sports. (Other sports might have teams named after major wind storms such as tornadoes and hurricanes, but only in baseball would a team named after zephyrs not seem out of place.) As it turns out, the name "Emeralds" is another one of those legacy names that's been around for over half a century, so I suppose calling it good or bad is pointless: it's not going anywhere unless the team itself leaves. In other words, it's just as well I can't decide what I think of it, and I'm not going to bother thinking about it anymore.

Final Score: 33 points.
Penalties: Alliteration, 5 pts; Script, 7 pts; Scenery, 11 pts; Diamong (note the shape of the background...it's subtle but it's there), 16 pts.
Bonuses: Local, -6 pts.