Durham Bulls

2

I know you're probably expecting a lot of references to the movie Bull Durham in this review. It's not going to happen. I've never actually seen that movie. I'm really not much of a movie watcher. With the exception of watching A Christmas Story repeatedly on Christmas Eve/Day, I probably haven't watched a movie in the last year. The last time I actually went to a theater to see a movie was 2005. And even if I was in the mood to watch a baseball movie, I'd probably rewatch the original Bad News Bears instead of see Bull Durham. So if you were hoping for lots of quotes about...whatever they talk about in that movie, sorry to disappoint you. I'm just going to talk about the actual team, the actual name, and the actual logo.

It's difficult for me to write objectively about this team. First, they are almost the closest team to me (the Carolina Mudcats are a couple of miles closer), and I've probably been to more Bulls games in my adult life than games for any other team. As far as minor league baseball goes, they are my favorite team, hands down. Furthermore, I lived in Durham for two years and am quite fond of the city. Some people (including my wife) have very negative things to say about the town (its crime rate, to be fair, is higher than most other cities in the area), and I have to admit that were it not for the time I lived there I'd probably have some fun ragging on the city in this review. But I get tired of hearing people talk crap about Durham, so no way am I going to do it myself.

Given all this, I have trouble deciding if I'm judging the logo fairly. See, I like this logo. I think it's one of the best logos in minor league baseball. The bull actually looks like a bull. The smoke that the bull is snorting makes the bull look intimidating without looking ridiculous. The "D" gives the logo a little variety in the color department, and the way the bull is jumping through the "D" is a refreshing change from most logos with their foreground/background distinction.

I honestly don't think I'm being too nice here. When there was a minor league hockey team in Raleigh, I ragged on their logo(s) big time. I did so because both of the logos they had were bad. (Check out the page for St. John's' AHL team to see what I'm talking about.) I was more fond of the IceCaps than I am of the Bulls (I was an IceCaps season ticket holder for a few years), so I'd like to think I could criticize the Bulls logo if it deserved it. But one never knows.

Same for the name. Here I'm more certain I'm on solid ground. "Bulls" is one of those classic names. Few people are going to argue against it. It may not be trendy or clever, but baseball needs classic names, not trendy or clever names. But again, I can't be certain I wouldn't be more forgiving of a trendy or clever name if that's what this team had.

In any case, I'm not going to criticize the name whether it deserves it or not. I'm also not going to critcize the logo whether it deserves it or not, or the city whether it deserves it or not. That makes this a fairly boring review, I know. But don't worry: I'm out of local teams to be nice to. I'll do better next time.

Final Score: 2 points.
Penalties: Letter, 24 pts.
Bonuses: Name, -10 pts; Logo, -12 pts.