Cleveland Monsters

-6

Note: This review incorporates text from the review of the team under its previous name, the Lake Erie Monsters.

Nine years ago, this team debuted under the name "Lake Erie Monsters". This summer they changed their name to the "Cleveland Monsters"; the logo is identical except of course that the words "Lake Erie" have been replaced by "Cleveland" (in the same font, even). My review at the time basically boiled down to this: I loved the "Monsters" part of the name and loved the logo, but hated the fact that a team in a metropolis of over two million people didn't want to use the city's name.

Now, that team has fixed the problem I had with this logo and kept everything else intact. This makes me happy.

What do I love so much about the name and logo?

Let's start with the name. "Monsters" is great if you ask me. Remember what I say about team names: they should command fear and/or respect. Is there anything in this world that commands as much fear as a monster? Let your imagination run wild. Whatever scares you, that's what a monster is. And because the name "monster" leaves it to your imagination, it doesn't have to worry about someone saying, "I'm not scared of ______." Okay, so you're not scared of wolves. Maybe you're not scared of bats, either. Or bears. Or gladiators. But you're scared of monsters. By definition, you are scared of monsters, because it's not a monster if you're not scared of it. It's a great name.

And the logo works for the same reason. You don't really get to see the monster. You have a peek at its head, but you have no idea whether it's got claws or tentacles or huge fangs or hideous pustules or demon's wings or fire breath or any number of other scary things. You have a bare minimum of information: it's got pure black skin, glowing yellow eyes, and spikes. Beyond that, you figure it out...if you dare stick around long enough to find out. We don't even have any scale to know how big it is. For all we know, the water around him is the entirety of Lake Erie, meaning he could eat Cleveland in a single bite (although the Cuyahoga River would probably give him heartburn).

This name and logo may not quite have the elegance of the Kalamazoo Wings or Cincinnati Cyclones, but damned if it isn't one of the best name/logo combinations out there. I said nine years ago that the "Lake Erie" bit was the only reason I didn't unconditionally love the name and logo. Well, they fixed that. Now, I do unconditionally love it.

Final Score: -6 points.
Penalties: Name-Logo, 2 pts.
Bonuses: Cool Logo, -5 pts; Local, -3 pts.