The Toronto Raptors got their name and logo due to the popularity of Jurassic Park in the theaters. Since the velociraptors were the stars of the film, the front office designed a dinosaur dribbling a basketball to show that Toronto would be a fierce new franchise in the East and seduce all these teenage dino-crazies to buy tickets.
Initially, there was an idea to revive the name of old Toronto team, the Huskies, but management realized that the logo would have to be similar to the Timberwolves one, so a national contest was called to set the name for a new franchise. The winning names in the contest were dominated by animal names and included the Hogs (Toronto is nicknamed Hogtown) and the Beavers, so the choice of Raptors actually wasn’t that bad after all.
The plan backfired, however, when Raptors rewarded us fans with a 21-61 season and the nickname “The Craptors” was soon adopted by critics. The logo didn’t help very much. Although it describes the name of the team well enough (and it’s not a Hog!), it doesn’t look very serious, nor does it really show the fighting spirit. It looks like something you could have had as a child — remember the dinosaur collection on your shelf? When you grew up, they started looking funny instead of scary and you gave them to a charity store without sparing them a second look.
There is also the alternate logo, the mixture of a basketball and a paw, which may have a little more substance to it, although it is way more simple. It still fits in the concept of connecting a Raptor to the sport of basketball but doesn’t have the comical taste of a main logo. And looks better on the jerseys.
Kat B writes on the Raptors and the NBA at large for Foot on the Line and blogs about the NFL at Heels in the Huddle. She also has a Jumpman tattoo.
The Toronto Raptors: A Steve Spielberg Joint.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Should have been just the head, not the whole body.
And should have been just red white and perhaps gray. The purple blew.
And the pinstripes were horrible.
And the typeface was crap too.
Could have been awesome.
Wasn’t.
Still isn’t.
The end.
I’ve never heard that “Hogs” was also a candidate. That would have been AWESOME!
Raptors is totally juvenile.
i disagree…the midget raptor is awesome!