[Editor’s Note: Paul is away on vacation this week, but he left behind this post about an unusual use of the New York Rangers’ jersey. Enjoy!]
The New York City Fire Department — colloquially known as the FDNY — consists of 254 distinct fire stations, many of which have their own distinctive logos. One of them — Engine Co. No. 1, Ladder Co. No. 24 — is located a few blocks away from the Empire State Building, so their logo has featured King Kong dressed as a firefighter:
But Uni Watch reader Joe Ruiz reports that a new version of the logo has recently appeared. In addition to being located near the Empire State Building, the fire station is also situated near Madison Square Garden, so Kong is now wearing a Rangers jersey, and the logo’s lettering has been rendered in the Rangers’ block-shadowed font:
Fun! But according to Ruiz, the uni-based logo is not uni-versally popular:
“I should add that the firemen do not seem happy with the change. I asked two of them about it and one said that it may have been imposed from ‘above.’ They also both said they dislike the Rangers and said that the players are unfriendly and don’t talk to them. Maybe I just got some Islanders/Devils fans?”
Hmmmm. If enough firefighters complain, maybe they’ll switch Kong to a Knicks jersey.
This is the part where I say that the Rangers’ white jersey is way better than the blue jersey, and that Kong would look so much better in the white design that those two cranky firefighters would probably be won over, and that the NHL should just go back to having teams wear white at home already because that’s what we all want, the end.
Gotta flip “home” and “away” designations in the last graph.
I changed it to “white” and “blue” to minimize the guesswork.
White at home is the correct decision.
1990-1996 was the best era of the Broadway Blueshirts. I prefer the matching separated stripes on the sleeves and waistline of both uniforms, and the striped V-neck collars, and, of course, the vertically arched NOBs. link
Aesthetically, the original shield was superior, jersey or no jersey: the design of the skyline, more detailed Kong and the color scheme along with the font selection, the second design (nike?) is muddled and I can’t figure out why Kong is sitting on top of the building instead of climbing it, and the gimmick of him tearing down part of the word “engine” is cute but would have worked better with him holding the number one, not the “e”…
Agreed entirely, except that I much prefer the lettering on the newer shield. And that lettering, with the distinctive drop shadow, is enough of a Rangers reference. Substitute it for the lettering on the old shield and bam, strong Rangers visual reference, but overall superior design and more recognizable visual elements.
Hard disagree on wearing white at home. The Rangers have been wearing their blue jersey with very little changes for almost 100 years, they didn’t even have a white jersey at all until the 50’s. The Broadway Blueshirts should wear blue shirts on Broadway.
Also, subjectively, I think the Rangers look better in blue. Color uniforms always seemed more “powerful” to me than white in hockey.
id rather my house burn down then allow a fire department representing the rangers try and save it.
If enough firefighters complain, I hope they swap out Kong for Denis Potvin balancing 4 Stanley Cups
I think Kong does not like sports uniforms at all, leave him bare. If you have to dress him up give him the original I Heart NY logo on a white t-shirt. That is even more gimmicky.
I noticed the Royals, after making a big deal in spring training about being the only MLB team to keep the same-sized NOBs as last year, seem to have the smaller NOBs on their home whites on Opening Day. Wonder if that is indeed the case and, if so, what happened?
Maybe they can put on a uniform of a team that wins.