C'mon, clearly it is an homage to the years of Chicago being the "City of Big Shoulders" by referencing that bygone economic power of Chicago and, yeah dare I say, the world: Montgomery Ward! Sure, Wards was unable to change and adapt to the economic and social realities around it and so eventually spun down the crapper, but I do believe it to be of honorable intent.
Yup, first thing it reminded me of was the Latin Kings. Expect thugs who've never even seen a game to be wearing gear. The original logo was one of the best, if not the best of the league. Why would anyone change it, what were they thinking. Those middle triangles are supposed to be red and yellow, so it obviously will be "the fire burning within". Completely lame. Way to ruin something that was potentially iconic, if not already. So, so dumb. The main 5 Chi logos have been the same for at least a generation now, and any talk of changing any of them at this point is blasphemous. The fire logo was close to being among them, but not anymore. I do think this is the only city that has teams in the Big 4, who have not touched the logos since 1990. Which is something to be proud of. NY changed Jets and Giants logos since then. All other big towns have had at least one change. Pats went to the Elvis look. Phillies ditched the maroon era. Clippers and Angels changed. Terrible move.
I had an actual LOL moment on today when some guy on Twitter who "This means we're 'The People's Club' now."
I feel conflicted because on its own, apart from how it diminishes the 'Fire' name (which I feel weird even defending because it had 22 some odd years to resonate with me and just ... hasn't... I don't actively want to see it gone but I'm not going to stop supporting the club if it is) I don't absolutely hate it, and I like the idea of having a third 'color' (we had gray in the soon-to-be-old crest but that seems more neutral than color to me if that makes sense), as well. I just ... why not use Chicago flag blue instead of red? Or instead of yellow? Just.. it's just trying to leverage the past without connecting to it when it would probably 'land' a lot cleaner as a whole new thing with subtle references to the past. The oval stands out - great! What does it mean, how does it make me as a fan connect to the club, how does it tie in to Chicago, and, since it says Fire right there on the damn badge, how does it relate to that? Red and yellow you can say 'hey, those colors are kind of what a fire looks like!' - great, why's navy there? Why isn't orange if we're trying to evoke fire and flames and shit? Just really, yeah- I want to like it, I want to say 'this is good and if you don't think so you're dumb and stupid!'. I can't find many reasons to say that and can't think of anything that takes away from the negatives associated with ditching a logo that made perfect sense for the brand, while eliminating one of the variable parts of the brand (the word Soccer) that made the most sense.
If this is the direction they were going with all along, then no reason to keep the Fire name at all. Rip the bandage off and pretend it is an expansion club. For me, it will be Chicago FC. My nickname for the club is now the Generic Ms since I will not acknowledge the yellow up above and I figure this is on Mansueto anyway. Don't get me started on the boxed in CFFC. It reminds me of the Cold War and looking at the anglicized abbreviation of the former Soviet Union.
You're not a true Chicagoan unless you've kicked it in the hood, b. The street gang network of Chi is among the biggest in the world, and a long time ago, like in the 70s, they made alliances with one another resulting in a city-wide split, yielding 2 sides: Folks and People. Like Axis and Allies. Gangs had to ally with each other to protect themselves, and before you knew it, each chose one side or the other. I don't know how strong the alliances are nowadays, but back in the day, you knew which side each gang was on. The main People gangs are the Latin Kings, Vice Lords I think, Insane Popes, Almighty Popes, Saints. Bishops, Imperial Gangsters, Mickey Cobras and Spanish Cobras.. The main Folks are the 2 6, Gangster Disciples, Satan Disciples, Black Disciples, Maniac Latin Disciples, Ambrose, 4 Corner Hustlers, and Blackstones I think. My memory fails me at the moment, don't know who the Simon City Royals, City Knights, Heads or Latin Eagles are allied with. Anywho, the new logo looks like the LK crown, it's almost too accurate. Just a boneheaded move by the Fire. It's like if the Chargers renamed themselves the Bloods, or the Rams the Crips. Most of this info is common knowledge to even the whitest suburbanite, so if you really didn't get his pun, then you must be kinda sheltered or somethin.