I have a T-shirt that I bought in the 1996 season, the first piece of United merchandise that A) I saw for sale at a store anywhere and B) that I bought. The shirt has the old logo and says "Washington D.C. United." I bought it at a sporting goods store at Pentagon City mall a few hours before a game - I think it was against New England - where Stevie Rammell went and scored in the first minute. DC seemed to turn the season around right about that time and I decided it was 'cause of my lucky shirt. I wore it to every game I went to after that and if it got cold, I wore a bunch of stuff over it and still wore it. I wore it that November day in Foxboro in 96 and all the next season. I wore it when we won the Champions' Cup in 98, (must have washed it wrong before going to Pasadena) and the next year it was back in Foxboro again after a second season. Yeah, the turnaround probably had more to do with Jaime Moreno than my shirt, but after the first four years, I was really starting to believe. And then, my wife - then my girlfriend and, obviously, fiancee, bogarded the shirt. She did it after the the 99 season and before we moved in together and I never went back to get the shirt from her place. By then, the original shirt was faded and frayed and holy and basically falling apart. And besides, I had lots of other United shirts, championship shirts, etc... that I wore to the gym and to bed, etc and I figured that any of these new shirts could replace the "Washington D.C. United shirt." How wrong I was as we know what happened next. Three straight seasons in the stinker and now three games with all of one goal. I've tried to go back to the old shirt and bring it back to ressurect the old luck but the power of my shirt seems to have diminished along with Jaime Moreno's powers and skills. It was like I cheated on that shirt and no matter how sorry I say I am or how much I vow not to do it again, we can't go back to the way it was. Yeah, some of you blame Rongen for the team's demise, other's Marco and Jaime going south and some the bad mojo that Bobby Convey has brought. Now, you know the real reason. Guys, I'm sorry.
If the original, never used, logo wasn't acceptable for being too Nazi-like, I'm not sure how the originally used logo was deemed that much more acceptable. The eagles in both these logos are similar to the current and past German eagles much more so than anything unique to the Nazis and the Nazi-era. But the general American public probably wouldn't make the distinction. IMO, the originally used eagle looks the best, but the shape of the shield could have been improved.
GERMAN EAGLES - MODERN GERMANY 1950 to PRESENT German National Eagle as seen in the German Bundeswappen (Coat of Arms) German Federal President's Eagle as seen in Standarte des Bundespräsidenten (Standard of the Federal President)
GERMAN EAGLES - "THIRD REICH" (NAZI ERA) 1933 to 1945 Nazi-era German National Eagle (color was often gold or silver) Nazi-era Luftwaffe (Air Force) Eagle (color was often gold or silver)
GERMAN EAGLES - WEIMAR REPUBLIC ERA 1921 to 1933 German National Eagle German Republic President's Eagle as seen in Standarte des Reichspräsidenten (Standard of the Republic President)
GERMAN EAGLES GERMAN CONFEDERATION 1815 to 1866 Double Headed Eagle (was used in Jack on War Ensign) NORTH GERMAN CONFEDERATION 1867 to 1871 and GERMAN EMPIRE ("SECOND REICH") 1871 to 1918 Prussian Eagle (was used on War Ensign)
Bryan76's post on the first page and Flying Weasel's eagle posts reminded me of this. Here are the emblems for the United States 45th Infantry division. Don't they look familiar? When the division was formed in 1923 it adopted the ancient symbol of the swastika as its emblem. One reason was because it was traditional symbol among Native Americans and the division was based in what had once been known as Indian Territory. The other reason was because the swastika was a symbol of vitality and wholesomeness. The word itself derives from Sanskrit words meaning to be and good. And so when the 45th Infantry Division formed what better symbol to adopt for itself than the all-American swastika? Of course, 1933 rolled along and the connotative significance of the swastika radically transformed. And so the 45th Infantry Division quickly changed their symbol to the great eagle of many Native American mythologies – the Thunderbird, the depiction of which on their current patch resembles the various eagles on DC United's shields no less than many of the German eagles which stood alongside the swastika as symbols of German nationalism or, for that matter, the eagle on the Great Seal of The United States. I will leave the moral of this story to your own reckoning. ... a little addition ... I suspect the eagle on the current shield was modeled on the eagle on the Great Seal. Note that unlike the previous two versions the head is turned to the left, the wings point upward and it has an emblem on its chest just like with the eagle on the seal.
I'm not one to raise a thread from the dead out of the blue but this post is awesome... Anyways interesting to read about this old logo. I stumbled across the thread on Google looking for old pictures from the first season. I'm in the process of finally acquiring a few jerseys from the 96/97 season and was just researching.
that sneaky bastard. Alleged bastard. Well, definitely a bastard, alleged to have existed by the few of us who think we remember him
Crapidman, as he came to be known around these parts. For those interested in learning more about merchandise from those early years, pre-Addidas- I've got 2 Score First jerseys, 1st of which has the ill-fated shield (Eagle w/fanned wings above 3 stars, clutching the center one, each star centered with a soccer ball) on a 100% polyester shine goal-keeper-esque long sleeve jersey, much like one that's currently selling on Ebay for Dallas Burn. http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/281315245307?lpid=82 The colors used seemed near identical, the shield being used where the Burn logo appears, and the white sash reading "D.C. UNITED" in red block lettering. Black below the sash, red above, with black padded elbows on the black sleeves. The 2nd-short sleeved jersey is peculiar- since it boasts both the more recent politcally correct shield, but retains a color scheme from I don't know where/when. The shirt-100% polyester- is a reddish/orange color, paler than the red in the shield. The center of the torso- back and front- has a vertical stripe design, with a broad black stripe bordered in white at the middle, with a narrow strip of red/orange again bordered by white on either side (kind of like a Shelby Cobra). The shield is centered on the chest, and on the back in white block letters blocked in black reads"D.C. United". I know of no other Soccer Kit that has a similar configuration to this 2nd jersey.
That isn't loading for me. @JasonMa and the rest of the Internet have been stumped by his disappearance. Some have suggested he went into witness protection. The best intelligence agencies can't scrub as well as the Rapids somehow have though.
For everyone who believes that anything you post on the internet is there forever-I counter with the original RapidMan.
yes - perhaps two prior to that I think. the one that no-one can find pictures of any more had a "rapid" on his back (a cape perhaps?) that had fish coming out of it (I assume plastic fish, but who knows). He did not have that goofy head or "smile". It was relatively "early days" for the internet caching machine, but it is a bit disconcerting that he could be made to disappear like a scene out of The Net or something.
The Rapids site says the Rapidman pictured in my post was the original mascot since '96, and was retired in 2007. That Rapidman is well documented, there are dozens and dozens of photos and videos.
before I die (and I'm old and unhealthy as ********, that could be any day now) I WILL find pictures of RapidMan I
I bet none of them are from 1996. I remember the big ceremony around "the new RapidMan" pictured above.
Okay, yeah, I do kind of remember something like that. The actual 'rapids' on his back, that rings a bell. I will find this entity, oh yes, I will find it.
What I don't get is why the Rapids think the original RapidMan is so harmful that they've made sure there are no images floating around. It may have been a little strange but it's not in the same universe as MPF.