The Tampa Bay Lightning finally unveiled their new uniforms and logo today, and I generally like them.

The new logo is a bit simpler (evocative of Captain Marvel, though thinner), a little superhero-ish, but okay. I’m a minimalist at heart.

And while I will miss the all-black uniforms that I think are fantastic, I loooooooove the lace-up collars, which I think are awesome on a hockey sweater (even if they’re faux-laceups, because they really serve no purpose). Losing the black and the silver and other little things that have gone into this team’s identity over the years is unfortunate, but this is the world in which we live.

You can check out a gallery of the new look here. The color combination and the simplicity of the uniforms reminds me of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Only Tampa Bay has actually won a Stanley Cup since the Johnson administration.

There have been things I’ve been thinking about things that have happened lately, but as I’m on sabbatical from social media for a bit and I’ve been focusing on some other things since the start of the new year, I’ll just dump them all into one post for now:

• I could write a whole bunch (and have, in comments here) on the whole USSF/NASL/USL thing, but Fake Sigi does his usual thorough job here, so just read that and I’ll get back with you on that. (BTW, FS, if you’re really coming to AZ for spring training, get in touch.)
• Devo has a good take here on part of that situation. Decisions and consequences, indeed.
• I’m going to guess ESPN won’t have a problem hiring Andy Gray (who’s been sacked by Sky) because…well, he’s got an accent. (BTW, this whole incident was the reason for this short post the other day. Brits may have invented the game, but some of them sure know f***-all about the rules.)
• I’m sorry, but putting Marta in Rochester is like having Luciano Pavarotti sing at the Burt Reynolds Dinner Theater in Jupiter, Florida.
• I have to admit, it was kinda hard to root for Ben Roethlisberger on Sunday, but it’s harder to root for Rex Ryan and the Jets, so there you are. It used to be easy to pick a Super Bowl winner: you just identified the better team and picked them to win big. They usually did. Since the era of free agency (note to any readers under 30: NFL players didn’t always have free agency), it’s been harder to pick Super Bowls. Green Bay’s hot, though. I wouldn’t bet against them.
• Along those lines, do you think NFL fans should be as embarrassed as MLS fans with internet access screamed that they were when low-seeded teams advanced in the MLS Cup Playoffs last season? I mean, a six seed made it to the Super Bowl, and a 7-9 team not only qualified for the playoffs, they hosted a playoff game (which they won, congrats). Surely the same embarrassment applies, right? Once again, boys and girls: playoff systems don’t determine who wins, teams determine who wins.
• If you don’t well up when you read this, you’re either not a father or not human.
• And, speaking of fathers and sons: my terrific son, Zach has chosen a college after a year-long series of visits and re-visits and discussions. He’ll be an Arizona State Sun Devil this fall, and I couldn’t be happier for him or more proud. I love you, Buzz.

We’re about halfway through the current season of the Major Indoor Soccer League (yes, there is still an MISL, this is the third version, basically, long story, tell you later) and average attendance is about where it was last year.

Which is to say, not good. Not good at all.

With 27 of the 50 scheduled games in the books as of this morning, the MISL is averaging under 4,000 (announced) per game, following a season that saw the league average dip under 4k for the first time this century.

…about American soccer announcers, but at least we understand the f***ing offside rule.

I had to get a shot of this when I saw the full moon rising tonight behind some palm trees.

Saw this contrail this morning:

Ricky Hill playing for the Rowdies in 1992. Thanks to Ian Morris' excellent Rowdies' blog.

FC Tampa Bay Rowdies are looking like contenders. For the 1993 APSL title, that is.

FCTB announced today that Ricky Hill will succeed Paul Dalglish as the club’s manager. I look forward to their matches against the Colorado Foxes and Los Angeles Salsa.

Seriously, whuck? I know Gordon Jago is 78, but Eddie Firmani is only 77, was he not interested?

Perhaps having been thwarted in their quest to call themselves the Rowdies, they just want to recapture those halcyon days of what was once the A-League by bringing back everybody and everything else from the past (if you talk to Terry Rowe, tell him I said hi).

At least Hill has coached before, which was more than could be said about Dalglish – Luton Town FC says Hill “took (the Rowdies) to two national championships and was Coach of the Year,” which is about half-right if you squint. Hill says his goal is a team that will “make the city of Tampa Bay proud.” Which is a neat trick if you can do it, seeing as how there is no city of Tampa Bay. There’s a city of Tampa. There’s a body of water called Tampa Bay. It’s between Tampa and St. Petersburg, which is where the not-Rowdies are considering playing their games this season.

Oy. I guess I should be happy they’re not owned by Traffic. Yet.

EDIT: The team announced Wednesday morning they will play the next two seasons in St. Petersburg. Well, that’s it for them, then.

Watch this video. The man with the amazing voice is Ted Williams, a homeless man in Columbus, Ohio. The video (which has more than 4 million views on YouTube) has apparently caught the eye of the Cleveland Cavaliers, who have hired Mr. Williams in an unspecified capacity (probably not power forward, though they could use one of those, too).