Apparently, getting crushed in a playoff game = same thing as back-to-back champions
I’m not the world’s biggest football fan, but being in Michigan, I obviously root for the Lions to do well. Still though, via Justin Rogers of MLive, this shirt made by company Alternate Hero is too much for me:
Building off the Detroit Bad Boys theme utilized by the Detroit Pistons more than two decades ago, Alternative Hero have re-branded the current Lions as Detroit’s new bad boys.
The shirts are nearly identical to the original version, down to the font, but the color scheme has been updated, and the skull and crossbones is now sporting a football helmet.
I’m sorry, but that original Pistons shirt/Bad Boys nickname/design is too iconic to be tampered with. I like watching Megatron do incredible things and Suh stomping on opponents as much as anyone, but that team hasn’t really accomplished anything, especially in comparison to Detroit’s ONLY Bad Boys. This shirt offends me as a Pistons fan.
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Aug 28, 2012 • 12:55 pm
by vic
lol. football is more of a religion than basketball, i guess. they get a cult following without even doing anything. i think that’s kinda disrespectul
Aug 28, 2012 • 1:08 pm
by Levi Thieman
i do not believe this is disrespectful. if anything this honors the old bad boys pistons teams. if i recall correctly, the pistons adopted the bad boys trademark before they won any championships. hopefully, the winning attitude can be replicated here in detroit with both the lions and the pistons
Aug 28, 2012 • 1:37 pm
by Jacob
This needs to be stopped on many levels. 1st it sends a bad message in the context of the NFL trying to minimize brain injuries. More significantly, there was only 1 team that can call themselves Bad Boys and that needs to be reserved for them – they earned it. Come up with your own brand Lions.
Aug 28, 2012 • 1:42 pm
by Patrick Hayes
“Come up with your own brand Lions.”
Judging by the offseason they’ve had, they are.
Aug 28, 2012 • 3:06 pm
by DG
“Watcha gonna do when they come for you?”
I think it speaks to the hopes of the Lions, but I agree it’s pre-mature.
Aug 28, 2012 • 3:48 pm
by Matt
“Come up with your own brand Lions.”
It’s not like the Lions are are selling this, or encouraging it. The company doesn’t need the Lions permission to sell it because it doesn’t say Lions on it anywhere. They are just trying to make some money off it, and I’m sure they’ll sell plenty of them, even though it is pretty lame.
Aug 28, 2012 • 3:54 pm
by Patrick Hayes
Yeah, I should’ve made that more clear in the post — this shirt isn’t the organization’s idea or doing, it’s an independent business that, according to the article I linked to, previously made money by selling shirts that mocked the Lions. So I guess selling a shirt celebrating their improvement is a positive, even if it does rip off one of the most iconic eras in Detroit sports history.
Aug 28, 2012 • 6:08 pm
by Suh_what
the Bad Boys were a great team and gimmick but they were the bad boys before they won the two championships, get over it!
Aug 28, 2012 • 9:23 pm
by Patrick Hayes
Get over what? They were a contending team for at least two seasons before winning their first title and they’d been to the playoff four straight years before their first Finals loss. The point is, they had a long history, they earned that nickname/reputation, and it’s lame that the logo that is identified with that team and that era is being ripped off, particularly to celebrate a team that hasn’t accomplished much yet.
Aug 28, 2012 • 8:41 pm
by Chase
patrick hayes should be banned from detroit sporting events…The pistons were definitely labeled the bad boys before winning championships and its just a bad ass shirt. Sounds like a basketball>football bias to the objective person
Aug 28, 2012 • 9:20 pm
by Patrick Hayes
Wow, I see Lions fans, the most obnoxious of all Detroit sports fans, have made their way to this post. Wonderful.
Since you appear to be a football fan, I’ll respond to your comment with a football-themed rebuttal:
http://www.totalprosports.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/maurice-jones-drew-is-busting-out.gif
Aug 28, 2012 • 8:49 pm
by Pimp Zombie
To be fair….back when the Pistons accquired the bad boy name, they hadnt won a championship yet, either.They were on the cusp like the Lions are.
Aug 28, 2012 • 9:26 pm
by Patrick Hayes
The Pistons made the playoffs four straight seasons before their first finals appearance, that loss to the Lakers.
The Lions have one playoff appearance in which they were blown out, and they haven’t really done anything to address the area of their team that caused them to be blown out, the secondary. Plus, sustaining year-to-year success in the NFL is far harder as there are fewer playoff spots and there is a lot f parity in the NFC.
At any rate, the point is, it’s lame to rip off a look/slogan from one of the most iconic teams in recent NBA history.
Apr 14, 2013 • 9:13 am
by Jones sabo and maybe even platinum eagle
Hi there, just became alert to your blog through Google, and found that it’s really informative.