The Deadspin Tournament of Logos has come to its exciting conclusion, and after ranking the primary logos of all 123 teams in the four major sports leagues in North America (1-40, 41-80, 81-123), the winner is a team that doesn’t even exist anymore!
Of course, we knew that was going to happen when the championship round pitted two logos against each other that were added to the field as wild cards to get from 123 teams to 128 and a full bracket.
The final result? Hartford Whalers 60, Montreal Expos 40, voted, as was the case throughout the tournament, on Twitter.
You know the old saying: “Breakfasts come and go, Renee. Now Hartford? The Whale? Hey, they only beat Vancouver once, maybe twice in a lifetime.”
Now, the Whalers did not beat Vancouver in this tournament, although they did have some colorful clashes with the Canucks back in the day. That’s because the extreme downgrade from flying skate to orca resulted in the Canucks drawing the No. 113 seed, a first-round matchup with the Detroit Red Wings, and an 81-19 shellacking there. But the Whale did take out the Wings in the semifinals, although that still doesn’t quite mean our first thought of Gordie Howe will be in green.
And, to be fair, while the Whalers aren’t playing hockey anymore, their logo does remain active. No, that doesn’t mean as part of the Carolina Hurricanes’ stolen valor campaign, but as an available design to decorate license plates in the state of Connecticut.
That Red Wings-Whalers matchup was the only time in the tournament that Hartford garnered less than 60 percent of the vote, just as the final was the only time the Expos didn’t crack 60. But hey, Larry Walker is going into the Hall of Fame this year, which is good enough.
And speaking of Canadian baseball, in our third-place matchup, which doubled as the championship of current logos, the Toronto Blue Jays took down the Red Wings, 55-45. It’s a just reward for Toronto going to a streamlined version of its classic logo following years in the wilderness with some bizarre and downright goofy looks. It also doesn’t hurt that Jesse Barfield is out here showing that the Jays’ logo can be chic even with current fashions.
Congratulations to the Whalers on winning it all! And to the Blue Jays on taking the crown as the best in the game today!
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