Friday, March 16, 2018

Ranking Universe Point Cleats for AUDL Teams

Universe Point was named the official "athletic footwear sponsor" (cleat) of the American Ultimate Disc League. All AUDL players have the option of wearing team-branded cleats for the first time in league history.

Below is a ranking - based on logo and style - of each AUDL team's boot for the 2018 season:
[listed from Worst (23) to Best (1)]

23. Dallas Roughnecks
The Roughnecks logo does not render well as a standalone and the ugly shape around the city-team name looks especially weird.

22. Philadelphia Phoenix
The Phoenix bird looks more like a fire rooster and just gets lost on what should be an eye-pooping boot. The text display is less than optimal.

21. San Francisco Flame Throwers
The team name looks cramped, and the gray streaks near the midsole are a distraction. Should have kept it simple and used only the logo.

20. Ottawa Outlaws
Bravo for fitting the entire "OUTLAWS" name on the cleat. Though, appears there's a wandering gray something (shadow?) below the "O."

19. Nashville NightWatch
The white lines give the black cleats a clean look, altohugh their new shield logo get washed out.

18. Seattle Cascades
Missed opportunity to have Casey the Sasquatch's mug slapped on a pair of cleats. As is, just too many words for my liking.

17. DC Breeze
Trying to fit too much on too little space -- the words besides "BREEZE" are lost. Props for the different colors for the red cleat tips and on the blue topline.

16. Chicago Wildfire
The standalone orange Wildfire logo is vague yet fits well. Still not a fan of the typography for the city and team name.

15. Indianapolis AlleyCats
While the AlleyCats logo - as just a cat head - finally takes on a form worth applauding, the "AlleyCats" looks too generic.

14. Madison Radicals
Would have liked to have seen the cleat in the back complete the logo's lightning bolt which is cut-off at the bottom. The tri-color diagonals sure are pretty.

13. Austin Sol
The 6-stringed sun logo from Austin's shield shows well. The city-team name reads a little awkward, yet is legible.

12. Los Angeles Aviators
The pilot scarf is well-angled around the heel. The line between the city name and "AVIATORS" help guide a smooth landing for a lengthy team name. Plus, the slight tilt of "AVIATORS" renders well.

11. Montreal Royal
The Royal shield and city-team name fit attractively on this white boot replete the lines along the toebox.

10. Toronto Rush
The 4-letter word "RUSH" is positioned so nicely on the black cleat; not so much for "Toronto."

9. Raleigh Flyers
Though the logo is a tad obscured, the wordmark maximizes its available space along the upper section of the boot. Plus, the blue lines along the toebox  provide nice accentuated flow.

8. San Diego Growlers
The slight angle superbly displays the team name without disruption, plus the red backing connects well to the red topline interior of the boot.

7. New York Empire
A variation of the NY's standard logo adeptly appears on the heel. The bight green distinguishes the Empire cleat.

6. Tampa Bay Cannons
The cryptic image from the Cannons' secondary logo delightfully spans the side of this boot.

5. Detroit Mechanix
The black outsole and heel make this cleat stand out.

4.Pittsburgh Thunderbirds
The Pittsburgh colors display beautifully on the black cleat. The Thunderbirds logo is a bit smooshed, but otherwise excellent.

3. Minnesota Wind Chill
The lines of the Wind Chill logo and the cleat diagonals congruently play well with one another.

2. San Jose Spiders
The lone spider, which is a variant of their standard logo, looks sharp on the white cleat. The gold laces are a neat touch to this clean-looking cleat.

1. Atlanta Hustle
The Hustle "H" is perfectly positioned on the cleat and accentuated with the team name.

[Images via UP]


1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Everything was great until I saw the Hustle's cleat at #1. It is an all black cleat, and you can hardly read "Atlanta." It looks on par with the Royal or Aviators' cleats, out of place in the top 5