Top Five Fridays: Sports Logos

This is my regular feature called Top Five Fridays. Here I'll list some of my favorite things like, Top 5 Ways to Annoy a Michigan Fan or Top 5 Most Overrated Athletes (cough cough, Brett Favre, cough cough)..... Have no fear, we'll get to both those topics in good time. At the end there will also be a section for those that just missed the cut.

This week I’m going to change things up a little bit. No long stories, no my favorites lists... I'd like to encourage everyone to chime in with their opinions in the comments. Frankly, you can always do that with these Top 5's, but this one might make it a little easier. I’ll be perfectly honest, writing a list like this pains me a little bit as there isn’t a single team from my childhood on it, but I’m trying to be a realist here. So with out further Freddy Adu, here it is!

Top 5 Most Recognizable Logos in American Sports

If someone were to create a survey with the logos of every sports team in America (and just the logo, no city or team name in them) and take this survey out to the streets, I believe that more people would recognize the teams on this list than any others.

1. Chicago Bulls

You can thank Michael Jordan. In fact, if we were to send this survey out to the streets across the entire globe, the Bulls would likely be number one by a landslide. What MJ did for the global market economy was unprecedented. Tiger Woods is recreating it and LeBron James could get to that level with a couple titles (or six,) but is was "His Airness" that brought sports marketing, and specifically athlete endorsements, to the level they are. Woods and James are merely riding the coattails of what Jordan created. An image. And with that image, he turned the Chicago Bulls into a global brand. That brand is as recognizable as McDonald’s, Nike, and Gatorade. In fact, one could argue that the popularity of THOSE brands was in large part because of Michael. Despite the gambling scandal, the multiple retirements, the indiscretion in his marriage, and the image tarnishing return with the Wizards, he is still the most popular athlete on earth.

2. New York Yankees
Quite possibly the most polarizing sports entity in American culture, the interlocking NY was created by Tiffany & Co. in 1877. The franchise began using it as their insignia in 1909 when they were still known as the New York Highlanders. In 1911 the old Polo Grounds burned down and after moving into the new Polo Grounds located near the Harlem River, the name "Highlanders" no longer made sense. The New York media had already been casually referring to the team as the Yankees in recent years, so in 1913 it became official.

3. Dallas Cowboys

The Cowboys were one of the last teams to join the NFL before the merger in 1970. They began play in 1960 and their first coach, Tom Landry, quickly built a competitive team. He ended up being their only coach until he was fired in 1989. The Cowboys hare the most valuable franchise in sports according to a 2007 article on Forbes Magazine's website as they are by far the most successful NFL team of the modern era and have been nicknamed "America's Team." The Cowboys are tied with the Steelers and 49ers for the most Super Bowl victories with five and hold NFL records for most winning seasons, most postseason appearances, most postseason games, most 10-win seasons and most Super Bowl appearances...among other things.

4. Michigan Wolverines
The block “M” might not have made it on it's own, but if you put a picture of the winged football helmet on there, I think you’d have something. Most Michigan fans would have you believe they were the first to create this logo, but it was actually a man named Fritz Crisler who first put it on the Princeton helmets to help quarterbacks more easily identify their wide receivers down field. Crisler was then hired as the head coach at Michigan and he brought the winged helmet with him in 1938.

5. Detroit Red Wings
I’m not sure the Communist Tire With Wings should make the list, but I’m squeezing them in at number five just because I can, it's my list. They might not even make the top 20 in some people's opinions because the NHL has really taken a back seat in this country to "The Big Three." However, I feel we have enough Northern European and former Soviet block immigrants in this country to put them on the board.

"Juuuuust a bit outside. He tried the corner and missed."

Chicago Cubs – The Lovable Losers have WGN’s reach as the catalyst for the nation’s obsession with the Cubbies. 100 years of futility and yet they have more bandwagon fans than any team in the country.
Boston Red Sox – Still 20-something odd titles behind the Yankees, their nationwide bandwagon fans in the past five years have made them almost as polarizing a force in American sports as their hated rival. A few more years of this and they could be in the Top 5, and Mrs. Sizemore could end up buried in a ditch. I kid, I kid. Also, she is not one of those bandwagon fans, but even she would have to admit that there are a ton of them out there.
Los Angeles Lakers – One of the two greatest dynasty’s in NBA history, they seem to always have one of those “it guys” to keep them socially relevant even when they are having a down year.
Boston Celtics – The single greatest dynasty in NBA history with a record 16 titles, they were starting to slip into obscurity until this season when "The Boston Three Party" resurrected them.

Notre Dame Fighting Irish – Twenty years ago they might have been at the top, but they haven’t won a national title since 1988, a bowl game since 1994 and haven't had a Heisman trophy winner since 1987. However, their NBC contract and ESPN’s obsession with them have kept them in the conversation.
Green Bay Packers – Lombardi put the Pack on the map and then they laid dormant for years until Brett Favre help resurrect the franchise. Now there is no mistaking the Packer “G” with the Georgia Bulldogs, the Grambling Tigers, or anyone else.
St. Louis Cardinals – They are number two behind the Yankees all-time in World Series titles, but have slipped behind the Cubs and Red Sox in terms of national appeal. A recent World Series title and Big Mac’s home run chase got them in the conversation, but overall they’ve been missing something since the mid-80s.