St. John's apparel: Jerseys and fan gear

 Joe3 -

Concerns regarding lack of St.John's gear is only a reflection of the larger issue that transcends sports and manifests itself in pretty near all aspects of St. John's University. The issue regards an overal lack of leadership and vision by the tried and tired Administration at St. John's.
 
 I think there's two separate issues here:
1) Poor licensing/distribution which makes St. John's gear unavailable at local retailers

2) Uniform design and logo


I agree completely with the complaints about the first part. I think some of it has to do with a lack of demand because we've been down for over a decade. But I also think the school doesn't push their brand enough, or actively try to get new products on shelves.

But I don't really have an issue with the uniforms. I like the basic red and white. The only difference between us and many of our rivals (outside of UCONN and Syracuse who are featured Nike brands) is we don't have a stripe coming down from the arm-pit. But look at Pitt or Villanova or many others and you see a simple jersey with "Pitt" and then the number.

Could they throw some pipping down the side of the uniform? Yea, probably and I bet eventually they do.
But the bigger problem I think is lack of a secondary "mark". St Johns has struggled with a recognizable and likeable mark/logo since we changed to the storm.
And it's hard to market shirts and hats when you don't have a secondary logo. Uconn has it's name, just like Pitt, but then they have a Husky or Panther as well. We have our initials-logo, which works well, but there's no secondary mark. Georgetown is identifiable by the G-town label, but then they have a Hoya.

We seem reluctant to use anything but the STJ lately. And I think it's because no one really took to the lightning bolt, any of the clouds, the original blue and red Thunderbird, the red horse, or even the new white and red Johnny Thunderbird.

Plus, we have a head coach who RARELY, if ever, refers to us as the Red Storm. Lavin consistently calls his team the "Johnnies", and I don't think that's by accident. We don't need a primary logo .. the interlocked STJ is fine. But we need something else besides our initials, and the school needs to sh*t or get off the pot in deciding what a Red Storm looks like.

For my money, it should be some kind of cloud over the NYC skyline. Similar to the one we rolled out under Felipe and co. But without the orange and yellow colors that have no connection to St Johns.
 
But I think you guys are absolutely right about getting some edgier- t-shirts out there.

I just think that's the market's responsibility. Not the school really. But I excited to see what you come up with.
 
 not to get off topic but speaking of syracuse i had a co worker send me this (our rivalry is needless to say very heated)

http://www.suathletics.com/news/2012/4/27/Yankees4.27.12.aspx

our alumni associations sucks as well. they have the whole new yorks team pretty much down pat at this point.

all i every hear about the alumni association is begging for money and some dumb carnival, which my high schools carnival was better.
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I could not disagree more with your characterization of the St. John's alumni association.

I am an alumnus (Class of 1975) and have participated in a many alumni events including several golf tournaments, numerous basketball and baseball dinners, the yearly Lakewood (N.J.) Blue Claws baseball game and picnic, as well the annual BBQ at Monmouth Race Track.

And this doesn't include the, at least, dozen games that I attend each season.

These events are extremely well run and I have never regretted attending one of these functions. I truly appreciate all the time, energy and effort that is dedicated toward making sure everyone has a great time at any St. John's sponsored event.

In fact, I usually take a number of my friends who graduated from schools such as Georgetown, Boston College, Providence, Rutgers, Villanova, NYU, and Seton Hall and without exception, they consistently sing praises of St. John's. If truth be told, they attend more St. John's events than they do for their own schools.

I would respectfully suggest that you get involved with the university instead of aiming verbal insults at a group of professionals who work very hard to engage our graduates with their alma mater.

If you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem.

Assuming you feel as strongly as you appear to, why don't you call the alumni office and volunteer your services.
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You are truly one great supporter and contributor to St.John's Alumni and redmen.com. It is a pleasure to read your posts, thank you Jersey.
 
 There's just no edge to our stuff...no flashiness. Nova has those "Nova Nation" shirts I see EVERYWHERE and I live on Long Island. They look so cool I have to admit. Cuse has millions of cool stuff obviously, G'town has an awesome bulldog but also great "G" memorabilia. Notre Dame has some of the most recognizable gear nationally, Pitt has plenty of stuff, etc. You are more likely to see a Notre Dame shirt in the NY metro area than St. John's and that's pathetic. Even if SJ isn't a national brand, at the very least you should see a lot of shirts at home.
 
 There's just no edge to our stuff...no flashiness. Nova has those "Nova Nation" shirts I see EVERYWHERE and I live on Long Island. They look so cool I have to admit. Cuse has millions of cool stuff obviously, G'town has an awesome bulldog but also great "G" memorabilia. Notre Dame has some of the most recognizable gear nationally, Pitt has plenty of stuff, etc. You are more likely to see a Notre Dame shirt in the NY metro area than St. John's and that's pathetic. Even if SJ isn't a national brand, at the very least you should see a lot of shirts at home.
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It's funny that the teams you reference ALL have recent winning traditions, which color your perception of the program and even their gear. You will rarely hear that DePaul, Seton Hall, or Rutgers has some really cool stuff. Winning trumps everything.

Having said that, investing in top graphic artists, designers, and ad people to create eye catching slogans and designs is a worthwhile investment that enough schools invest in.
 
 I think there's two separate issues here:
1) Poor licensing/distribution which makes St. John's gear unavailable at local retailers

2) Uniform design and logo


I agree completely with the complaints about the first part. I think some of it has to do with a lack of demand because we've been down for over a decade. But I also think the school doesn't push their brand enough, or actively try to get new products on shelves.

But I don't really have an issue with the uniforms. I like the basic red and white. The only difference between us and many of our rivals (outside of UCONN and Syracuse who are featured Nike brands) is we don't have a stripe coming down from the arm-pit. But look at Pitt or Villanova or many others and you see a simple jersey with "Pitt" and then the number.

Could they throw some pipping down the side of the uniform? Yea, probably and I bet eventually they do.
But the bigger problem I think is lack of a secondary "mark". St Johns has struggled with a recognizable and likeable mark/logo since we changed to the storm.
And it's hard to market shirts and hats when you don't have a secondary logo. Uconn has it's name, just like Pitt, but then they have a Husky or Panther as well. We have our initials-logo, which works well, but there's no secondary mark. Georgetown is identifiable by the G-town label, but then they have a Hoya.

We seem reluctant to use anything but the STJ lately. And I think it's because no one really took to the lightning bolt, any of the clouds, the original blue and red Thunderbird, the red horse, or even the new white and red Johnny Thunderbird.

Plus, we have a head coach who RARELY, if ever, refers to us as the Red Storm. Lavin consistently calls his team the "Johnnies", and I don't think that's by accident. We don't need a primary logo .. the interlocked STJ is fine. But we need something else besides our initials, and the school needs to sh*t or get off the pot in deciding what a Red Storm looks like.

For my money, it should be some kind of cloud over the NYC skyline. Similar to the one we rolled out under Felipe and co. But without the orange and yellow colors that have no connection to St Johns.
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Great post. I'm in marketing and I think we should do exactly what you said with the NY skyline but we should include the Twin Towers and the slogan "Never Forget". I am a diehard "Redmen" guy (ya think?), but I am a realist and know that the administration dosen't have the onions to balk the NCAA and it's idiotic political correctness. Let's use our greatest identifier and show all the other teams that this is our town and NOBODY esle's.
 
 I've posted these links in the past in case anyone missed it.

http://www.prepsportswear.com/colle...ersity-Red-Storm-Queens.aspx?schoolid=2498735

http://www.footballfanatics.com/COLLEGE_St_Johns_Red_Storm

Another site, finishline.com has apparently dropped us, they has some nice StJ gear including a sweatshirt I bought from there
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Yeah, I wondered what happened with finishline. Thanks for the links. As for Desco's comments, I agree and think the secondary logo is the right idea. I had no issue with the lightning bolt, but also didn't like the yellow. If we're a red storm, where does yellow come in? I don't get the thunderbird, but we also need to settle on something and stop changing every few years. This is now the time to address this problem as our gear wil be in demand as this team establishes itself next year, so it would be nice to have our identity set.
 
 I think DePaul's jerseys and logo is cooler...more inventive. Seton Hall is probably one of the few BE teams with worse memorabilia than us. Rutgers has plenty of stuff though. I was in Marshalls one day and saw lots of Rutgers stuff (Long Island). Also, we have a better tradition than a DePaul, Seton Hall, or Rutgers in terms of basketball. I just feel like so much more can be done for us. Have a logo contest. Also, I think we should do something with the NYC skyline shadowed like on the Mets logo. How can you have the most gorgeous and recognizable skyline in the world and not use that? Why not some demonic storm cloud logo? A tornado with red eyes or something? I don't know lol if I can come up with cool ideas, just imagine what a professional can do.
 
 http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/7/71707/1432742-16914_clipart_picture_of_an_evil_blue_eyed_dark_tornado_mascot_cartoon_character.jpg

something like this obviously change color scheme around

http://vecto.rs/1024/cartoon-vector...wing-powerful-wind-gusts-by-chromaco-1057.jpg

this is really cool especially if you make it red and gray...and have a black NYC skyline as a backdrop

34t8jrr.jpg


check this one out i messed around with myself

if that link doesn't work try this one

 
 http://www.clipartguide.com/_named_clipart_images/0511-0902-1614-4828_Twister_or_Tornado_with_Lightning_Bolts_clipart_image.jpg

another great idea for a secondary logo...a tornado holding lightning bolts...again obvious change colors and maybe his face a little haha but definitely cooler

THIS IS MY FAVORITE SO FAR! I incorporated a lightning bolt as the nose, storm is written in cool font as the face with eyes, and the nyc skyline looks like an evil smile! maybe i'm nuts but i think it's cool haha

2ylk4dc.jpg
 
Maybe its just me but I don't care for new logos and designs. I'd like to see more St. John's apparel available both online & in stores but lets not go crazy here. Some of the most recognizable school logos are letters just like ours. The M for Michigan, the ND for Notre Dame, everyone knows what school The U is. We all hate it but a big orange S is clearly Syracuse and big green one is Michigan State, even a big red R well all know is Rutgers (I can go on and on like UNC, Washington, Nebraska, Oregon, Tennessee, Virginia Tech, West Virginia, etc) Even the schools that don't use letters as their logo have very recognizable ones which are pretty well known (think Texas, Duke, G'Town, Florida, FSU to name a few) Lets get back to winning not just games but winning the city fans back and trust me the red interlocking STJ will be right up there not only with those I just mentioned but also with some other NY pro teams with interlocking letters.
 
But you have to understand how younger people approach it. Being I just turned 23 and as a grad student at SJ, I can tell you that it's not just winning that needs to change. We have no swagger, no edge to our memorabilia. I'm not saying get rid of the SJ...I'm saying get a new alternate logo. Just like G'town has the "G", the bulldog, and the entire "Georgetown" in a certain font. We have no spice to ours. Young SJ fans don't care if the team is winning...they still won't wear stuff if it's not cool looking. If our baseball team just got new jerseys with the cool skyline on it, why can't our basketball team (most popular by far) freshen up a bit? Make some shirts that simply say "Our city...our team...SJU" with the skyline and other stuff on it. In fact, there was such a lack of cool SJ sweatshirts that I just made my own on a site. Everything is a generic "St. John's". No flair added. SJ has campuses in Rome, Staten Island, Queens, Manhattan, and Long Island. I'm pretty sure they have enough money to spice some designs up.
 
 Just to show you guys the stark difference...look at these

This is a typical shirt at SJ http://redstormsports.cbscollegestore.com/store/Vendor355/fullscale/basketballt-c.jpg

Here is one from Nova http://graphics.fansonly.com/schools/nova/graphics/nova-nation-fan-shirt.gif

Now you may say Nova had more success than us and that's why...well here is a cool Seton Hall shirt
http://image.cdnllnwnl.xosnetwork.com/pics32/400/AV/AVBXMTFNZVQVWEW.20110110155147.jpg

And another:http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_U4gWlgrd7RM/TOQrO-BE6bI/AAAAAAAAANc/HL0OAQQGSs0/s1600/RFP101117001.JPG

You could argue right now that Seton Hall has better and more creative gear than us as a mostly irrelevant team in New Jersey (until this past year). Even if some teams have been better than us, it's no excuse to have less creative ideas...I think some of the shirts with Johnny Thunderbird look stupid because they show his full body. It makes it look kid ish...if they had a picture of just his face in a more menacing pose almost like the L'ville cardinal, I think it could look better.
 
 Winning will bring swagger Joe. The U for Miami became a monster seller after Miami won 3 National Championships in the 80s (5 total now). The damned logo is a just a letter. The UNLV items flew off stores when they had those great teams in the 90s. Can you really say that a maize M, orange S or blue and gold ND have swagger? No, they have a following from the tradition of years of being winning programs. Its like the saying "build it and they will come"....start winning and they will sell. Changing our logo wont make suppliers all of a sudden want to start selling St Johns gear, start winning some Big East and national championships will though, trust me.
 
 To say that young SJ fans don't care if the team is winning may be one of the most ridiculous statements of all time on here. The students that go to the games are not showing up at MSG or Carnesecca Arena to see if there is new merchandise with a city skyline, its to root and cheer for St Johns to win.
 
 Just to show you guys the stark difference...look at these

This is a typical shirt at SJ http://redstormsports.cbscollegestore.com/store/Vendor355/fullscale/basketballt-c.jpg

Here is one from Nova http://graphics.fansonly.com/schools/nova/graphics/nova-nation-fan-shirt.gif

Now you may say Nova had more success than us and that's why...well here is a cool Seton Hall shirt
http://image.cdnllnwnl.xosnetwork.com/pics32/400/AV/AVBXMTFNZVQVWEW.20110110155147.jpg

And another:http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_U4gWlgrd7RM/TOQrO-BE6bI/AAAAAAAAANc/HL0OAQQGSs0/s1600/RFP101117001.JPG

That is a typical St Johns shirt according to who? Anyone can find and post a plain looking Villanova or Seton Hall shirt just as easily.
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 Just to show you guys the stark difference...look at these

This is a typical shirt at SJ http://redstormsports.cbscollegestore.com/store/Vendor355/fullscale/basketballt-c.jpg

Here is one from Nova http://graphics.fansonly.com/schools/nova/graphics/nova-nation-fan-shirt.gif

Now you may say Nova had more success than us and that's why...well here is a cool Seton Hall shirt
http://image.cdnllnwnl.xosnetwork.com/pics32/400/AV/AVBXMTFNZVQVWEW.20110110155147.jpg

And another:http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_U4gWlgrd7RM/TOQrO-BE6bI/AAAAAAAAANc/HL0OAQQGSs0/s1600/RFP101117001.JPG

That is a typical St Johns shirt according to who? Anyone can find and post a plain looking Villanova or Seton Hall shirt just as easily.
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You are correct that you can find a plain Nova or Hall t-shirt.

Unfortunately, it's also correct that its next to impossible to find a cool STJ one.
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