New Big Ten Logo: Big Loser

Well, lookey here! Guess who just got a new logo? And just in time for their exciting new divisional format!

You don't look impressed. Well, take a number and go to the back of that extremely LONG line.

Big Ten Commissioner, Jim Delaney, said this about the new logo: "The new Big Ten logo provides a contemporary identifying mark unifying 12 outstanding institutions. It conveys some elements from the past while simultaneously introducing new features. We think the new logo is fun and has something for everyone."

Let's exegete this for a moment:

Commissioner Delaney says the new logo is "contemporary." He apparently thinks that "contemporary" means "it looks so 20th century that the Brady Bunch could have designed it."

Delaney calls it an identifying mark for 12 outstanding institutions? Uh, Jim, one thing: it says, "BIG" and the "IG" is made to look like the number "10" (unless it's an abbreviation for "1 gigabyte")—but it's supposed to be an identifier for 12 institutions? Okay, if you say so.

And finally, the commish says that the new logo is...fun? Fun? Has the dictionary changed the meaning of "fun" while I wasn't looking? Does "fun" now mean "boring, uninspired and lame"?

This has something for everyone? Really? You mean everyone but me and about 100 million other college football fans?

And as if this logo wasn't enough, the Big 10/11/12 also gave us the new names for their new divisions.

And they are...drum roll please...the "Leaders" division and the "Legends" division. Leaders and Legends.

If you thought the logo was simply a misstep, a minor misjudgment, a momentary lapse, Delaney and the "Big 10/11/12" leadership prove (with with these names) that this is a congenital problem.

The Big 10/11/12 are like that guy who desperately wants to be included in the group but can't get it through his head that sticking carrot sticks up his nose really isn't funny.

Yeah Jim, you're that guy.