Baseball Toaster: Dodger Thoughts : <i>Dodger Thoughts</i>: Think Outside the Boxscore

Dodger Thoughts: Think Outside the Boxscore

2005-05-20 21:32

by Jon Weisman

We have a winner - woo-hoo! And, we have more introspection about a T-shirt than you could possibly imagine ...

Points/Slogan
123 Thinking outside the boxscore
113 Where the game is never over
109 Bleeding blogger blue
99 A Dodger blog with mustard or A Dodger blog with relish
74 Passionately levelheaded
65 Conventional wisdom debunked daily
39 Come for the game, stay for the comments
29 Caution: Deconstruction Site
28 Talking Dodgers, wherever you may be
21 Keeping grown fans off the streets
20 Blogging for the cycle
9 Come to think of it
9 Dodgers from the outside in
8 Calm, cool and commented
6 Have you procrastinated today?
6 "Think like a Weisman but communicate in the language of the people." - William Yeats
4 Thinking the Blues
1 Baseball is 99% mental, the other half is ...
1 Obscure but memorable
0 Great minds think unalike
0 Heart and Soul and Numbers and Words
0 Thera-Blue

Free T-shirt for ever-faithful Dodger Thoughts reader BigCPA for coming up with the winner after the voting began - the most successful Dodger write-in since Steve Garvey's 1974 All-Star campaign. (But come on - no votes for "Great minds think unalike" or "Thera-Blue?" That's gold, Jerry, gold!)

So now, the vote - a close one, I'd say, with two first-place votes making the difference out of approximately 100 - is over. What comes next? A couple of quick notes before we get to talking about the design.

First, my wife suggested changing "Thinking outside the boxscore" to the more active "Think outside the boxscore," and I agree. I like the call to action, the invitation for everyone to think with the site instead of watching the site (okay, me) think for them.

Second, while it's obvious why this slogan was so popular, one could argue that there's not enough that's uniquely Dodger Thoughts or Dodgers about it. So as we adapt "Dodger Thoughts: Think outside the boxscore" into the T-shirt, I'm interested in seeing if the twist on Eric Gagne's personal slogan, "Where the game is never over," or the clever "The Dodger blog with relish" (note the slight change) might also be incorporated.

As far as designing the shirt, Dodger Thoughts reader Tommy Naccarato long ago offered to help. I've seen some of his designs in the past and they're good. But if anyone else has wants to offer any ideas - again, without pay - I'd love to see them as well. So if you want to help take us one step closer to T-shirt reality, let me know through the comments or an e-mail.

I'm a little self-conscious about how much time I've spent thinking and talking from Sloganland, but I'm excited about the new slogan and the upcoming shirts. I hope you are too.

Comments

2005-05-20 21:38:19

1. Suffering Bruin

That was a close election!

I came up with nothing, yet am extremely proud of being a part of it all.

Your welcome. (bows, humbly steps off podium with gentle wave to adoring fans...)

2005-05-20 21:39:25

2. Suffering Bruin

By the by, FWIW, we've got no cups--all in the other apartment--and we'll be eating out for three meals a day for the next two days. In other words, I miss Fact of Choi, this site and all that it entails.

I do not seem to be missing much from tonights game, however...

2005-05-20 21:46:45

3. Bob Timmermann

Good use of that imperative mood.

2005-05-20 21:49:12

4. Jon Weisman

Bob, your third-place vote will always be obscure but memorable to me.

2005-05-20 21:52:24

5. Xeifrank

My slogan came in third place. Thanks for the votes it was a tough and hard campaign but I'll be back. :)

As far as the t-shirt design perhaps we could have a logo contest to go with the design of choice??

Xei

2005-05-20 22:02:14

6. Vishal

excellent! that one was my favorite.

speaking of slogans, vinny just uttered the phrase "the sing-song chant of hee seop choi", which is a total winner of a phrase as far as i'm concerned.

2005-05-20 22:05:53

7. Jon Weisman

Xeifrank - first we'll have to see if there's more than one design.

2005-05-20 22:41:12

8. bigcpa

Well I'd just like to thank my 9 cousins who saw fit to vote for my slogan.

Allow me to relive the underdog drama:

137. bigcpa
1) We think outside the box score.
1A) Thinking outside the box score.
------------------------
140. Jon Weisman
The ballot is live, folks. See new post.
----------------
142. bigcpa
Too late to get "Thinking outside the box score" on the ballot? I'll have to start a write-in campaign.

2005-05-21 04:00:44

9. Sam DC

stirring, Big, stirring.

Congrats Jon.

2005-05-21 09:15:35

10. Doug N

I am anticipating the release of the Dodger Thoughts t-shirt more than I'm anticipating Anakin Skywalker putting on the helmet for the first time. Seriously, will they be ready for Father's Day?

2005-05-21 10:03:54

11. Suffering Bruin

I've got a rare break from moving and I'm using it to post on DT. Perhaps Plaschke would look down at that. I'm sorry if this is OT on such a joyful occasion as finding a slogan but what are we to make of this?

"Even among the Paul DePodesta trekkies, the I-told-you-so's are being replaced by the uh-ohs."

So... we're trekkies. I don't think he's being complimentary here. I think a man barely able to utilize the King's English for more than a paragraph has thrown down his gage.

Gentlemen, we should perhaps consider a return of fire. Just give me time to put away my klingon mask...

2005-05-21 10:04:50

12. bigcpa

Darn we just missed out a new slogan idea. In today's column Plaschke has coined the term "DePodesta's Trekkies."

2005-05-21 10:16:57

13. Jim Hitchcock

If he had any sense of cool he'd have made it `DePo Heads'.

2005-05-21 11:07:56

14. Jon Weisman

I'd like to think that the beauty of this site is that DePodesta Trekkies and Klingons are both welcome.

2005-05-21 11:37:20

15. socalcardfan

Next, they'll be demanding that the A's re-po Depo.

2005-05-21 16:05:35

16. MackJohnny

Where the ghame is nhever 0-fher

2005-05-21 18:04:33

17. JJoeScott

I'm sorry, Jon, but "The Dodger blog with relish" is just too good, too unique NOT to use. ANYONE can "think outside the boxscore," not to mention the redundancy of "thoughts" next to "think" in the slogan.

Anyway, that's now my 4 cents on the matter.

I'm no ad exec ... actually, I am an ad exec. Well, a PR exec - same different, my mother thinks.

- JJS (or whatever my real initials are)

2005-05-21 21:52:41

18. bojangles

The whole exercise seemed a slice too self-referential. Why d'ya even need a slogan? Why not just "Dodger Thoughts?"

Having made a few more enemies, let me suggest that if you're gonna use the "winner" - cut the "think" or "thinking." Sorta redundant, even w/out the title of the shirt. And redundancy, explicit and less so, continues to be the most consistent crime against the language.
Further, "outside the boxscore" adequately describes a good many of the fans here who place way too much faith in the new insights,
and too little in the old (and hence, generate mildly wasteful polemics about 3 and 9 against somewhat decent teams not really being 3 and 9, I swear by Bud.) To honor the kind of chrysalis that the likeable Mr. Bill seemed to have in mind with the first abstract, how 'bout
"Outside the box...score!!!" or
"Boxscore and more!"
Sorry for any hurt feelings. I'll shazzam! for a while. Be well, blue guys.

2005-05-21 21:53:58

19. bojangles

The whole exercise seemed a slice too self-referential. Why d'ya even need a slogan? Why not just "Dodger Thoughts?"

2005-05-21 22:07:49

20. Fearing Blue

#17/18: I hadn't picked up on the redundancy, but I agree that "Dodger Thoughts: Outside the boxscore" sounds crisper. Also, "Dodger blog with relish" is growing on me.

2005-05-22 06:10:45

21. Jon Weisman

Dodger Thoughts: Outside the boxscore is weak, I think. And I don't think anyone's feelings are hurt in the slightest, but the fact that you use the adjustment in the slogan to criticize many of the people who come here doesn't give me a whole lot of confidence.