If you dislike reading, I suggest that you don't look at this topic. It's pretty long.

My hometown (and beloved) hockey team announced earlier this season that they were going to redesign their jerseys and logos.

Originally, they had this design:
Away jersey
Home jersey

It's not a perfect design, but it's simple and relatively unique. No other team at the time used such a color scheme, and the jerseys have a charm that all Buffalo Sabres (the team) fans can recall. Note that there is a buffalo in the logo (the name of the city), as well as two crossed swords. The name of the team is the Sabres, and a sabre is a sword. So the logo is very fitting for the team name.

About ten (?) years ago, the team went through a dramatic change. They changed colors, logos, jerseys and even a new arena was built. While I'll argue that the new arena doesn't nearly have the same charm as the old one, that's not the point of this post. The jerseys changed to this:
Away Jersey (and later, home, when the league changed the dark jerseys to being the home jersey)
Home Jersey (once again, later, the away jersey)

Notice that the design now rests solely on the "buffalo" aspect of the team name. Only the shoulder design (you can't see it in the pictures) relates to the team name, which, again, is the Sabres. It's as if the team name is the Buffalo Buffaloes, which it is not. The new jerseys got an average reception by Sabres fans. They recognized the jerseys as decent, but most still preferred the old jerseys and color schemes.

Later on in the lifespan of the jerseys came the alternate jerseys, which are meant to be worn every once in a while.
Alternate jersey

It uses the new colors of the team, but now actually features the sabres as the main focus of the jersey. It also somewhat references the old design, with the circle and crossed swords. Overall, it's not bad at all.

This year, they announced that for the 2006-2007 season, they would go back to the old color scheme, and new jerseys would be made. Most Sabres fans became extremely excited about the impending change. Including me.

An awesome designer, John Slabyk of Celsius Design, most definitely a personal fan of the team (or in the least, a smart designer), made designs for the new jersey. They can be found here:
http://www.celsiusdesign.net/sabres/jerseys.html

Particularly note designs 02 and 05, personal favorites of mine, particularly 05. It's essentially, a moderized version of an old classic. The blue is slightly darker, and the "gold" actually looks good, unlike the old jerseys. The reaction from Sabres fans was that of extreme happiness. Even non-Sabres fans admitted that those designs were stunning, and may have ended up being the best jerseys in the league. All was well.

Just today, the almost 100%-confirmed logo was leaked by an unknown source. It looks like this:
New design?

What the (bleep) is that?! What kind of designer would make such a thing? Not only does that not look like a Buffalo, it has nothing to do with a sabre. It hardly conforms to the old color scheme, and does not in any way give the fans what they wanted. Logically speaking, it's an utter disaster, both taste-wise and logic-wise. I'm hoping this is a big hoax, but unfortunately, it seems like it is not.

It's like this thing was made with no regard to the history of the team or the community in which supported it so much over the last 30-odd years. I can't see how or why a designer would think that it's a good idea. Does nobody have any sense anymore? I'm not artist, but even I could devise something significantly better than that. It's a mockery to not only the team, but art itself. It disgusts me.

I was thinking of making this into a question, but it turned out to be more of a ranting by me. I'm angry. Why are so many graphic designers so bad at what they get paid for?