Yesterday’s announced from AD John Currie that the Lady Vols name and logo would be returned to prominence, not as a replacement for the Volunteer name and Power-T logo but as a equally-valued brand name to be used by the women’s teams at their discretion, came after most of us had given up hope of such a positive outcome. Currie described being accosted almost daily by Lady Vol supporters, including, one time, my wife), lobbying for the reversal of the previous administration’s unpopular dismissal of the Lady Vol brand. I’ve always been more or less neutral on the subject, but given the passion of so many and the indifference of others it seems like not only the right decision but almost a no-brainer.
Currie spoke briefly about the replacement of Tennessee’s old logo, the outline of the state map on top of a U and a T forming a “State-T”, with the cleaner, more generic Power-T, which occurred without anywhere near the outrage that followed the removal of the Lady Vol logo. I’m not an alumni of the University so in a sense my opinion doesn’t matter, but I personally found the State-T more distinctive and, frankly, more clever than the Power-T. Without public outcry there’s no chance the State-T will return to prominence, but might I suggest that it be re-instated along with the Lady Vol logo as another alternative brand? My vision is that the men’s teams be given the same opportunity to choose among Tennessee logos, by having a logo of their own. Gentlemen Vols, as it were, alongside Lady Vols. Their logo could be some version of the State-T.
Of course, at some point we may need to adopt a Transgender T as well. I don’t currently have any ideas for that, but I’m sure the possibilities for inclusive and exclusive T’s have not been exhausted.
Hoops and Diamonds 