Clyde Drexler modeled the Rockets' new logo and uniforms in
front of over 5,000 fans at the Rockets Draft and Logo Party in
Houston. The new design "drew howls of dismay from fans who
bemoaned the loss of the team's traditional look" -- but T-
shirts, caps, and bumper stickers with the new look "sold
briskly." Players and coaches all gave the new duds a thumbs up.
Hakeem Olajuwon: "I love the design. I can't wait to wear it."
Coach Rudy Tomjanovich: "I love the midnight blue. It's one of
my favorite colors." Artist Thomas Nash, who came up with the
concept, won a $1,000 gift certificate and other prizes in the
fan design contest (David Barron, HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 6/29).
CNN's Vince Cellini: "I guess when you win back to back titles
you can do whatever you want with your colors and logo" ("Sports
Tonight," CNN, 6/28). But in Houston, Fran Blinebury takes the
team to task: "It's a wonderfully tasteful and classic logo. If
you get most of your ideas about taste and class from watching
Saturday morning cartoons. ... I'm having a hard time deciding
which part of the new rocket is absolutely the silliest" (HOUSTON
CHRONICLE, 6/29). The new logo was the result of a "nearly two-
year process that included evaluating about 5,000 designs and
finding that focus groups just didn't like yellow" (Michael
Hiestand, USA TODAY, 6/29).
