Ignite The Night. Jackets Time. Gotta See It Live.
If you're a Columbus Blue Jackets fan, those team taglines are as seared into your brain as Nick Foligno's playoff goal and Boomer's debut.
But now, the Blue Jackets are approaching the 2017-18 season, and they need a new slogan. And since we here at 1st Ohio Battery think the Jackets have the best fans in the nation, we think you're just the people to provide it.
And to prove it, we're putting a shirt and hat on the line.
That's right.
Here's how it works: Come up with your best tagline for this year's team, and we'll pick the best one and send you a 1OB shirt and hat. It's that simple.
Put in as many entries as you want in our comments section below (which means you have to comment right here and not on Facebook or Twitter), and our award-winning panel (basement bloggers) will honor the best. We might even use it throughout the year (no guarantees).
We'll pick our winner Sunday, Sept. 10.
And to jog your memory, here's what the Blue Jackets have used in previous seasons, rated from best to worst in our not-particularly-humble opinion.
1. Carry The Flag: Debuted in 2007, this slogan tried to build on the excitement of the first seasons in Blue Jackets history that resembled playoff runs. Finally, the dream came true in 2008-09, with the team carrying the flag all the way to the Stanley Cup postseason. It built on the team's Civil War history while drawing fans in with a call to action. All in all, pretty good.
2. Join The Battle: Pretty much the same as the first one, except Carry The Flag was the original. Join The Battle (or Join The Bottle, depending on how the team was doing at the time) was created in 2012 and was in action when the team returned to the Cup playoffs in 2013-14. You probably still have a shirt or hat that says this.
3. Ignite The Night: If you ask anyone for a classic team tagline, this is likely the one they'll come up with. It tried to spin hockey as cool and exciting in a market that was still coming to that conclusion, debuting in 2002, and really it has aged well. You can tell if someone is a fan going back to the early years by dropping an Ignite The Night reference.
4. March With Us: This also works considering you can turn the playoff slogan into April With Us, and perhaps one day we'll get a May With Us. This has the same war overtones and fan participation call to action as the first two, but this 2015 debut just isn't quite as snappy.
5. Jackets Time: Weird to put this one so low, because I remember really liking it at the time. Coming out of the lockout (the original one; sadly, we have to make that clear) in 2005, the team needed some excitement, and this marketing campaign was a bit edgy and exciting. Sadly, it did not result in any actual team success.
6. All Out, All Season: I don't think anyone really remembers this slogan, used in year two of the franchise. It falls here because it's not the bottom one.
7. Gotta See It Live: "Please come to our games. Pretty please?"
So there you go. Those are the examples the team has used previously, so that's the competition level you have to match. Winner gets a hat and a shirt. It's Slogan Time. Slogan With Us. Ignite The Slogan. Let's see what you got.
For complete contest rules, check this out.
