Really, that ought to go without saying. By definition, a classic logo isn't breaking any new ground. It plays it safe. Playing it safe is dangerously close to being boring.

So it should come as no surprise that when I say a logo is "classic", that means it's awfully close to being boring.

The Augusta Lynx logo is a good example. It doesn't earn a lot of points. It's not cartoony. There are no hockey sticks in the logo, no goofy facial expressions.

There's also not a lot of excitement.

A lot of the blame, I believe, can be placed on the colors -- which, it is worth pointing out, is the least classic thing about this logo. Think about the classic logos in the NHL -- discounting white, you can make every Original Six logo with just four colors (red, blue, black, and yellow). Bold, basic colors. Not like Augusta, with the wishy-washy grey and wimpy teal blue.

It's particularly bad when you consider the fact that when this team chose its logo, teal was a very popular color. In fact, in an earlier version of the rules, the Bush League Factor had a specific rule about teal. (I gave it the "colorful" penalty for this reason.) Today, it's no longer trendy. But it's still a bad color, and the fact that few teams are choosing it anymore makes it a little more obvious.

Still, that's not a lot to complain about. This logo isn't going to win any awards for bold design, but it's also not going to be held up as the How Not to Design a Logo poster child.

By the way, you may be wondering why they get a penalty for "Wordplay". It's because the name comes from the presence of the Masters tournament in Augusta. It's a play on "Links". But the penalty is mitigated by the fact that I give them the "Local" Bonus as well.

Final Score: 19 points.
Penalties: Wordplay, 7 pts; Name-Logo, 2 pts; Colorful, 13 pts.
Bonuses: Local, -3 pts.