Star Tribune December 23rd 1998

 The feline symbolizing the WNBA expansion Minnesota Lynx can be found hissing on T-shirts, pennants, pins and bumper stickers; as the team's inaugural season draws closer, Lynx fans will be able to show their loyalty with everything from hair clips and backpacks to pendants and watches. They can even wake up to a Lynx alarm clock.

When Tom O'Grady began designing the Lynx logo, he knew one thing right off the bat: It couldn't be any harder than what New York's team had thrown at him two years earlier.

Although WNBA teams try to play off their NBA counterparts when choosing a name and logo, "What the heck do you tie to a Knickerbocker?" said O'Grady, the NBA's vice president for creative services. "It's a 16th-century Dutch settler. `Mrs. Knickerbocker' wouldn't be the best thing in the world. We had no idea."

To make matters worse, the Knicks' colors - black and orange - weren't very appealing to a WNBA audience. Throw in New Yorkers' propensity to criticize, and the NBA finally decided to discard the pilgrim idea altogether. Thus, a new icon - Lady Liberty - was born, with softer orange and teal colors.

The Timberwolves-Lynx connection was easier to figure out. The Wolves wanted the WNBA logo to resemble their own - down to the colors: blue, silver and green - without duplicating it.

"We tried to bring in the same type of attributes - very determined-looking, mean-looking but not rabid, no foaming mouths or blood on the teeth," O'Grady said. "We try to keep these very clean-looking and attractive."

Because lynx live in Minnesota but aren't a common sight, "when we brought up the name `Lynx' to people, they weren't sure what it was," O'Grady added. "We needed to have the image of the cat front and center."

There were other considerations as well.

WNBA foregoes crests for team names in its logos "to brand it more quickly," O'Grady said. Even minor details like color of the eyes {blue} and the background {green} were given a lot of thought. NBA researchers checked the Internet and other sources to nail the Lynx's pointy ears and tufts of white fur.

The WNBA's other expansion team, the Orlando Miracle, unveiled its logo earlier this month. Its blue, silver and orange logo features a stylized "Miracle" on a star background.