Dialing in an NBA nickname
Anything I write about the NBA nickname only spurs more talk about nicknames. The good stuff I get from emails, I share. But sometimes, people pick up the phone and to tell me live what they think.
I got seven phone calls today from people suggesting nicknames, and to be honest, I forgot what one of them suggested. But the other six I wrote down. Some have been discussed before.
Chiefs, which I can’t endorse, since the Kansas City football team has it, and if you’re going to copy another major-league franchise’s name, it needs to be a ballteam on the other side of the country. KC is not that far away.
Okies, which I can’t endorse, since it would offend at least half the Oklahomans who still see it as a derisive term from the Dust Bowl. And the other half thinks it’s silly.
Sky. Oklahoma City Sky. Sorry, but it makes you run back to Thunder.
Arrows. Not awful, but not very good. I don’t see it as being germane to Oklahomans.
Mustangs. Good. Very good. It’s not going to win, but I like it. Good and solid. Ties in with the horse industry and with the Ford Center. Excellent option.
But a new nominee has arrived, which has no chance of winning but is at least interesting. Wrath. Oklahoma City Wrath. Singular. Abstract. Everything a nickname is not supposed to be. But it ties in with John Steinbeck and makes you think. I don’t vote for Wrath. But it’s not the worst name on the list.
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Comments
Jim I agree with you. The delay in the name has taken too long. It would have been extremely beneficial to have the name out a month ago before people began spending their hard-earned money on campus corner or at eskimo joes. While merchandise sales will still be significant, I think they have cost themselves quite a bit of money. I dont think its by design, however. I think that if the owners could have announced the name, colors and logo, they would have. I dont know if the delay is due to legalities or a last second change in regards to the name, but whatever the reason the impact statewide will definitely be lessened by the arrival of football.
Here’s a last-ditch plea for Barons. It says in our state song that we know we belong to the land, and that is echoed in the mascots of our two major state schools. Sooners and Cowboys are both groups of people with ties to the land. A Baron, in nobility, is literally a landowner. Like the other mascots, it’s a human who worked hard and got ahead.
As for the idea that Barons has a negative connotation: don’t we want a mascot that is at least a little agressive? I mean, there aren’t a whole lot of friendly grizzlies out there. But here’s how you counter it: make the mascot a red baron type pilot. It ties in perfectly with the state’s aviation history.
How about really tying in the aviation history and going with the “OKC Pilots”…solid name and would provide some fantastic retro uni options! Thunder sucks worse with each day we wait!
I guess I am just suspicious of owners. But I think they had the name a month ago and thought by keeping it out of the news it would create interest and talk. However, I think they have gone too long, what with football starting this week.