The name game
I was pretty surprised with myself yesterday that I was excited to hear about that the Expos are moving to DC. I'd been pretty against it (in sum: make Virginia pay for it), but the location of the stadium looks really great, and at the very least, I'll get to go to three Astros games a year, unless they move the team to the American League, which would mean that I was clearly cursed, like the Cubs.
But now we get into the really great stuff: arguing over what to name the team. I hadn't even thought of it until yesterday, but it would be amazingly great if they named the team the Grays. There's not much I can say about this that wasn't said perfectly by Michael Wilbon today, but I really do think this is a chance for Major League Baseball as a whole to give official recognition to the Negro Leagues. And, as Wilbon said, it'll not only acknowledge that DC is the "blackest city in the country", but it'll give a nice jump on merch sales that are already soaring with retro Negro League jerseys. I would imagine that "Senators" would get a pretty lukewarm welcome from the non-partisan jersey buyers of America.
And just personally, the Washington Grays would inspire me to follow the team. The Senators (especially if they move them to the American league) wouldn't inspire me to do anything more than go to a few games every season and root for them somewhat if they got into the playoffs. Either way, no team will replace the Astros as ruler of my broken heart.
10 comments:
Yeah, it's true that the stadium will bring a lot of people in, many of whom will then spend money at DC restaurants and bars (thus giving DC more in tax money). But I'm still not really convinced that doing all of these things really brings that much back to the city in return for its investment on the stadium. It's not just the stadium...it's the renovations and maintenance that they have to do around the stadiums, changes in traffic plans, etc.
But, I used the word "been" in my original post, and this is more of a stance that I used to have in the past. As in, it's not really something I think anymore. I'm not at all an expert on these things...I just am skeptical about how much money the city will end up making vs. losing. But I'm really happy to have the team here. I just hope I stay in DC long enough to see the new stadium. ;-)
One more point about the name: Ivan pointed out this morning that calling the team the Washington Sentaors is a little insulting in that Washington doesn't HAVE a senator!
The Grays? I dunno - I was hoping they could spice it up and use a more "dangerous" name, like, maybe, "the Gray Wolves"? Or "the Gray Whales"? Or maybe a dangerous animal that hasn't been used yet - like "the Asps"? or maybe "the Poisonous Sea Snails"? There's soooo much potential, and here you are wanting to go back to using some name that's already been used - where's the creativity Reid?!
No, really, "the Grays" is cool - though I have to plead total ignorance on Negro League history (and this is probably the best reason to name it as such). BTW, where is the stadium planned to be located? I agree too, I don't like "the Senators" - I'd rather see them called "the Museums".
why did it take an ENTIRE day for my comment to be posted? straaaange...
Dukes! That's a great one! I'm surprised that that's not on the voting list (link now on front page). Weston was going nuts and suggesting a million, and a few were pretty good: the Ovals, Old Glory. None that would be used, of course.
Unfortunately, he also stumbled on one that made me realize that the Grays is unlikely to be picked: the Gays. It might seem like just something stupid that haters of the team would use, but the Texans front office acknowledged that they didn't even want to consider the Roughnecks just because people would then call them the Rednecks. It would be a shame that they wouldn't use it for that reason, but I guess it's possible.
i like the grays too, but as long as we're going with the civil rights theme, why not update it into the new millenium and call the team the washington gays?
Have people forgotten that every time they name a DC baseball team the Senators, the team moves away? (Twins, Rangers) Plus, like what Ivan was saying, Senators aren't *from* DC, they're from the states.
Grays wouldn't be bad, although it's kinda boring. I like the Generals (as in General Washington). Or the Blueskins, to go along with the Redskins and the whole red/blue political metaphor.
I'm happy that they're putting the team in the city rather than in the VA burbs...as long as it doesn't create too much of a tax burden. Camden Yards was built in what used to be an extremely dangerous, crime ridden part of the city, but they were pretty successful in getting it cleaned up. The Anacostia waterfront has the potential to become DC's "Inner Harbor." Hopefully the stadium would be a start in that direction.
Also, I think Mazzilli's comments about moving the O's to the NL East and the Expos to the AL got blown way out of proportion. It's unlikely that would happen. People in Baltimore love complaining about the Yankees too much. Plus having to compete with the Braves and the Mets (or at least the Mets' spending) isn't any better than having to compete with the Yankees and Red Sox.
-Scott
The other name that would be fitting would the the Washington Acronyms. Or a name that *was* an acronym. D.O.B. (Dept of Baseball)? You could call them the Dobbers as a nickname.
-Scott
My last post on this, I promise. I knew I shouldn't have started thinking about this. ;)
There used to be a soccer team in DC in the early 80s called the Washington Diplomats. I think they should go with that.
-Scott
damn this delayed comment posting!
Washington Taxmen? They could play the Beatles song during the 7th inning stretch.
I thought these posts were really delayed at first too...but they seem to show up fine if you manually hit "refresh." Weird. Blogs these days.
OK, *this* is my last post on this subject.
-Scott
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