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Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Introducing Your Oklahoma City...

-Red Men (this obviously would not go over well, but Oklahoma translates to Land of the Red Men)
-Conquerors (part of state motto)
-Panhandlers (ode to Oklahoma panhandle)
-Terror (this may also not go over well, but the Chicago Fire manage well)
-Mountaineers (Oklahoma has 4 mountain ranges)
-Tornado (state lies in tornado alley)
-Pioneers (because of being the pioneer state)
-Wrath (part of title of book about Oklahoma life in dust bowl era)
-Bison (state mammal)
-Herd (like a herd of Bison)

These are your viable options for a team name related to Oklahoma and Oklahoma City. I am in no way suggesting that the name should be offensive to anyone in any way, shape, or form.

Got a better name? Let me know and I will surely get to it.

25 comments:

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...

OKLAHOMA CITY BRAND

Anonymous said...

They are going to be the
Oklahoma City Thunder. Mainly because it relates to their weather and Tornados have damaged too many peoples lives to actually be considered.


-The C.D.W.-

Anonymous said...

I like what you've come up with. Good job on the research.

We have an Arena Football League 2 here in Little Rock called the Arkansas Twisters. The name allows for some fun at the games. For example, before the team is introduced you hear a loud roll of thunder over the speakers, then the lights in the arena flicker and go out (only a few spotlights are left on) just as a loud tornado siren begins to blow. It is a great effect that gets the crowd going nuts as the team runs onto the field.

I think that Tornado would be a great name.

djl4c said...

I'm not really a fan of any of these - in my opinion, they all sound either too "we're trying to be new and hip!" (Terror, Tornado, Wrath - much like the Raptors' name sounds like), too classic and collegiate-sounding (Panhandlers, Mountaineers, Pioneers, Bison - much like the Bobcats' name sounds like), or just too cheesy (Herd, Conquerors). Red Men isn't awful, but like you said it'd never fly.

NBA naming is a bit difficult because the league's names are typically much more modern than MLB or NFL teams (which is why the "Nationals" sound much better as an MLB team than the "Diamondbacks"), but run a risk of being too cliche. The Heat and the Magic, for example, took a long time to catch on among fans - it's only been the generation of fans that have grown up with the Heat and the Magic as teams that don't notice a difference between team names like that and the Mavericks, Knicks, Celtics and Lakers.

For OKC, I kinda like a couple of the current propositions: the Barons and the Outlaws. I've also seen '66ers' thrown around, but that'd conflict with the 76ers being referred to more as the 'Sixers'. Really not a fan of 'Thunder' though - that sounds like the name of a WNBA franchise, not an NBA one.

Anonymous said...

Oklahoma (City=optional) Sandstorm

Anonymous said...

I bet the first person couldn't think of any.... better keep your self anonymous. I would go for Bison out of that list.

Anonymous said...

Personally if you want to go with a tornado theme. The obvious choice would be the Oklahoma City Cyclones. I think it rolls off the tongue quite well.

Anonymous said...

i'm not huge on most the suggestions i've heard. ones like bandits and outlaws are cool, but i doubt you could get away with that anymore. another big problem is all the small colleges and minor league sports teams in the area. There is a good NAIA school with the name Crimson Storm so names like thunder and storm and what not are difficult. The minor league hockey teams rivals are the tulsa drillers so that ones out. and since all the local universities had to give up thier native american names over the last decade there's no way the pro team could get it. Then once you eliminate all the names used by pro teams that might fit (i.e. cowboys, spurs, broncos, oilers) you're left with just a few. the barons are kinda cool in reference to the oil barons of the region, but americans are dumb and wont get it. I saw aviators on yahoo and thought that one is cool. Alot of early flight pilots trained in the area not to mention okc is the birthplace of astronaught shanon lucid and the home of a major air base.

Anonymous said...

we have minor league baseball team called the Redhawks but before that they were called the 89ers and our arena football team use to be called the Wranglers and now they are called the yarddawgs

Anonymous said...

How about the Oklahoma City Bombers?

Anonymous said...

i think that the cylones and sandstorm are nice names, along with the flash, relating to the weather in OKC (tornadoes, thunderstorm lots of lightning)

Anonymous said...

I think the Ants or Red Ants would be a great name for an NBA team. The marketing/logo/art possibilities are great, the mascot could be something you could like and get behind. The ant could be cartoony, or fierce and warrior-like. And it's like, ironic, because ants are small, but you want basketball players to be tall. ;-) It has a kind of underdog appeal.

I don't know what they were thinking with some of the pro team names chosen in recent years, like the "Shock" or the "Revolution" or the "Wave" or the "Dream" -- how the hell do you expect people to become fans of such teams? "Yeah, I'm a big Dream fan". How do you market the apparel and stuff? W/no mascot.

I could see myself buying and wearing an Ants t-shirt, but a "Herd" t-shirt, or a "Flash" t-shirt? Nuh-uh.

Anonymous said...

What about the Oklahoma City bombers

Anonymous said...

i think the wrath would be much more fitting for a bakersfield or fresno d-league team, as very little of the grapes of wrath actually takes place in oklahoma.. or has anything to do with it aside from the dust bowl being the characters' motivation for moving to california. The book is set primarily in the fields of california's san joaquin valley.

Anonymous said...

Oklahoma City Rush Like the land rushes they had back in the day. and it doesn't end with as "s" which is unique.

Anonymous said...

I came against an article in the Daily Oklahoman the stated that the new name of the OKC team ws going to be Thunder (they held a contest back in Feb-Mar, and I think that name won, out of all the entries). I do not know the validity of this......

I think that Sentinels would be a good name (since there are a lot of military history in the state, and the native american on top of the State Capitol is supposed to be a "sentinel" looking towards the East for enemies) - or a name that is synopsed of 'protector'

Anonymous said...

Oklahoma Ohs!

Anonymous said...

The worst part of the whole naming thing for me is that they insist of having "City" in the name. "Oklahoma Twisters" sounds much better than "Oklahoma City Twisters". Or whatever the name should be.

Oklahoma Rush sounds very nice, get a D'Antoni-style offense in there.

I'd root for a team named Shock, Revolution, or Dream before a team called the Ants. Seriously?! ANTS? Shaq would never stop with his lame punchlines on that one.

Only name I've read that I like with "City" in the name would be "Oklahoma City Cyclones". Which isn't a bad choice.

"Oklahoma Outlaws" sounds good, could go by "Os" for short, describes the lawless history of the area.

All the people suggesting Drillers need to wake up and realize how twisted someone could take that. "Haha, the OKC Butt Drillers are losing again!" etc. Not a good idea.

I'm liking Oklahoma City Cyclones or Oklahoma Outlaws personally.

Unknown said...

How bout "they'llbelastSoonersthanlaters"

DenJamInc said...

How about leaving it as the Sonics. OKC is home to Sonic Drive In's a national fast food chain. The headquarters is located close to the FORD center where the OKC Sonics will be playing. Coincidence? I think not. Or you could make all the stupid Sooner fans angry and name them the OKC Longhorns HA..

Anonymous said...

i was gonna suggest the oklahoma city bombers after someone mentioned the airfields and stuff as in planes (there is an australian football league team called the essedon bombers) then i realised it might be in bad taste

wheresubaldo said...

Can't use Sonics because it is staying in Seattle. I was trying to think up names that have not been used yet in any sport but that was a challenge. Cyclones is a good one but I think that has something to do with water so it isn't exactly a tornado but it is still sounds good as said. Thanks for all of the feedback and I hope you visit again.

Anonymous said...

Team name should be Oklahoma City Bombers...it fits....as soon as your hear bombers....Oklahoma.

Anonymous said...

First, they should be the Oklahoma *whatevers* rather than the Oklahoma City *whatevers* because Commissioner Stern said Tulsa was just as important in the decision. None of the other coaches would have voted for the move if there wasn't a second metro nearby, and Tulsa is ultimately superior to OKC.
Second, since the mayor of OKC said "screw Tulsa" and is disregarding the comish's recommendation, Herd is the perfect name. That's what the people of Oklahoma City are.
Third, props to Portland, OR for being the only one voting against the move.