B-Rich Posted October 15, 2019 Share Posted October 15, 2019 As we are all aware, in the mid to late 1990s there was this weird thing going in Utah with their team names. The area already had the NBA Jazz, then in 1994 acquired an AAA baseball franchise which was named the Buzz (referencing an earlier Salt Lake Bees PCL team, itself an homage to Utah being The Beehive State and the bee's symbolic importance in the Mormon faith). A year later the IHL Denver Grizzlies moved there as a result of the Nordiques moving to Colorado, and thus the state now had the Utah Grizzlies. And just a few years later in 1997 the WNBA Utah Starzz began play, bringing the "ZZ" trifecta to a foursome. But before we could see the inevitable addition of the Utah Blizzard in some form of football (with ZZ Top appearing at their first game), several of the "ZZ" names fell by the wayside. First to go was the Salt Lake Buzz, who changed their name to the Stingers in 2001, but this was because of a trademark dilution lawsuit from Georgia Tech, who had a yellow jacket mascot named Buzz. The WNBA Starzz then left for San Antonio in 2003, leaving just the Jazz and Grizzlies as the ZZ teams. The selection of the incongruous Europhilic nomenclature "Real Salt Lake" for their MLS franchise in 2005 essentially put the brakes on the "ZZ" trend, which was completely stopped dead in it tracks when the area's new Arena Football team was dubbed the single "Z" Utah Blaze (instead of continuing the trend with "Blazze"). The 'ZZ" trend was not only dead, but buried for sure earlier this year with the AAF Salt Lake Stallions. Which is a shame, because late last week on Jeopardy!, one of the categories was "Words with 'ZZ' in them". The clues gave me some great way-out ideas for bringing back some slightly off-kilter ZZ names that Utah could have gone with. Here are six, graphically presented for your enjoyment: FEEL FREE TO ADD YOUR OWN... It is what it is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferdinand Cesarano Posted October 15, 2019 Share Posted October 15, 2019 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pianoknight Posted October 15, 2019 Share Posted October 15, 2019 5th in NAT. TITLES | 2nd in CONF. TITLES | 5th in HEISMAN | 7th in DRAFTS | 8th in ALL-AMER | 7th in WINS | 4th in BOWLS | 1st in SELLOUTS | 1st GAMEDAY SIGN Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neo_prankster Posted October 17, 2019 Share Posted October 17, 2019 Utah Fozz? The Fictional Story of Austus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walk-Off Posted October 17, 2019 Share Posted October 17, 2019 2 hours ago, neo_prankster said: Utah Fozz? Only if the act is clean enough for the state's many Mormons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dont care Posted October 17, 2019 Share Posted October 17, 2019 I saw one where they tried to turn the Oakland A’s to the Utah A’zz. Pretty easy to see why it wouldn’t work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foxxtrot44 Posted October 17, 2019 Share Posted October 17, 2019 I feel you didn't do a good enough job picking on the panoply of hopeless minor league pro-teams that showed up here. Like the Utah Blitzz, the Utah Catzz, and the eternally mind-melting Utah Freezz. I HATE THIS TIMELINE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B-Rich Posted October 17, 2019 Author Share Posted October 17, 2019 40 minutes ago, Foxxtrot44 said: I feel you didn't do a good enough job picking on the panoply of hopeless minor league pro-teams that showed up here. Like the Utah Blitzz, the Utah Catzz, and the eternally mind-melting Utah Freezz. Did not know about those VERY minor league team names. It was worse than I thought. It is what it is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobster Posted October 17, 2019 Share Posted October 17, 2019 Buzzards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McGlinchey23 Posted October 18, 2019 Share Posted October 18, 2019 MOD EDIT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheRealPepman Posted October 18, 2019 Share Posted October 18, 2019 WIzzards Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vtgco Posted October 20, 2019 Share Posted October 20, 2019 On 10/17/2019 at 4:46 PM, Bobster said: Buzzards. That would actually be an awesome, classy name, so of course this '90s trend would never go for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DustDevil61 Posted October 23, 2019 Share Posted October 23, 2019 On 10/17/2019 at 5:46 PM, Bobster said: Buzzards. Given that there's a wildlife rehabilitation program for the endangered California Condor in the southern end of the state (near Zion NP), this would be an excellent, not-too-painfully-obvious-in-the-vein-of-the-Grizzlies name. Bonus points for basing such a team in St. George. AKA @LanRovr0 on Twitter LED Sig Credits to packerfan21396 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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