Return of the Ottawa Rough Riders?

[Bleujayone]

Three Potential Owners, Three Team Identities.

Former Ottawa Rough Riders owner Horn Chen of Chicago has sold his ownership rights to the Rough Riders brand name to a group from Kentucky looking to win a new CFL franchise in Ottawa. The group is headed up by John Egan and also includes former Rough Riders player Bill Palmer (his son Jesse Plamer is QB of the San Francisco 49ers). They have purchased the rights from Chen for $100,000 USD. This includes rights to all logos, uniforms, colors, and the nickname "Rough Riders". The US group claims if they are the ones awarded the team, they will indeed name the team the Rough Riders, and use the former "R" logo. They are also the only group who has the rights to do so.

There are at least two other groups also trying for the new Ottawa franchise. One of them is said to be the Golden Gate Captial Corp. of Toronto headed up by Jeff Hunt. They are already owners of the local junior hockey team, the Ottawa 67's. They have expressed interest in keeping the current name and logo of the Ottawa Renegades.

The other group is Steelback Brewery owned by Frank D'Angelo. He has claimed if he should be awarded the franchise he would like to name it the Ottawa Steelback as an extension of his business empire. He has already put together a prototype uniform and logo which is more or less his established Steelback brand. The company currently has a sponsorship contract with the Toronto Argonauts.

There are rumors of a fourth possible group consisting of local Ottawa politicians and businessmen- but at this time nothing has been confirmed, and the CFL front office has no wishes to discuss publically the parties interested in getting a team. They also would not discuss the possibility of a new 10th team to be placed in another city such as Halifax, Quebec City, or Windsor.

After both Horn Chen and Bernie Glieberman had both been involved in the demise of seperate Ottawa franchises the league hopes to chose a group better suited for a a long-term ownership.

As of this time the league hopes to announce the formation of a new team in Ottawa before the end of the season. They currently place the franchise expansion fee at $3.5 million CND.

[DEAD!]

Ok, I've got a name for the team...

the KRUNK!!!!

[fonz]

I can see this franchise failing all over again.

[Phil]

Ottawa is too big a market for the CFL not to succeed. It's history may be poor (and as an expansion team, not likely to improve in the first few seasons), but if I were considering starting a sports team, this is a relatively cheap team with excellent growth possibilities.

Either name it the Rough Riders or Renegades... I thought the Renegades was an excellent play on the former team name (alliteratively speaking) and the red, black, and white colour scheme really connected the Ottawa football tradition. Don't go with something stupid (Steelback?) and make the team look bush league - I think part of the problem with the teams of the past has been a lack of credibility.

Having Lonie Glieberman (take Bill Veeck's willingness to try different things, and remove the ability to come up with good ideas, and you have Lonie Glieberman) running your team couldn't have helped the last few teams, that's for sure.

[Stampman]

I'd say no to Rough Riders--but let's not go back to two of them--there was an acceptable reason for that before--now there's not--

Yes the name has the history & all behind it--but keep the colours--yes--just get a different name.

[winghaz]

OK, I'm curious. What is the history behind the Ottawa Rough Riders name? And how is it that two CFL teams basically had the same name?

It also seems odd because Rough Riders or Roughriders is a very American name, considering Teddy Roosevelt's troop in the Spanish American War. The name is used quite often here in North Dakota because of TR's years in the Badlands -- North Dakota is often called Roughrider Country and the state's hall of fame honor is called the Rough Rider Award (ironically, there, two different spellings, as well).

Anyway, can somebody fill me in? Thanks.

[FrankCostanza]

OK, I'm curious. What is the history behind the Ottawa Rough Riders name? And how is it that two CFL teams basically had the same name?

East and West used to be two seperate leagues. When the two leagues merged, they just kept the names as they were.

[Stampman]

OK, I'm curious. What is the history behind the Ottawa Rough Riders name? And how is it that two CFL teams basically had the same name?

It also seems odd because Rough Riders or Roughriders is a very American name, considering Teddy Roosevelt's troop in the Spanish American War. The name is used quite often here in North Dakota because of TR's years in the Badlands -- North Dakota is often called Roughrider Country and the state's hall of fame honor is called the Rough Rider Award (ironically, there, two different spellings, as well).

Anyway, can somebody fill me in? Thanks.

Well a lot of Europeans who cam to North AMerica settled in North Dakota before going on to the Canadian prairies...

As for the Saskatchewan team name-

Regina Rugby Club renamed "Regina Roughriders".  Note: There are two theories on where the name "Roughriders" came from: One states that it came from the North West Mounted Police who were called Roughriders because they broke the wild horse broncos used by the force.  The other states that there was a Canadian contingent who fought with Teddy Roosevelt in the Spanish-American War.  His troops became known as the "Roughriders".  The colours of the infantry were red and black.

Info from here

[GeorgesL]

First off the Ottawa franchise named the team "Rough Riders" after lumberjacks riding logs down the Ottawa River.

And second, I'm glad the Ottawa franchise will play next season, because like Syphi said, Ottawa is too important of a city to not have a team. As for the name, I do understand that the Rough Riders is a more traditional name for Ottawa, like "Alouettes" is to Montreal. I thought "Renegades" was OK, it just looked like a Western team. And "Steelback"? I'd save it for a Hamilton franchise, in addition, calling a team by a name of a sponsor is pretty stupid, like Red Bull New York. I mean, c'mon!

Whatever the Ottawa club calls themselves, bring 'em on. The Als will beat 'em. I'm still waiting for a team in Quebec City. Imagine an East Division Final between Montreal and Quebec...

...It shall be done.

[Bleujayone]

From the Toronto Star...

Give this dumb idea a rough ride in Ottawa.

by Garth Woolsey

I wonder why anyone would pay even a nickel for rights to a name when one team of Roughriders in the CFL is plenty.

There are tests for banned substances (name your poison) and sanity (hello, Maurice Clarett). How about common sense?

The CFL wants to return to Ottawa and apparently at least one of the prospective ownership groups is looking to negotiate the return of the name Rough Riders to our nation's capital.

As Homer Simpson might say, "D'oh!"

For decades the CFL was known as the league with nine teams, two of which bore the same nickname ? Rough Riders and Roughriders. With the demise of the two-word version, then-owner Horn Chen took the name and familiar "R" logo with him into oblivion, where it has stayed through the rise and fall (twice) of the replacement Renegades.

Why anyone would give Chen a nickel, let alone $100,000, to possibly revive the contradictory branding is baffling. Why the CFL would entertain such silliness is ... well, it's a silly league at times, isn't it?

This is a league where anything goes. And anything that goes is liable to go right around, come back and bite you on the butt.

Are there steroids being used in the CFL? Who knows? Who cares? Tests? What are those?

As for common sense ... why not leave this dog of a double name asleep?

When the eastern and western portions of the CFL came together many decades back it was understandable that neither the Saskatchewan nor Ottawa franchises would give up their time-honoured nicknames.

Ottawa's football team took the name first, in 1898, the same year that Theodore Roosevelt's cavalry unit of the same name made headlines in the Spanish-American war.

The name, in turn, might have come from cowboy impresario Buffalo Bill Cody's popular "Wild West and Congress of Rough Riders of the World."

One theory has it that Roosevelt's unit included Canadians who took the name back home with them.

Another, that the North West Mounted Police were familiarly known as "rough riders" because they broke their own horses.

The regimental colours were red and black ? familiar to all Ottawans, but also the colours of the team in Saskatchewan starting in 1912, when the team was simply the Regina Rugby Club. It didn't adopt the name Roughriders until 1924, when it was (briefly, as it turned out) dropped in Ottawa in favour of Senators.

Saskatchewan switched colours to the now-familiar green and white in 1948, simply because a set of uniforms in those hues came cheap at a surplus store in Chicago.

If the CFL had a commissioner with any real clout he might rule that two Rider franchises is one too many but Tom Wright is an even lamer duck than many in the flock that preceded him. Since 1958, the CFL has gone through 15 commissioners (four have been described as interim). Since 1960, the NFL, by comparison, has had two head cheeses ? Pete Rozelle and Paul Tagliabue.

But the NFL has been through its own rough rides in terms of names. St. Louis lost its Cardinals to Arizona, but inherited the Rams from Los Angeles. St. Louis has also been home to football franchises named All-Stars and Gunners. Los Angeles, which doesn't currently have a team at all, had franchises named Buccaneers, Chargers and Raiders. There have been NFL franchises named Maroons in Pottsville, Kenosha and Toledo. -R.I.P.

Chen left Ottawa in the early '90s, his own name mud but the name Riders tucked away in his safety deposit box, gathering (who'd have believed it) interest.

He's stayed active in the sports entrepreneurship scam, being a part owner of the arenafootball2 franchise in Oklahoma City ? the Yard Dawgz.

Ottawa Yard Dawgz anyone?

[Bleujayone]

And from SLAM!

$100Gs for a name? 'R' you kidding me?

By ERIN NICKS -- Ottawa Sun

What's in a name? If you guessed an unwillingness to move forward and a bill for $100,000, you're absolutely right.

As the plans to revive Ottawa football chug forward, we've been made familiar with the three interested parties: The Golden Gate/Jeff Hunt conglomerate, brewery entrepreneur Frank D'Angelo, and an American investment group, which notably includes former CFLer Bill Palmer.

Each group is beginning to promote its cause. Every party believes it has the solution to topple Ottawa's mountain of football woes.

More beer. More kids. Then there's the elusive trifecta: More beer, kids and women.

But Palmer's party wants to begin with tradition. That's why he has reportedly reached an agreement with former owner Horn Chen to purchase the rights of the old Rough Riders name and logo, for a cool six figures.

Money can buy a lot of things. Unfortunately, sanity isn't one of them.

What does this boil down to? In a nutshell, tradition and sentimental value. Palmer admitted as much. And who cares about old-school sentiment? The hardcore fans, of course.

The ones you wouldn't have to beg in order to come back.

News flash, potential owners: It's the new-school supporters that you're looking to rope. And you're going to accomplish this with an ''R'' logo? Why not just resurrect the 1994-95 emblem? You can't go wrong with a cartoon version of Lanny McDonald in a fur hat and kerchief. Then there's the name -- again, a touchstone for the old-school crowd.

But for so many potential season-ticket holders, this name is a source of mockery that has reached the realms of pop culture.

(Aside -- My favourite excuse for allowing two teams to use the same name sounds something like this: ''They're not really the same, you know. Ottawa used to break up the name into two words, whereas Saskatchewan spells it as one.'' You're kidding me, right? We're justifying blatant ridicule with semantics?)

AVOID THE SCARVES

If this is truly intended to be Ottawa's newest (and most successful) era of football, shouldn't we avoid anything involving the 18th letter of the alphabet and little caricatures sporting scarves?

But what can we look for in a name? Here are some points to consider:

- Animals are usually a safe bet, but they must have roamed the Earth during the last few centuries. No dinosaurs allowed. Birds can get a little sketchy. Is there anything truly menacing about an Oriole? Proceed with caution.

- No descriptive names, ie. Chill, Rage, etc. The only visual they provide is one of mediocrity. It's like running into Maurice Clarett while he's sipping a martini and shopping for ammunition -- avoid at all costs. The CFL already fights for legitimacy amongst its critics. Don't do anything that gives off the aura of arena football.

- Think about what the media will do with the name. Editors have a daily pun quota to fill, and they love to create alternate monikers and short forms. The Chicago White Sox, in spite of all their history, have been saddled with ''Pale Hose.'' It sounds like a geriatric support garment.

- Speaking of Sox, no laundry references. And don't even think about using incorrect grammar (Toronto, I'm looking at you).

- For the sake of fans coming across the bridges, the name should be bilingual. Gatineau supporters were widely ignored during Ottawa's last attempt at maintaining a franchise. Bring them into the fold right away with a name they'll relate to -- consider it an immediate shot in the arm to the fan base.

The most important ingredients required for a CFL revival in Ottawa will be strong ownership, and a competent front office.

But choosing the right name is integral to achieving marketing success.

You should never ignore your core fan group, but if you feel confident about its unwavering support, shouldn't a new owner concentrate on what might appeal to the rest of the city?

ERA HAS PAST

There was a time and place for the Rough Riders, and it has since past.

Tradition will always hold weight, but there are still too many painful memories associated with that name, and time has not yet bridged a gap large enough to make it worthwhile.

All of these parties say they have fresh ideas. Creating a brand new identity for Ottawa football should definitely be one of them.

[Original6]

Worst Run League.... Ever...

[zoraK]

Worst Run League.... Ever...

Hmmm...

I don't think paying $100 G's for a name with 120 years of traidition behind it is a terrible price... for a large company it's not that bad of a deal. I'm sure if that company doesn't get the team they can go ahead and sell classic Ottawa Rough Riders merchandise.

[Roger Clemente]

They oughta just name the team....

...envelope please...

OTTAWA!

--Roger "Time?" Clemente.

[zoraK]

They oughta just name the team....

...envelope please...

OTTAWA!

--Roger "Time?" Clemente.

could the logo be a photo of Steve Ott crying?

[Bleujayone]

I actually like the idea of the "Lumberjacks". Keep the black & red colors, and have a logo like a couple of crossed axes or maybe a fist with a single axe.

I can picture the fans in the stands wearing hockey masks and chainsaws now.

Then again I can just as easily picture them singing Monty Python too...