Name that D-League Team 2

[Pharos04]

Vote to Name the Fort Wayne D-League Team

Well like the Utah one, Fort Wayne is holding a public vote to choose the name. The choices are Fire, Lightning, Coyotes, and Mad Ants. Out of those I think Fire or Lightning would fit in well. Coyotes? In Indiana??

[KJTALBOT]

Coyotes are everywhere, dude, and expanding. We have them in Michigan.

Mad Ants? Really? Mad. Ants. Why are they mad? Is an ant not mean enough to be a logo? I would be afraid of a fire ant that might bite me. If the ant was just mad, I would step on it.

Edit - I just read that Mad Ants is a nod to General "Mad" Anthony Wayne so it has historical context. I'm typing this from Wayne County, Michigan, which is where Detroit is located. I believe Anthony Wayne also became governor of Michigan.

[TruColor]

Coyotes? In Indiana??

Absolutely:

Coyote Rescue

Mad Ants? Really? Mad. Ants. Why are they mad? Is an ant not mean enough to be a logo? I would be afraid of a fire ant that might bite me. If the ant was just mad, I would step on it.

From the D-League website:

Mad Ants (A salute to General ?Mad? Anthony Wayne!)

[Saturn]

All of those are horrible.

[Puck]

*clears throat* The Fort Wayne Krunk Mayo Wolverines of New Haven as Presented by the Komets.

[BallWonk]

I just read that Mad Ants is a nod to General "Mad" Anthony Wayne so it has historical context. I'm typing this from Wayne County, Michigan, which is where Detroit is located. I believe Anthony Wayne also became governor of Michigan.

I'm a huge Anthony Wayne fan, if only because I spent some time as a kid in Wayne, PA. Guy was something like the Patton of the revolutionary era. General Wayne was briefly a member of Congress from Georgia, but never governor of Michigan. He was the commander of the U.S. military expedition that secured Michigan and the rest of the old Northwest both from the British and the natives. His last campaign was centered on Detroit, fort whatever-they-called-it-back-then.

Anyway, as a Mad Anthony Wayne fan, I don't like the "Mad Ants" name at all. Makes no sense. Plus, biting ants are spreading north through the U.S. at the moment. Nobody will be laughing when actual mad ants reach Indiana. Nobody is going to get the Wayne reference in the Mad Ants name. Mad Anthonys, Waynes, Generals, Commanders, Continentals, Brandywines, Bayonets, Chargers, Marchers, even Legion or Legionnaires would be better. (President Washington designated Wayne's forces in the Northwest war the "Legion of the United States"; Wayne earned his nickname for his ability to function without sleep and march his men overnight; and his most famous victory, at Stony Point, was a nighttime bayonet-only infantry charge against a British fort that was thought to be pretty much impregnable.)

[KJTALBOT]

I used to have to drive on Anthony Wayne Trail in Maumee, Ohio to get to Ned Skeldon Stadium, home of the Mud Hens. Now that the Hens are back in downtown Toledo, I no longer do so. The Toledo Zoo is along that road too.

[Brian in Boston]

I just read that Mad Ants is a nod to General "Mad" Anthony Wayne so it has historical context.

As an aside, General "Mad" Anthony Wayne was also the inspiration for the surname of comic-book character Bruce Wayne, alter-ego of The Batman. Scottish patriot Robert the Bruce was the inspiration for the character's given name.

[winghaz]

Mad Ants might be the best of the bunch.

I totally understand BallWonk's point, but at least Mad Ants would have somewhat of a historical connotation. And the name would be unique.

Too bad we can't have the Fort Wayne Pistons again.

[darkshadow1031]

I just read that Mad Ants is a nod to General "Mad" Anthony Wayne so it has historical context. I'm typing this from Wayne County, Michigan, which is where Detroit is located. I believe Anthony Wayne also became governor of Michigan.

Mad Anthonys, Waynes, Generals, Commanders, Continentals, Brandywines, Bayonets, Chargers, Marchers, even Legion or Legionnaires would be better.

I'm not a fan of any of the names organization has to offer either. Talk about unoriginal and bland. BallWonk's suggestions are 110% better. While Generals would be an easy way to go, I would have to go with either the Legion or Legionnaires. The D-League needs more local connection like minor league baseball.

[DrBear]

Having lived in Indiana for a year (first job out of college):

The Flaming Morons.

(seriously, how about the Fort Wayne Flood?)

[TNT44]

They should go with Generals. It's a shame that Mad Ants was used as a tribute to Anthony Wayne instead.

[Jamikel]

They should go with Rusty Crankshafts, in honor of their NBA heritage, but out of the options given, I'd go with Fire.

[winghaz]

The D-League needs more local connection like minor league baseball.

I totally agree. Which brings me back to the Dakota Wizards.

I was living in Bismarck when they namd the team the Wizards. I've never seen an official reason why they're called the Wizards, but I can guess: Bismarck High School is called the Demons, Bismarck St. Mary's High School is called the Saints and Bismarck State College is called the Mystics. So that would make sense ... sort of.

Still, Wizards doesn't sound very Bismarckish to the average sports fan. One can think of a lot better names for Bismarck, like Barons, Cavalary (the Seventh Cavalry was stationed near Bismarck before heading to the Little Bighorn), etc.

But back to Fort Wayne. I do like some of the suggestions in here, especially Generals.

[BallWonk]

The D-League needs more local connection like minor league baseball.

Still, Wizards doesn't sound very Bismarckish to the average sports fan. One can think of a lot better names for Bismarck, like Barons, Cavalary (the Seventh Cavalry was stationed near Bismarck before heading to the Little Bighorn), etc.

I'd rather see the plural Troopers than the mass-noun Cavalry, but I'm with you there. Bismarck deserves a more local name for any team than Wizards. (So does Washington, DC!) How about the Chancellors? Goldpannners? Isn't Bismarck the first real city on the Missouri River? Not every city will have local connections that lead to a name as great as, say, the Brewers, but the worst truly local name is better than the average generic name.

[winghaz]

I'd rather see the plural Troopers than the mass-noun Cavalry, but I'm with you there. Bismarck deserves a more local name for any team than Wizards. (So does Washington, DC!) How about the Chancellors? Goldpannners? Isn't Bismarck the first real city on the Missouri River? Not every city will have local connections that lead to a name as great as, say, the Brewers, but the worst truly local name is better than the average generic name.

I like Troopers, too, but it wouldn't work in Bismarck because there's a small-town high school near Bismarck, Garrison, which is called the Troopers. (By the way, I think Troopers for a town called Garrison is a wonderful nickname.)

Chancellors would work. Goldpanners wouldn't -- no gold in Bismarck (that's in the Black Hills, quite a ways away).

But I'd like to see other suggestions to rename the Wizards. What would be a good Bismarckish name, serious or funny?

[BallWonk]

I like Troopers, too, but it wouldn't work in Bismarck because there's a small-town high school near Bismarck, Garrison, which is called the Troopers. (By the way, I think Troopers for a town called Garrison is a wonderful nickname.)

Chancellors would work. Goldpanners wouldn't -- no gold in Bismarck (that's in the Black Hills, quite a ways away).

But I'd like to see other suggestions to rename the Wizards. What would be a good Bismarckish name, serious or funny?

But without that gold in the Black Hills, there would be no Bismarck. The capital would be Fargo, where the Red River bonanza farmers settled after the Laramie treaty.

On the less-than-serious front, there's the Ottos (which strikes me as a great name for a minor-league hockey team), the Irons (Bismarck, for whom the town is named, was known as the "Iron Chancellor"), Tatonkas, Railers (Bismarck was a railhead town for the Black Hills gold rush), or the Bunyans or Big Pauls (many Paul Bunyan legends put him in North Dakota toward the end of his career).

[teeray01]

It's funny how a person lives somewhere for a year and suddenly they know everything about it. Fort Wayne is a great place. You probably haven't even been here. Maybe you should go back to college as a professor and teach everyone what you know about Indiana or are you the flaming moron?

Having lived in Indiana for a year (first job out of college):

The Flaming Morons.

(seriously, how about the Fort Wayne Flood?)

[illinirox1]

I used to have to drive on Anthony Wayne Trail in Maumee, Ohio to get to Ned Skeldon Stadium, home of the Mud Hens. Now that the Hens are back in downtown Toledo, I no longer do so. The Toledo Zoo is along that road too.

Ned Skeldon Stadium = sexy and hilarious.

That said, the new park is great.

I voted for "Coyotes".

[Slickster]

Ants is probably the best option, since there's so much original marketing-type stuff one can do with it. Plus, there's already Flash, Flyers, and Thunderbirds in the D-League and Fire/Lightning would be too similar-sounding. (See: Colorado 14ers and Tulsa 66ers.)

Give em some logo like this: