What should the new OKC NBA Team be named?

[Jimmy!]

You know, Bombers would work as a nickname... just not in Oklahoma City.

My point exactly.

[gosioux76]

The more I read this, the more I lean toward Outlaws or Wranglers. Both have an A-List feel to them, compared to others that could too easily lend themselves toward a minor-league cartoonishness.

That is, of course, that the preference of ownership would be to lean toward an Old West theme.

There is also a whole course of aviation-related names that would be appropriate. Oklahoma has a nearly $12 billion and growing aerospace industry.

You mean like Sonics? Of course, two of Oklahoma's most famous sons (Will Rogers and Wiley Post) went down in a plane crash...

It's funny, but I rarely associate the Sonics franchise with aerospace. It's probably because their logos haven't done much to illustrate the connection to supersonic flight.

I'd be disappointed if they kept the Sonics identity, not so much out of sympathy for Seattle. I'd just like to see a fresh look.

[Mac the Knife]

Oklahoma City Ice Drillers

It makes no sense, but it fits: it's long, it has the word "Ice" in there, along with a word that connotes something semi-tough, drilling.

[AAO]

I would love for a professional sports league to put into writing rules that say teams that move MUST change their nickname.

No kidding...can you imagine if the WFL's Shreveport Steamer moved to Cleveland and became the Cleveland Steamer?

MOD EDIT - By now, most have us have been educated as to the meaning behind the "Cleveland Steamer" sobriquet. Those who haven't - and truly feel compelled to find out more - can look it up on their own. The link is gratuitous.

HAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA I JUST LOOKED IT UP AND READ IT

.....apologies.

[KrazyHorse]

Oklahoma City Earthquakes is not out of the question. The city sits on the Nemaha Formation, which like to uncorks from time to time, including a 5.5 in 1952 that left a crack in the state capitol building 15 meters long.

Yeah, but Tornadoes are definately more prominent and synonomous with the region.

Oh sure, just tossing it out there... As much as I like the idea of a cyclonic-named team (I went to OU to get a meteorology degree and was a pretty active chaser until about five years ago), I know that it's very difficult to successfully pull off conceptually... so at the end of the day I'd favor a western theme. I still would like to see a return of the 89ers.

The Dallas Tornado from the old NASL had a nice logo...

Dallas Tornado Logo

It seems like I read somewhere that in the new lease agreement with OKC that there will be verbiage stating that the team name must include "Oklahoma City". Also, the official seal of Oklahoma City is in red, white, and blue so they may want those colors. Just speculation.

[Magnus]

Outlaws. Alliteration, a western theme, and no mention of homegrown terrorism. I like it.

Nuff said.

This is my logo though. I'm sure all you skilled people can come up with something better.

EDIT: Jerseys.

[myartsaywhat]

Living in OK right during the NBA Playoffs we had several tornado warnings and a couple minor ones touch down. So a name like Tornado's or Twisters makes sense with the region. But I do agree that if a devastating one comes that takes lives it would be in bad taste, like the idea of the New Orleans Hurricanes. So Outlaws I think would very appropriate.

[hawk36]

I just looked at the OKC visitors bureau web site and their logo is of rowers on the river. Very different than anything I ever expected for OKC. Thought maybe that would be a new and exciting avenue to explore for a name. They are even hosting the U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Sprint Canoe/Kayak.

- Rowers

- Regatta

- River

- Waterways

- Winders

- Canadians (they have the North Canadian River in town)

- Flow

- Cruisers

Not crazy about any of these but something to spark discussion.

[Styxinen]

I just looked at the OKC visitors bureau web site and their logo is of rowers on the river. Very different than anything I ever expected for OKC. Thought maybe that would be a new and exciting avenue to explore for a name. They are even hosting the U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Sprint Canoe/Kayak.

- Rowers

- Regatta

- River

- Waterways

- Winders

- Canadians (they have the North Canadian River in town)

- Flow

- Cruisers

Not crazy about any of these but something to spark discussion.

I think going in that direction would be rather brave, since the river itself is fairly new, but I'm okay with brave. Maybe something a bit more...forceful though? The OKC Rowers just doesn't command a whole lot of respect. IMHO.

[mfoster]

I just looked at the OKC visitors bureau web site and their logo is of rowers on the river. Very different than anything I ever expected for OKC. Thought maybe that would be a new and exciting avenue to explore for a name. They are even hosting the U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Sprint Canoe/Kayak.

- Rowers

- Regatta

- River

- Waterways

- Winders

- Canadians (they have the North Canadian River in town)

- Flow

- Cruisers

Not crazy about any of these but something to spark discussion.

I think going in that direction would be rather brave, since the river itself is fairly new, but I'm okay with brave. Maybe something a bit more...forceful though? The OKC Rowers just doesn't command a whole lot of respect. IMHO.

The river is not new, damning it in three places through the city so that it can host these sorts of aquatic events was another part of the original MAPS projects that gave the city the arena, ballpark, and canal through Bricktown. They also gave it a new name for the damned stretch through the city, the Oklahoma River.

[mania]

damn river

[hettinger_rl]

What about panhandlers? (oklahoma's large panhandle)

Rush/Boomers (there were several large land rushes in OK)

Bison/Buffalo (oklahoma was home to the last of the great southern herd of bison and its the state animal)

Rustlers/Wranglers (ranches dot the state and several large cattle trails ran through it)

Flying Aces (aviation is a large industry)

or simply Okies

Colors: A dark (almost maroon) red with tan and dark blue (western colors and red should always be in there because its part of the Choctaw word oklahoma)

[DG_ThenNowForever]

damn river

I wonder if a person could take a damn riverboat tour.

[Arts11]

Outlaws is okay, but I think it rolls off the tongue better if it was the "Oklahoma City Outlaws" instead of just the "Oklahoma Outlaws," but that's just me. speaking of which, what do y'all think the team would choose for their location name, OKC or Oklahoma? states with multiple NBA teams always go w/ their city, while only Utah, Minnesota, NJ, and Washington go by their "state" name. i would think they'd choose just Oklahoma, b/c the state has so little else to offer in terms of pro sports competition, but they have the history of using OKC w/ the Hornets and that worked pretty well.

[gosioux76]

Outlaws is okay, but I think it rolls off the tongue better if it was the "Oklahoma City Outlaws" instead of just the "Oklahoma Outlaws," but that's just me. speaking of which, what do y'all think the team would choose for their location name, OKC or Oklahoma? states with multiple NBA teams always go w/ their city, while only Utah, Minnesota, NJ, and Washington go by their "state" name. i would think they'd choose just Oklahoma, b/c the state has so little else to offer in terms of pro sports competition, but they have the history of using OKC w/ the Hornets and that worked pretty well.

This should answer that:

But just because the team will be marketed throughout Oklahoma does not mean that Oklahoma City officials aren't somewhat territorial, at least when it comes to how the team will be identified. Stern said Friday the team might consider using "Oklahoma" as its name, noting that "you really see a much larger market than just the Oklahoma City market."

(Oklahoma City Mayor Mick) Cornett quickly squashed such a notion, pointing out that Oklahoma City's signed lease with the Sonics stipulates that the team name be "Oklahoma City."

"We had allowed ourselves through the years to be branded through our tragedies," Cornett said. "I wanted Oklahoma City identified with something more positive ... to increase Oklahoma City's identity and branding, which had never been done before."

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3361374

[mania]

damn river

I wonder if a person could take a damn riverboat tour.

Would the damn riverboat tour allow one to visit the damn dam?

[DG_ThenNowForever]

damn river

I wonder if a person could take a damn riverboat tour.

Would the damn riverboat tour allow one to visit the damn dam?

Of course. And people could feel free to take all the damn pictures they wanted. Now are there any dam questions?

[mfoster]

What about panhandlers? (oklahoma's large panhandle)

I thought dem bums were native to Brooklyn?

Rush/Boomers (there were several large land rushes in OK)

Rush implies gold. The "rushes" as you call them were called "runs." Most notably, the 89'er run that settled OKC and much of the middle of the state (hence my suggestion of calling them the 89'ers), and "The Last Run" in 1893 that opened the Cherokee Outlet, a strip in north-central/NW Oklahoma that holds most of the decent farm land (see the scene in "Far and Away").

Bison/Buffalo (oklahoma was home to the last of the great southern herd of bison and its the state animal)

There were never buffalo in North America. The order/genus/species was bison/bison/bison. That said, any state from the Rockies to the Mississippi could claim the name, so I think it's too generic and not unique enough to the state.

Rustlers/Wranglers (ranches dot the state and several large cattle trails ran through it)

Lots of potential names in this theme. How about the Oklahoma City Ramrods? Not sure I've seen that one yet.

Flying Aces (aviation is a large industry)

I've already talked this one to death. If you're going to keep an aviation name, keep them the Sonics.

or simply Okies

For the last time...

There are NO OKIES IN OKLAHOMA!!! They moved to California, remember? If you're going to call a team the Okies, try one from Bakersfield or Fresno...

I suspect most of you don't even know who the Okies were. While some folks in the western 1/3 of the state were impacted by the environmental disaster of the dust bowl and moved west, most of the Okies were in the eastern 1/3rd of the state. They were sharecroppers of relatively small plots who weren't impacted so much by the drought, but by the collapse of agricultural prices in the 1920s (prices had exploded in the teens, encouraging those in the western high plains to sodbust and plant on marginal land that had no business being farmed, helping lead to the dust bowl). They didn't have enough land (that they didn't own in the first place) to grow enough crops to make a go of it. The homesteaders (who owned their land) throughout the rest of the state, with their quarter-sections (160 acres) or more, were much more likely to survive the drought. The rural areas of the western 2/3rd of the state did lose population in the 30's (and have continued to do so to this day), but those folks were more likely to cluster in the larger cities in the region, especially if they could land jobs in the oil industry (oil was discovered *under* OKC in 1928, though it was found elsewhere in the state before that).

[DG_ThenNowForever]

Hmm....I respect that you really are proud of Oklahoma, but I think you really overestimate how much the rest of your countrymen care about your home state.

I mean, it's Oklahoma.

[mfoster]

Hmm....I respect that you really are proud of Oklahoma, but I think you really overestimate how much the rest of your countrymen care about your home state.

I mean, it's Oklahoma.

Everyone seems to care enough to come up with team name/logo concepts for a franchise that's yet to relocate, but I'll try to remember that the next time there's a Cascadia megathrust & tsunami event... *ducks*