Thunder/Marshalls/Energy/Wind/Barons/Bison

http://myespn.go.com/blogs/truehoop/0-33-95/Oklahoma-City-Thunder-Marshalls-Energy-Wind-Barons-Bison.html

Oklahoma City Thunder/Marshalls/Energy/Wind/Barons/Bison
July 25, 2008

There have been reports here or there that the team that used be knows as the SuperSonics would be called this or that. They are mostly based on anonymous sources, or some evidence that somebody or other registered this or that web address.

I'm holding out for some better, more solid information before I rename that category over there on the right.

An alert TrueHoop reader (thanks Todd) has some insight of a kind. He points out that an NBA attorney recently made a number of filings with the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

You can search the database yourself. If you know how to search (it's a little complicated, but hang in there) you can see active trademark requests, filed July 21, for the following names:

Oklahoma City Thunder
Oklahoma City Marshalls
Oklahoma City Energy
Oklahoma City Wind
Oklahoma City Barons
Oklahoma City Bison

There is also an inactive request, filed by the same attorney, for the name "Oklahoma City SuperSonics."

Most unusual is that, unlike trademark applications for other NBA teams, these have been applied for by the NBA Development League. (And this whole time I thought all that fuss was about an NBA team! No, just kidding. Insert joke here about the quality of the Sonic roster.) I am not sure if that means anything or not.

So, Thunder, Marshalls, Energy, Wind, Barons, Bison ... I'm going to put on my PR hat and declare that if these are the options, this team is certain to be called the Thunder, the Marshalls, or some name that has not yet come to light.

Energy, Wind, Barons, and Bison all have fatal flaws, in my mind:

Energy: Energy has a nice tie-in with co-owner Aubrey McClendon's business, and the big employers in the region. But it is not a cool word in this context. Using "energy" as a "rah rah" word for athletes strikes me as kind if eighties (like, in fact, "rah rah" itself). This video, in my mind, would set the mood in the locker room of a team called the "Energy."

Wind: Wind? Really? Wind? Synonym of breeze? Maybe they're registering this for the dance team? Or as a desperate ploy related to promote an owner's alternative energy business? Because a team called the wind can never lose a game. Every headline will be "Lakers Break Wind," "Celtics Break Wind," "Pistons Break Wind," etc. That's not good for the NBA. This one is almost more palatable if we interpret it as the verb, with the long "i" sound, as in "wind up toy."

Barons: Clay Bennett and his cronies have behaved in a manner that many have likened to Robber Barons. I dare them to name the team the Barons.

Bison: The tradition of the bison could not be mightier. Nevertheless, it is a reality that in 2008 rich white men can not be seen to be sending a predominantly black group of employees into the workplace with the word "bison" across their chest. No way that happens.