Franchises on the Move: Leave the Mascot Behind?

[HPF Bob]

The NBA filed patent rights for six different team names for the transplanted Oklahoma City franchise. The candidates:

Oklahoma City Barons
Oklahoma City Bison (no plural)
Oklahoma City Energy
Oklahoma City Marshalls (plural)
Oklahoma City Thunder
Oklahoma City Wind

My thoughts: Energy is a crappy name. That's what they name Arena League and WNBA teams. Thunder and Wind aren't much better. (I can see headline writers now making comments about "Breaking Wind".) Wind also sounds like this new cockamamie scheme by T. Boone Pickens who has his name all over Stillwater.

Bisons make me think of that front line for the Rockets back around 1978 which were dubbed the "Water Buffaloes" because all three were big, black and slow. Too racist. That won't stick. Barons would be cool if they are able to get Baron Davis in a trade. Otherwise, they might as well be called the Durants.

Marshalls sounds like law enforcement, not to mention a cheap clothing store chain so this has to be the favorite here. Only problem is that it doesn't roll off the tongue that well.

You'd think "Claim Jumpers" would be a natural and no more syllables than "Super Sonics". Everyone would start calling them the "Jumpers" which would be a good name for a baseketball team, not to mention the obvious marketing tie-in with auto parts stores.

For you guys not up on their state history, "Sooners" were essentially claim jumpers and since Oklahomans seem to have no shame over that seeing as it is the nickname of the state university, "Claim Jumpers" is simply another way of stating the same thing.