Chalk me up as a fan of the Richmond Flying Squirrels, one of the most absurd leaps of branding you might expect from a general public desperate for a baseball team, any baseball team. A fan because it is ridiculous, and sometimes you've just got to go with the flow of crazy thinking. But -- in some regards -- the Flying Squirrels pales in comparison to the other four names that are apparently under serious consideration by the management team responsible for bringing baseball back to Richmond.
Think the Richmond Flying Squirrels is an absurd name -- or maybe just brilliant beyond belief? How about these alternatives:
- The Richmond Rock Hoppers
- The Richmond Rhinos
- The Richmond Flatheads
- The Richmond Hambones
If you want to know what other people think, you need go no further than the comments sections at RVA News and the Times-Dispatch where the comments are six times more amusing than the names. Here's a sampling:
- FanGuy at RVANews: I still think Richmond Re-treads is the best option, given our fondness for living in the past and recycling failed efforts.
- The smarmy Richmond guy at RVANews: Richmond Rhinos is fitting. Much like the horn on a wild rhinoceros, the name “Rhinos” comes from the tough, thick skin that covers the ears of any officials of the bureaucratic private or municipal organizations from listening to the public about ANYTHING related to creativity. I swear this city is more excited about being average than being exceptional.
- dee65 at the Times-Dispatch: I was having breakfast and heard the names on the news and almost gagged.
- HotHokie at the Times-Dispatch: The Flying Squirrels? Really? What are we going to have at the games? Boris, Natasha, Rocky and Bullwinkle cruising the stands? I guess that would be better than having a flathead catfish flopping around on the concourse…
- ziggy at the Times-Dispatch: Might as well call the team the “Backwoods White Trash Trailer Park Rednecks”. Those 5 choices are downright awful and do nothing more than further stereotype Richmond as a redneck backwards town…catfish, squirells, river animals and ham?
Look for the naming do-over early in 2010.
