ESPN Poll: The entire world chooses "Outlaws" over "Thunder"

[sroberts24]

who cares about it, really all that matters is that we have an NBA team, no matter what the name is people are still going to put us down, just pick a name get this over with cuz in 4 years it wont matter, we will still have a team.

and thunder isn't too bad, better than charlotte bobcats!!!

[veritas]

After hundreds of millions of $'s, a nasty legal fight, and name calling to boot Thunder seems a bit weak.

/just sayin'

[BDP]

It is very baseless and doesn't have that kick or pump that almost any other NBA team has.

You mean like the "kick" and "pump" of names like:

Heat
Magic
Wizards
Spurs
Nets
Knicks
Suns
Nuggets
Jazz...

Honestly, the NBA is home to several weak nicknames, many worse than Thunder. At least thunder is ominous and threatening on some level.

I'm not saying Thunder is a world beater, but, really, come up with a name that will satisfy a simply majority of people and I'd be impressed. Thunder may sound areana football-ish right now, but Outaws sounds like the last picked name in a club league and Barons sounds like something from an inter-corporate ego driven wanna-be-young-again league. So, they all have their downside.

In the end, just get us a true point that can play some D and I'll root for the Okie-Dokies.

[okiebadger]

I would rather be the Posse than the Outlaws, just as I would rather be the hammer than the nail.

I honestly don't see Thunder as weak. It appears that weakness, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder.

[traxx]

ESPN has had nothing positive to say about this team being uprooted from Seattle and relocated to Oklahoma City!

Personally, I have lost respect for ESPN because they have chose to take sides in this issue.

You're just now losing respect for ESPN?! A little late, but welcome to the band wagon.

[cedbled]

You mean like the "kick" and "pump" of names like:

Heat
Magic
Wizards
Spurs
Nets
Knicks
Suns
Nuggets
Jazz...

Honestly, the NBA is home to several weak nicknames, many worse than Thunder. At least thunder is ominous and threatening on some level.

I'm not saying Thunder is a world beater, but, really, come up with a name that will satisfy a simply majority of people and I'd be impressed. Thunder may sound areana football-ish right now, but Outaws sounds like the last picked name in a club league and Barons sounds like something from an inter-corporate ego driven wanna-be-young-again league. So, they all have their downside.

In the end, just get us a true point that can play some D and I'll root for the Okie-Dokies.

So what, that's the standard for us then? Just to be no weaker than everybody else?

Way to "Not care about what others outside OK think"
You guys just keep contradicting yourselves.

[BDP]

So what, that's the standard for us then? Just to be no weaker than everybody else?

Translation: Just to be stronger than everybody else.

Sounds like a good standard to me. What's your problem with wanting to be stronger than the rest?

So with Thunder you have a name that's clearly better than at least 10 teams in the NBA and it doesn't convey criminality or elitism, as do Outlaws and Barons respectively. It's generally ominous and threatening, unlike feudal lords and fugitives.

Outlaws is about as boring as you can get, save for naming it the Tigers or Cowboys. Barons is just kind of goofy. I won't run around starting the whiners thread or even participate in any whiner threads if they're named the Barons or Outlaws, but it's ridiculous to claim that those names are the product of some sort of nickname genius consortium and are in any way far superior to Thunder, because they're not. While Thunder will not please everyone, as no name will, it at least is something strong while Outlaws is about as pedestrian as you get and Barons is about as stuffy as you can get.

I'll actually just be happy if it's not hickish or oily, as really the nickname pissing contest is one for the losing teams. As long as the front office is trying to fill that uniform with the best players it can, I'll wear my medieval lordship garb to the Ford Palace to root for the Barons. (however, I will not wear chaps to see the Outlaws, but I'll still root for them).

[OKCisOK4me]

I was thinking that Outlaws sounded awesome back IN February! If it is to never be considered then I'm content with Thunder. There's nothing wrong with it when--as it has been stated several times--other teams in the NBA have names that probably sounded a little lame when the cities first came up with them JAZZ, LAKERS, MAGIC, HEAT, SPURS.

[cedbled]

I dig what you're saying, BDP.
I didn't realize I was whining however; I believed I was offering my conversation in a thread about a team who is YET TO BE OFFICIALLY NAMED.

My real beef is this:
Let's assume for a moment, that you (or Clay's Group) personally had an idea for a team name that hadn't been mentioned anywhere before.

And let's assume that were you to suggest your idea, ALL (meaning 90%+) would love and be completely satisfied with it.

How much of a disservice has KOCO, and through them ESPN, and a million other media outlets done us all now by basically trying to push the "Thunder" name down our throats?

And prematurely, no less.

When I say all, I mean both us fans, AND Clay's people, because how much harder is it now to overcome what most people already think is the name, even if they have something less polarizing as "Thunder"?

[kevinpate]

No worries, just hold a presser, with a giant banner behind the big guy of PBC ... It says simply Thunder blunder inside a bid red circle with a slah

Then as it talks, time it so it falls and the actual name, colors and logo start flashing on a mega screen


(I may not know the name, shoot, I still really don't give a rat's as to the name, but well, that would be cool ... just laugh thunder Blunder off and go forward as though it's no big deal.

Maybe shrugging it off only works in the movies, but that's the route I'd take if i wanted to go with another name.

[windowphobe]

The Nets started out as the ABA team in New York, and after the first year the Nets name was adopted because it rhymed with "Mets," the National League baseball club, and "Jets," the football team.

This went a little too far, perhaps; the New York squad in World Team Tennis was originally called the "Sets," and off-track betting locations advertised as the N. Y. Bets.

[BDP]

I dig what you're saying, BDP.
I didn't realize I was whining however; I believed I was offering my conversation in a thread about a team who is YET TO BE OFFICIALLY NAMED.

I didn't mean to suggest you were whining. I just was trying to convey that my opinions on Barons or Outlaws, while not very supportive, are being presented in the context of the team not being officially named and should not be taken to mean that I would complain about them if they were adopted as the name.

My real beef is this:
Let's assume for a moment, that you (or Clay's Group) personally had an idea for a team name that hadn't been mentioned anywhere before.

And let's assume that were you to suggest your idea, ALL (meaning 90%+) would love and be completely satisfied with it.

Personally, I think that's impossible. I think the closest you can get to 90% in this situation would be for 90% indifference, where the majority would say "it's not what i would have picked, but I can live with." I'm pretty sure they could name it after some native aggressive animal and you wouldn't get nearly as much of a vocal negative reaction. It would just be another aggressive animal nickname.

How much of a disservice has KOCO, and through them ESPN, and a million other media outlets done us all now by basically trying to push the "Thunder" name down our throats?

And prematurely, no less.

I see your point there, but that's our media today. Speculation is discussed as fact, mainly because people seem to like discussing and hearing about speculation more than facts, for some reason, and there's too much air time to fill with just facts. It's actually more distressing to me that people can not make the distinction on their own. I believe it has been reported as Thunder with the supporting evidence as a domain name registration and an unnamed source to Mark Rogers. Let's talk about it, but I think we can all do so under the caveat that nothing is official.

And if, by chance, the source leaked to rogers in an effort to get a reaction from the fans and media on the name and use some of the negative reaction to go a different way, I would actually think that people, such as yourself, who have a strong dislike for the name would appreciate the efforts of KOCO and ESPN to give you a chance to voice that opposition before it become official.

When I say all, I mean both us fans, AND Clay's people, because how much harder is it now to overcome what most people already think is the name, even if they have something less polarizing as "Thunder"

If they do in fact have a name that only 10% of the fans dislike, then I don't think it matters what people think the name is going to be at this point, as it will be rendered inconsequential when the official name is announced. But, be wary of that 10%. A vocal 10% has a knack for sounding like 60%.

[bombermwc]

Thunder sucks...it's so woosy. And please don't let it have that damned bufallo with it that Kelly Ogle keeps showing....it's AWFUL!

[JWil]

Thunder sucks...it's so woosy. And please don't let it have that damned bufallo with it that Kelly Ogle keeps showing....it's AWFUL!

Is he still showing the Thunder/Buffalo concept?