LJ Idol Topic 4: Choose Your Own Adventure!
I have a love/hate relationship with my home town. The nightlife is great and support for the arts and music is greatly improving. But I’m a sports lover at heart and the support for those (aside from Nascar, shamefully) is seriously a joke. Our minor league triple A baseball team, the Richmond Braves, finally took off after years of horrible attendance records, even when the team was doing well. I held on to the fact that we still had a hockey team (who can resist men with permanent black eyes and missing teeth?) But, alas, they folded after two seasons of abysmal attendance.
When rumors that a double A baseball team might be relocating to RVA, I was ecstatic. Yeah, it’s double A (meaning the teams, for lack of a better word, kind of blow) but at least it was A SPORT. Once the team move was confirmed, they teamed up with the local newspaper and opened a contest to name the team. How fun, I thought! I’m sure someone will suggest something unique and Richmond-y. Imagine my disappointment when the contest ends and the winning votes have chosen to name the team (don’t waste a drum roll, please)…THE FLYING SQUIRRELS. Uh, seriously? When I revisit the team names that were finalists, I guess it could be worst. We could be attending games for the Richmond Hush Puppies. My personal choice, because that’s all that matters (duh) would have been the Rock Hoppers. The name pays tribute to the many Richmonders who spend their summers sitting out on the rocks of the beautiful James River. Alas, that would have been to thought provoking and clever for the grand people of Richmond.
My distaste for our new baseball team’s name came full circle this past weekend. I went to see the touring cast of Avenue Q, a Broadway musical. At the end of the show the characters are trying to collect money and they jokingly take hats out into the crowd and beg for some cash. After coming back on stage one character asks how much they got. A second character answers, “Besides this ticket to a Flying Squirrels game, not much!”
Despite my disgust for the team name, of course I’ll support them. I’ll be at most of the games and I’ll cheer and all that sports crap. But, I will not be caught dead in a Flying Squirrels t-shirt, that I can guarantee you.
*****This has been my entry for therealljidol. The topic I chose (from 5 available) was Current Events. Original news article can be found here.
I hope you enjoyed it. :)
When rumors that a double A baseball team might be relocating to RVA, I was ecstatic. Yeah, it’s double A (meaning the teams, for lack of a better word, kind of blow) but at least it was A SPORT. Once the team move was confirmed, they teamed up with the local newspaper and opened a contest to name the team. How fun, I thought! I’m sure someone will suggest something unique and Richmond-y. Imagine my disappointment when the contest ends and the winning votes have chosen to name the team (don’t waste a drum roll, please)…THE FLYING SQUIRRELS. Uh, seriously? When I revisit the team names that were finalists, I guess it could be worst. We could be attending games for the Richmond Hush Puppies. My personal choice, because that’s all that matters (duh) would have been the Rock Hoppers. The name pays tribute to the many Richmonders who spend their summers sitting out on the rocks of the beautiful James River. Alas, that would have been to thought provoking and clever for the grand people of Richmond.
My distaste for our new baseball team’s name came full circle this past weekend. I went to see the touring cast of Avenue Q, a Broadway musical. At the end of the show the characters are trying to collect money and they jokingly take hats out into the crowd and beg for some cash. After coming back on stage one character asks how much they got. A second character answers, “Besides this ticket to a Flying Squirrels game, not much!”
Despite my disgust for the team name, of course I’ll support them. I’ll be at most of the games and I’ll cheer and all that sports crap. But, I will not be caught dead in a Flying Squirrels t-shirt, that I can guarantee you.
*****This has been my entry for therealljidol. The topic I chose (from 5 available) was Current Events. Original news article can be found here.
I hope you enjoyed it. :)