The big question after the former Seattle SuperSonics left the Emerald City for the state where the wind goes sweepin’ down the plain is what Clay Bennett & Co. will name the franchise, as the Sonics’ name and records have been left back in Washington State.
The OKLAHOMAN is reporting rumors that the franchise will be called the “Oklahoma City Thunder.”
The article does posit a few reasons why the leak from an unnamed source about the nomenclature could be on target - or completely off the mark.
Bennett’s ownership group isn’t out and out denying it, preferring to wait until they have something to announce. Meanwhile, the recently won one of the paper’s nickname polls.
Reasons it might not be the selection? Bennett apparently hates names that don’t end in “s”, and the registration of domain names that would lean towards the team being called the Thunder don’t necessarily indicate anything to that end. Honestly, if Bennett does dislike names like “Thunder,” I can’t blame him — there’s something less than right about saying it; it feels like a minor league baseball team name or, worse, one usually saved for a WNBA team.
If the team really is going to be the Thunder, they really should have taken the Seattle Storm with them to OKC. Would have lined up perfectly, don’t you think (think tornado chasers)?
Either way, if true, expect AC/DC to be reaping some nice royalties as the promo staff will likely go the obvious route in terms of music at the Ford Center next season.
2:57 pm on July 21st, 2008
It’s not surprising that Bennett sold the Stormto A seattle group back in February ‘08. OKC might support an NBA team, but the WNBA franchise was not a priority to his group.
This isn’t the first time it’s happened, either. The Charlotte Sting remained in NC after the Hornets flew to New Orleans. Bob Johnson tried to sell the Sting to a Kansas City group, but that failed and the Sting were disbanded in January 2007.