Tuesday, November 15, 2005

Why Not Champs ?

It's official - the Vermont Expos have changed their name to the Vermont Lake Monsters. And frankly, I'm not a big fan of the name change. Apparently "Champs" was far and away the most popular name submitted by fans, so why didn't the team choose to go with this name ? It would have made perfect sense since Champ is the name usually associated with the infamous Lake Champlain monster. And Champ is the name of the hugely successful mascot who has been entertaining Vermont fans since 1994. Despite being the fan choice, general manager CJ Knudsen trumped it, claiming that the name wouldn't sound right if the team was doing lousy in August. Another reason floated is that the Champs sporting goods store objected. Both are lame excuses and completely ignored what the fans wanted. So why even have a "Name that Team" contest if you're just going to completely ignore the fans overwhelming selection ? Maybe they should have just stuck with the Expos moniker ...