Lakeland Flying Tigers

-16

I don't say this often. Indeed, this may be the first time I've said this in all the time I've been writing Bush League Factor. But I'm going to say it here because I think it applies. This team's name and logo are perfect.

I know what you're thinking: what's so perfect about "Lakeland Flying Tigers"? Let me explain.

First, there's the obvious fact that the Lakeland Flying Tigers are the Florida State League affiliate for the Detroit Tigers. And they've been that way for a long time, with their affiliation going all the way back to 1963 (no minor league team has been affiliated with the same Major League Baseball team for longer). That affiliation isn't likely to change any time soon, either, as the Detroit Tigers own the Lakeland Flying Tigers.

I can see you're not impressed yet. But I'm not done yet. See, there's a reason the team is the Lakeland Flying Tigers rather than just the Lakeland Tigers. Back in the 1940s, a man named Albert Lodwick ran the Lakeland School of Aeronautics (later renamed the Lodwick School of Aeronautics), which specialized in training people to be fighter pilots. Many graduates went on to fly for either the United States Army Air Corps or the United Kingdom's Royal Air Force. But some of the earliest graduates joined the First American Volunteer Group of the Republic of China Air Force. You may have heard of the First American Volunteer Group under their better-known nickname: the Flying Tigers.

Okay, so there's a connection to the city. Yeah, but it's better than that. As it turns out, the Lakeland/Lodwick School of Aeronautics was located on the very spot that is now the site of the stadium where the Lakeland Flying Tigers play. So that name simultaneously refers to the team's affiliate, the history of the city they play in, and the history of the very field they play on. And as if that wasn't enough, "Flying Tigers" would be a good name even if it had none of these references backing it up. You can't beat that. It's perfect.

And the logo? Just do a Google Image Search on "pilot insignia" if you don't get it.

Given the history of the place where the team plays and who their parent team (and owner) is, there could not possibly be a better name for this team than what it has. And given the name and the reasons for that name, there could be no better logo. And as such, they deserve to be called what they are: perfect.

Final Score: -16 points.
Penalties: Script, 7 pts; Offspring, 12 pts.
Bonuses: Name, -10 pts; Logo, -12 pts; Local (egregious), -13 pts.