Jackson Generals

57

When I reviewed this team under its previous name ("West Tenn Diamond Jaxx"), one of the things that got prominent mention was the fact that Morgan Quitno (whoever that is) had named Jackson, Tennessee as one of the five most dangeorus cities in America in 2005, and one of the ten most dangerous for 2006. I theorized at the time that this might explain why the team wasn't particularly eager to broadcast the fact that they were in Jackson, thus the bizarre "West Tenn" (not "West Tennessee") moniker.

Now, the team has changed its nickname from the Diamond Jaxx to the Generals, and its geographic name from West Tenn to Jackson. So let's test my theory: Are they more willing to admit their location because it's not the crime-ridden hellhole that it once was? Let's find out. Again, we turn to this mysterious Mr. (Ms.?) Quitno, to see what he/she has to say on the subject.

The name change happened between the 2010 and 2011 seasons, so I checked the 2010 listings (the fact that those were the most recent ones I could find also played a role in that decision). According to that list, Jackson now ranks 13th. An improvement, to be certain, but hardly in bragworthy territory. Then again, the number one city on the list is Detroit (don't even pretend to be surprised), and its teams don't hide behind "Eastern Michigan" or anything.

Anyway, I fully support the change. I could never figure out which was worse, the "West Tenn" part of the "Diamond Jaxx" part. But there's absolutely nothing wrong with "Jackson Generals". It may not be the most creative name in the world, but "Diamond Jaxx" might be, so clearly creativity is overrated.

The logo, on the other hand, could stand to be improved. What, precisely, do bulldogs have to do with generals? Nothing. But here we have a bulldog, wearing a military helmet and carrying a undersized baseball bat in its mouth. There are three stars on the helmet, which I suppose is supposed to indicate the dog is a general, but there are a couple of problems with that. First of all, lieutenant generals have three stars in their insignia; generals have four. More important, the stars (whether three or four) should all be in a row, and these form a triangle. Even better, the two top stars point down. Think about that: downward pointing stars in the logo for a team in the South. If there's nobody in Jackson complaining that there are Satanic symbols in the Generals' logo, then I'm surprised.

Still, I don't want to harp too much on the logo. It may not be great, but it is an improvement over the Diamond Jaxx logo. That means they've improved their geographic name, their nickname, and their logo. It's not perfect, but as the old saying goes, don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good. Or, in the case of the logo, the bad-but-still-better.

Final Score: 57 points.
Penalties: Alliteration, 5 pts; Equipment, 13 pts; Irrelevance, 39 pts.
Bonuses: None.