Wichita Wind Surge

90

It's pretty much a given that whenever a team debuts a new name, some people will love it no matter how terrible it is and some people will hate it no matter how good it is. So it should come as no surprise to learn that when the relocated New Orleans Baby Cakes would use the name Wind Surge in their new home of Wichita, some people hated it. Apparently some of them hated it enough to get a change.org petition going, which again shouldn't surprise anyone. What might be surprising is that within twenty-four hours the petition had nearly seven and a half thousand signatures. And it didn't take long to know what the impact of this petition was. After all, the team is still called the Wichita Wind Surge. Clearly, the impact was zero.

Part of the problem people had with the name was that nobody seemed to understand what the name means. I found some comments about the name from when it first debuted, and most people were comparing it to, um, certain bodily functions, if you get my drift. They seemed to think it was something someone made up thinking it would sound cool. It is an actual term, but you can't blame people in Kansas for not knowing about it. A wind surge, for those who don't know, is a surge in water levels caused by heavy winds. For a surge in water levels to happen there has to be, you know, water. Lots of it. Basically, it's something that only happens along the shore of an ocean or maybe a major inland lake like one of the Great Lakes. Wichita has neither of those things. It's not a great name in any case, but it wouldn't be bad for teams in some cities. But for a team in Wichita? No good.

As for the logo, the problem with it is similar to the problem with the name: it makes no sense in context. To be fair, the logo is actually pretty good. The pegasus has a look of determination, and the way it weaves in and out of the vertical bars of the W is neat. But just like Wind Surge is a name that works but doesn't work for a team in Wichita, this logo is a logo that works but doesn't work for a team with the name Wind Surge. And that's a problem, because that's what this team's name is.

It's like at every step, the people making the decisions got amnesia and completely forgot about the previous step:

"So the team's going to play in Wichita. We just have to name it."

"No problem. Um...where did you say it is again?"

"Did I say where it is? It's, um...somwhere?"

"Okay, well how does Wind Surge sound?"

"Uh, maybe? Yeah, sure, why not."

"Now, what do you think of this logo?"

"Looks good. What's the team's name again?"

"I just told you."

"Yeah, well, I forgot."

"Me too."

"Well, I'm sure it's fine."

Sadly, it isn't.

Final Score: 90 points.
Penalties: Singular, 15 pts; Alliteration, 5 pts; Letter, 24 pts; Script, 7 pts; Irrelevance, 39 pts.
Bonuses: None.