50 Yard Fan
01-23-2008, 11:26 PM
I found this old article from the Fort Wayne News-Sentinel when the team was first created.
Maybe Fort Wayne will have to go with Blacksnakes for this year just as Billings had to be the Mavericks for a year.
Posted on Thu, Aug. 08, 2002
Freedom doesn't necessarily ring as team name
COMMENTARY
By Reggie Hayes
of The News-Sentinel
Blacksnakes would have been my choice for Fort Wayne's new indoor football team's nickname. Once the finalists were in, "Fry Cooks" was out of the running.
Blacksnakes is a unique name, a tribute to our Air National Guard squadron and, best of all, in plural form. I like my teams' nicknames to be animals or things, not concepts. Some of that is the writer in me. I could never quite figure out whether I should write "the Fury is defunct," or "the Fury are defunct."
Alas, Rich Coffey has done it again.
Coffey, part owner and general manager of the new team in the National Indoor Football League, has christened his franchise the Fort Wayne Freedom.
The Freedom are scheduled to play their first game next spring. Or: the Freedom is scheduled to play its first game next spring. (Somebody get me a copy editor, preferably before next spring.)
The name Freedom, announced on Wednesday, was picked after a fan contest that was as much publicity stunt as popular election.
Coffey registered a domain name for the Freedom's Web site more than three months ago and has had the name rolling around in his head since the early 1990s.
If you entered the contest and submitted, say, Fry Cooks, the odds were stacked against you.
"Freedom was a name that was originally considered for the Fury 12 years ago," Coffey said. "So the name's been out there.
"With the military history behind this area, and a red-white-and-blue color scheme, and the Memorial Coliseum, it's a name that fits the bill."
Among the five finalists, only Blacksnakes fit my bill. The other choices were Attack, Cannon and Spirit. Tell me the Attack is (are?) playing the Spirit, and I'll wager a women's professional soccer match is about to break out.
At any rate, Freedom is our team's name, a nod toward patriotism, our "fort" heritage and Coffey's merchandising ideas. The cash register chimes of Freedom have been ringing in his marketing plans for some time.
"It would behoove us to have some idea in advance about what name it might be," he said. "You don't want to have 800 names, then pick one in five minutes."
Coffey later balked at the idea of a name-the-coach contest. (We want Ditka. Or a coach who will change his name to Ditka.)
Coffey and other investors put up their money. They have a right to choose the team's name. And whether we like the name or not -- I didn't like Fury, but it grew on me even as it grammatically challenged me -- there's no turning back now.
So if I can't pick the name, how about the theme song?
I suggest we go back to the source, to Billie Jean King's original World Team Tennis entity, the Philadelphia Freedom, which inspired the classic 1970s song of the same name by Elton John.
I've taken the liberty (as opposed to the New York Liberty) of writing new lyrics.
Apologies to Bernie Taupin.
Sing along to "Fort Wayne Freedom," won't you:
This used to be the Fury's home, you know. If the cost was light. I'd leave, to see some hoops for a little dough. I used to see that Moochie for some fun. But the times have changed. The less Isiah, the more football gets done.
(Chorus)
'Cause I live for cheese nachos and Fort Wayne Freedom. From the day they take the field, I'll wave the flag. Good ol' Fort Wayne Freedom took me east on Coliseum, yeah. Gave me indoor sports my daddy never had.
Good ol' Fort Wayne Freedom, shine on me, I love you. Shine the light, through the aisles of the roof-raised sides. Shine the light, shine the light.
Shine the light between hockey fights. Good ol' Fort Wayne Freedom, I love you, yes I do.
If you choose to, you can leave your wife at home. Drive from Columbia City.
Some others choose the Colts inside the dome. I like indoor football with hot curly fries. Till the whipping of our Freedom zapped me.
Right between the eyes.
(Repeat chorus, and may the Fry Cooks rest in peace.)
This column is the commentary of the writer and does not necessarily reflect the views or opinion of The News-Sentinel.
Maybe Fort Wayne will have to go with Blacksnakes for this year just as Billings had to be the Mavericks for a year.
Posted on Thu, Aug. 08, 2002
Freedom doesn't necessarily ring as team name
COMMENTARY
By Reggie Hayes
of The News-Sentinel
Blacksnakes would have been my choice for Fort Wayne's new indoor football team's nickname. Once the finalists were in, "Fry Cooks" was out of the running.
Blacksnakes is a unique name, a tribute to our Air National Guard squadron and, best of all, in plural form. I like my teams' nicknames to be animals or things, not concepts. Some of that is the writer in me. I could never quite figure out whether I should write "the Fury is defunct," or "the Fury are defunct."
Alas, Rich Coffey has done it again.
Coffey, part owner and general manager of the new team in the National Indoor Football League, has christened his franchise the Fort Wayne Freedom.
The Freedom are scheduled to play their first game next spring. Or: the Freedom is scheduled to play its first game next spring. (Somebody get me a copy editor, preferably before next spring.)
The name Freedom, announced on Wednesday, was picked after a fan contest that was as much publicity stunt as popular election.
Coffey registered a domain name for the Freedom's Web site more than three months ago and has had the name rolling around in his head since the early 1990s.
If you entered the contest and submitted, say, Fry Cooks, the odds were stacked against you.
"Freedom was a name that was originally considered for the Fury 12 years ago," Coffey said. "So the name's been out there.
"With the military history behind this area, and a red-white-and-blue color scheme, and the Memorial Coliseum, it's a name that fits the bill."
Among the five finalists, only Blacksnakes fit my bill. The other choices were Attack, Cannon and Spirit. Tell me the Attack is (are?) playing the Spirit, and I'll wager a women's professional soccer match is about to break out.
At any rate, Freedom is our team's name, a nod toward patriotism, our "fort" heritage and Coffey's merchandising ideas. The cash register chimes of Freedom have been ringing in his marketing plans for some time.
"It would behoove us to have some idea in advance about what name it might be," he said. "You don't want to have 800 names, then pick one in five minutes."
Coffey later balked at the idea of a name-the-coach contest. (We want Ditka. Or a coach who will change his name to Ditka.)
Coffey and other investors put up their money. They have a right to choose the team's name. And whether we like the name or not -- I didn't like Fury, but it grew on me even as it grammatically challenged me -- there's no turning back now.
So if I can't pick the name, how about the theme song?
I suggest we go back to the source, to Billie Jean King's original World Team Tennis entity, the Philadelphia Freedom, which inspired the classic 1970s song of the same name by Elton John.
I've taken the liberty (as opposed to the New York Liberty) of writing new lyrics.
Apologies to Bernie Taupin.
Sing along to "Fort Wayne Freedom," won't you:
This used to be the Fury's home, you know. If the cost was light. I'd leave, to see some hoops for a little dough. I used to see that Moochie for some fun. But the times have changed. The less Isiah, the more football gets done.
(Chorus)
'Cause I live for cheese nachos and Fort Wayne Freedom. From the day they take the field, I'll wave the flag. Good ol' Fort Wayne Freedom took me east on Coliseum, yeah. Gave me indoor sports my daddy never had.
Good ol' Fort Wayne Freedom, shine on me, I love you. Shine the light, through the aisles of the roof-raised sides. Shine the light, shine the light.
Shine the light between hockey fights. Good ol' Fort Wayne Freedom, I love you, yes I do.
If you choose to, you can leave your wife at home. Drive from Columbia City.
Some others choose the Colts inside the dome. I like indoor football with hot curly fries. Till the whipping of our Freedom zapped me.
Right between the eyes.
(Repeat chorus, and may the Fry Cooks rest in peace.)
This column is the commentary of the writer and does not necessarily reflect the views or opinion of The News-Sentinel.