Retweet of the Day - December 5, 2012

The NBA's New Orleans Hornets have announced that they will rename their team the New Orleans Pelicans, possibly as early as next season. The change is intended to display a greater reflection of the city and its culture in the team's mascot. The Hornets moved to New Orleans from Charlotte, North Carolina in 2002. The Pelican is the Louisiana state bird and the New Orleans Pelicans was the name of New Orleans' minor league baseball team that played from the late 19th century through the 1950s.

Personally, I would have preferred for the name to have been left alone. I've bought a bunch of "Hornets" gear in the last ten years. I have gotten used to the name and I like it. But if we cannot hijack the name "Jazz" back from Utah, I think that "Pelicans" is quite fitting. I may be in the minority, though has many of the responses I have seen in social media have been critical of the name choice.

Perhaps it is because most people under the age of 60 are not old enough to remember the Pelicans baseball team in New Orleans. Regardless, today's retweet is from The Fake ESPN (@TheFakeESPN)  and it is a humorous, albeit somewhat dark humor, take on the name change. It also incorporates Louisiana's history into the punchline.

"New Orleans Pelicans' new uniforms to be a full body coating of BP oil."

Perhaps they could rescue this fellow bird and make it the live mascot. 

Image from www.cbsnews.com