Dear Swami:
Back in the winter when I first asked you about this Zion baseball team they're talking about, you predicted it would be called "the Dancing Wolves." Wrong again. Now that the nicknames have been boiled down to five finalists, which one do you predict will be the winner?
Ebby Calvin LaLoosh
Dear Nuke:
The truth of the matter is, the folks at Lake County Baseball were going to name their team the Dancing Wolves, but The Swami demanded a finder's fee. Lawyers got involved, etc. And so we are left with these pitiful candidates:
-- Comets: This was the nickname of not only a defunct team (Kansas City) in a failed league (remember Major Indoor Soccer?) but also of a defunct team (Houston) in a struggling league (the WNBA). And also the name of a defunct compact model from Mercury, the afterthought division of the Ford Motor Company. So, no.
-- Fielders: What, they're naming a team after Cecil and Prince? No.
-- Luckies: Not just cigarettes, but old cigarettes. No.
-- Cowpokes: What is this, Wyoming? It is not.
-- Skippers: Finally, something with an actual local connection. Lake County, home of the finest marinas north of Chicago and literally dozens of, well, lakes. The smart money is right here.
But don't bet on it. Kevin Costner might not like the natural association with "Waterworld."
They should be called the METHANES, because that's what you're going to be smelling from the landfill while sitting at the ballpark on a hot August day!