Eastern League (baseball) - New Hampshire Primaries

New Hampshire Primaries Unveil Name, Logo

'New Hampshire Primaries' picked for city team name

By KEVIN GRAY
Union Leader Sports

At a sports bar in Manchester, the first two fans who heard the nickname of their Double-A baseball team needed a moment to digest “New Hampshire Primaries.”

Then they gave it a chance.

“I kind of like it,” said Terry Makara of Hooksett, enjoying her afternoon at Billy’s Sports Bar. “We do have the first-in-the-nation primary.”

Her friend, Mary-Beth Riccitti, said it was refreshing to hear a sports nickname not pertaining to animals.

“I don’t want the Cougars, Lions or Tigers,” she said. “All the schools and teams already have animal names.”

Many other fans had a knee-jerk reaction. In short, they hated the Primaries.

“I think it’s a little political. It’s not related to sports,” said Bob St. George of Hooksett, president of the Hooksett Little League. “I don’t see how kids are going to be able to relate to the ‘Primaries.’ First of all, there’s too many syllables, and you can’t shorten it up when you’re rooting for them.”

Manchester’s affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays wanted to “celebrate the state of New Hampshire and capture the spirit of everyone in the state,” President Shawn Smith said. The logo shows a Democratic donkey and a Republican elephant holding bats on their shoulders.

“New Hampshire is certainly known for one thing across the country, and that’s the civic pride and its involvement in the election,” Smith said. “Our fans come first. We thought it was a logical name. It’s a celebration of politics so people with opposing views can come together with one common goal — enjoy New Hampshire baseball.”

The team had hoped to partake in a Name The Team contest with fans this summer, but trademark and paperwork delays would have pushed back the announcement of the nickname and logo until later this winter.

After a guessing game that began in April, the team confirmed this week the nickname was linked to New Hampshire’s strong political prowess. The New Hampshire Presidential Primary, won in the past by future Presidents Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter and the elder George Bush, will be held Jan. 27.

Other names considered included the Presidents, Lobbyists and Politicos.

Any suspense ended yesterday when the “New Hampshire Primaries” was found on the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Web site. The trademark, filed July 17, is owned by Drew Weber’s company, 6 to 4 to 3, LLC. The Web site listed the trademark with a description of the business: “Entertainment services in the nature of baseball games and exhibitions, and mascot appearances.”

In the last few days, major pieces to the New Hampshire Baseball operation have been falling into place. The parent Toronto Blue Jays appointed manager Mike Basso to lead the 2004 New Hampshire team. Pitching coach Rick Adair and hitting coach Jim Bowie were also named to the squad.

The installation of artificial turf at Gill Stadium is nearing completion. The team is renovating the historic stadium and will play one year at Gill before moving into a $25 million stadium to be built on the Merrimack River in 2005.

Meanwhile, The Union Leader received several unsolicited phone calls after the name was announced. About 10 fans phoned to criticize the nickname.

Fourteen-year-old Dan Hamilton, a student at Hillside Middle School, was among the first to voice his displeasure.

“It’s just not a very good name,” he said. “I just can’t imagine sitting in the stands saying, ‘Go Primaries.’”

Asked for suggestions, Hamilton said he would have preferred any animal name.

“I like the Manchester Ice Cats or something like that. Or River Hawks or some type of bird.”

Linn Gerlander of Manchester was disappointed with the team’s regional name.

“It’s not even a Manchester name,” she said. “After all the trouble Manchester went through to get this team, they come up with ‘New Hampshire’ for the name? I hope enough people call up, and they change it. It’s really very disappointing . . . Who wants to root for a piece of paper?”

Irv Hamilton of Manchester seemed troubled by the thought of sitting in box seats near the Merrimack River and cheering on the Primaries.

“Terrible name. I just don’t understand it. Who ever heard of that name? Can you imagine rooting for the Primaries? How can you sit there and say, ‘Come on Primaries. Come on Primaries.’ It’s weird . . . And I’m an absolute baseball fan.”

A waitress at Billy’s Sports Bar summed up the majority of reactions from fans speaking out yesterday.

“I don’t like it,” said Regan Lamothe of Manchester. “We haven’t had baseball in this city in forever (actually the Double-A Yankees left town in 1971). We need something a little more unique. I was hoping for something better.”

Added Smith, also the general manager, “With anything, just like politics, people are going to have disagreements. Certainly the fun part of unveiling a name is to hear the debates. New Hampshire is all about names and debates.”

This article was taken from www.theunionleader.com.  All rights reserved.