Since we now have seen the scary Pelican mascot we thought it appropriate to repost this story from last year.
By Dave Trausneck @trausneck
New Orleans appears to enjoy a good laugh… or maybe they were too drunk to realize their NBA franchise is about to have the worst name in the history of professional sports.
Team owner Tom Benson and his wife Gayle apparently want a team name to reflect the state of Louisiana. So when David Stern calls out “With the 5th pick in the 2013 NBA Draft, the New Orleans Pelicans select…”
95% of those watching will start laughing. 4.5% will throw their Abita beer at the television. The other half-percent will be Anthony Davis’ unibrow furrowing in disgust and calling Adam Silver’s office demanding a three-team trade sending him to Miami in exchange for 3,000 copies of “The Pelican Brief” on VHS, cash considerations and an immediate investigation into who killed Justices Rosenberg and Jensen.
The Pelicans. Nothing strikes fear into the hearts of opposing players like a water bird with a beak like Glen Quagmire’s nose.
With an ode to the 1993 movie starring Denzel Washington and Julia Roberts, this needs a little bit of history to explain.
The Brown Pelican is the state bird of Louisiana and “Pelicans” was the former name of the city’s minor league baseball team from 1887-1959 and 1977. It’s worth noting that Benson owned the rights to the name Pelicans.
It’s normal for sports franchises to honor the history of their roots. Maybe Benson has salt left in his mouth from when the Jazz picked up and moved to Salt Lake City decades ago and kept the name. Benson and his wife would be better off renaming the team the Hurricanes than the Pelicans. Even the Sugarcanes sounds sweeter than the Pelicans. The New Orleans Corruption could probably steal a few votes in a public naming contest.
But Benson might have to put in a call to White & Blazevich to settle the score.
And if all else fails… season ticket holders can look forward to posing pictures with this hanging around their kids. http://www.starcostumes.com/lgimages/MU42155.jpg
Sideline Signals 
