Via CNY in the Pros, I've learned that the ABA Team Formerly Known As The Bullies And Always Known In Our Hearts As The Snow Ballers will be called the Syracuse Raging Bulls. More than 800 people voted in a "pick the name" contest at area Wegmans supermarkets and Wendy's restaurants. Team spokesman Tom Tarry said take-offs on the Bulls nickname was a heavy theme in the voting. The team received more write-in votes than it did votes for any of the five suggested nicknames on the ballot.
800 people?!? Shame on you, Syracuse. You're telling me that for price of a couple hundred Baconators any one of us could have personally swayed the vote? It's days like these I wish I was back in school...
Seriously though, we know the owner of the team is a huge Bulls fan, hence the Bullies name. With only 800 votes counted, what are the chances he just stuffed the ballot box for this? Pretty solid, no?
Is this the end for the Snow Ballers moniker? We hope not. Somewhere out there is an enterprising young fan with a dream and a really sick sense of humor, and one day that fan will own an Independent League team...and our dream will live. The Raging Bulls also announced some major Kevin Garnett-related signings. Literally. They've signed Louis McCullough, Garnett's half-brother. (Can't wait to see how they spin that in their marketing materials).
They also signed Dayshawn Wright, a Syracuse native who played very briefly for the Orange before being declared academically ineligible. Wright, formerly of the Minot SkyRockets, was on the market since his former team released him after he was arrested for drug possession and driving with a suspended license. Well, I guess he's still a better character guy than the Bully.