Bullies open in January at Arena

[Ocklawaha]

Glad to have another team in the city, but I find the name a turn off. Anyone who has ever had the experience of knowing their own children were being bullied or, perhaps being bullied themselves, is going to find this name ugly, if not downright offensive. To me the connotation is not quite, but rather like naming the team The Killers, Rapists, Gestapos etc.. The dog logo did nothing to alleviate the suggestive violence of the name.

OCKLAWAHA

[copperfiend]

Wow Jacksonville do we criticize everything? For a city that has nothing and wants everything, it amazes that when we do get something we Nick-Pick to death.

I'm not usually one to criticize petty things like a sports team's name but it is in poor taste.

[Tacachale]

I think the name is terrible, but like I say it won't keep me from supporting them. It's cool we were picked to try and expand the sport, and a great sign for our sports culture.

[Captain Zissou]

Wow Jacksonville do we criticize everything? For a city that has nothing and wants everything, it amazes that when we do get something we Nick-Pick to death.

Yea man they cannot even get a game started without the criticism. And we wonder why people do not want to bring stuff here.

It's great that we're doing something to try and help our city.  It would be even better if we did something well.  We so often just throw things together just so that we have something to show for it, that we now just have a bunch of half a$$ed things to show for it.  Courthouse, check.  Transit Center, almost check.  Skyway, check. JTA, check.  DVI, check.

We need to be smarter with what we actually put forth, especially if it has our city's name on it.  We have too many flops that were done just for the sake of doing it in my opinion.  While the name of a lacrosse team isn't something that will kill our city, it represents another instance in a series of poorly planned initiatives.

As far as having the launch party at Whiskey River.... I get it.  The TC is a popular place.  The TC has zero tie in to there home venue (the arena), the city, or anything relating to the team.  Why not have it at the arena or at least downtown at The Landing??

[AFCassidy]

The name is absolutely awful and I suspect they'll think twice and change it before their season starts.  It's not that it's so offensive (we have an NFL team called the Redskins!) -- it's just not marketable because everyone thinks of something else before they think of a lacrosse team.  Call them the Jacksonville Big Dogs or something.

It's great that we're doing something to try and help our city.  It would be even better if we did something well.  We so often just throw things together just so that we have something to show for it, that we now just have a bunch of half a$$ed things to show for it.  Courthouse, check.  Transit Center, almost check.  Skyway, check. JTA, check.  DVI, check.

We need to be smarter with what we actually put forth, especially if it has our city's name on it.  We have too many flops that were done just for the sake of doing it in my opinion.  While the name of a lacrosse team isn't something that will kill our city, it represents another instance in a series of poorly planned initiatives.

Here's where I will defend the name and the team.   

The rest of the examples you threw up were elements or projects of the city government.   But "we" didn't do anything in terms of this Lacrosse team.  I know I didn't buy a franchise for a minor league indoor lacrosse team.  I don't have anything to do with this.  Someone has decided to invest their money in trying to build something.  It wasn't me, and I'm guessing it wasn't you.

As far as having the launch party at Whiskey River... I get it.  The TC is a popular place.  The TC has zero tie in to there home venue (the arena), the city, or anything relating to the team.  Why not have it at the arena or at least downtown at The Landing??

If the team is a city-wide team, then they will need to build a city-wide fanbase.  The Town Center is the most popular shopping destination in Jacksonville and it's surrounded by a large population of young people and twenty-somethings. 

The idea that the TC has no "tie in" to the team or the city is laughable. 

That kind of downtown elitism is what causes people who live in other neighborhoods to say "screw 'em" when discussion of downtown revitalization pops up.  If the downtown core of the city was all that there was of Jacksonville, then the city would have a popular similar to that of Hilliard or Callahan. 

[Tacachale]

Looks like there may be no "lax in Jax" after all.

http://www.ilindoor.com/2012/01/05/the-response-nall-sues-jennings-dalvia-vickers-and-two-teams/

From what I can gather there's a rift in their league between teams who want to push back their upcoming season to September, and those who want to keep their current schedule starting in 2 weeks. The Jacksonville and Charlotte teams, as well as some folks from a franchise in Wilkes-Barre, PA, are in the former group, though Jacksonville Bullies advertising for the January season are still around. The latter group evidently includes a team in Louisville and other folks from the Wilkes-Barre team, as well as a previously unannounced team in Boston. Both groups claim to be the North American Lacrosse League and represent the organization's true wishes.

So of course it's going to litigation. If these guys ever manage to play a game I will be very surprised.

[TPC]

It's Jacksonville, all our sports fans drink Hateraid.

[tufsu1]

I know someone who works for the Bullies....he was very upset about this last Friday but has since cheered back up as it seems more likely they will play....and don't forget, they're hosting a 5k at the Landin g this Sunday morning!

[Ocklawaha]

WANNA DANCE?

No hate here, I don't hate the league, sport or team, I do hate the name for socioeconomic reasons, image this sport and team really catch fire...

Something like 'The Jacksonville Stevedores' still sounds like a tough bunch, JAXPORT dock workers, but it also gives a boost to the port and the city itself. Someone in KC might slap his knee and exclaim, 'Damn, I didn't know they were a world port!' Whereas the name Bullies sounds about as inviting as a 'Beat Down' at the local crack/gang/thug corner, it too sends a message, 'Come to Jacksonville so you can be mugged.'

It's bad enough that our number one trade partners are south of the border and yet the average citizen anywhere south of Key West or San Juan knows exactly two American city names and locations, NEW YORK, and MIAMI. So lets build an image shall we, coming from MEDELLIN, where one is less likely to be mugged then Jacksonville, I have seen what a poor international image looks like.

Bullies? This is no way to go.

Ocklawaha

[Scarlettjax]

I gotta counter with the fact the team is using the name to call attention to the issue of bullying, and has even formed a foundation to raise funds for lacrosse in our area; which, in case you missed it, our school system athletics are no longer supporting without private funding:

http://www.northamericanlacrosseleague.com/index.cfm?go=story&id=5913

http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/local/article/228346/3/The-Lacrosse-Bullies-Take-on-Bullying

http://sanmarco.firstcoastnews.com/news/community-spirit/stop-bullying-now-one-mile-fun-walk-may-21/53560

Their team-up with our local Mental Health America bodes well, at least in my opinion, for actually doing something rather than just talking about it.  I hope they move beyond the litigation and continue their efforts to call attention to both issues. 

And, I like the idea of year-round sports at the arena.  Sometimes, there's more to the name than first impressions.

[Tacachale]

No hate here - I want them to succeed and i support the venture. But I know how hard it is out there for minor league teams; things like this are rough goes.

The name is terrible though.

[Nightman_Cometh]

Everyone in this thread is over reacting....This isnt the NFL, MLB, NHL, NBA or even MLS.  Its basically the 3rd level lacrosse league (behind the MLL and NLL).  I love sports and love attending sporting events, but lets be sensible, lacrosse isnt big here.  What makes it worse is I feel most people here like outdoor sports (it is Florida after all) but this league plays indoors.  The attendence will be less than the Giants, and eventually will go away like ice hockey has here (unfortuantely).  Its a sad reality.

Also, bulldogs are associated with the Marine Corps...should have named the team squids. destroyers, etc. 

[Ocklawaha]

I gotta counter with the fact the team is using the name to call attention to the issue of bullying, and has even formed a foundation to raise funds for lacrosse in our area; which, in case you missed it, our school system athletics are no longer supporting without private funding:

So if I'm in, uh, I don't know, let's say Fresno, I'm supposed to know that 'Bullies' means they are fighting this very issue?  So the next step is to rename the Jaguars 'The Jacksonville Crackheads,' because they fight drug addiction? How about a name like the 'Jacksonville Klansmen,' because they fight racism?

Their team-up with our local Mental Health America bodes well, at least in my opinion, for actually doing something rather than just talking about it.  I hope they move beyond the litigation and continue their efforts to call attention to both issues.

I likewise hope they are a success beyond our wildest expectations.

And, I like the idea of year-round sports at the arena.

Agreed.

Sometimes, there's more to the name than first impressions.

As they say at Christmas, 'HO, HO, HO!'  Oops, I don't mean that kind, I mean...