Williams speaks from experience. He spent 22 years with Washington Sports & Entertainment and was vice president of communications for the Washington Bullets when the team changed its name to Wizards at the request of owner Abe Pollin before the 1997-98 season.
While Washington sports fans have grown accustomed to calling the District NBA team the Wizards in the past two decades – despite many wishes that Bradley Beal and Co. still wore “Bullets” or any number of other names on their chests – there it was moments during the fan – it involved the selection process when no one seemed happy.
With team merchandise sales lagging behind the rest of the league, the bullets were already considering a restyling in the form of a new combination of colors and uniforms to coincide with their move to a downtown arena in 1997. Five days later his good friend, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, was assassinated at a Tel Aviv peace rally on November 4, 1995, Pollin announced the team he had purchased in 1964 and nine years later moved to Washington from Baltimore in search of a new name.
“My friend was shot in the back by bullets,” said Pollin, who had become increasingly uncomfortable with his team’s association with the armed violence that had ravaged the District in recent years. “The name Bullets for a sports team is no longer appropriate. This series has a story and we’ll keep that story. “
Over the next month, the Bullets invited fans to present their ideas for new names in the Boston Market restaurants in the area. More than 500,000 votes were cast for 2,996 different names.
“I see this as a type of community unification,” said Pollin in February 1996.
While the Redskins have not announced the details of their review, including whether fans will have a say under a new name, the Bullets’ trial has been as transparent as it is elaborate. A seven-person panel, which included Pollin, bullet president Susan O’Malley, WRC-TV sports director George Michael and Bullets striker Juwan Howard, rated each name on a scale of 1 to 10 and has reduced the list to 13.
There was not much consensus among panelists. Washington Post’s Ken Denlinger reported that Wizards was the top pick with an average score of just 6.3, followed by Jaguars (4.1), Fury (4) and Cobras (3.6). These last three names were eliminated due to trademark concerns after a brief review by the league office, as well as Monuments and Wolverini. The reaction to the five finalists – Wizards, Express, Stallions, Dragons and Sea Dogs – from fans and members of the media has been incredibly negative.
“As a last resort you could combine the names of Abe Pollin, Susan O’Malley and Juwan Howard and call them PolMalWans – it makes more sense than any other,” Norm Smith of Burke, who preferred the name Monuments, wrote in one of several letters to the editor criticizing the options in the coming days.
“THESE NAMES STINK!” Post columnist Tony Kornheiser wrote.
The bullet front office was expecting the same.
“All my colleagues warned me that it would happen,” said Pollin when asked about the fans’ reaction. “They had passed there. The Denver boy said he was told Avalanche was a terrible name, but now everyone loves it. Same thing with Raptors in Toronto. All my colleagues told me to be prepared. Stay put.”
“There are 4 million people trying to name a child,” O’Malley told The Post. “I would never call my son Tiffany, but many people would.”
Post Sports staff raised the issue of justice, noting that the new arena in the center could be called the Supreme Court and that the team could wear black shirts inspired by judicial robes. After the announcement of the finalists, The Post organized its own telephone survey; of the more than 19,000 calls received, 85% were not in favor of any of the five potential new names.
“Frankly, I wasn’t surprised by the reaction,” said Williams, who left Washington Sports & Entertainment after the 2010 NBA draft this week. “The longer we followed the process and the more we heard from people, it was clear that there was no chance that we had a resounding name that everyone loved. It became really evident how many different opinions there were. At one point, I was like ‘Wow, let’s do it.’ “
Wizards was Pollin’s favorite name among the finalists. It was also Williams’ favorite choice.
“I was like,” I know which one I want, and it’s better not to be one of these, “Williams said.” Sea Dogs isn’t a horrible name, but it didn’t make sense here. I didn’t care for Express, but Wizards was what I wanted. Alliteration helped. “
Fans had the option to vote the five finalists via a 1-900 number, with the proceeds from each $ 1 call earmarked for the team’s recently launched anti-violence campaign. Pollin announced Wizards as an easy winner on February 22, 1996, although he declined to reveal how many votes had been received or the winning margin.
“He’s someone who can do things,” he said of the moniker. “It is magical, gaudy, intelligent and successful. All these things connote a winner. Once we have the new logo, uniform and colors, it will be fantastic. The NBA has very creative people. “
On the day of the announcement, the Bullets fan, Adam Smith, speculated that the contest, with four “crappy” names among the finalists, was set up to make Wizards the winning choice.
“But if they win a world championship, nobody cares what they are called,” he said.
Wizards have not won a world championship, of course. In fact, after making the playoffs for the first time in nine years during their last season as the Bullets, Washington failed to qualify for the postseason in its first seven seasons as a Wizards. That more than anything else, Williams said, has colored fans’ perception of change.
“Winning solves everything,” Williams said. “It is not an original statement, but it is absolutely the truth when you work in sport. Anyone who had the impression that he did not like the name would have immediately arrived in the saddle if the team had won more. There are no doubts. Whatever the Redskins do, the same thing goes for them. They are going to choose a name and there will be many people who don’t like it, but if they win, they will soothe any bad feelings. “
Abe Pollin’s eldest son Robert, an economics professor at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, raised as a hardcore Bullets and Redskins fan, doesn’t know if his father ever discussed the Redskins name with Snyder before he died in November 2009. He said his father was “disappointed”. Snyder wouldn’t make a change that he considered the ethical thing to do. He is also convinced that most of his fellow Redskins fans will adapt perfectly to a new name, regardless of the outcome of the team’s review process.
“I was attached to [Redskins’] name, but some things are more important, “said Pollin, who wrote a 2014 article in The Post asking Snyder to change his name.” … If you live in the city and follow the team and you like it you get used to it. It’s the team, it’s the players, it’s the excitement. Some names are better than other names, but in the end it’s just a name. “
Hail to the Washington Sea Dogs?
