We have already known for some time that Tampa Bay is considering the idea of placing the Rays in shared custody with Montreal. With that in mind, given the fact that the franchise would divide its time between two locations, it could also be given a new identity.
In a text published in the Tampa Bay Times, last Friday, journalist Charlie Frago suggested that this semi-relocated team go by the name of Dragonflies. “Libellules”, to translate it into French.
What explains this choice, which we hardly ever see in sport, whether amateur or professional?
Concession president Brian Auld raised the possibility of building a new open-air stadium in the Tampa area. To say it with Victor DiMaio, political consultant for the city of Tampa Bay, there would be dragonflies “all over the field” if the team ever played in such a stadium in the spring, for example.
Auld, who deems it impossible to maintain Rays baseball year-round in Tampa Bay, clarifies that the dragonfly is a species of insect that migrates from Canada to Florida in late summer. , a fairly rare type of migratory movement in animals.
So it is not a name launched like that, at random, without prior reflection. But it’s also troubling, in that seeing MLB baseball in Montreal without it being the Expos would most likely be a no to many ball fans.
Sports fans in the metropolis have an attachment to the Expos, which they almost all hope to see come back to settle in Quebec.
The Dragonflies are not the same. It does not have the experience or the identity of the Expos. And it has the disadvantage of being in English, which will surely be inconvenient in the minds of a few.
On the other hand, if to call ourselves otherwise is the price to bring back the ball from the major ranks to us, is it worth it? The question certainly arises.
