The new Washington DC baseball team

[Kathleen E. Miller]

At 12:51 PM 10/14/2004, you wrote:
>At 8:32 AM -0400 10/14/04, James A. Landau wrote:
>>
>>A name that would complement the existing Redskins, as well as the Bullets,
>>is the "Washington Warpath".  Too political, though.  "Washington Doves?"
>The Bullets are no longer extant.  They've been the Wizards for some
>time; owner Abe Pollin changed the name because of the association
>with the high rate of violent crime in D.C.

True, Pollin wanted the name changed because the Bullets was too violent
sounding. There was an actual poll of the populace as to what we wanted the
team name to be changed to. We had a choice of the Wizards, the Sea Dogs,
Dragons, Stallions and Express. We all got to call a 900 # with our vote.

The Wizards won. Alliteration, I think, was the reason for it, for there's
nothing magical about the team at all. (Even when we had Jordan). That and
the fact that the rest of the choices pretty much sucked. (Of course
alliteration started the whole thing, they were the Baltimore Bullets in
1964 when Abe bought the team.)

The team is frequently referred to as the "Wizzers." Whether that has
anything to do with bathroom humor, the fact that the ball just whizzes by,
or a just a mispronunciation - I don't know.

Kathleen E. Miller
The New York Times