Seasons Through Song: Decide The Whalers' Fate

[Jestor]

A rapidly dwindling fanbase and growing anger among the citizens of Hartford have led the city council to call for a referendum to determine the future for the troubled Emerald League Whalers franchise.

After acquiring the rights to the Whalers name from the NHL franchise, the baseball Whalers have rewarded its faithful with terrible front office decisions and perennial basement finishes in the Noble League. While this would be bad enough in normal circumstances given the history behind the Whalers name, local fury is fueled even more by the NHL Hartford Schooners' four consecutive trips to the Stanley Cup playoffs, making the Stanley Cup Final two seasons ago before falling in six games.

There are two decisions for city voters to weigh in on: Should the baseball team continue to exist and if so, should they be allowed to keep the Whalers name or should it be returned to the local NHL franchise?

The choices:

Dissolve the team
Under this option, the Hartford Whalers and their minor-league affiliates are dissolved following the 1986 season and replaced in the Emerald League by an expansion franchise. Their players will be released to the free agency pool and be available on the market during the annual official FA perod.

Keep the team but change the name
With this arrangement, Hartford will keep its baseball team, but the Whalers nickname will be returned to the NHL squad. Voters selecting this choice are strongly encouraged to suggest substitute names for ownership to consider.

Keep the team and the Whalers name
The status quo is continued in this choice, with the NHL team remaining the Schooners.

(OOC: Poll forthcoming)

[Jestor]

A groggy morning bump, since I'll be gone most of the day.

[canadiancreed]

If the anger is with the name, I say scrap it and re-name. Besides I hate the look of that logo (no offense to the designer), it screams disney. Changign the name may get soem intrest back, although I doubt that by this stage that a name change will keep the fans at bay for long.

Anotehr option shoudl have been move the team as well.

[Jestor]

Originally Posted by canadiancreed

Anotehr option shoudl have been move the team as well.

Good point. I thought the poll looked a little short on options... But luckily I've thought of justification for why the ownership doesn't want to move the team.

[canadiancreed]

Originally Posted by Jestor

Good point. I thought the poll looked a little short on options... But luckily I've thought of justification for why the ownership doesn't want to move the team.

Good coverage then. Anyways tht's my thougths on the thing really.

[Elendil]

Originally Posted by canadiancreed

Besides I hate the look of that logo (no offense to the designer), it screams disney.

Yeah, it's WhaleRs, not Whales. The whale should be trussed and bleeding from multiple harpoon-inflicted gash wounds.

[Jestor]

Originally Posted by Elendil

Yeah, it's WhaleRs, not Whales. The whale should be trussed and bleeding from multiple harpoon-inflicted gash wounds.

Wow it's really taking a beating in this thread.

[Jestor]

Afternoon post-work bump

[ndinardo76]

Definitely change the name. How about Harpoons?

[metsgeek]

Originally Posted by ndinardo76

Definitely change the name. How about Harpoons?

That's a a good one. Me likey

[Jestor]

Originally Posted by ndinardo76

Definitely change the name. How about Harpoons?

Excellent suggestion, but it all depends on what the poll results end up being.

I'll be honestly, I didn't expect it to be this close a vote so far. The poll goes until June 4th, but I'm going to be gone the 31st-4th and I'm not sure if I'll get a chance to bump it or not while I'm away, which is why I've been bumping it once a day now.

[Jestor]

Mid-day bump. It's still really close, gang, and any of the three options have a shot at winning it.

[Mucho Macho]

I vote for Harpoons

[Jestor]

One last bump before I head out of town for the weekend. It's still extremely close.. the top 2 as of this bump are tied with the third option barely behind.

[Jestor]

Mid out-of-town bump. Voting ends Sunday!