Scott Radley: ‘No disrespect to the people of Hamilton’: Toronto Rock is moving but the name stays
There was plenty to like about Tuesday's announcement that the Toronto Rock would be returning to its original home and professional lacrosse will once again be played in Hamilton.
But ... about that name.
The Toronto Rock? In Hamilton?
Not the Hamilton Rock? Or the Ontario Rock? Or even just The Rock.
The Toronto Rock? Here?
No disrespect to the people in Hamilton," owner Jamie Dawick says. But around North America, a lot of people would look at you and think you're talking about Bermuda or something like that."
Hope Tourism Hamilton acts quickly and trademarks that for its promotional material.
Leaving aside the truism that any sentence that begins with, no disrespect but ...' is inevitably leading to something that's going to be interpreted as disrespectful, let's deal with his point: that Toronto offers greater name recognition. And thus, it will capture much of southern Ontario as is has in the past.
Maybe this is correct. Maybe keeping the big-city vibe from down the QEW will draw thousands of folks to games who wouldn't otherwise come. Maybe it will draw more media attention. Maybe it'll sell more tickets on the road.
And he points out the team will be active in the community, so it will be clear where it's based and where it considers home. That's good.
To the local fans though, it's more likely that bringing a team here, calling it the Toronto Whatevers and asking them to buy in will be like baking a delicious cake and icing it in Vegemite. Or buying them a beautiful sports car and painting it a garish plaid.
The No. 1 rule about living in Hamilton is understanding you're not living in Toronto. We aren't Toronto. We don't want to be Toronto. We don't envy Toronto. We don't hate Toronto (most of us, anyway). We don't wish bad things on Toronto.
We just aren't Toronto and we're not saying that ruefully.
Toronto is a lovely city that offers many amazing things to see and do. We love visiting. This isn't about dumping on it. Instead, this is simply about recognizing people here are going to have a hard time building an emotional connection to something that sounds like it isn't really ours.
Ask yourself this. If the National Lacrosse League's Calgary Roughnecks moved up the road to Edmonton, you think they'd keep the Calgary name?
You know the answer.
Let's ask another question. If the Toronto Rock wins another title, will the championship parade be along Main Street to Hamilton City Hall or up University Avenue in Toronto?
We understand that a lot of money and effort have been poured into building the franchise's brand over the past 20-plus years. There's absolutely value in that. But loads of teams have moved over the years after spending all that money and effort to build a brand. There aren't many that didn't change their name to reflect their new home.
There was consideration put into changing the name," Dawick says. But in the end, the team and this franchise is the Toronto Rock."
OK then. End of debate.
But just for a moment, let's go back to at least part of his point that suggests name recognition matters. It's here we point out there's an expansion team coming to the NLL this year called the Panther City Lacrosse Club. So, let's ask the people: Where is Panther City?
Somewhere in Southeast Asia where panthers are common? Of course not. In Carolina, home of the NFL Panthers? Nope. In Florida, home of the NHL Panthers? Wrong again. In Pennsylvania, home of the University of Pittsburgh Panthers. No.
It's Fort Worth, Texas.
If that team can build its brand around a panther sighting that occurred in 1875, the Rock can surely figure out how to latch onto the name Hamilton in 2021. Or Ontario. Or anything other than Toronto.
Because bringing pro lacrosse back here is brilliant.
Not having enough belief or pride in your new city to reflect that in the name, isn't.
Scott Radley is a Hamilton-based columnist at The Spectator. Reach him via email: sradley@thespec.com