By Staff
One day this past week I was surfing the Internet looking at my NCAA basketball bracket and I found something interesting. (By the way, after the first day of the tournament I was 15-1 in my picks. My only loss? I picked USC to beat Kansas State. I just about missed the Duke-Belmont game along with everyone else who picked Duke. Duke was a two seed and Belmont a 15-seed.)
Anyway, the story I came across that I found interesting was a story about the Tampa Bay Devil Rays - I mean the Tampa Bay Rays.
You will see why I said that in a minute.
The Tampa Bay baseball team had been called the Tampa Bay Devil Rays since its induction into Major League Baseball about 10 or so years ago.
Well, as of this year, the team has changed its name from the Devil Rays to just the “Rays.”
Starting this season, a member of the media can be fined $1 if they are caught calling the Rays the Devil Rays.
According to Matt Silverman, president of the Rays, they have mailed 50 letters to media members letting them know of the $1 fines.
I do not know if this is being to be funny or if it is in all seriousness, but it is kind of weird.
The Atlanta Braves, when they were in Boston, were called the Beaneaters. The Chicago Cubs at one point were called the Orphans. The Brooklyn Dodgers were once known as the Superbas and the Bridegrooms.
And the baseball team most steeped in history and tradition, the New York Yankees, once were the New York Highlanders, because their stadium was on a hill.
With the name change, it will mark the first time a Major League Baseball team changed its name without moving to another city since the Houston Colt .45s became the Astros in 1965. That change was made to honor Houston's space program.
Anyway, I thought that this was sort of interesting. Can you imagine if W.S. Neal or T.R. Miller changed its name?
I wonder how long it would take media and just fans for that matter to not say Eagles or Tigers?
That would be alot of $1 fines.
On a different note, I want to congratulate coach Alan Baker on his induction to the Alabama High School Athletic Association's Hall of Fame. This is a great honor for a coach Baker, and I wish him the best.
While I never had coach Baker as a particular coach, I did know him from just being in the athletic department and as a history teacher, and he is very deserving of this honor.
Congrats coach Baker for this award.
Also happy belated birthday to my father, Richard Robinson.
Good luck to all area teams in their games this week, and until Wednesday when we meet again, God bless.