Rebranding your team.

One of the hot topics in sports today is around the name of the gridiron football team that plays near our nations capital.  I was a Redskins fan back in the 1980s when John Riggins and the Hogs were among the best in the NFL.  There was rarely has been a better a group of gentlemen who were more of a team than the 5 members of the Redskins offensive line.  Only one of them, Russ Grimm was inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame.  Of course, I was never one to dress in drag and wear a plastic pig snout, but I was still a fan.

But that does not mean that I believe the Redskins should keep their name.  I was made aware of this plight when I was a senior at the University of Nebraska at Omaha and found a poster that used many racial slurs as team names in comparison to the Redskins name.  However, what most people of the liberal side of the argument don't realize is how difficult and costly branding a sports franchise can be.

Of course, there are the legendary naming contests.  However, what most people don't realize is that these so-called contests are nothing more than marketing schemes.  It helps people feel as though the community was part of the branding of the team.  Usually, the new owners have the team name in mind before the contest begins, and simply reward the closest guess.

Re-branding the team is not something that is done in a boardroom somewhere.  If will take weeks, if not months before the team is re-branded.  This will be no easy task for the current Redskins owners.  Has anyone else noticed that since Daniel Snyder has become the owner of the team, the franchise has floundered?  A good brand should reflect where the company or team is currently in the marketplace, where they would like to be in the future and reflect the values that the team would like to project.  The current Washington Redskins are nothing like the team that won 3 Super Bowl Championships in the 1980s and 1990s.  They are more like a ship without a rudder.  You should expect better from someone who became a billionaire through advertising.

Branding takes time.  After the name is chosen, logos are designed, followed by uniforms.  The main reason the Utah Jazz did not change their name following their exodus from New Orleans is because the NBA felt there was not enough time to do so.  Perhaps the original plan was to re-brand the team after their first season in Salt Lake City, like the Milwaukee Brewers were known as the Milwaukee Pilots their first year in Wisconsin.  But here we are 34 years later, still known as the Jazz.

In spite of the teams performance in recent seasons, the team doesn't have to look far for inspiration to find a brand that will inspire the team to greatness.  There is oodles of choices from American history.  Being in the nation's capital has its advantages.  Here are some of my suggestions.

1.  Washington Continentals--Named for the Continental Army that fought against the British forces in the American Revolution.

2.  Washington Wolves--Named for General George "Grey Wolf" Crook, US Civil War General

3.  Washington Cyclones--Named for the 38th Infantry Division, who earned the nickname during World War I.

4.  Washington Red Devils--Named for the 5th Infantry Division, who earned the name from their German Counterparts in World War I.

5.  Washington Spearheads--Named after the 3rd Armored Division.

6.  Washington Mustangs--Named for the P-51, considered the best fighter in World War 2.

7.  Washington Osprey--The largest birds in the Chesapeake Bay.

There are possibly many others that the current Redskins could change their names to.  They could even do it is a way that will allow them to keep their colors, and only change the insignia on the helmet, to keep the cost of re-branding down.

Should the Redskins change their name?  Yes.  But let's not rush them as branding is a serious business.

Comments on BYU's future.

I haven't commented about BYU's Big 12 aspirations because I've been waiting for it to all play out.  But this is going to take a more than just a few weeks.  It may take years.

When Bronco Mendenhall says, "we would love to be in the Big 12," it's kind of like my wife saying, "we would love to live in Federal Heights."  Anything can happen, I'm still young enough, home price may fall again.  However, I think that BYU has a slightly better chance at getting into the Big 12 than I do of changing my zip code to 84113.  And one should never say never when it comes to the PAC-12 as well.

My hunch, however, is that the Power Five conference want to whittle down rather than add more members.  But don't look for smaller, private colleges to be whittled out.  There is really only one target that fits the bill that private schools can't compete.  That distinction belongs to Wake Forest, the school with the worst record in the ACC.

Northwestern does not have the worst all-time Big 10 record.  Indiana is one school that is worse.

Vanderbilt has been better that Mississippi State all-time.

Stanford has one of the better all-time records in the PAC-12.

Baylor and TCU are both much better than Iowa State.

I also suspect that the SEC will never drop Mississippi State.

If it ever comes to this, expect that those schools will not got down without a large fight.  There is a lot of money at stake.  There may be, in fact, more consolodation to bring the number of conferences down to 4.

But one does not become elite by welcoming any Tom, Dick and Harry.  A country club doesn't become exclusive by adding Joe the Plumber.  If the number will not go down, then it will be capped at some point.  That  number is likely 80, which is 16 by 5.  This means that there may be only 12 slots left, if you count Notre Dame as being in.  4 in the PAC-12, 2 in the SEC and 6 in the Big 12.  There may also be a spending frenzy to be included, something that the LDS Church may not want.

BYU is smart to try and hitch themselves to the Big 12 wagon.  I think if the PAC-12 had not chosen Utah, BYU would be in that conference today.  If the PAC-12 wanted BYU, they would already be there.  The Cougars have played or has scheduled everyone in that conference except for Oregon and Colorado since becoming independent.

But the most important factor for BYU to be in the Big 12 may be to find an acceptable travel partner.  Someone else, nearby, who could prove their worth to the PAC-12.  Who could it be?  If Boise State can win without Chris Peterson, then we may know the answer.  It could also be Colorado State or UNLV, who are both spending a lot of money to either improve or build new facilities.  It could be Air Force, who has a tradition like non other in sports.  Finally, it could be Houston to get back some of the recruiting market lost by Texas A & M.  It could be that the Big 12 goes from 10 to 14 adding BYU, UNLV, Houston and Cincinnati.

It could also be that the Big 12 goes from 10 to 0.  It could be that the SEC adds Oklahoma and Oklahoma State.  Followed by the PAC 12 adding Texas, Texas Tech, Kansas and Kansas State, leaving Baylor, TCU and Iowa State out of the picture.

Either way, BYU will not be independent, in my opinion, after 2020.  I also suspect that one way or another BYU will have conference foes like Baylor and TCU.  The real question is whether or not they are in the elite tier or the next one.