They wuzz the Buzz. They won't be any more.
In the latest move to increase community support and enthusiasm, Salt Lake Buzz management has decided to change the team's nickname. On Monday, the ballclub announced its "What's the Buzz?" renaming contest, which will allow fans to flood the front office with suggested franchise names.
Let the onslaught of names with the colloquial "zz" ending begin.
"With changing the affiliation (to the Anaheim Angels) and the change in management, we decided it was a good time for a new name with a new start," said Buzz co-owner Hilary Buzas-Drammis. "I'm excited. I think it will be great. I invite the community to join us."
One name that Salt Lake's new team certainly won't have — Yellow Jackets (or Yellow Jacketzz). That moniker, of course, is trademarked by Georgia Tech, which also has a lawsuit pending against the Buzz franchise. Georgia Tech's mascot is named "Buzz," and was registered in 1980. The university has claimed that Salt Lake's baseball team has benefited financially from using its trademarked name and similar logo.
Drammis said her attorneys claim the name change won't affect the lawsuit, but she is hopeful it will be dropped. She also insists the club won't have similar problems with the new nickname. They want something that will fit the community, but it has to be an original idea. It doesn't even have to follow the Utah pattern of "zz" (i.e., Utah Jazz, Utah Grizzlies, Utah Freezz, Utah Starzz, Zion Pioneerzz, Utah Blitzz).
"We need a name they can trademark," said Drammis, who will have ultimate say along with her father, Joe Buzas, in choosing the nickname. "I really don't care if it has 'zz.' Either way's OK. Just come up with something clever and fun."
Drammis also said fans can submit logos, but a graphic-arts company will likely be hired to create one so that uniforms and hats can be ready by next spring.
The contest, which fans can enter using forms from newspaper ads, online www.buzzbaseball.com or from the Buzz office, will run until Dec. 22. A trip to watch the newly named Triple-A franchise and the Anaheim Angels at spring training in Phoenix will be awarded to the winner.
Salt Lake's pro ballclub has been called the Buzz since relocating here from Portland (then the Beavers) in 1994. That nickname was partially based on the last name of owner Joe Buzas, who orchestrated the move here, and partly in honor of the former Utah baseball team, the Salt Lake Bees.
Drammis also insists the ballclub is not just doing this to sell more hats, T-shirts and pennants to fans.
"It's actually going to cost us a whole lot more. We have to change uniforms, the marquee, paper letterhead . . . everything," she said. "But if we're going to change, now's the time.
"And we want to get the community more involved. It's their team, and it's fun."
E-mail: jody@desnews.com