There's no longer a buzz on the streets of Salt Lake. Well, at least not a professional baseball team with that particular name.
On Monday, officials from the PCL ballclub formerly known as the Salt Lake Buzz provided affirmative answers to this multifaceted question: Is it possible to come up with a catchy, new nickname that has a local flare and does not include the cliché "ZZ" ending?
Yes, and yezz.
Baseball fans from around the Beehive State, now introducing your Salt Lake Stingers.
That is the announced name and will officially become the new moniker once the final seal of approval is given by the Minor League Baseball National Association.
"We just think it's a perfect fit," said Dorsena Picknell, Salt Lake's assistant general manager. "It was so important for us to pick something the community would like. . . . It's Utah-related with it being the Beehive State. It just represented everything. We're very excited."
They believe the community will embrace the name as well. Picknell said 27 people suggested it in their naming contest, making it one of the most popular picks along with names like the Bees, Gulls, Crickets, Halos and Wings (tie-ins with their parent club, the Anaheim Angels).
Some might be surprised — if not thrilled — that they will be called the Stingers rather than the Stingerzz. But a choice was made to buck the local "zz" tradition of the Jazz, Grizzlies, Freezz, Starzz, Pioneerzz, Catzz and, of course, the Buzz.
"We did a lot of research, and a lot of people just didn't like it (the "zz" fad)," Picknell said. "Unless it fit the word like it did with Buzz, the majority said go away from it."
Now that they have a nickname, the Stingers are in need of a logo, a color scheme and a mascot. They will likely use the colors of the Angels, whose uniforms are red, blue, white and gold.
A local advertising firm, Love Communications, is working on a logo, which could be completed later this week. The mascot is the last priority, but one should be selected before the season starts in April.
The cost for switching everything from business cards to T-shirts to the Franklin Covey Field marquee could cost about $500,000.
Getting this minor-league nickname was about as easy as hitting a major-league curve ball.
After lawsuits from Georgia Tech convinced ownership to change names in hopes of less litigation, the Buzz decided to hold a communitywide moniker-picking contest.
About 2,000 entries later, they went to work coming up with a handful of finalists. Those names were scrutinized in basic and comprehensive searches to make sure they were not trademarked in any way, shape or form. They also had to find names that had Web site domains available on top of the copyright freedom.
Stingers was among the finalists and, in fact, was the first choice for many of the group involved in making the decision. It originally was dismissed, because four sports groups — soccer teams from Pittsburgh and Chicago and hockey clubs from Bozeman, Mont., and Worthington, Ohio — had legal rights of some sorts.
After the original denial, Buzz management decided to try for the Stingers again. They contacted all four groups affiliated in one way or another with their coveted name, and they verbally gave the thumbs-up for Salt Lake to use it.
Attorneys from all parties have since drafted and signed legal agreements, paving the way for the official change. One concession is that they won't be able to use a stinger in their mascot.
That wasn't a problem for the ex-Buzz brass. Nor, they say, is the fact that the season is quickly approaching.
"This is what we wanted," Picknell said. "It's more important to pick the right name rather than hurrying and deciding."
The management group had been trying since December to find a replacement for the Buzz. That was the contest winner when Joe Buzas moved the Portland Beavers here from Oregon in 1994. Now the organization is trying to figure out which of the participants who suggested Stingers will win the grand prize of a trip to spring training in Arizona in March.
E-MAIL: jody@desnews.com