Time for a change

When I created this blog (well, the SN version, at least) over two years ago, I struggled for a name. I wanted it to be simple, short, and open to interpretation -- "J-Dub's Shack o' Sports," while direct and descriptive, wasn't exactly what I was looking for. I settled on "Displaced," because, after 11 years of living away from my home state of Minnesota, I sometimes feel like I don't really identify with the sports teams there any more. I usually have to go to sports bars or to a friend's house (with his Sunday Ticket) to watch the Vikings. I used to watch some or all of about 100 Twins games a year on MSC; now I'm lucky if I catch more than half a dozen a year on ESPN or the occasional local affiliate. I definitely felt "displaced" from my roots and unsure of where I truly could call home. Was I still really "Minnesotan"? Maybe that's why, when the temperature drops below freezing here in the Carolinas (about once or twice every winter), I like to talk about those -30 degree mornings in International Falls where my eyes would freeze shut while I walked to school (true story!).

In truth, I still feel "displaced." For a while, it looked like I might have the chance to move back to the land of 11,842 lakes (according to Wikipedia), but that's now unlikely. Even so, I think it's time for a change from the rather depressing (and highly non-descriptive) title my blog currently sports into something more interesting and more descriptive, or, at the very least, witty. There are a lot of smartly named blogs both on SN.com and elsewhere with sports-influenced names (my favorite title, even though I don't read it often, has to be Futility Infielder).

So, I brainstormed a few name ideas. The only thing I saw as a requirement (apart from general goodness) was that the new title must reflect both football and baseball, my primary interests, or have a Minnesotan slant. I came up with a few likely candidates, but, since I've got this handy-dandy polling tool on the site now, I thought I'd ask for help in picking the new name. I reserve all right to ignore the popular opinion -- you know, kinda like Hilary Clinton has done the past few months -- but if 95% of people choose one of the titles, I'll feel really bad about not using it.

Here are the candidates, in alphabetical order:

Black and Blue and Read All Over. Black and Blue Division. And it’s a blog. You read it. Get it?

Chicks Dig the Long Bomb. Again, fits into both a baseball and football mold. But when you read the title, do you think the blog is written by a woman?

Defensive Indifference. My early favorite. It’s a baseball term, but the way the Vikings have played against the pass the last few years, it might describe the football team, too.

Pardon the International Falls-ian. Tony Kornheiser, forgive me.

Pinstripes and Purple. Simple title referencing the Twins and Vikings. But is “pinstripes” too much a synonym for “Yankees”?

Punt ‘n’ Bunt. This is just cute, and fits the baseball/football requirement. It’s probably too cute.

State of Anxiety. Let’s face it: Minnesota sports fans are as neurotic as any fans in the nation. We just don’t have the media coverage like New York and Boston.

If you have any other ideas, leave them in the comments section. And no, "J-Dub's Shack o' Sports" is not an option.