In case you haven’t been keeping tabs on Amarillo’s sports scene (yes Amarillo has a sports scene) I’m here to let you in on the latest happenings. The Dilla’s are still alive and kicking with possible upgrades to the Dilla Villa, the Gorillas are wrapping things up and the Amarillo Dusters are no longer here. For those of you unaware of the Dusters, they were our indoor football team. But before we break out the Kleenex and get are bugles ready to play Taps, let me inform you that indoor football still exists in our own backyard. That’s right, the Dusters have changed leagues and team names. We are now all fans of the Amarillo Venom.
Well, maybe we aren’t all fans, but we can at least all know what they are talking about on the news each night.
What’s in a Name?
The team is back and ready to take on its opponents in their new league, the Indoor Football League (IFL). The change was made over the offseason, and it was found out that the Arena League 2 owned the rights to the Dusters’ name. So there had to be a change in the team’s name. In order to get more interest in the move, the team’s owners left the naming to the fans. This was a great idea in theory; people could go on the Amarillo Globe News website and vote on the new name of the team. If you suggested the name that would later be picked, you won season tickets to the unnamed team’s home games.
Unfortunately, the best two names that anyone could come up with were the Venom and the Turf Monsters. That’s right, we were close to being the proud fans of the Amarillo Turf Monsters. (I laughed while typing that.) Luckily some fans had more sense and the name Venom won with 63 percent of the votes.
At first glance, I thought it would be cool to have the Turf Monsters as our team name. Random goofy names work in the smaller leagues. Just look at minor league baseball who features names like the
Albequerque Isotopes, Clinton LumberKings, Lansing Lugnuts, Montgomery Biscuits and the Idaho Falls Chukars. They are original and fun to laugh at, but does anyone really want to be a Turf Monster? The next thing you know, we will be on that KGB commercial as the answer for the most ridiculous sport mascot. Move over Bulweivels, the Turf Monsters are coming in.
Sink Your Fangs In
That’s all in the past though, and we are moving forward with the Venom which is a solid name (for an area known for rattle snakes) and will make for a cool logo to put on the helmet. But I have to say, we could have had something better. Look at all professional teams; there are only a few with obscure things or concepts as their name rather than a true mascot – the Magic and Wild to name a couple.
How are you a Wild? Team names should be animals, people and birds. Anything with an S at the end of it is usually acceptable.
I think we should have stuck with our Amarillo theme of a name that rhymes with the city or feature the double L. Amarillo Chillas or Killers maybe? Ok maybe not, but I think we should have thought about it a little more and looked for some professional guidance on this one. I guess there is no going back now, and we will have the Dillas, Gorillas and…Venom going forward in Amarillo professional sports. Go Venom!
Name aside, it is pretty entertaining football. Here’s when you can check out the Venom at the Civic Center:
- 03/27/10 7:05 PM – West Texas @ Venom
- 04/10/10 7:05 PM – Corpus Christi @ Venom
- 04/24/10 7:05 PM – Colorado Ice @ Venom
- 05/01/10 7:05 PM – Abilene @ Amarillo Venom
- 05/15/10 7:05 PM – San Angelo @ Venom
- 05/22/10 7:05 PM – Arkansas @ Venom
- 06/12/10 7:05 PM – Austin Turfcats @ Venom