Tuesday, 4 December 2012

Number Two, Alphabetically

While the ongoing saga in the boardroom continues as the NHL and NHLPA meet without Gary Bettman, Donald Fehr, or mediators, it appears there is headway being made in the desert as the sale of the Phoenix Coyotes appears to moving again. Greg Jamison is apparently going to secure the rights to the franchise and Jobing.com Arena management responsibilities. While that's all fine and dandy, it appears the real news is that the Phoenix Coyotes, now located in Glendale, will now represent more than just the Phoenix-and-surrounding-areas area.

A great website called Sports Documents dug up the lease that the Coyotes signed with the City of Glendale, and contained within the legalese of the document is a clause that reads, "The Team Owner shall use commercially reasonable efforts to have the name of the Team changed to the "Arizona Coyotes" as soon as commercially feasible."


With the City of Glendale on the hook for $320 million to keep the Coyotes and Jamison in Glendale to run the arena, it makes complete sense for the team to appeal state-wide for support rather than just the Phoenix area. While fans really don't have to split hairs over this decision, the fact that Glendale is going to all the trouble financially to keep the Coyotes in the desert makes the change from "Phoenix" to "Arizona" that much more logical. If Glendale is paying to keep them, should they really be named in Phoenix's name?

The other big change? It sounds like the Jobing.com Arena will now be called something new as the new manager - Jamison - will be able to sell the naming rights as he sees fit. In other words, goodbye Jobing.com! One of the worst arena names in all of sports will finally be put out to pasture. While I'm sure that Jobing.com does a good job in helping people find jobs, naming an arena after a website is pretty dumb.


So what say you, readers? Do the Arizona Coyotes get a thumbs-up or a thumbs-down from you? The uniforms will not change aside from the shoulder patch with PHX on it possibly changing. But everything else on the Coyotes' uniforms will remain the same. Good? Bad? Indifferent? Let me know what you think!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

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