You aren’t going to be able to please all of the people all of the time.  It’s best to not try to in the first place, and just do what you are going to do.  But sometimes, it seems like you can’t please most of the people, no matter what you do.

Take the ‘new’ Winnipeg hockey team (and that’s the only time I’m going to put new in quotes).  They haven’t picked a name for their team, or at least publicly haven’t done so.  There are plenty of people on one side of the fence that want True North S&E to stay true to the old Winnipeg team, and name them the Jets.  Others want to see them continue using the current TNS&E team’s name, the Manitoba Moose.  Still others want a new name, so they can move on from the past.  That’s right, it’s a three-sided fence.

Winnipeg Jets

I would be fine with this.  Why not bring back the old Jets name.  It’s what fans in Winnipeg crave, and the NHL loves to trade on nostalgia.  Nostalgia sells, and frankly, the team in Winnipeg has to sell itself not only to the fans in Winnipeg (and so far, so good), but also the businesses in Winnipeg.  It’s easier to sell the return of the Jets than it is to sell the new guys in town.  On paper, in writing, that doesn’t make any sense.  But look into the hearts of hockey fans, and show me something that makes sense?

Manitoba Moose

The Moose are dead, long live the Moose.  Minor league team names are fleeting.  The Moose have stayed around through at least one move.  I even have a Minnesota Moose jersey.  But that was the franchise moving, and this is a totally different team.  The Moose also had one of the coolest logos in the minors, this side of the Orlando Solar Bears.  And if you aren’t going to bring back the Moose logo of old, I say keep it in the AHL.  Let them be the St. John’s Moose.

A new name

This option is fine, but not as desirable, to me, as bringing back the Jets.  While some argue that a new team name would bring with it new traditions, I think there will be plenty of traditions to be made up with the first few years of the franchise.  Traditions are born of the play on the ice, and the creativity of the moment.  They will evolve on their own.  I wouldn’t fear for the fans.  They will take matters into their own hands soon enough.

 

No matter what True North does, there will be many words written, teeth gnashed, and hands wrung.  No matter what they do, they will be wrong, and there will be complaints.  It will become schtick, and while the rest of the world moves on, a few will not.

But in the end, no matter what they call the team, people will still call them the Jets.

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A few people have started the Dead Blog Challenge a little late, but that isn’t what matters.  What matters is that they started.  Because starting is hard.  When you don’t know what to write, you don’t really feel like writing.  But starting to write is the best way to figure out what you should be writing about.  And tomorrow, in the SCFblog bonus content, I’ll show you what I mean.  But starting, well, that’s the crux of it, isn’t it?

But today, it’s about starting.  So do yourself a huge favor.  Take 25 minutes and listen to this talk about starting from Merlin Mann.  I won’t kid you, there are a few adult themes in there, but nothing too graphic.  And there is a ton of good stuff as well.  It also contains my favorite line about writer’s block.  “You have to write your way out of a thinking block, because you can never think your way out of a writing block.”  That’s knowledge right there.