Go Pelicans!

The NBA franchise in New Orleans is, long overdue, considering a name change. This is a good thing—even though the proposed nickname Pelicans has been the target of an unfair amount of derision since being floated. To be sure, it’s not slick. It’s not modern. And it is not hip, like the singular form names of European soccer teams, such as United, Dynamo, or Arsenal. But it is quintessentially Louisiana.

Consider the deep Louisiana roots of the Pelican. It is the state bird, featured on the state flag. If John Grisham – who has more than 275 million books in print worldwide – chose to conjure the image of New Orleans by entitling his best-selling novel The Pelican Brief who are a handful of sports columnists to mock the proposed team name?