Part I - What's in the name?

The third CFL team is about to break ground within the next couple years. In addition, the new grounds at Lansdowne Park should hopefully be started within the next 6 months to a year (pending Friends of Lansdowne's court case).

Be it as it may I have no rumblings really of possible names to the new CFL team. Some Ottawa super fans would want to keep up with the old school tradition and name the team the Ottawa Rough Riders. This would be a BIG joke to the league unfortunately, as Saskatchewan already has laid claim to that name for years. The CFL would never agree to allowing two Rough Rider franchises anyway, and Saskatchewan won't be changing their name to something new just to appease the fans in Ottawa.

Another possibility could be to continue with the last franchise name, the Ottawa Renegades. This name holds great significance to me, as it was this franchise that truly got me hooked on the CFL, and more importantly football in the Canadian capital! Going into its final years of operation this franchise was really going places on the field. They had a core group of players who were capable of winning: Kerry Joseph, Josh Ranek, Pat Woodcock, Jason Armstead, etc. The Renegades were getting especially good at winning games within the eastern division, games they needed more to help their playoff chances. There's no doubt in my mind that if they had lasted another year they would have made the playoffs in their 5th season in the league.

This name to many non-hardcore Ottawa football fans will forever be associated with failure, therefore the new franchise should not incorporate the Renegades into their team. Even though it was entirely the Glieberman's fault that caused the Renegades to fold, most Ottawa citizens do not get this and probably won't attend new CFL Ottawa games because of it.

So just what should the new CFL Ottawa team now be? It needs to be something that represents the city, and not to sound corny, but the country. As Ottawa is the capital city of Canada they need to represent a little bit more in my mind. The first thought that came to my mind was to name the new team something to do with the Rideau Canal. The Canal is a big part of the city, and the stadium will be right along side of it. Alas, the Toronto Argonauts (Ottawa's most despised rival) are known as the "Boatmen" and already have long established ties with water.

So what could these options for a new name be...
Stay tuned!