We recently discussed the possibility of an NFL team coming to Oklahoma City. UniWatch was kind enough to link to our post asking for uniform and logo design submissions. We received our first submission this week. Tom Bierbaum of Erie, Pa. said he'd been thinking of an Oklahoma City NFL franchise named the 89ers for decades: "The name probably sounds funny to most ears, but the old minor league baseball team from Oklahoma City used to be called the 89ers (after the people who rushed into the state when it was opened to settlement in 1889) and I actually saw that team play at the Tacoma Cubs in old Cheney Stadium in the summer of 1968 as a field trip with my Colt League baseball team. For whatever reason, I was fascinated by that visiting team, the city and the name, so that fall, when us Bierbaum kids decided to "add" expansion teams to our pretend pro football league, I came up with the improbable idea of creating an Oklahoma City 89ers in the pro ranks." I also remember the 89ers. They're now named the Redhawks, and I cannot express enough how much I hate that name. The 89ers was local, unique and historical. I deliberately ignored the name when it came time to name our hypothetical NFL franchise though. It is too close to 49ers to be a viable name for an NFL team in my opinion. Mr. Beirbaum admitted straight away that he violated the only rule of the contest: naming the team the Oklahoma City Roughnecks. But he had his reasons:
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SFC Defoor was on the 2005-2006 mission when the OIL was born. He was a fantastic maintenance chief and is now on his fourth combat tour, this time in Afghanistan. He is in the Lawton Constitution this morning. Stay safe, SFC Defoor. "ZABUL PROVINCE, Afghanistan Vernon Defoor is a soft-spoken man, a laid-back, relaxed, humble Oklahoman with no desire for the spotlight. The OIL extends its congratulations to OklahomIraqi and Darc Narcs manager Yul Henderson. The Lawton Police Department promoted Henderson to lieutenant this week, and we are proud of him. Henderson was on the 2006 SECFOR mission in Iraq with the 158. He served a tour of Iraq with an active-duty unit before that. The Results page at the DBFA site has been updated to more cleanly reflect each league's champions by year. Draft Day 2014 will be the first time we draft under our own banners. VistaPrint is now the official banner provider of the OIL. The banners' cost totaled about $30. If you want to throw in some money, you can do that on the Donate page. OklahomaFrontline.com and The Lawton Constitution published stories this week highlighting the work A Btry 1st Bn 158th soldiers are doing in Afghanistan. Included in the story are two OklahomIraqis: men who were on the 2005-2006 SECFOR mission in Iraq with the men of the OIL. Steven Stanley and Matt Schoolfield are firing HIMARS rockets in Afghanistan after performing SECFOR operations on two separate Iraq missions. The OIL is proud of their brethren and wishes them a safe return. Stan, Schooly: If you want to join the OIL2, there's definitely spots available for you. Stay safe, guys.
The last two posts on the OIL blog discussed the possibility of a future NFL franchise in Oklahoma City. As a reminder, the OIL's hypothetical OKC NFL team is named the Oklahoma City Roughnecks. Because the end is nigh, I have been thinking about this hypothetical team more than I should. What would it look like? How would it be marketed? I reached out to Paul Lukas at UniWatch to see if he would help start a design contest for the logo or uniform of this hypothetical franchise. I chose UniWatch because: 1. it has the largest audience of uniform-obsessed fans; and 2. their design contests are legendary. Just look at this one UniWatch hosted for what became the Thunder. Well, UniWatch obliged and linked to our post on its blog dedicated to "the obsessive study of athletics aesthetics." Located in the Grab Bag section of its February 1 blog post, UniWatch does the OIL a solid: So, there you have it. Send submissions to oklahomiraqis@gmail.com. For reference purposes, we are talking about oil field roughnecks. I will post updates as submissions come in. I hope to see many different stylings on the theme. But this is a small blog dedicated to a small group of soldiers who love fantasy football, so I don't expect too much. And, who knows? Maybe the contest winner will receive officially-licensed OklahomIraqis merchandise as a prize. Everyone else will have my eternal gratitude for indulging this hobby of mine. |
March 2023
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