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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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. by Justin C. Cliburn Note: This post now has a permanent home on the OIL Web site that is continually updated. The other day I rambled about Super Bowl stories that interest me (few do other than the game itself). Somehow I ended up discussing what the chances were that Oklahoma City could one day land an NFL franchise, what the name should be, where they might play, and more. For the record, I ended up settling on Roughnecks for the team mascot. But all that was buried in a post about the Super Bowl, so it was easily overlooked. So let's consider Oklahoma City's NFL chances in a post all its own. I generally laugh at suggestions that Oklahoma City could be granted an NFL franchise, but I used to scoff at the prospects of a successful NBA team here too. Plus, a couple recent lists of potential NFL cities included OKC. It made me strongly consider what the authors of the lists saw and make the case for OKC. It's actually not a hard case to make. Sure, there are plenty of markets that are as deserving or more, but that's always the case. The slam dunks already have NFL teams (well, except for one), so why not OKC? After all, the OKC media market is larger than four current NFL cities. Well, here's the case for OKC: Cover32 lists 10 possible NFL cities on page two of its article discussing which NFL teams should relocate. EliteDaily just listed 10 potential NFL cities back in November. And both lists include Oklahoma City. The OIL is made up primarily of Oklahomans, so we know how much OKC has grown. An NFL team would be fantastic from a personal standpoint. Plus, it's not a stretch to think that it would attract season ticket holders from:
That's a pool of over 3.5 million people to sell tickets. And when you tally the populations of Oklahoma as a state, Fort Smith/Van Buren, and the Amarillo, Wichita, and Wichita Falls metros, the number comes to over 4.9 million potential ticket-buyers. Are you telling me savvy marketers in charge of an NFL franchise couldn't sell 50,000 tickets in a market that large?
There are tons of Super Bowl stories making the media rounds, but I couldn't care less for most of them. We've spent an entire season discussing the strengths and weaknesses of each team. Instead, I like to read stories that delve into a little NFL history or discuss issues that the talking heads are not covering. I found a few of those stories, focusing mostly on Seattle and wanted to share them. Apparently, the original Seattle NFL expansion bid was to be named the "Kings." Over at SportsLogos.net, there is a great story about that ill-fated expansion bid. It also takes a stab at guessing what the Kings logo would have evolved into after rebranding in the 1980s and 2000s. And, even after being awarded a franchise after all, Seattle almost lost that franchise in the 1990s. The Seattle Times wrote a lengthy article on that issue back in October. It is also worth checking out. I hope SportsLogos.net or some other site publishes an extensive history of the 1993 expansion that gave us the Panthers and Jaguars. Baltimore, Memphis, and St. Louis were the other candidates that year. While looking up information about that expansion era, I found a great site for archiving NFL expansion candidates for each state. I highly recommend checking out that site and following SportsLogos.net if you're into the history and evolution of sports uniforms and logos. It is hard to believe that we just finished the eighth season of OklahomIraqis football, but it's true. 2013 was a big year for the OIL in both positive and negative ways. Here is a sampling of the 2013 OIL year in review: In 2013, we updated our web site, road-tripped to an NFL game together, crowned a new champion, helped a league member regroup after losing his house to a tornado, gave up the DBFA trophy earned in 2012, had children, moved out-of-state, toured Lambeau Field, got a new license plate, established our 2014 draft order, saw one of our own get promoted to First Sergeant, and lost two friends and brothers-in-arms: Brandon Landrum and Joseph Killman. Congratulations to Aaron Cobb, whose "Dogs of War" won their first OIL championship. The Harrington Trophy now resides in Fort Smith with Cobb, who was in Baghdad with the original OIL members in 2006 and joined the league in 2007. He defeated Cliburn, who tried and failed to be the first back-to-back champion in the OIL. Unfortunately, Cobb could not win the World War, so the OIL lost the DBFA's Trophy of Versailles. But the team Cobb had in week 17 wasn't the same one that dominated much of the season, though. By that time, Cobb was without Arian Foster, Wes Welker, Jermichael Finley, and Steve Smith. Still, he is happy just winning the OIL. Co-commissioner Adam Duffy claimed the number one seed but fell flat in the semifinals. And then Justin Finch beat him in the third-place game. Tough break. In May, two-time OIL champion Jack Bruesch lost his house in the Moore tornado that gained worldwide attention. Fortunately, he and his family were uninjured. OIL members and more came together to help in any way we could. He now lives in Norman and is grateful that his family is okay. On a lighter note, it is a good thing that Cliburn won the OIL and DBFA trophies back from Bruesch in 2012. Otherwise, those trophies would have been lost in the tornado rubble. The OIL site sold "Oklahoma Original" hats for tornado relief after the storms and raised money for the American Red Cross. The hats were modeled after the original Oklahoma state flag. Some hats are still available for purchase. In November, Yancy Baldwin, Justin Finch, Aaron Cobb, and Justin Cliburn went to the Cowboys-Vikings game together. It was the second straight year for an NFL trip among the guys, and they had a great time. Even sitting in the "nosebleed" section, the experience was fantastic. There really are no bad seats at "JerryWorld." Start thinking now about which game we should attend for our next NFL excursion. The Cowboys play the usual NFC East opponents at home next season, plus Arizona, San Francisco, Houston, Indianapolis, and New Orleans. Perhaps in future seasons we can expand our footprint and go to a different stadium, but Dallas is closest to most of the league. And the OIL family grew when 28.5% of the league had a baby in the last 53 weeks. Three league members' new babies were born in 2013 and one member had a son born just before 2013 began. Colt James Baldwin was born on Dec. 22, 2012. While his birth did not technically happen in 2013, it did occur between the 2012 and 2013 seasons. Colt just turned one and lives in Stratford with Yancy and his family. Jessen's daughter (left) was born in Duncan and has been sporting her favorite outfit since day one: her DominationStation onesie (it's unclear if Mrs. Jessen shares the love for fantasy football-themed infant clothing). Cali's quickly becoming Jessen's biggest fan. The other new additions to the OIL family were born far away from Oklahoma [insert your own opinion as to whether that is a good thing or a bad thing here].
2013 was the first season Duffy spent in his new home. After living in Lawton-Fort Sill for 20+ years, Duff moved to his family's hometown in Wisconsin. The Commish and Mrs. Commish visited the Duffies' new home in July. The Commish, Duffy, and Duffy's father and brothers toured Lambeau Field and watched the Packers practice. It was the first time the Commish went to an NFL training camp. It also marked the first time that he had to wear a hoodie in July. Not cool, Wisconsin. On a more somber note, 2013 was also the year that we buried friends and brothers-in-arms. 1LT Brandon Landrum died in May from an IED explosion in Afghanistan. Members of the OIL knew him as SPC Landrum. He was a medic and spent 2008 in Iraq with the 158. He went to the same high school and college as the commissioner and was active duty when he died. He trained with co-commissioner Adam Duffy at a "war fighter" exercise. He made us laugh at Camp Gruber. He'll be missed. Joseph Killman died in December. He was in the 158 with all of us. He was in Jack Bruesch's and Cliburn's squad during the tour that gave birth to the OIL. He was funny, tough, and reliable. His death reminded us all how much we care about and miss each other. Even in death, Killman brought us together. At least 50 members of the 158, both past and present, attended his funeral. It was great seeing everyone that day, but the circumstances were awful. We shared stories about him and laughed and smiled. LT (now CPT) Ponder created a Facebook group for guys on that 1-158 SECFOR mission. Hopefully, we keep that group going and see each other again without someone dying. It's a shame we don't see each other more often. This league is how most of us keep in touch with each other. I hope that going forward we can organize more NFL game trips together and get more managers at our draft parties. We owe it to ourselves and to each other to stay in touch. Let's do that. Just before the new year, OklahomIraqi Jack Bruesch was promoted to First Sergeant. He was Cliburn's squad leader in Iraq in 2006. Congratulations to the two-time OIL champion, good guy, and great NCO. We're proud of him. In the last year, we also added names to our membership's waiting list. Adam Schuster remains at the top of that list. If someone should leave the league, he is next in line for OIL membership. He was in Iraq with the 158 during the 2006 season, and he spent 2008 in Iraq with the 158 as well. Next in line is Stephen Brosh, who was Cliburn's roommate in Baghdad and who was also in Bruesch's squad that year. Nick Reed has thrown his hat in the ring as well. He was also on the 2006 mission with the original 10. They are all deserving candidates, but they'll have to wait their turn. As of right now, they're "on deck." After eight seasons, our league settings are pretty well-settled. But there is always room for improvement. Beginning in 2014, the OIL will re-seed its playoff teams after the first round. Our league has always said that we reward success. In that vein, the number one seed should play the lowest-seeded team in the semifinals no matter what. The number one seed in our league receives a first-round bye and now will also be guaranteed a matchup with the lowest-seeded team in the semifinals, giving that team the easiest road to the championship. Our league is special. I know that every fantasy football player thinks his or her league is the best, but ours really is different. You know why. Our league was born in Baghdad. It represents more than fake football. All 14 members of our league were in the Army. All but one served in the 1st Bn. 158 FA. Twelve of us were in Iraq together in 2006. The two that were not on that mission with us have been valuable members of the OIL. Few realize that Trovillo was responsible for creating the first OIL web site via the Weebly platform. That platform is still in use and has evolved to the site you see today. He was instrumental behind the scenes turning the OIL into a true community, and he has a great team name and logo too. Rogers is always involved, has one of the best team names and logos in the league, and maintains a fierce rivalry with Jessen. We have a website, a Twitter (@okiraqi), a Facebook group, a traveling trophy, a rivalry week, a league store, and a bond bigger than football. I enjoy serving as your commissioner, and I look forward to 2014. Happy new year, guys. Hopefully this year won't be nearly as eventful. Cliburn. |
March 2023
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