From the beginning we've been racking our brains as to why the Snappers organization might choose one of their proposed names over our River Rockers idea. Do people prefer to listen to polka music at the ballpark rather than classic jams? Is a mother goose mascot somehow cooler than a rock 'n' roll turtle? And would today's youth rather stock up on that sizzling hot Supper Clubbers merchandise instead of our River Rockers gear?

The truth is we're having a hard time coming up with a good reason why the team would end up picking one of the official rebrand options instead of ours. It's not like we're throwing out the work they've already done in favor of something radically different-- we're instead blending all these ideas together into something that's unique and cool.

When we talk to people who know the industry however they undoubtedly ask the same thing: "are there any trademark issues?" The short answer is we don't know... we're not lawyers and haven't attempted anything remotely like this before. When we search "River Rockers" on online trademark databases a couple canceled/abandoned hits come up from several years ago (one dating all the way back to 1977), but don't see anything that appears active.

There is perhaps an issue with variations of our nickname being used by other teams in the minors: for example the Quad Cities River Bandits, Sacramento River Cats and Charleston RiverDogs. There's also a minor league team known as the High Point Rockers and a former WNBA called the Cleveland Rockers. Would that be enough to persuade Snappers management to go in a different direction? You'd have to ask them.

To be clear, we personally don't think any of these concerns are enough to disqualify "River Rockers"-- we still love the name because it's a twist on the Rock River, which runs alongside the new ABC Supply Stadium. But since we've put a lot of work into this and don't want to leave anything to chance we pitched a few 'backup' name suggestions to Snappers management and their marketing company Brandiose a couple months back:

* Beloit Rock Gods: This may be our favorite idea, and could see it becoming an instant top national seller. Every music fan in America would want a t-shirt with Snappy and the other mascots posing like a classic rock cover band. It's possible some extreme religious groups might get offended, but we think the team could get around that by sticking to Greek and Roman mythology (and avoid any reference to modern religions). Picture Snappy in a toga holding a guitar.

* Beloit Rock City: A play off of the KISS song "Detroit Rock City". To us it's a very modern sounding nickname... similar to a MLS or European soccer club. Think Atlanta United, Los Angeles FC, Manchester City or Real Madrid. There's also a joke that keeps getting repeated that the team should call itself the Beloit Baseball Team (like the Washington Football Team) until a new name can be chosen. It's a little bit like that, just with a lot more edge.

* Beloit Heavy Metal: We like this idea too because it not only fits in with the River Rockers concept, but also pays tribute to Beloit's proud factory history (an idea which was very popular online when the new names were first announced). Plus, it also allows the team ample opportunity to cross-promote with the Ironworks redevelopment along with its beautiful new ballpark in Downtown Beloit. And who doesn't still love making fun of 80's hair metal bands?

* Beloit Iron Rock: Similar to Heavy Metal, this name honors the iron workers who helped build Beloit (along with the downtown developments modernizing our city) and gives it a rock 'n' roll vibe. It's worth noting that before River Rockers took off, "Ironmen" seemed to be the fan idea getting the most traction on social media. This keeps that same concept, while avoiding the obvious trademark issues which would come from borrowing the name of a popular Marvel comic book character.

So what do you think? Is River Rockers still your favorite name or do you prefer one of these backup options? Please let us know what you like in the comments section below. The good thing about all of these ideas is they would preserve what we consider to be our main objective here: to keep Snappy for the fans while offering new branding opportunities for the organization. We hope that by coming up with these new alternatives, we give management one less excuse why they shouldn't listen to their fans on this.