The Miami Marlins fan blog "Fish on the Farm" did a great in-depth interview with Beloit Snappers owner Quint Studer this week. If you're interested in learning more about the team's new ownership it's definitely worth checking out (the Beloit-specific stuff starts about 45 minutes in).

The highlight for us of course was Mr. Studer name dropping us during the discussion about the rebrand: "We have our five finalists. We always are open to using others for fun, like the Mullets... even the River Rockers, you could have some fun with that, if you can get it past Minor League trademarking."

We're certainly disappointed the organization has decided to move forward with one of the announced finalists (and honestly still don't get why any one of them is preferable to an idea which incorporates all of the new names, plus keeps Snappy). But we are really encouraged that Mr. Studer seems open to the possibility of using "River Rockers" in some capacity in the future.

The comparison Mr. Studer makes to Pensacola's alternate nickname "the Mullets" is an interesting one, because River Rockers could certainly still work as Beloit baseball's alter ego. Imagine if this idea turned into a once a week or once a month event at the ballpark-- something like "River Rocker Saturday Nights" or whatever. DJ's and local bands could be booked to perform before and after the game or between innings. The team could take the field in special uniforms... and even those uniforms could be switched up once a month or once a year to celebrate a different music genre. For example, one River Rocker event could be "Heavy Metal Night", another the team focuses on Hip Hop or Country music. And all these different variations would create new merchandise which could be sold at the team store.

Another possibility for River Rockers is the team could create a mascot band which could entertain fans at every home game. We always imagined Snappy as the lead singer of the River Rockers, but if the team decided to move forward with either Polka Pike or Sky Carp a fish or goose mascot could just as easily be the face of the band instead. Like the Milwaukee Brewers Famous Racing Sausages, the River Rockers could perform between innings and entertain fans young and old around the ballpark all night long. Regardless of the name the organization decides on, the River Rockers could still fit nicely into the team's expanded universe of characters. And give them more merchandise to sell.

One of the things we're especially excited about with the new stadium is ownership sees it as more than just a ballpark... but rather a bookend to Beloit's revitalized downtown. For example, Mr. Studer mentioned during the podcast he was considering opening up ABC Supply Stadium with a concert, instead of a baseball game. That ties in perfectly with our River Rockers idea -- outdoor concerts could be branded "Rock the Riverbend" or perhaps even "Snappy's Summer Tour". We're also really looking forward to game nights turning into more than just nine innings of minor league baseball, but rather nightly events across Downtown Beloit bars and restaurants. "Snappy Hour" or "Snappy Afterparties" drive home the point that the whole downtown is working together to become the region's top entertainment destination.

So what's stopping the organization from moving forward with these ideas? Mr. Studer mentions possible trademark issues... we're not trademark attorneys so don't know exactly how it works but when we search online databases "River Rockers" seems like it's available. That said, we've also proposed alternative ideas which we think could also work-- names like "Beloit Rock Gods", "Beloit Rock City" or "Beloit Iron Rock" (and have a ton of other names in our back pocket if the team is interested in hearing them). Regardless of what name the organization ends up picking, we want baseball in Beloit to succeed just as much as anyone. And strongly believe our River Rockers proposal can go a long way toward helping the team achieve that goal!