When the Canadian Football League returns to the nation’s capital in 2014 you should expect to see a “Rush” of fans head towards the stadium.
Or maybe it’s the rush of players running down the field, or perhaps they just really love Geddy Lee up in Ottawa… either way it looks as if when the CFL comes back to Ottawa they’ll be known as the Ottawa Rush.
The “Rush” speculation stems from a trademark registration made by Capital Gridiron Limited Partnership back on November 29th of this year. Capital Gridiron is the ownership group of the new Ottawa team. On that day last month the group registered “Rush”, “Ottawa Rush Football Team”, and “Rush Football Team”.
When contacted by the CBC last week the team said they are still accepting suggestions and said that “Rush” is only one of the names they’ve registered so far… but that just doesn’t appear to be true.
As of yesterday “Rush” is the only name that’s been registered by the group, while the domain “ottawarush.com” was purchased by the Ottawa 67′s, the junior OHL club owned by the same group, back in November of 2011… so this is a name they’ve been wanting to use for over a year now.
Aside from their soccer team registrations, only “Rush” has been trademarked by the group so far
It may be true that the club is considering other names but they’ve filed no trademark requests for anything but this one, public reaction has been anything but positive and with well over a year left to go before they hit the turf anything could happen.
Rush works for a couple of reasons, but I don’t think they’re strong enough reasons to merit picking a substandard name. It keeps the use of the “R” in Ottawa football allowing them to just bring back the old white R on black Rough Riders helmets from the ’70s and ’80s… but there are many “R” nouns they could go with – here, here’s a pretty comprehensive list.
The other benefit being it can be used bi-lingually… and if that’s really a top concern then we’re really narrowing down the field of quality names we can use – especially if it also has to start with R. Ottawa RSVPs? Could work well in marketing materials to future former season ticket holders after a few losing seasons out of the gate.
We’ll keep an eye on this and make it known if any future names are registered, but as of now it looks like it’ll be the “Rush” joining a sea of classic CFL names come 2014.
Chris Creamer is the founder of SportsLogos.Net and has been maintaining it since June 1997. You can follow him on Twitter at @sportslogosnet or contact him via email at ccreamer@sportslogos.net
IPGComic
Wednesday, December 19, 2012 at 11:59R names seem to be snakebit with Ottawa teams since they keep folding. Why not go with another letter, there's 25 others.
Devon J. Puchailo
Wednesday, December 19, 2012 at 13:18Ha ha ha ha!
Johannes Kosiek
Wednesday, December 19, 2012 at 13:43Ottawa Rushriders!
Jumbotron
Wednesday, December 19, 2012 at 14:07Sad day! I would have liked to keep the tradition of taking a name that is already in the league!
Aaron
Wednesday, December 19, 2012 at 14:24Ottawa Rush! Sounds pretty cool! I have a few other ideas for the new Ottawa CFL team. Roughriders Rebels Renegades
Aaron
Wednesday, December 19, 2012 at 15:24Although the R might seem a bit mundane, but I'm glad they're preserving it. Just the single R with the flames would be cool too.
Bill A
Wednesday, December 19, 2012 at 15:50Some ideas: (not all of them serious) Fancy Dancers, Red Barchettas, Working Men, Big Money, Mystic Rythyms, Prime Movers, Big Wheels, Ghost Riders, Vapor Trails, Clockwork Angels, Wreckers Seriously though, "Rush" is already commonly used in "secondary sports" leagues like NLL and AFL. I know it will probably be widely accepted by Ottawa football fans but I'd prefer something original like Marauders or Pulsars.
EG
Wednesday, December 19, 2012 at 17:38Bill A: As opposed to all the big-time sports league team names like Eskimos, Blue Bombers, Argonauts, and Stampeders....
Matt Marczel
Wednesday, December 19, 2012 at 18:06Chris, the CBC article I read mentioned that the new Ottawa team is expected to announce a name early in the new year. January? maybe February? Also, I personally hate the choice of name, it sounds too minor league to me. Plus, it's hard to imagine any 'Rush' logo that wont look like crap.
Viper
Wednesday, December 19, 2012 at 18:57If I were Bruce Urban, owner of the NLL's EDMONTON Rush, I'd be a little miffed right about now. Maybe even miffed enough to call my attorney.
Josh Truax
Wednesday, December 19, 2012 at 18:59If I were Bruce Urban, owner of the NLL's EDMONTON Rush, I'd be a little miffed right about now. Maybe even miffed enough to call my attorney.
BL.
Wednesday, December 19, 2012 at 19:05What a boring choice of name.
Pod
Wednesday, December 19, 2012 at 19:32It's better than the Ottawa Nickelbacks, that's for sure.
Doug
Thursday, December 20, 2012 at 08:55The Rush? Well, that sucks! Ottawa can't do anything right in the CFL, can they? You have the Chicago Rush of Arena Football and the Edmonton Rush of Lacrosse ... Is this what you want to do? Use a name that exists in these semi-pro leagues?
Aaron
Thursday, December 20, 2012 at 09:34If the team were called the Rebels, they could easily preserve the R logo, but if they added some flames like they did afterwards, that would look really cool.
FUBLU
Thursday, December 20, 2012 at 11:00Who are the guys on the picture?
Chris Creamer
Thursday, December 20, 2012 at 15:20Rush
Jamie
Friday, December 21, 2012 at 10:38Use the name RUSH and the team will not be using any of my money: B/C I won't spend a dime on that team with a name like that.
RushSuckRiders
Friday, December 21, 2012 at 10:40LOL @ that name. Good luck. R is FARRR more likely to stand for RETRACTION after this name is awarded. Anyone over the age of 5 will despise it and feel shame.
Murray Shyba
Friday, December 21, 2012 at 11:45To the Ottawa football club..CFL I FEEL A GREAT NAME FOR THE TEAM WOULD BE THE '' OTTAWA IGNITE ''
Aaron
Sunday, December 23, 2012 at 13:03Ignite? Then put some flames on the O.
Murray Shyba
Saturday, March 9, 2013 at 19:11YES THE OTTAWA IGNITE WITH FLAMES ON THE "0" HOW MANY TIMES HAVE WE HEARD '' WE NEED TO IGNITE THE OFFENCE" !
Todd Levinson
Friday, December 21, 2012 at 23:24Why not the Ottawa Triumph?
ingmar66
Saturday, December 22, 2012 at 15:47Ottawa Rash! Ottawa Ridiculos! Ottawa Rumplestiltskins! No, honestly, The R on the helmet looks cool so why not call them Rangers? Or to keep in spirit with the Senators hocket team, call them the Representatives. Go Reps, allez les Reps!
Aaron
Sunday, December 23, 2012 at 00:54You know what? Try the Renegades again! Only this time preserve the R and just combine it with the last Renegades logo even if it's just part of the logo around the R.
Christian M. Zummer
Sunday, December 23, 2012 at 20:00If they did go with the Ottawa Rush, they could play the old Legion Of Doom/Road Warriors theme song at the start of home games. "WHAT A RUUUUUUUSSSSSHHHHH! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIZco_XGu3Y)