Hello, Cacti?

By now everyone knows the woe of the Yuma Scorpions.

I'm tired of writing about it. Heck, I'm tired of writing about how I'm tired of writing about it.

But the new ownership group, led by Tim Ferguson, is trying to leave the past in the past. Even with a new name given to the team by the league last year — the Panthers, named for the Yuma franchise that briefly played in the 1950s — Ferguson and vice president Tina Eaton are having a name the team contest. At last word, today is the final day for entries.

So what follows is a list of suggestions. I won't enter them, so if someone wants to just head on over to Facebook.com/YumaProBaseball and follow the link to enter any of these sure-fire winners. At least they have more pizzazz than Panthers, something that is incredibly important for independent baseball teams — if you don't have a snazzy name, you don't have anything. Current Independent team names include the Lemurs, Wingnuts, Jackals, Beach Bums and Pupfish.

The Yuma Fightin' Cacti

I truly wish I were an artist, then I could have a rendering of possible logos. This would be my favorite. A cactus with shades, sun in the background, with boxing gloves on ready to fight. One of my co-workers suggested just the Cacti, but the Fightin' Cacti takes it to a whole new level.

The Yuma Scorchers

My personal favorite. Plus, it could save the team money. You could still use a Scorpion as the mascot, and the logo could be a Scorpion in shades (I know, I know, but awesome is awesome), except instead of a tail, it's a fireball. Plus, I think it is a very cool name. No one is going to mess with the Scorchers. It's too bad Scorpions is, ahem, sullied. That is a very distinct, Yuma-centric name.

The Yuma Heat

Yeah, it's kind of obvious. And sure at the moment every hates the professional franchise with this name. And it has already been associated with the Arizona Winter League as the name of the Blythe team. But it's got a cool logo opportunity — a sun in (you guessed it) shades shooting a thumbs-up or something that won't get the team sued by Raisin Bran. And should the new team have the luck of the Scorpions when it comes to the postseason — 0-for-existence — disgruntled fans can complain about how the Heat is so bad in Yuma. Or if the team is good, how hard it is to beat the Yuma Heat.

The Yuma Aviators

If we want to get out of the desert motif for a moment, Yuma does have a history with flight. And what better way to recognize that with the Aviators, and an old biplane as a logo with a gigantic sun in the background — no sunglasses, however, unless the illustrator is more creative than I.

The Yuma Krimadors

Sure, the Criminals is a copyrighted team name, but why not recognize the three longest running, most successful teams in Yuma — Kofa, Yuma High and Arizona Western — by merging the three schools into an amalgam of greatness. Not sure of a logo on this one, but I'm sure it could be spectacular. And it's a lot more colorful, more unique, more Yuma than the Panthers.

So there's five options. Each one as great as the last. We'll see what happens. But I hope in nine months I'm covering the Scorchers.