Columnist Steve Carp: Playing the name game a tough task

Steve Carp

Thursday, Aug. 27, 1998 | 9:44 a.m.

GIVE THE EIGHT schools that are departing the Western Athletic Conference credit. They may have been a little slow getting out of the starting gate, but the horse is in gear and the whip is out in the drive to the finish line.

Now that the departing eight, which includes UNLV, agreed to basically give away everything in the house to the WAC in their divorce -- with the exception of that $2.6 million nest egg generated from the NCAA basketball tournament -- for the right to do their own thing, they're on a sudden information binge.

Witness Wednesday's six-page manifesto out of Fort Collins, Colo., getting everyone up to speed on what's going on. Even though they've been at this for months, the renegades wanted to wait until they had legal clearance to move forward to make all sorts of announcements.

For instance, seven cities, including Las Vegas, are in the running to be headquarters for the new league. The plan is to have a commissioner on board within the next 60 days. There's going to be a revenue-sharing plan.

Oh, and there's going to be a name. So how does the "Great West Conference" grab you? How about the "American West Conference?" Does "Mountain West Conference" have the ring of a winner?

I didn't think so.

The name of this new league may be the single-most important thing it does. It will establish an image the entire nation will identify with.

Their thinking is understandable. Obviously, they want to play up the region, so "West" figures to be part of the name. And with six of the eight schools in the Mountain time zone, it's logical to want to use "Mountain" in the name.

Using "American West" has the subtle advantage of being placed at the top of the standings daily on the wire, giving readers instant identification. But that name was used before -- by a low-level football league that included Cal State Northridge and Southern Utah. People might identify with that. More likely, people will identify that name with the Phoenix-based airline which has a hub at McCarran International Airport.

Same with "Great West." It makes you think of a bank. Or the Forum in Los Angeles.

Sorry, but these aren't real attention grabbers.

If you're going to imply having a title sponsor, why not just do it and get a few million out of the deal? Don't worry about being hypocrites. College sports are rife with hypocrisy. Virtually every bowl game and postseason basketball tournament has corporate backing.

The new league is boasting "old-time values" by staying small at eight teams. Why not reflect that in the name? How about the "Western 8 Conference?"

If the league is worried about expansion, just change the numbers. The Pac-10 wasn't always the Pac-10. Or they can do what the Big Ten does and stay with the same number despite expansion. Maybe using something like the "Pacific Coast Conference," a play off the ACC's name, might work.

But the league members would be wise not to rush this one. They wouldn't want to be thought of as the "Swamp Dragons" of collegiate conferences, would they?