Well, after a few weeks of speculation and debate it's official.
The Iowa Chops
The new name of Iowa's AHL Franchise.
A lot of people are hemming and hawing over the fact that it reinforces stereotypes about bucolic Iowa. I am seeing a lot of chatter on DMR site posing questions about "what will people from other states think?"
First of all, I think Iowans are inherently over sensitive about being from Iowa and being maligned with an association with anything agricultural. We are perpetually in fear that we will be perceived as "uncool" because we are from a very rural state. I would fight to say that most of the good things about living here that we have seen in recent months with the flooding here are attributable to our rural roots and farm work ethic. If someone considering a job in Des Moines did a double-take due to the fact that our minor-league hockey team was named after a meal then I would say that individual had some messed up priorities in life.
I don't particularly care for the name "Chops" I think it's just not a smoove nickname. It's abrupt.
Does it matter? No. I am going to buy "Chops" tickets because I am a hockey fan and I am going to squeeze the most I can out of AHL level hockey here for as long as possible.
Iowa Chops Hockey: Sign me up.
