Although they have yet to step inside the still-being-constructed downtown sports arena, the Toledo Bullfrogs have already picked up their first victory, as Lucas County commissioner Pete Gerken put it.
With a hop, croak and a jump, the nickname of Toledo's expansion arenafootball2 franchise, the Bullfrogs, was officially unveiled to the general public at a news conference yesterday at The Roost at Fifth Third Field.
Gerken called the nickname a "hoppingly smart choice," adding, "and that's no bull."
Fellow county commissioner Tina Skeldon-Wozniak echoed Gerken's sentiments.
"I don't know if you guys realize this, but it really is the year of the frog," Skeldon-Wozniak said. "The Toledo Zoo declared that this year just a few months earlier."
While all public and private officials on hand yesterday were emphatically behind the new mascot, countless other team name suggestions submitted through the Mud Hens, Walleye and Lucas County arena Web sites were considered.
Joe Napoli, general manager of the Mud Hens and Toledo Arena Sports Inc., a not-for-profit organization created by the Hens to own Toledo's hockey and arena football organizations, listed some of the nicknames that did not make the cut.
"Some of the names we did not consider were Toebombs, Cowkillers, Baitsnatchers and the Toledo Rust Belt," Napoli said, drawing laughter from the crowd.
In addition to the nickname, the Bullfrogs' primary and multiple secondary logos were introduced, including Napoli's favorite, "Bubba" - a hulking frog with his helmet halfway off and resting on top of his head.
Other secondary logos include the "Swamp Shield," a tribute to Toledo's origins in the Great Black Swamp, and a splattered dragonfly, which will serve as the team's merit stickers to be affixed to players' helmets as a reward for good play.
"We are very pleased with the array of logos," Napoli said. "There's a story behind each one of those."
As a downtown resident, Lucas County commissioner Ben Konop took the opportunity to welcome the Bullfrogs to downtown Toledo and spoke of the importance in luring young people back to Toledo.
"We're trying to make this a place where people want to live and want to work and want to play," Konop said. "My generation has, unfortunately, left this community in alarming numbers. Things like this will hopefully reverse that trend."
Event-level season tickets for the arena go on sale at 9 a.m. today. Fans have several options when purchasing their tickets. They can opt for just sports season tickets or upgrade to a "first-in-line" package, which presents the opportunity to purchase tickets for concerts and other events before they go on sale to the general public.
Fewer than 100 club seats remain after nearly 800 of those season ticket packages were sold since going on sale in June.
Contact Zach Silka at: zsilka@theblade.com.
First Published November 19, 2008, 9:03 p.m.
