this is a long reply to why i think the name should be oklahoma, but this is what i sent to mayor cornett & the sonics ownership. if you like, please express it with an email response to either group(s) i sent to. if you know a better email contact, please post it. thx

mayor@okc.gov, fans@sonics-storm.com, pr@sonics-storm.com

to the oklahoma city mayor mick cornett & the ownership team of the NBA seattle sonics headed by Clayton Bennett:

i have what i think is decent name for the sonics team that with it's meaning could overshadow every NBA team's name, logo, mascot, & color scheme, etc. in the league, period. the name represents all people of Oklahoma & brings unity to it's people because the ownership team, the mayor of oklahoma city, the citizens of okc & the whole state of oklahoma need something strong to stand behind to combat the forces that will be against this from the beginning. the name is only as good as the marketing around it. it must be presented by logo, mascot, music, & overall branding as something that is unequivacally what it is intended for & not misrepresented by mistake in any way. i will list the steps after mention of said name. the downside that the 'city' specific supporters might not like is that 'city' is left out of name for just reasons to be mentioned below.

if there is a requirement or wanted by all parties for the sonics to change the team's name, my request is the team name be called Oklahoma Tribe.

reasons in no particular order:

1. Tribe is generic enough to be all-inclusive & non-offensive as long as Marketing Group frames the individual parts of the team's image to be so. this can further be promoted by including fully sanctioned approval by all active native american tribes in oklahoma by making accordances of a co-branding nature for instance half-time show dances and/or drum beats & songs; casino participation.
2. in my opinion, 'city' has to be dropped for the name 'Tribe' to be used by the very nature of what advantage the marketing power has. This is a matter of us as Oklahomans standing together as one body governed by us for us. what is the okc newspaper called? i know it's not the daily oklahoma city'n. it's called the daily oklahoman last i checked. as such, the power of it's branding will be much stronger across the world with Oklahoma as it's lead & Tribe as it's follow. It's a 1-2 punch name with no need for a 3rd act.
3. the mascot was a tough one i've been in a quandry about since i thought the name Tribe would be the best name. the best way to tackle this is to make a mascot more in the framework of a 3d cartoon would be created. keep it comical yet make it powerful with a touch of scary. you could create several iterations of this, but mainly keep the look with a oversized tribal mask on a completely covered mascot (more cartoon like the better). the tribal masks should be more scary, but could change depending on the mood of the game, ie. if the crowd needs to get back in the game, there could be a mask change that reflects a warrior mask with low-deep bass beats to reflect this sound that usually reflects in tribal music from around the world. this would be saved strictly for times in the game that emotion is needed most out of the players and the crowd. this further compliments the marketing of a one body, one group, one sound campaign of oklahoma tribe.
4. furthermore on the naming convention & the responsibility it brings upon the city of oklahoma & the ownership group of the possible team, there has to be concessions to insure the name, trademarks, & branding of 'tribe' be kept with the state name 'oklahoma' & guaranteed to be kept in the general area of the oklahoma city metropolitan area. i understand that deals need to be made here to make it work, but i am confident as i type this that "the powers that be" will come together to make this happen. i know for a fact that no other name associated with oklahoma can beat this for potential windfall for marketing & pride for one's state & city.
5. the other reason 'oklahoma tribe' has no need for having city in it's name. city is overkill. does frank sinatra sing new york, new york or new york city, new york? i'm reminded by this because of a time around 1978 or so at billy tubbs basketball camp at ou dorms. i was around 8 yrs old & some older kid asked (in front of several other older kids) where i was from & i said oklahoma city, oklahoma. he laughed at me and said, "yea dummy, where else would oklahoma city be?" at the surface, you'd think this argument would support a team name with city in it. but i'd ask in any counter rebuttal, why add city to the name if 85% already can guess where the only NBA team in oklahoma would be located when that location is the state capital named after the state? isn't this redundant? let's keep in mind that the survival of this franchise's stay in oklahoma city will be to make everything about itself all-inclusive to everyone in the state statewide not just city-wide. as long as the metropolitan area reaps the initial rewards & bounty that having an NBA franchise offers a community, i can't envision a problem this would bring. one concession could be to bring out the okc patch that the hornets had when they were here, but change colors obviously.
6. i have much more but if you like please don't hesitate to email me or send correspondence to my home address listed below.
7. one caveat, whatever is done if this name is used, please please please don't use the mundane & annoying beat accompanied by the tomahawk chop that Florida State uses. that got old before it's introduction & certainly won't create fans in oklahoma. more tribal beats that could be an amalgam of all native big drum sounds. japanese big drum beats come to mind as well as tahitian beats & native hawaiian beats & can't forget native american beats. as long as it's a mix, no one can be offended & the mix represents the mix of oklahomans living together & playing & fighting together for the love of life, liberty & pursuit of happiness.
8. if anyone is still on the fence, ask yourselves what name would be able to bring together all people of all races & financial backgrounds presiding in a state like oklahoma? then try compare it to 'Oklahoma Tribe' & you'll soon find that this is the only name fitting of what possibilities could be when people start living with a sense of pride & community & remembrance of togetherness, through thick (like when we had oil boom) and through thin (trail of tears, grapes of wrath, black massacres in riots of tulsa, murrah bombing).
9. if you look up the history of oklahoma, you'll find there's no better name for a "team sport" like basketball located in a state like oklahoma. the five civilized tribes comes to mind (5 man team on court). (ref: Oklahoma State History and Information ) The name "Oklahoma" comes from the Choctaw words: "okla" meaning people and "humma" meaning red, so the state's name literally means "red people." Oklahoma has the largest American Indian population of any state. Many of the 252,420 American Indians living in Oklahoma today are descendents from the original 67 tribes inhabiting Indian Territory. if we used the trials & tribulations of all american indian lives as a form of tribute to how human beings can get through hardships & to represent that with a form of unity for all oklahomans & all of our hardships that we have all gone through as human beings living in this state in this country on this planet, i think there might be something worthwhile that we can accomplish with this naming convention.
10. i understand the word tribe to be a group of like-minded individuals joined together as it has been said since there's been recorded written history. i like this for the name following oklahoma for what it can represent. no other name that i know of can pay tribute to a group of people i take great pride in feeling compassion for (i only have 1/64th native american blood in me but i'd like to understand 100% of their pain & suffering just as i would another great person known to people) while allowing all people of oklahoma to have pride in feeling they are a part of something bigger than all of us as individuals.
11. this deal with the clayton bennett group & the seattle sonics took great pains & a leap of strong faith in there convictions to either make it work in seattle for the people of seattle or move down to oklahoma city & make it work in a city that half the nation thinks is too small. likewise the politicians of oklahoma city led by mick cornett & supported by many of business leaders including clay bennett had to get the people behind this when the hornets were here in oklahoma city for such a brief time. it has happened & i'd like it to go where i think it should.
12. i was part of a 4-seat season ticket holder with our family business xxxxxx xxxxxxxx during the wonderful stay of the New Orleans Hornets & their were trials & tribulations during that time as well with misunderstandings & i think the mayor & oklahoma city body responsible for the hornets stay did great. with this being much more permanent, i'd like us as oklahomans to get what has the potential of defining us as citizens done right. otherwise, we're just like everyone else but worse because of what some areas of the country have thought since our state's inception.

thank you for your time & hope it wasn't too long as i have much more to say & whatever is done please tread carefully so that we can all enjoy what we've all earned as oklahomans. thanks for giving us the potential to believe in having the NBA in oklahoma.

~xxxx darnell

please take this email of ideas as free without prejudice that i will not take offense of the use of these ideas as my sending this communication as email is an act of willful acknowledgement that i release any and all rights of any said claims of copyright or trademark over ideas as long as said ideas are used in oklahoma in some form or fashion. ~darnell