Thunder an easy call for OKC’s NBA team

Now we know why Clay Bennett chose Thunder. It’s clearly the best pick among the six finalists that Oklahoma City’s NBA team has filed for trademark rights.

Thunder. Barons. Marshalls. Energy. Wind. Bison.

Yuch. Thunder is fine, and Barons would be acceptable in another economic setting.

But Bison? Just go with Buffaloes, which notably is not the name of any major-league franchise. Marshalls? Misspelled or not, doesn’t really dazzle anyone. Wind? You’ve got to be kidding. Energy? Quit being silly.

Barons was the pick of a lot of people, but of the three major kinds of barons — cattle, land and oil — only one doesn’t inflame passions negatively. Cattle barons is OK. But land barons is no more politically correct than Sooners, which never could pass inspection today. And oil barons is worst of all. How do you name a team the Barons in the same summer gas reaches $4 a gallon?

There wasn’t much thinking outside the box, past Thunder. No Spiders, which the longer it goes the more I like. No Thunderbirds, with its Oklahoma connections. No Wildcatters or Dirt Devils or any one of hundreds of suggestions fans have trotted out.