The Speedwagons?
John Hoh
Sunday May 28, 2006
Now in addition to nostalgia, I was also overwhelmed with a thought of "what if…" If Bon Jovi band member Jon Bon Jovi and country singer Tim McGraw can buy an Arena Football League franchise, why couldn’t REO Speedwagon also buy a franchise? The natural name could be the Speedwagons. Now, where would the Speedwagons play?
It seems that the Speedwagons were built in Lansing. In fact, Nucor is the surviving remnant of the company and was based in Lansing. Perhaps an Arena Football League team can be located there—the Lansing Speed Wagons or the Michigan Speedwagons, anyone? The choice of Lansing would bring to three the number of college towns with Arena Football League franchises (Austin, TX, and Columbus, OH, being the other two).
Of course Detroit is known for auto making and is currently without an Arena Football League franchise. Perhaps the members of REO can team up with Bill Davidson (co-owner of the ill-fated Fury) to bring football—real football—back indoors to Detroit.
In looking at the history of REO/Nucor the company relocated its headquarters a number of times, from Lansing to New Yoek City (the Empire State Building, no less) to Phoenix, AZ, to South Carolina to Charlotte, NC. Hmm, New York could possibly use another team, or the Charlotte Speedwagons certainly has some potential—especially since another fast-growing popular sport is popular in the Charlotte area (and, no, I’m not talking NHL hockey with the Carolina Hurricanes).
Then again, not far from Detroit is another venue known for not Speedwagons, exactly, but speed nonetheless—Indianapolis.
Anyway, just some wishful thinking for what it’s worth. The league could use another expansion team if, indeed, Tom Benson follows through on his promise to field the VooDoo again in 2007.
John L. Hoh, Jr., is a free-lance writer from Milwaukee who grew up in Appleton, Wisconsin, as an avid Dolphins fan. He followed Arena Football since its inception, at one point watching tape-delayed games on low-powered WAV-TV in Waukesha. His happiest day was when Milwaukee was awarded the Mustangs franchise; his saddest when the Mustangs were contracted out of the league. John is married to his wife Maija (13+ years) and has a young son, Matthew. John pines for the return of the Arena Football League to Milwaukee.
