The last time my mugshot was used in this space, I offered everyone involved the chance to help coin a new term here on campus.
We got enough responses for me to continue this venture, but before I get into what suggestions I got and what I thought of them, let me first give you a reason to believe that I'm not just writing these columns to hear myself type.
The Longhorn symbol is one of the most recognized and globally marketable symbols ever created (it's right up there with the Coca-Cola bottle and the McDonald's golden arches).
Would you believe it began because a Daily Texan editor and his sportswriters began using the nickname in their stories?
In 1900, a few Texas newspapers sporadically referred to the Texas varsity football team as the "Long Horns." In 1903, Texan sports editor David A. Frank used the term "Longhorns." He told all of his writers to begin using the term and, by 1906, the term was used so regularly by newspapers, fans, coaches and players that it became the official nickname.
In 1916, UT alumnus Stephen Pickney took it a step further and bought a live longhorn steer to use as the mascot. Though he was originally named "Bo," this bovine was who we now refer to as Bevo I.
Nearly 50 years later, Texas cheerleader Harley Clark introduced the "Hook'em Horns" hand signal at a football pep rally.
Texas fans worldwide take these names and symbols for granted now. But at the time, writing and reading the word "Longhorns" was strange.
The moral of this story: we have the power to name things and coin phrases if it's in high enough demand.
Judging by the amount of responses, there isn't a grand desire to give Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium a neater nickname than DKR.
But, since I put myself out there last week, I'll finish this thing out. Not today, though.
First I've listed for you the suggestions I got that were either really funny or really awful and give a brief comment. Then, I've offered the three most usable nickname suggestions and am giving everyone one more round of voting via e-mail or comment before I use the winner to refer to the Longhorns football stadium in Monday's story about the Orange-White scrimmage.
No good
The Cow Patty - The tagline for this was "you don't want to step in here." Right idea, wrong execution. It's definitely funny, but not fit to print for obvious reasons.
The Orange Star - This was a combination of Texas' school colors and the Lone Star State. But it sounds to me more like a planet that we should be waging intergalactic war against, not the home of the Longhorns.
The D.K. Corral - This almost made the cut, but it's a little too cheesy for my taste. It's an obvious play on the O.K. Corral, which is a very legitimate thing to do, but the name isn't necessarily supposed to make readers chuckle every time they read it.
Official choices
The Bull Pen - Very simple and very popular. This, along with our next suggestion, "The Corral," were the names which I received multiple times.
The Corral - See above. I'll add that this one is probably a little better because it is only two words - which makes writers, readers and announcers much happier.
The Palace - My personal favorite because it plays off of Darrell Royal's name. It's succinct, perhaps a little intimidating and still manages to honor the namesake. Also, there is already one arena who feels this name is acceptable (The Palace at Auburn Hills, home of the Detroit Pistons).
OK, you've got until Sunday to tell me what name I should use for Monday's paper. You may never get a better chance to influence your local media.
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