A MESSAGE FROM THE BANNER BARON

My sons all have fairly common names, easy to spell and pronounce, but not without a certain sense of simple elegance. But I was surprised to find out how many people are given the “birth name” of Rowdy. According to the Interweb, there are an estimated 23,000 people in the world named Rowdy, about .001% of the global population, which ranks Rowdy at 10,720th on the list of most used names. I don’t know anybody legally named Rowdy, but I am acquainted with a few “nicknamed” Rowdy’s. There was a professional wrestler billed as “Rowdy” Roddy Piper, who wore a kilt into the ring. Clint Eastwood played a character named Rowdy Yates on the TV show Rawhide. And there is an Olympic Gold Medal winning swimmer, now a sports commentator, who is nicknamed Rowdy but whose given name is Ambrose Gaines, IV. I would have gone with Rowdy, too. The Rowdy in the news this week is actually a female mixed martial arts fighter named Ronda Rousey. Last weekend, she took out her opponent 14 seconds into the first round. She’s also won a bronze medal (for judo) in the 2008 Olympic Games and she’s about to costar in a new movie. We give a lot of our products nicknames, which are easier to remember than stock numbers. Like the “Step and Repeat“, the “X Stand“, the “L Stand” and even “Spider Stakes“. I’m thinking we need a product named Rowdy. To live up to its name, it would have to be waterproof, available in tartan plaid, be resistant to trail dust, and beat all of our competitors. I think we’re good on everything but the tartan plaid.

Robert Marsh
The Banner Baron