Tampa Bay's baseball team has not even taken the field and already it is getting booed - by Christians, for God's sake.
The problem is the name - the Devil Rays. People say they are happy to have the Rays, but many say they definitely could do without the Devil.
Some object because they think that using the word devil - even as part of a longer name - desensitizes people to evil in the world. In their view, the only one who should be happy with the name is the devil himself.
"I'm not interested in giving Satan any free publicity. He gets enough as it is," said the Rev. Bob L. Christie of Lake Maggiore Baptist Church in St. Petersburg. He said he considers Devil Rays "a lousy name."...
"I can't understand how they can choose a name with devil in it. Devil to me means death, destruction, evil," said Louis Dibileo, a Catholic from Oldsmar.
"I just don't want to be associated with anything with the word devil in it - especially if I'm going to be cheering for the Devils," said Nancy Davis, a Presbyterian who lives in Seminole.
Asked about Christian objections to the name, team owner Vince Naimoli, a graduate of Notre Dame, said, "I'm a Christian. The name has nothing whatsoever to do with the devil. It's a fish."
There is still a chance that fans can exorcise the devil from the name. Through March 17, Naimoli said, fans are invited to call (813) 288-8035 and choose between two names - the Devil Rays and the Manta Rays...
Many pastors and lay people said they're upset with team owners for choosing what they consider an offensive name when so many benign ones were available.
Elder Clarence Welch of Prayer Tower Church of God in St. Petersburg said, "As a Christian, I have to be against that kind of name." Welch often raises the specter of the devil in his sermons.
The Rev. Eldon Earnest of Bay Point Christian Church in St. Petersburg half-seriously suggested an alternative: The God Squad.
"Even if a devil ray is just a sea creature, the word devil is still in there," he said.
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