If you’ve ever found yourself on I-75/71 in Kentucky, just over the river from Cincinnati, you’ve no doubt noticed the water tower for the city of Florence, Kentucky. Its top is painted with red and white stripes and, instead of featuring the town’s name or the name of the local water concern, it says, “Florence, Y’all.”
The water tower is a nice welcome to Dixie, even if Kentucky isn’t really Dixie. The point is that, if you’re from Ohio or Michigan or someplace and you see it, you know you’re on your way to Lexington or Louisville, or points south. To warmer climes, southern charm and hospitality and, hopefully, a nice little trip.
The folks who support the Frontier League baseball team in Florence no doubt realize the kind of chatter that surrounds that water tower, because they just voted to rename their team:
You voted. We listened: Introducing the Florence Y'alls. pic.twitter.com/jKzl4mlLAl
— Florence Y’alls (@florence_yalls) January 21, 2020
And they added a handy dandy explainer:
Y'alls is a culture, and Florence is its capital. pic.twitter.com/JgqK3bfQf6
— Florence Y’alls (@florence_yalls) January 21, 2020
I like it. And I like the idea of naming a baseball team after a notable and much talked-about roadside sign. Which is to say that, if I ever get a baseball team here in Ohio, I’m also gonna name it after a famous sign you see while driving on the interstate not too far from me:
Yeah, that’s a thing. And my baseball team would not even be the first sports thing named after it.
Alternatively, I could put one closer to my house and call it the “ODOT SUCKS.” May be better.
Viva local culture.