IS ROCKY MOUNTAIN AVALANCHE JUST A BIT TOO EXTREME?

     Comsat Video Enterprises, the owners of the NHL team
formerly known as the Nordiques, will reportedly call that team
the "Rocky Mountain Avalanche," according to the DENVER POST.
The POST also reports that the logo will feature a "giant A with
mountains behind it," over colors of red and deep blue.  Comsat
COO Charlie Lyons reportedly likes the "Avalanche" name because
of marketing possibilities.  A source close to Comsat told the
POST the name "matches the 'on the edge' feel they want to
create" (DENVER POST, 7/25).       AVALANCHE -- A LARGE MASS OF
LOOSENED NEGATIVITY?  POST Columnist Mark Kiszla bashed the
reported moniker, calling it "dumb, insensitive and slightly
offensive to any thinking person who has called Colorado home for
longer than a spring ski vacation."  Kiszla:  "Naming your team
the Avalanche is akin to scribbling a smiley face on a deadly
natural disaster" (DENVER POST, 7/25).