I did not make this up, I swear. Check out the link if you doubt me:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3328485a1823,00.html
Black Cocks coming to a town near you
28 June 2005
Nigel Skelt may have offended his 80-year-old mother, but the Badminton New Zealand (BNZ) chairman is pumping to have the Black Cocks monicker officially adopted for the national team.
After BNZ gauged public reaction to arguably the most phallic name ever proposed for a representative New Zealand sports team earlier this month, Skelt told NZPA today he was confident the Black Cocks tag would be confirmed at an BNZ board meeting late next month.
Besides his mother, and some other family members, Skeltz said 95 percent of public feedback through their website to the name had been positive.
More importantly the naming stunt, which coincided with New Zealand’s 3-0 series whipping of Australia in the Whyte Trophy, has attracted overtures from sponsors which had surpassed BNZ’s expectations.
"While the initial name release was a gimmick to give us some extended coverage (of the Whyte Trophy), there has been some positive feedback.
“We have had some initial response from sponsors that we weren’t expecting. They absolutely exceeded expectations.”
The usual suspects such as condom manufacturers had approached BNZ about sponsorship, and Skelt said early indications were its sponsorship funding targets would be met by the prospective deals.
Skelt confirmed the eight board members would vote on officially adopting the name in late July, and after “months of robust debate,” he was confident Black Cocks would be gracing courts in New Zealand and overseas.
"We’ve been debating for over a year that we need to adopt a team name, and this, judging by the response is the most appropriate one.
“The players also like the name, and interestingly, most of the good feedback we’ve had has been from women!”
He did not elaborate why.
Black Cocks was derived from the shuttlecock used to play the game and a general trend for naming New Zealand sports teams (including hockey’s Black Sticks, cricket’s Black Caps and softball’s Black Sox).
BNZ also conducted an informal poll at New Zealand’s third test against Australia in Invercargill a fortnight ago, and of the 200 responses, none were negative Skelt said.
It seems the only place Skelt could be courting opposition is at home with his mother-in-law also voicing her displeasure on the Black Cocks.