We’ll miss the Piedmont Boll Weevils. Those soft Southern syllables rolled easily off the tongue and made for some memorable advertising jingles.

But if a change in name can help inspire a change in fortune, bring on the Kannapolis Intimidators, as the minor league baseball team will henceforth be known. The team has more to be optimistic about than a new name, however. By joining the ownership group, NASCAR star Dale “The Intimidator” Earnhardt brings immediate crowd-pulling power. As a Kannapolis native, he also has an investment of pride, as well as money, in making this franchise succeed.

With the recent change in Major League affiliation (to the White Sox), the change in ownership and now the change in name, the team’s transformation would seem complete. They’ve had success on the field; now they need to translate that into filling the seats at Fieldcrest Cannon Stadium.

That would be a welcome change, indeed, especially for Rowan County taxpayers who helped foot the bill for the stadium and have viewed its sparse crowds with trepidation, if not intimidation.