As reported yesterday, the National Lacrosse League franchise in Phoenix will be known as the Arizona Sting.

That's the word that came down this morning from Phoenix Coyotes president Douglas Moss, whose team will handle the Sting's day-to-day operations.

"We are very excited about our first season of indoor lacrosse in Glendale Arena," Moss said. "We are confident that our fans will love the fast, action packed, high scoring game of lacrosse and that they will enjoy the fun environment at our games."

The Sting and Coyotes will share Glendale Arena, a $200 million palace opening next month just north of Phoenix. The Sting's season opener, 26 December against the Vancouver Ravens (7:30 PM Mountain, 9:30 PM Eastern), will be the first-ever event at the arena.

The Sting will unveil its logo tomorrow. Expect to see a black scorpion with its stinger in attack mode, with brick red, desert sand, and black as the main colors (matching those of the Coyotes).

"The scorpion is an aggressive creature that moves decisively and with great precision and skill," Moss said. "We plan to build a team characterized by the qualities that the scorpion represents.

"The scorpions' stinger is an intimidating weapon that will strike fear into its opponent."

The name itself, a selection with a story all its own (see yesterday's news update, linked above), was chosen from 1500 entries in a name-the-team contest.

The winning entry was submitted by Mark Middleton of Peoria, Arizona, who will receive four Sting season tickets, a team-autographed jersey, and the opportunity to conduct the ceremonial opening faceoff before the 26 December game against Vancouver.