Recent reports indicate that Kona Kraken Owner and General Manager, Orion Barar, recently established a league office in the Pacific Beach community in San Diego, CA. PB (as the locals call it) is known for its vibrant beach culture, lively nightlife, and young, active residents. Reports also indicate that beginning in 2025, the Kona Kraken brand will be dissolved. Effective immediately, the franchise will compete under the name of the San Diego Tsunami. After achieving moderate success in Kona with a 2022 Beaver Bowl loss and a 2023 Championship round loss, Barar was humiliated last year, after an atrocious Toilet Bowl securing finish to the 2024 season. That poor performance likely precipitated this change.  

We caught up with Orion a few days ago and asked him about the big move. “I just felt like it was time for a new start. The Toilet Bowl finish last year was disappointing to be sure, but this organization is committed to winning. We will continue to stick to our principles and execute on our trusted strategies of doing poor draft prep, relying on aging veterans to produce the same stats that they posted five years ago, and targeting absolutely dreadful waiver wire fodder to fill the tight end position. Suffice it to say, I know we are going to be making some waves here in San Diego….. Did you see what I did there? (wink wink)” 

On the rebranding, Orion said: “I felt like I needed to honor the San Diego community, so I knew I wanted something Beach themed, but honestly the relaxed beach vibe doesn’t fully support what I want to do with this team. Then, I had this dream about an angry Tsumani wave coming ashore and clashing with the sublime beach attitude, and then it just hit me. Rage meets Chill. That’s what we’re trying to do here. After that, the “San Diego Tsumani” seemed like a no brainer.” He added, “Also, I didn’t want to completely abandon our history. We had a few good years as the Kona Kraken, and I always really liked the alliteration of the team name…So, and I’m telling you…  this is pretty clever… but think about this: Even though Tsumani starts with a T and San Diego starts with an S, you pronounce the beginning of each word the same way, so it’s still kind of alliterative, but in a heady way, if you know what I mean…”    

In closing, I tried to ask Orion if the recent San Diego Tsunami Advisory had anything to do with his new fantasy football team name, but he had already grabbed his surfboard and was halfway to the beach. I guess we’ll never know. This surf is up.