Hairy Balls.. Er..Harry Baals

I have to admit I laughed when I saw this. Not at the persons name so much as the lunacy of the whole thing. The cats out of the bag already Fort Wayne, name the new building after Hairy Balls..whoops..I mean Harry Baals.

A former Indiana mayor who won four terms in the 1930s and 1950s is proving less popular with modern-day city leaders, who say they probably won't name a new government center for him because of the jokes his moniker could inspire.

Harry Baals is the runaway favorite in online voting to name the new building in Fort Wayne, about 120 miles northeast of Indianapolis. But Deputy Mayor Beth Malloy said that probably won't be enough to put the name of the city's longest-tenured mayor on the center.

The issue is pronunciation. The former mayor pronounced his last name "balls." His descendants have since changed it to "bales."

"We wanted to pick something that would reflect our pride in our community beyond the boundaries of Fort Wayne."

Supporters said it's unfair that the former mayor can't be recognized simply because his name makes some people snicker. But opponents fear that naming the center after Baals would make Fort Wayne the target of late-night television jokes.

http://on.msnbc.com/ehphVi