The title has changed but the mission remains the same

No, we haven't lost any weight. We haven't gotten a new haircut, either. And we aren't coloring our hair.

I know, I know. There is something different about us, but what is it?

Drum roll, please…We have a new name, as all of our astute readers will have noticed by now. GeezerJock has become Masters Athlete. It's a move we are very excited about and one we've been considering for a long time.

What is a Masters athlete? The short answer is: You. The longer answer is that a Masters athlete is any adult over the age of 30 who competes in amateur sports. Despite a common misconception, the term "Masters" implies no advanced skill level or special achievements. It's just an age designation. So whether you think of yourself as a senior athlete, an age-grouper or just someone who still likes to compete, you are, indeed, a Masters athlete.

I have, on occasion, slow-poked my way through a 10K or triathlon course. I am a Masters athlete. So is Phil Raschker, our 2007 GeezerJock of the Year winner, who shatters world records whenever, it seems, she competes. I'm sure she's thrilled to be in the same club as me.

But that's the beauty of Masters athletics. It's open to everyone: Competers and completers; world-class athletes and weekend warriors; people who play team sports and those who compete individually. I'll never stand on a podium with a gold medal around my neck like Phil, but I'll bet I get the same joy out of doing well that she does. It's just that we have different definitions of "doing well." Have I mentioned that Phil and I are both Masters athletes?

So when we were thinking of what new name to call the magazine, the very first one that popped into our heads was Masters Athlete. It says who we are and who we write about. Sure, we went through brainstorming exercises to generate other options. In fact, we came up with a list of 153 alternatives, and we've posted that list at www.geezerjock.com/namelist.html. There are some funny ones there. Some insulting ones, too. I think you'll get a kick out of the list. But there are some others that we gave serious thought to.

I guess the natural question is: Why change the name? There are a ton of people out there who love the term GeezerJock. After all, we named the magazine GeezerJock in the first place because that's what a lot of you call yourselves. However, some people don't like the term "geezer."

Some don't like "jock." Our initial aim was to slam those two words together to show that people are not aging in the same was as generations past, that people today are embracing an active--and competitive--lifestyle far longer than their parents and grandparents. We knew we'd create dissonance, and we did. We knew the name would be memorable, and it was. The media loved the name, and we received a lot of national attention.

Despite all that, some felt the name GeezerJock was too exclusionary. Masters Athlete is far more inclusive and really gets to the heart of what this magazine is about. Our former name took us this far, but we believe Masters Athlete is the name that's going to take us over the next few years to more than 100,000 subscribers.

The term "GeezerJock" isn't going away. You'll find a new people-in-the-news column in this issue called "GeezerJocks." Our GeezerJock of the Year awards will remain, and we'll still run the GeezerJock.com Web site.

Ultimately, what we call ourselves is secondary to what's inside the magazine. And that will only continue to get better.

Let us know what you think of the new name--or the old one--by e-mailing us at: letters@geezerjock.com