# Best and worst sports team names based on their location **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [May 23, 2019, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-sports-team-names-based-on-their-location/834383 "2019-05-23T01:01:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2019, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-sports-team-names-based-on-their-location/834383/1 "2019-05-23T01:01:04Z")
The New England (née Boston) Patriots are a good example of a team name that nicely represents their area’s history and culture. A good choice for the birthplace of Paul Revere, Ben Franklin, and Samuel Adams. Then there’s the Utah Jazz, who left New Orleans (where it made sense) but kept their name, even though jazz is about the _last_ thing that comes to mind when you think of Utah. What other team names are either a good fit or not for their host city or area? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2019, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-sports-team-names-based-on-their-location/834383/2 "2019-05-23T01:07:23Z")
The Washington Bullets was just a bad name, period. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2019, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-sports-team-names-based-on-their-location/834383/3 "2019-05-23T01:13:51Z")
Los Angeles Lakers is my go-to whenever this comes up. In 1901 a football team bought used uniforms from the University of Chicago. The original maroon dye had faded and the owner decided, “That’s not maroon; it’s cardinal red!” Thus was born the Racine-Chicago-St. Louis-Arizona Cardinals. ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2019, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-sports-team-names-based-on-their-location/834383/4 "2019-05-23T01:48:50Z")
Best: The St, Louis Blues, Baltimore Orioles, Texas Rangers, and Buffalo Bills, all of which form familiar phrases that would make little or no sense anywhere else. ---
**Author:** ![robardin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@robardin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robardin)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2019, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-sports-team-names-based-on-their-location/834383/5 "2019-05-23T02:15:54Z")
> [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](#): > > Best: The St, Louis Blues, Baltimore Orioles, Texas Rangers, and Buffalo Bills, all of which form familiar phrases that would make little or no sense anywhere else. But there is already a team called the New York Rangers, and a much older one than the baseball club, one of the oldest teams in the NHL. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stainless_steel_rat/32/5727_2.png) [@The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stainless_Steel_Rat)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2019, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-sports-team-names-based-on-their-location/834383/6 "2019-05-23T02:27:00Z")
Minor League Baseball has many teams, most with names associated with the region. My personal favorite is the Albuquerque Isotopes, in honor of Scandia Labs, Los Alamos, etc. (actually, it came from a _Simpsons_ episode, but the New Mexico history is there to support it). Worst may be the new Huntsville (AL) AA-team, which by a vote of the fans, was named the “Trash Pandas”. And no, I am not making this up. ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2019, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-sports-team-names-based-on-their-location/834383/7 "2019-05-23T02:28:30Z")
> [@robardin](#): > > But there is already a team called the New York Rangers, and a much older one than the baseball club, one of the oldest teams in the NHL. Sure, but “New York Rangers” doesn’t make any particular sense, while the “Texas Rangers” are a thing, a police force that goes back to before Texas was a state IIRC. If you’re looking at the appropriateness of a city/nickname combo, the NHL team’s name isn’t terrible (like Jazz or Lakers) but doesn’t have any special meaning (who outside of hockey are the New York Rangers?), whereas the MLB team’s name is highly appropriate. Not sure what age has to do with it anyway…it’s not as though the name Reds has anything in particular to do with Cincinnati or Pirates with Pittsburgh, and those teams have been known by those names for…well, at least as long as the NY NHL team has been called the Rangers, no? ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2019, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-sports-team-names-based-on-their-location/834383/8 "2019-05-23T03:51:29Z")
The NFL Bears and Packers should have their names reversed. Meat packing is one of the historically iconic industries in Chicago, not in Green Bay, and bears live in northern Wisconsin but not in Illinois. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2019, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-sports-team-names-based-on-their-location/834383/9 "2019-05-23T05:46:46Z")
> [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](#): > > Sure, but “New York Rangers” doesn’t make any particular sense, while the “Texas Rangers” are a thing, a police force that goes back to before Texas was a state IIRC. Google says both teams are named for the same thing: Founded in New York by Tex Rickard in 1926 as an expansion franchise, the team was given its name by the New York press, which nicknamed it “Tex’s Rangers” (a play on the phrase “Texas Rangers”). So yeah, that should definitely qualify as a name that isn’t particularly appropriate for the location. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2019, 10:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-sports-team-names-based-on-their-location/834383/10 "2019-05-23T10:25:40Z")
I’ve used this example in similar threads before but the English amateur football team “Billingham Synthonia” has a lovely lyrical quality to it which is very much at odds with Billingham’s industrial heritage and in fact the name reflects that it was a works team, from wiki… > [@](#): > > The club was established in 1923 and was named after an agricultural fertiliser, Synthonia being a contraction of “synthetic ammonia”, a product manufactured by ICI, with which the club was affiliated lovely ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2019, 10:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-sports-team-names-based-on-their-location/834383/11 "2019-05-23T10:29:54Z")
> [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](#): > > The NFL Bears and Packers should have their names reversed. Meat packing is one of the historically iconic industries in Chicago, not in Green Bay, and bears live in northern Wisconsin but not in Illinois. The Packers were [named](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Bay_Packers#Nickname) after a meat packing company. > [@](#): > > Needing to outfit his new squad, team founder Curly Lambeau solicited funds from his employer, the Indian Packing Company. He was given $500 for uniforms and equipment in return for the team being named for its sponsor. An early newspaper article referred to the fledglings as “the Indians”, but by the time they played their first game “Packers” had taken hold. > > Indian Packing was purchased in 1920 by the Acme Packing Company. Acme continued to support the team, which played its first NFL season with “ACME PACKERS” emblazoned on its jerseys. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2019, 11:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-sports-team-names-based-on-their-location/834383/12 "2019-05-23T11:11:42Z")
> [@Wheelz](#): > > Then there’s the Utah Jazz, who left New Orleans (where it made sense) but kept their name, even though jazz is about the _last_ thing that comes to mind when you think of Utah. Actually, the last thing that comes to mind when I think of Utah is the king of Spain, which is why _Real_ Salt Lake is such a stupid name for a soccer team. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2019, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-sports-team-names-based-on-their-location/834383/13 "2019-05-23T11:22:44Z")
The Philadelphia Phillies; couldn’t work in any other town. Pittsburgh Steelers get a thumbs down. Sure, the steel industry contributed to the early growth of Pittsburgh, but steel is gone and the region struggled hard to clean up the horrible environmental impact. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2019, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-sports-team-names-based-on-their-location/834383/14 "2019-05-23T11:59:03Z")
The Chicago Cubs. Cubs? Bear cubs? in Chicago? And speaking of bears, Chicago Bears? ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2019, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-sports-team-names-based-on-their-location/834383/15 "2019-05-23T12:07:05Z")
The Utah Jazz get my vote. In the NBA, it’s vital that you retain any franchise player you get by signing him to a long term deal via free agency. That’s how super teams are built. Utah is a small market and not a place that excites young men like Los Angeles, New York, Chicago or Boston, for example. In addition, the extra money they make via endorsement deals is going to be considerably less in a small market location that it would be in a large market location. I think Oklahoma City lost KD for basically the same reasons and gets my “honorable mention” because, well, they’re in Oklahoma. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2019, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-sports-team-names-based-on-their-location/834383/16 "2019-05-23T12:12:47Z")
The New Orleans Saints have a terrific local name, which comes from the jazz/spiritual standard “When the Saints Go Marching In”. The song has become a sort of de-facto city anthem. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2019, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-sports-team-names-based-on-their-location/834383/17 "2019-05-23T12:18:00Z")
The Calgary Flames started out in Atlanta, where flames had an historical connotation. There has never been a huge, devastating fire in Calgary. However, the name isn’t terrible. > [@hogarth](#): > > Actually, the last thing that comes to mind when I think of Utah is the king of Spain, which is why _Real_ Salt Lake is such a stupid name for a soccer team. Nah, they are just standing up to those fronters in New Salt Lake. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2019, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-sports-team-names-based-on-their-location/834383/18 "2019-05-23T13:08:57Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > The Chicago Cubs. Cubs? Bear cubs? in Chicago? And speaking of bears, Chicago Bears? And while growing up in Boston, the only Bruins I saw were the hockey players. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2019, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-sports-team-names-based-on-their-location/834383/19 "2019-05-23T14:13:21Z")
> [@Ike\_Witt](#): > > The Calgary Flames started out in Atlanta, where flames had an historical connotation. There has never been a huge, devastating fire in Calgary. However, the name isn’t terrible. Yeah, “Flames” doesn’t stand out as being wrong for Calgary. It’s kind of like the Pittsburgh Pirates; obviously there isn’t a lot of history of piracy in western Pennsylvania, but names like “Pirates,” “Buccaneers” or “Corsairs” are just cool sounding anywhere. In baseball, “Los Angeles Dodgers” is obviously odd, since the name is very specific to Brooklyn. I would have assumed the NFL’s Arizona Cardinals were stupidly named, but to my surprise I just now found out there are cardinals in Arizona. The franchise was, of course, founded in Chicago, where the name made a bit more sense. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2019, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-sports-team-names-based-on-their-location/834383/20 "2019-05-23T14:18:07Z")
The Cincinnati Reds were originally the Red Stockings. Sounds like they went from being cross-dressers to being Communists. And of course, Red Sox and White Sox not only say little about the teams but are misspelled. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-sports-team-names-based-on-their-location/834383.md?page=2)