# Current Sports Team Nicknames **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [May 18, 2008, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/current-sports-team-nicknames/449749 "2008-05-18T14:11:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Death\_of\_Rats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a6a055/32.png) [@Death\_of\_Rats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Death_of_Rats)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2008, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/current-sports-team-nicknames/449749/1 "2008-05-18T14:11:29Z")
Insipred by [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=468062), are there any sports teams that currently sport nicknames for parts of their teams? The last big one in Football I remember is the Rams “Greatest Show on Turf” ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2008, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/current-sports-team-nicknames/449749/2 "2008-05-18T15:28:53Z")
“Gang Green” for the NY Jets is used all the time by the newspapers in NY. ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2008, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/current-sports-team-nicknames/449749/3 "2008-05-18T17:43:03Z")
For “parts of their teams”, a lot of Royals fans are referring to the trio of relief pitchers, Ramon Ramirez, Leo Nunez and Joakim Soria as “the Hispanic Panic” or “the Three Amigos”. And our top two starters are “Greinke and the Brain” (that latter being Brian Bannister). ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2008, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/current-sports-team-nicknames/449749/4 "2008-05-20T21:14:23Z")
They’re working on it, with some professional help: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/y2iT3wQnAqQ/hqdefault.jpg "Celtics Three Amigos Sportscenter") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2iT3wQnAqQ) ---
**Author:** ![Key\_Lime\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/48db29/32.png) [@Key\_Lime\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Key_Lime_Guy)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2008, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/current-sports-team-nicknames/449749/5 "2008-05-20T21:35:34Z")
The Twins’ outfield was called the “Soul Patrol” a few years ago. (They were all black.) ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2008, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/current-sports-team-nicknames/449749/6 "2008-05-20T21:39:02Z")
The University of Nebraska’s defense has long been known as the Blackshirts. But they’ve been so putrid in recent years that no one talks about their defense much, except in the context of “sad how far the fabled Blackshirts have fallen”. ---
**Author:** ![HubZilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ccd318/32.png) [@HubZilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HubZilla)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2008, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/current-sports-team-nicknames/449749/7 "2008-05-20T22:15:11Z")
[QUOTE=jsc1953] The University of Nebraska’s defense has long been known as the Blackshirts. But they’ve been so putrid in recent years that no one talks about their defense much, except in the context of “sad how far the fabled Blackshirts have fallen”. [/QUOTE] True 'dat (NU alum). We got a new coach, whose very defensive-minded. Here’s hoping they come back. Will be a couple years, though. A get-tough coach is probably not enough to reverse Kansas getting 76 points on us. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2008, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/current-sports-team-nicknames/449749/8 "2008-05-21T02:41:49Z")
The Indians have two relief pitchers named Rafael. They’re called “Raffi Right” and “Raffi Left” or “The Two Raffis.” I think they’re trying to bring back [Kardiac Kids](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kardiac_Kids) for the Browns. In fact, looks like that idea has been “confirmed” by Wikipedia 😛 ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2008, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/current-sports-team-nicknames/449749/9 "2008-05-26T13:41:50Z")
It’s obsolete now, but in the Fifties the LSU defense was the “Chinese Bandits”. NFL defensive lines of the Sixties and Seventies included the Fearsome Foursome, the Steel Curtain, and the Purple People Eaters. ---
**Author:** ![VarlosZ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d78d45/32.png) [@VarlosZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VarlosZ)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2008, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/current-sports-team-nicknames/449749/10 "2008-05-26T15:05:36Z")
Not currrent, but: [The Four Horseman](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Horsemen_(football)). ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2008, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/current-sports-team-nicknames/449749/11 "2008-05-26T15:19:43Z")
When the Giants had sluggers Kevin Mitchell and Will Clark in the middle of their lineup, there was a newspaper contest to give them a nickname. “Pacific Sock Exchange” was the winning entry, but IMHO it should have been “A Great Pair of Knockers”.