# Sports teams that should have had better names **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [October 25, 2016, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-teams-that-should-have-had-better-names/769710 "2016-10-25T18:47:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2016, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-teams-that-should-have-had-better-names/769710/21 "2016-10-25T21:14:08Z")
The Columbus Blue Jackets have one of the more obscure names and it was mocked as being too similar to the Blues. I still like the name. The Minnesota Wild is an awful name. Same with the Tampa Bay Rays. And screw the fundamentalists who pressured the Rays to drop the Devil from the original name. ---
**Author:** ![JKilez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e5b9ba/32.png) [@JKilez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKilez)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2016, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-teams-that-should-have-had-better-names/769710/22 "2016-10-25T21:16:30Z")
The New England Patriots. Not the name so much, but the vagueness of their base location. Are they really worried that the people of Vermont might be offended if they called themselves the Boston Patriots? ---
**Author:** ![Personal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Personal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Personal)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2016, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-teams-that-should-have-had-better-names/769710/23 "2016-10-25T21:27:04Z")
I have nothing against the Arena Football League. In fact, I enjoy watching it. But I was happy to learn that the Los Angeles KISS folded. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2016, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-teams-that-should-have-had-better-names/769710/24 "2016-10-25T21:28:44Z")
Best sports names? Blue collar names like Packers, Oilers, Steelers, Brewers. Pretty horrible are those named after animals that aren’t impressive. Absolute worst is the Utah Jazz. That’s the freaking worst of all time. It’s bad on just about every bad axis. ---
**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:** [October 25, 2016, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-teams-that-should-have-had-better-names/769710/25 "2016-10-25T21:37:17Z")
> [@dalej42](#): > > The Columbus Blue Jackets have one of the more obscure names and it was mocked as being too similar to the Blues. I still like the name. Eh, it does nothing for me. I get the Civil War history and all, but _a)_ “Columbus Blue Jackets” is kind of a clumsy mouthful to say out loud, and _b)_ the name just feels staid and musty to me, the antithesis of Hockey. ---
**Author:** ![Personal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Personal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Personal)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2016, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-teams-that-should-have-had-better-names/769710/26 "2016-10-25T21:41:51Z")
When I was a kid, my best friend came to the house all excited. He had gotten his first pack of baseball cards for the season. “Look! They misprinted the name! They say he plays for the Athletics. This is going to be worth something!" “Sorry, Dave. He does play for the Athletics. The A’s is just a nickname." Poor Dave was quite disappointed. In fact, I don’t think he believed me, and I had to pull out my baseball encyclopedia to prove it. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2016, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-teams-that-should-have-had-better-names/769710/27 "2016-10-25T21:44:16Z")
> [@JKilez](#): > > The New England Patriots. Not the name so much, but the vagueness of their base location. Are they really worried that the people of Vermont might be offended if they called themselves the Boston Patriots? There’s a back story. Owner Billy Sullivan was so pissed at all the Boston pols wanting their palms greased when he was trying to get a stadium built there that he took the city’s name off the franchise when he moved it to Foxboro. ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2016, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-teams-that-should-have-had-better-names/769710/28 "2016-10-25T21:45:10Z")
> [@JKilez](#): > > The New England Patriots. Not the name so much, but the vagueness of their base location. Are they really worried that the people of Vermont might be offended if they called themselves the Boston Patriots? They are actually closer to Providence than Boston. But it’s likely an attempt to get the entire area as potential fanbase. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2016, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-teams-that-should-have-had-better-names/769710/29 "2016-10-25T21:46:54Z")
> [@JKilez](#): > > The New England Patriots. Not the name so much, but the vagueness of their base location. Are they really worried that the people of Vermont might be offended if they called themselves the Boston Patriots? In fact, they used to be the Boston Patriots. They changed the name in '71, when they moved from Boston to suburban Foxborough, MA _(edit: though, as ISiddiqui notes, they’re closer now to Providence than Boston)_. At that time, they apparently wanted to change their name to the “Bay State Patriots” (reflecting all of Massachusetts), but the NFL rejected that name, and they went with New England, instead (which was, undoubtedly, designed to make them sound inclusive of the entire region). ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2016, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-teams-that-should-have-had-better-names/769710/30 "2016-10-25T21:50:43Z")
“Soon it was commonplace for entire teams to change cities in search of greater profits. The Minneapolis Lakers moved to Los Angeles where there are no lakes. The Oilers moved to Tennessee where there is no oil. The Jazz moved to Salt Lake City where they don’t allow music. The Raiders moved from Oakland to LA back to Oakland. No-one in LA seemed to notice.” -BASEketball …and now Las Vegas. Maybe the so-bad-it’s-good category, but I’m not sure what a [Demon Deacon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wake_Forest_Demon_Deacons) is supposed to be except that it reeks of some old-timey anti-Catholicism (founded as a Baptist school but currently secular). We’re only down to two teams fitting this pattern now, and they should be kept for historical reasons, but naming teams the {Color} Sox was a stupid idea. The Albuquerque Isotopes are of course the best name. Sure it’s a Simpsons reference, but also has some relevance to the area. The Simpsons also had the intentionally bad name for an NBA team, “[the Springfield Excitement](https://simpsonswiki.com/wiki/Springfield_Excitement).” > [@RickJay](#): > > “Washington Nationals” is also rather uninspiring. I reckon it’s an improvement over Expos. > [@JKilez](#): > > The New England Patriots. Not the name so much, but the vagueness of their base location. Are they really worried that the people of Vermont might be offended if they called themselves the Boston Patriots? Better than the New England Patriots of Boston, I guess. Of course the 49ers don’t play in SF anymore. Hell, the NYC football teams play in _ **New Jersey** _. ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2016, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-teams-that-should-have-had-better-names/769710/31 "2016-10-25T21:55:38Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > Hell, the NYC football teams play in _ **New Jersey** _. To be fair, it’s literally 10 miles from NYC (for comparison, Levi Stadium, where the 49ers play is ~40 miles from San Francisco) ---
**Author:** ![Personal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Personal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Personal)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2016, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-teams-that-should-have-had-better-names/769710/32 "2016-10-25T22:02:01Z")
Fort Wayne has both the TinCaps (minor league baseball) and the Mad Ants (NBA Developmental). The Mad Ants I get, named after General “Mad" Anthony Wayne. The TinCaps I’m not sure about. I lived in Fort Wayne for more than a decade, so I think I should know, but I don’t. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2016, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-teams-that-should-have-had-better-names/769710/33 "2016-10-25T22:15:27Z")
> [@ISiddiqui](#): > > To be fair, it’s literally 10 miles from NYC (for comparison, Levi Stadium, where the 49ers play is ~40 miles from San Francisco) I know, and I’m okay with that (NYC has less room for a stadium), it’s just funny. SFO isn’t really near San Francisco, either. > [@Personal](#): > > Fort Wayne has both the TinCaps (minor league baseball) and the Mad Ants (NBA Developmental). The Mad Ants I get, named after General “Mad" Anthony Wayne. The TinCaps I’m not sure about. I lived in Fort Wayne for more than a decade, so I think I should know, but I don’t. Makes me think of these guys (with the UK definition of “mad”): [crazy ant](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Longhorn_crazy_ant). ---
**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:** [October 25, 2016, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-teams-that-should-have-had-better-names/769710/34 "2016-10-25T22:37:14Z")
> [@Personal](#): > > The TinCaps I’m not sure about. I lived in Fort Wayne for more than a decade, so I think I should know, but I don’t. John “Johnny Appleseed” Chapman lived and is buried in Fort Wayne. “TinCaps” refers to the apocryphal depiction of him wearing a cooking pot for a hat. We could have a whole thread on the origins of team names. (There probably has been one, actually.) ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2016, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-teams-that-should-have-had-better-names/769710/35 "2016-10-25T23:28:39Z")
My favorite team name was the Werewolves of London, Ontario, who played baseball in the Frontier League from 1999-2001. They had a mascot named Warren Z. Vaughn. 😃 > **[London Werewolves](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Werewolves)** > > The London Werewolves were an independent Frontier League baseball team based in London, Ontario, Canada. The team had previously been known as the Kalamazoo Kodiaks, from Kalamazoo, Michigan. The team arrived in London for the 1999 season and moved after the 2001 season to Canton, Ohio where they became the Canton Coyotes. The Werewolves won the Frontier League championship in 1999. They played their home games at Labatt Memorial Park, believed to be the oldest operating baseball grounds in t... ---
**Author:** ![Backwater\_Under\_Duck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ba8739/32.png) [@Backwater\_Under\_Duck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Backwater_Under_Duck)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2016, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-teams-that-should-have-had-better-names/769710/36 "2016-10-26T01:19:02Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > I have always felt that the Houston Texans were rather poorly named - that the team name made no more sense than “Miami Floridans” or “New York New Yorkers.” > [@RickJay](#): > > “Washington Nationals” is also rather uninspiring. The _Texans_ is the best name that any Texas team can claim. You’re not from Texas so you don’t appreciate the insane way that these people (I was born in Lubbock, but I’m an apostate) believe in their Texan-ness. The old Washington Senators were referred to in the local and national press as _The (Our) National Team_, and were called the _Nationals_ as much as they were called the _Senators_. The new name was natural in the extreme. On the other hand, I truly wanted them to be named (not original with me), the _Washington Georges_. Get it? ---
**Author:** ![Personal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Personal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Personal)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2016, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-teams-that-should-have-had-better-names/769710/37 "2016-10-26T01:46:35Z")
> [@Wheelz](#): > > John “Johnny Appleseed” Chapman lived and is buried in Fort Wayne. “TinCaps” refers to the apocryphal depiction of him wearing a cooking pot for a hat. > > We could have a whole thread on the origins of team names. (There probably has been one, actually.) I should have known that. There’s a fall festival in Johnny Appleseed Park where his grave is. We would go there occasionally. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2016, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-teams-that-should-have-had-better-names/769710/38 "2016-10-26T01:49:19Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > I reckon it’s an improvement over Expos. I always thought Expos was the dumbest name in baseball. Why name the team after a short-lived event like Expo 67? Toronto Raptors is pretty dumb too. The beast is not only extinct, it has nothing to do with Canada. (They were from Mongolia.) And real velociraptors were about the size of a turkey. ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2016, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-teams-that-should-have-had-better-names/769710/39 "2016-10-26T02:37:50Z")
Houston Texans. You mean there is another well known city named Houston in a different state and we have to call them Texans so people know. What exactly is a Red Wing? Wiki says the NHL owner changed the name to reflect Detroit’s automobile industry. Is Canucks a derogatory name for Canadians or not? I remember there was condemnation of Nixon dirty tricksters for forging a letter saying Ed Muskie used the word “Canucks”. But the Vancouver NHL team was using it. New York Rangers? Where? Alright the original owner/founder was nicknamed “Tex”. But still… ---
**Author:** ![Personal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Personal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Personal)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2016, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-teams-that-should-have-had-better-names/769710/40 "2016-10-26T03:03:39Z")
> [@Jim\_s\_Son](#): > > Houston Texans. You mean there is another well known city named Houston in a different state and we have to call them Texans so people know. Well, there is a Houston, Missouri in Texas County. It has just a couple of stoplights, so it doesn’t meet your well-known city criteria. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-teams-that-should-have-had-better-names/769710.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-teams-that-should-have-had-better-names/769710.md?page=3)