# 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:** 6
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2016, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-teams-that-should-have-had-better-names/769710/101 "2016-10-30T04:34:12Z")
> [@](#): > > Buchan is a tourist town, with the major attraction being a series of caves. Team name - Cavemen. Carlsbad, New Mexico is the home of the vast underground Carlsbad Caverns. Carlsbad High School calls their boys’ teams The Cavemen and their girls’ teams The Cavewomen. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2016, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-teams-that-should-have-had-better-names/769710/102 "2016-10-30T07:24:07Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > 😕 [Location of Area 51](https://goo.gl/maps/oSommurMsEz) (according to Wikipedia, YMMV when trying to get nearby). Note the nearby towns and their sizes: Rachel, pop 54, Crystal Springs, pop ~0, Mercury, pop you’renotallowedtoknow. The only towns within many miles are Las Vegas and its suburbs, or Tonopah, and even it’s not that big, so LV is the only place that can really support a sports team. > [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Carlsbad, New Mexico is the home of the vast underground Carlsbad Caverns. Carlsbad High School calls their boys’ teams The Cavemen and their girls’ teams The Cavewomen. The Troglodytes has more panache. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2016, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-teams-that-should-have-had-better-names/769710/103 "2016-10-30T12:33:34Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > 😕 I think this was just a way of reinforcing your implication that, out in the Desert West, cities tend to be far apart from each other, so the distance you cited was meant to signify “quite close by” – whereas in some other parts of the country, it wouldn’t signify that. ---
**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 30, 2016, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-teams-that-should-have-had-better-names/769710/104 "2016-10-30T20:33:18Z")
> [@Wallaby](#): > > Golden Point Rice-Eaters. The area had a lot of Chinese immigration during the 1800s gold rush, and so the football team was called this. Sadly extinct. There’s a town in rural Illinois called Pekin, so named for the mistaken belief that it was geographically opposite the earth from Peking, China. For years, their high school team was named the “Chinks.” (Currently “Dragons.”) ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2016, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-teams-that-should-have-had-better-names/769710/105 "2016-10-30T21:19:40Z")
When I was living in Northern Virginia in the early 80s, there was outrage that the Christiansburg High School was the Blue Demons, but I see they have kept that name. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2016, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-teams-that-should-have-had-better-names/769710/106 "2016-10-30T23:16:15Z")
Since this thread has gone to naming local schools and such, I’ll repeat the name of the mascot for Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas. They are the Ichabods, and the mascot, in blue and white, is a guy strolling along in top hat and tails. The school, founded in 1865, was originally called Lincoln College. Almost unique for the time, it admitted men and women, and did not discriminate racially. Struggling financially a few years in, a donor named Ichabod Washburn, who never got the chance to actually come see the school, donated 25,000 dollars, and in deep gratitude the school itself was renamed for him. Later on, when sports became a big deal, the mascot was created. At least we alums of it stand out from other school names and mascots. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2016, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-teams-that-should-have-had-better-names/769710/107 "2016-10-30T23:36:16Z")
My HS was the Trojans. Our mascot was a giant condom. No, it wasn’t. Sorry. Lame joke. ---
**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:** [October 30, 2016, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-teams-that-should-have-had-better-names/769710/108 "2016-10-30T23:54:53Z")
cochrane: > [@](#): > > I haven’t seen it yet in this thread, but Las Vegas has a AAA baseball team called the 51s after Groom Lake AFB’s infamous Area 51, located about 156 miles away. Better than the Omaha AAA team, which for a while called itself the Golden Spikes, despite the fact that the actual Golden Spike was located two states and 850 miles away, in Promontory Point, Utah. They dropped that after about three years, and after a few years of being the Omaha Royals again, they’re now the Omaha Storm Chasers. I don’t care for the new name much, but it’s at least not as absurdly non-local as the earlier attempt to distinguish their identity from that of the parent club. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2016, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-teams-that-should-have-had-better-names/769710/109 "2016-10-30T23:58:41Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > 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. In fact, there are four current teams whose names originally derive from the color of their socks—you’re forgetting the Reds and the Cardinals. But I think sock color nicknames are a fine baseball tradition. It hearkens back to the days when the sock was practically the only part of the uniform that had any color. ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2016, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-teams-that-should-have-had-better-names/769710/110 "2016-10-31T01:26:48Z")
My high school team names went from the Shamrocks (Trinity High School) for the first 1 1/2 years to the Bubblers (Boiling Springs High School) for the rest. The latter always makes the goofy list. I’m a Bubbler. Beat that. ---
**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 31, 2016, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-teams-that-should-have-had-better-names/769710/111 "2016-10-31T01:36:47Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > I think this was just a way of reinforcing your implication that, out in the Desert West, cities tend to be far apart from each other, so the distance you cited was meant to signify “quite close by” – whereas in some other parts of the country, it wouldn’t signify that. Well yeah, it is close by, comparatively speaking. I realize it’s about a three hour drive, but it’s understandable for a Nevada team to name itself the 51s after a famous landmark in the state, just like it’s understandable for the Albuquerque team to call itself the Isotopes because the atomic bomb was tested in New Mexico. And yes, I’m aware of the Simpsons reference. I think some of you are making a mountain out of a molehill. ---
**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 31, 2016, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-teams-that-should-have-had-better-names/769710/112 "2016-10-31T02:03:21Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > In fact, there are four current teams whose names originally derive from the color of their socks—you’re forgetting the Reds and the Cardinals. While the Reds go back to the Red Stockings, I am not aware that the Cardinals were ever known as the Cardinal Stockings (although that was the color of the trim on their socks and uniforms). Their predecessor team was known as the Brown Stockings. There was also the Toledo Blue Stockings. ---
**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 31, 2016, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-teams-that-should-have-had-better-names/769710/113 "2016-10-31T17:29:37Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > In fact, there are four current teams whose names originally derive from the color of their socks—you’re forgetting the Reds and the Cardinals. > > But I think sock color nicknames are a fine baseball tradition. It hearkens back to the days when the sock was practically the only part of the uniform that had any color. There was also a team that, because they wore black and orange striped socks, became known as the Tigers. Edit: Hmmm, looks like that’s apocryphal. But still possible. [QUOTE=Wikipedia] There are various legends about how the Tigers got their nickname. One involves the orange stripes they wore on their black stockings. Tigers manager George Stallings took credit for the name; however, the name appeared in newspapers before Stallings was manager. Another legend concerns a sportswriter equating the 1901 team’s opening day victory with the ferocity of his alma mater, the Princeton Tigers. Richard Bak, in his 1998 book, A Place for Summer: A Narrative History of Tiger Stadium, pp. 46–49, explains that the name originated from the Detroit Light Guard military unit, who were known as “The Tigers”. They had played significant roles in certain Civil War battles and in the 1898 Spanish–American War. The baseball team was still informally called both “Wolverines” and “Tigers” in the news. The earliest known use of the name “Tigers” in the media was in the Detroit Free Press on April 16, 1895. Upon entry into the majors, the ballclub sought and received formal permission from the Light Guard to use its trademark. From that day forth, the team has been officially called the Tigers. [/QUOTE] ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2016, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-teams-that-should-have-had-better-names/769710/114 "2016-10-31T18:21:28Z")
Poca High School, West Virginia is the Dots. The Poca Dots. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2016, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-teams-that-should-have-had-better-names/769710/115 "2016-10-31T21:04:43Z")
Prior to the 1920’s, the Northwestern University teams were known as the Fighting Methodists. I like to picture John Wesley in boxing gloves. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2016, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-teams-that-should-have-had-better-names/769710/116 "2016-10-31T23:00:40Z")
> [@AncientHumanoid](#): > > My HS was the Trojans. > > Our mascot was a giant condom. > > No, it wasn’t. Sorry. Lame joke. There is a high school near us whose mascot is the Trojans. On their football scoreboard is a sign that reads “It’s a great day to be a Trojan!”. No kidding. ---
**Author:** ![ultimate11](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/49beb7/32.png) [@ultimate11](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultimate11)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2016, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-teams-that-should-have-had-better-names/769710/117 "2016-11-01T04:23:58Z")
Real Salt Lake. I know “Real” means “Royal” in spanish (as in, Real Madrid), but the team should have picked something else. ---
**Author:** ![kurtisokc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bbce88/32.png) [@kurtisokc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kurtisokc)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2016, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-teams-that-should-have-had-better-names/769710/118 "2016-11-02T02:38:57Z")
Hominy High School in Oklahoma is named the “Bucks.” Which is wrong. Because how can they not be named the “Grits”? ---
**Author:** ![kurtisokc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bbce88/32.png) [@kurtisokc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kurtisokc)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2016, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-teams-that-should-have-had-better-names/769710/119 "2016-11-02T02:40:24Z")
> [@ultimate11](#): > > Real Salt Lake. I know “Real” means “Royal” in spanish (as in, Real Madrid), but the team should have picked something else. Yeah. Not a lot of Spanish royalty in Utah. ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2016, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-teams-that-should-have-had-better-names/769710/120 "2016-11-03T13:52:21Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > Philippine Basketball Association is full of these: > [ul] > [li]Blackwater Elite. Sounds manly, I didn’t know the mercenary group (now Academi) sponsored a team… no, it’s a… makeup company!?[/li][li]Phoenix Fuel Masters. Arizona, Philippines?[/li][li]TNT KaTropa. The scourge of Italian plumbers everywhere.[/li][li]And 3 separate teams named after the San Miguel beer and food conglomerate, of which the best is San Miguel Beermen.[/li][/ul] I miss the days of the early 1990s, when the Swift Mighty Meaty Hotdogs defeated the Purefoods Tender Juicy Hotdogs. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-teams-that-should-have-had-better-names/769710.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-teams-that-should-have-had-better-names/769710.md?page=7)