Any sport - eg what current NBA team would you most like to see become the new Seattle Supersonics? Current MLB team become the new Montreal Expos? Etc.
OK, I read the title wrong. Very wrong. Whose with me?
Arizona Coyotes=Quebec Nordiques
Tampa Bay Rays=Montreal Expos
New York Yankees -> Buffalo Blues of the Federal League (it was a major league in 1914-5) so I’d never have to hear about them again
Arsenal --> Chivas USA
Carolina Hurricanes move back to Hartford and become the Whalers again.
Phoenix Coyotes give up their futile quest for hockey in the desert and move to Quebec City to become the Nordiques.
Well, forgive me, but having the current Cubs replace my older brother would be pretty cool.
…or what **running coach **said.
Los Angeles Dodgers --> Brooklyn Dodgers. For my Dad. They broke his heart when they moved. His love of baseball never fully recovered.
Slightly OT, but in terms of dearly departed teams, I thought this was interesting.
Probably most folks have much better knowledge of baseball history than I do, but what if you had to guess today’s name of the original Chicago White Stockings? How about the Boston Red Stockings? What are they called today?
The Chicago White Stockings of the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players became the Chicago Cubs of the National League. Nothing to do with the Chicago White Sox of the AL.
The Boston Red Stockings moved to Atlanta and became the Braves.
Washington Wizards -> Washington Bullets
When you leave it up to a public vote, you end up with an idiotic name like “Wizards.”
Minnesota Wild —> Minnesota North Stars
“Wild” is a name for a lingerie football team, not a real major league sports franchise.
My favorite trivia question of that kind is: What was the original name of the New York Yankees? (and it’s not the Highlanders)
The Baltimore Orioles.
And as a followup: What was the original name of the Baltimore Orioles? (and it’s not the St. Louis Browns)
The Milwaukee Brewers.
St. Louis Rams ----> Los Angeles Rams.
Actually, that’s pretty much a done deal.
More precisely,
[spoiler]The original Cincinnati Red Stockings (the very first openly professional team, in 1869) were disbanded after their 1870 season.
The core of that team reconstituted in Boston, to become one of the founding teams of the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players. When that league broke up after the 1875 season, the Red Stockings were again founding members in the next one, the National League of Professional Base Ball Clubs. Through the years, they were known as Red Stockings, Red Caps, Beaneaters, Bees, and Braves. (When they dropped both “Red Stockings” and red stockings, around 1907, the name and image were quickly snapped up by the new Boston American League team. Cincinnati’s own National League team had long since copped the color.) The Boston Braves won the 1914 World Series, and played in the city through 1952.
The Braves were the first major league team to jump westward, relocating to Milwaukee for 1953. The Milwaukee Braves won the 1957 World Series, and played in the city through 1965.
The Braves then became the first major league team to move twice, relocating to Atlanta for 1966. The Atlanta Braves won the 1995 World Series. They are the oldest continuous franchise in North American sports, and the only baseball team to have won World Series flags for three different cities.[/spoiler]
Dropping the Bullets name was owner Abe Pollin’s decision; the vote was just to select among a handful of new ones, and frankly the others were worse. At the time DC had recently spent several years as the “murder capital,” with young people being shot to death on the streets virtually every day. “Bullets” started feeling sick. Then Yitzhak Rabin, who Pollin counted as a personal friend, was assassinated. Plenty of people were unenthusiastic about the Wizards name (though it did restore the alliteration that “Bullets” had been about when they were Baltimore’s NBA team), but most respected Pollin himself and the motive for the change.