Sheffield Wednesday could be put into that category - the adjective being a literal description of the cricket club from which they originated. And there’s Hamilton Academical, of which I’m never quite sure of the grammar, but seems to be an adjective of sorts (named after Hamilton Academy).
When asked that question I think of the color “day-glo puke green” rather than “brown” but your point is well taken.
A friend of mine here in Cleveland was just incredulous back in 1996 when, as part of the settlement of City of Cleveland’s lawsuit against the NFL over the Browns’ move to Baltimore, the parties agreed to put another team in Cleveland named the Browns and with the same brown and orange team colors. My friend said, “Our team’s got the stupidest name and the ugliest colors, and they wanted them back?!? We blew our chance to get a cool name with decent colors!” I can’t say I disagree with her.
Unless you’re asserting that the city has in its name “United”, you might be overthinking things a wee bit. As a fan of an opposing team, my nickname for DC United is “Flaming Turd Burglers”, so consider carefully how far you want to apply your organizational/nickname paradigm.
Ohh, I thought of another one! My brother went to Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington. He claims their nickname was the Fighting Missionaries (the school was named after the first white missionary in the area). He and his fellow students would chant
We’re the Fighting Missionaries, we’re always on top!
Well, as the all-time-losingest American sports team maybe we don’t deserve one! :eek:
We’re also home to the University of Pennsylvania Quakers, which is also sure not to strike fear into the hearts of the opponent. (It’s surprising that these guys ever get out of the huddle… racking up delay of game penalties until the spirit moves them by concensus! ) 
The Vancouver Canucks have a long history of ugly jerseys. Actually, to be fair, it’s just the second one that’s truly horrific, with the third one close behind it. Their original jersey design was pretty cool, and their current jerseys are decent, if a bit bland.
OK, it’s a bit of a hijack, but if you’re truly determined to look at stupid team names, then you have to delve into the rich world of HIGH SCHOOL MASCOTS
You have been warned.
I think the Miami Dolphins have the silliest (and girliest) mascot in the NFL. I mean really, dolphins? Dolphins are cute and do cute things. Football players are supposed to big, bad, and nasty (see Raiders, Vikings, Buccaneers, Bengals). Dolphins and football just do not go together in my mind. To top it off, the team wears peach and turquoise on the field. I think they should change their names to the Miami Vice, 'cuz that’s what those colors remind me of.
Stanford considers itself the equivalent (if not superior) of any Ivy League school, and “Cardinal” thus echoes the precedents set by the Harvard Crimson, Cornell Big Red, and Dartmouth Big Green. Actually, Dartmouth once used the nickname “Indians”, as did Stanford until the early 1970’s.
The Blue Jackets play in the NHL, which would make them a major league team, albeit in what appears to be ever more a “minor” league.
Ahh, but the color scheme has had quite a benefit for them – drawing in female fans! I know of no less than four women, my wife included, who are die-hard Miami fans that made their team choice based primarily on the color scheme.
That’s lead to quite a sizable amount spent at the 'Fins section of nflshop.com.
In my view, the ones with the “skate” logo on the front are the ugliest.
The skate logo on a yellow jersey is pretty bad, though I still think the Halloween-coloured V’s are worse. The running joke in Vancouver during the time they had the skate logo is that it accurately described the team’s position in the standings - going downhill fast.
However, like the author of the page I linked to, I do have fond memories of the skate logo on a white jersey, mostly because of the Canucks’ 1994 playoff run.
Oh, thanks for this link, Sternvogel! I thought I was imagining that there was a NY Sets to go with the Mets, Nets, & Jets!
Honorable mention: Real Salt Lake. Or “Fake Salt Lake.”
Really freakin’ stupid: Washington Nationals. Dude, the league is National; ya’ll are LOCAL.
Except that “Nationals” was a former nickname for the Washington team, dating back to 1901, even though most people still referred to them as the Senators. Officially, they were the Nationals until 1956, when they became the Senators, and then 5 years later the Minnesota Twins.
Oddly enough, this is the first time the Washington Nationals have played in the National League. The original Nats (and the second Senators) were AL clubs. However, the existence of the Baltimore Orioles in the AL meant that Washington became an NL city.
I think your reference might have been a touch too obscure for some. Our latter day L.A. Dodgers began as the Brooklyn Trolley Dodgers
Torgo:
Meet the Minnesota Wild.
The infamous collared jerseys with shorts worn by the Chicago White Sox in some games in 1976 are the nadir of MLB uniform design. These outfits made the Sox look like a company softball team.
I loved those uniforms, the baby blue Royals and the rainbow Astros. I also liked the White Sox’s Katzenjammer Kids ensemble. It recalled baseball’s origins. I loved the Cardinals’ and Pirates’ old-timey caps (in black and yellow) and the Expos’ tri-coloured one. The Phillies in maroon and baby blue. Sweet.
It’s today’s uniforms that I hate – the half coloured and half grey/white combinations or the all-black or all-red monstrosities. Those are the ones that look like softball uniforms. They’re also boring as hell.
I mean, come on, the San Diego Padres are wearing blue and white, just like every other frickin’ team? So far as I’m concerned, they aren’t the Padres unless they’re wearing brown and yellow/orange.
The only teams that should have boring white and grey uniforms with a single highlight colour are the Reds and the Yankees. And the Reds have betrayed that tradition with their ugly ugly current duds.
And what is it with the players pulling their pant cuffs down so that you can’t see the socks? The whole notion of baseball uniforms is based on the concept of coloured socks. If you can’t see them, what’s the point?
I always thought of this example as a noun, as in “the wild” (animal kingdom, etc.). Could be wrong I suppose.
Anyhoo, it’s second-rate. Back during the name-choosing process I think we should have gone for **“The Minnesota Voyageurs”. ** That was my favorite option.