Origins of team names

[gbasalmon]

Found this after a quick Google search. I'm sure it is just a high level overview, and that the members here could probably provide a lot more detail on their team's nickname origins.

Origin of nicknames

Johnny Canuck? Are you kidding me?

Just to be a devil's advocate so that Canadians on the board don't have to - Uncle Sam isn't any better...

[Gothamite]

I think the NY/NJ rhyming is something largely started by fans. Mets is short for "Metropolitans", referring to the New York City metropolitan area in which they play.

Well, almost. The name of the club used to be "The New York Metropolitan Baseball Club," but their nickname was never anything other than "Mets."

I'm still with Mrs. Payson. I would've liked "Meadowlarks."

[Brian in Boston]

chicago bulls=great chicago fire rumored to be started by a cow

The Chicago Bulls were named in reference to the Chicago Stockyards.

[Brian in Boston]

Earhquakes - Originally named after the MISL Quakes, which were named after the seismic activity of the San Jose area.

The San Jose Earthquakes of Major League Soccer adopted the name of the region's original NASL franchise. The original Earthquakes later went on to play in both the NASL's indoor league and the MISL, using the name Golden Bay Earthquakes in the latter.

[nym1231]

for all who don't know....

for every major sport team The Sports E-cyclopedia includes the origin of the team name.

[OMMF]

*edit*

[OMMF]

for all who don't know....

for every major sport team The Sports E-cyclopedia includes the origin of the team name.

Hey, Bob Melvin is still the M's manager according to that site. Maybe I can still cancel my ticket package.

[nym1231]

ok.....well the origins to team names don't change, do they?? exactly

[NewYawkSeahawk]

Sea-town representin! Ok enough of that. I am white after all.

SuperSonics - Already discussed. A few years ago they were going to drop the Super and they kind of have but it depends on what you are looking at. The logo just says Sonics but the website is SeattleSupersonics.com

Mariners - So much water around here. So many mariners.

Seahawks/Thunderbirds - Large Native American influence up here and mythological birds I guess represent that.

Sounders - Named after Puget Sound, the body of water that most of Seattle sits on.

Other area team names:

Everett Aquasox -

Everett Silvertips - A type of bear that lives in the Cascade Mountain range

Tacoma Rainiers - Tacoma is the nearest large town to Mt Rainier; Nod to Seattle Rainiers which were owned by the Rainier Brewing Co.

Portland Winter Hawks, Spokane Chiefs - See Seahawks/Thunderbirds

Seahawks are dervied from the actual bird osprey.

The city had a name the team contest...

Ironically the new SUV I just bought is named after that great mountain near Seattle..... Rainier!

[pcgd]

Detroit is one of a handful of cities (circa. 1920's-1930's) to name their sports franchises with a sort of "theme" or matching names

Detroit - Lions, Tigers

Chicago - Cubs, Bears

New York - Giants, Giants

St. Louis - Cardinals, Cardinals

That would be a great story if the Cardinals actually started playing football in St. Louis. <cough> Chicago Cardinals <cough>

And I'm sure 99.9999999999% of the members of this board know that Pittsburgh teams use gold and black as main colors.

Actually, they were the Racine Cardinals first. Discrim knows this!

[OMMF]

Sea-town representin! Ok enough of that. I am white after all.

SuperSonics - Already discussed.  A few years ago they were going to drop the Super and they kind of have but it depends on what you are looking at. The logo just says Sonics but the website is SeattleSupersonics.com

Mariners - So much water around here. So many mariners.

Seahawks/Thunderbirds - Large Native American influence up here and mythological birds I guess represent that.

Sounders - Named after Puget Sound, the body of water that most of Seattle sits on.

Other area team names:

Everett Aquasox - 

Everett Silvertips - A type of bear that lives in the Cascade Mountain range

Tacoma Rainiers - Tacoma is the nearest large town to Mt Rainier; Nod to Seattle Rainiers which were owned by the Rainier Brewing Co.

Portland Winter Hawks, Spokane Chiefs - See Seahawks/Thunderbirds

Seahawks are dervied from the actual bird osprey.

The city had a name the team contest...

Ironically the new SUV I just bought is named after that great mountain near Seattle..... Rainier!

That's much better than the Toyota Tacoma. Oh the jokes that were going around when they announced the name of that truck.

[jkrdevil]

The Jets are named after the planes that fly over shea stadium from LaGuardia airport (not jfk). Yes, it was made to ryme with Mets but that was secondary.

The Devils were named after the Jersey Devil.

The Yankees was the nicknamed givin to the Highlanders by newspaper reporters after thet went on a Southern road trip. The name stuck.

The Rangers were named after their original owner.

The Giants were named after the baseball team.

Islanders because they play on long island.

[UTampaSpar10]

Here's what I know:

Tampa Bay Buccaneers - Named after the myhtical pirate Jose Gaspar who supposedly sailed the waters of the Gulf of Mexico & Tampa Bay. Every year we have Gasparillia (first three weekends in Feb.) there are celebrations. Lots of public drukenness, boob flashing and people dressed like pirate, quite an interesting tradition.

Tampa Bay Lightning - Like posted in the NHL nickname link, the Tampa area is the Lightning strike capital of North America (Lakeland, city in the Tampa area ranks #5 in the world in number of lightning strikes in the world).

Tampa Bay Devil Rays - Contest to name the team, Rays finished 4th in the vote but D-Rays owner Vince Namoli liked the name, there was a phone contest and Devil Rays won out over Manta Rays

Tampa Bay Mutiny (defunct MLS team) - Keeping nameing in line with the Buccaneers who they shared a stadium with.

Tampa Bay Storm - See lightning

[HatCityEnforcer]

Might as well contribute a few more...

Connecticut Huskies--neat little aliteration to the nickname of the school (UConn)....plus, Storrs is considered to be the meat locker of Connecticut

Connecticut Sun (WNBA)--because their home court is located at Mohegan Sun casino on the Mohegan Nation reservation.

Hartford Wolfpack (AHL)--in honor of the submarine construction industry in the state. Originally, the powers that be wanted to name the team "Sea Wolves", but there was a tiny problem, seeing that the Mississippi franchise in the ECHL uses the same nickname.

Bridgeport Sound Tigers (AHL)--honors 2 things Bridgeport is known for...it's proximity to Long Island Sound and being the hometown of the father of the modern circus, PT Barnum.

Danbury Trashers (UHL)--the owner of the team runs a waste disposal management company in the area...decided to run with it.

Beast of New Haven (AHL)--only existed for 2 seasons in the Elm City. the name came about from the many gargoyles that adorn some of the older buildings in New Haven (mostly found on or around the campus of Yale University).

Springfield Indians (AHL)--even tho they don't exist anymore, it was a pretty cool nickname. The team was named in honor of the Indian Motorcycle Company, which was located in Springfield.

Hershey Bears (AHL)--originally, they were known as the Hershey B'ARS (and we complain now of corporate sponsorship for teams and stadiums? )...eventually, the name was changed to Bears, but kept the chocolate and white color scheme.

Bridgeport Bluefish (Atlantic League)--named in honor of the fish that is very prevalent in Long Island Sound. One of the local radio stations in Bridgeport sponsors a very widely known bluefish fishing tournament every summer.

[Gary]

well since we are going by the U.

Flint Generals were named after General Motors plant in Flint. The plant is pretty much closed down now. But I believe they opened it back up

[Gothamite]

Actually, they were the Racine Cardinals first. Discrim knows this!

True, but that was after Racine Street in Chicago. Not Racine, Wisconsin as some mistakenly believe (not you, but perhaps others on this board).

[Mac6674]

Am I the only one that thinks it's a little bit in poor taste to name a team after a disaster? Like these different Bay Area Quake teams or the Chicago Fire? It just bugs me a little.

[Gothamite]

Maybe, but it was so long ago that the real cost of the fire has been lost in some haze of mystery.

Once, at a Packers/Bears game in Solider Field, a Chicago fan was berating a couple Packers fans with taunts. When he got to "There's nothing in Wisconsin but cows!" my buddy John couldn't take it any more. He stood up, turned around and replied "Oh, yeah? Well, a cow once burned this city TO THE GROUND!"

The Bears fan, stunned, just said "Well, okay, you have a point."

I love that story.

Along the same lines as your objection, this one really bothers me.

Hartford Wolfpack (AHL)--in honor of the submarine construction industry in the state.  Originally, the powers that be wanted to name the team "Sea Wolves", but there was a tiny problem, seeing that the Mississippi franchise in the ECHL uses the same nickname.

The only club that's named after a Nazi combat technique. You might as well call a team the "Tucson Desert Foxes."

[mustangdmg]

Arizona nicknames...

Colleges and universities...

Arizona State Sun Devils- 110 degrees in the summer.

Univ of Arizona Wildcats- Not sure why. Tucson is in the middle of the desert.

Northern Arizona Univ Lumberjacks- Lots of trees and forests in the mountains in that area.

Pro Sports...

Phoenix Suns- same as Arizona State

Arizona Wranglers - USFL team. Cowboys herding and branding cattle in the desert.

Arizona Outlaws - Later merged with Wranglers from Oklahoma City. The "dark side" of the Cowboys. ( my favorite nick of all)

Phoenix Cardinals- Moved from St. Louis. There's no Cardinals in the state, by the way.

Arizona Cardinals- Changed the name to attract more fans. They train in the northern area where it's cooler in the summer, 5 hours drive from metro Phoenix.

Arizona Rattlers- short for native rattlesnakes in the desert

Arizona Diamondbacks- same as above, but this name is a particular breed of a rattlesnake.

Phoenix Coyotes - already posted.

Phoenix Mercury- enuff said.

[Krona]

I once read that the baseball and football giants were named in honor of nyc's skyscrapers (something that was somewhat exclusively in nyc at the time)