Anaheim ?

[mkwing]

I'd like to see them drop the "Ducks" altogether. "Mighty" or not, that name automatically conjures up two things: three Disney movies, and the University of Oregon.

If they want to get away from Disney, then they should take a new name. (The Los Angeles Blades were a WHL fixture for a long time, but I'm not sure how thrilled I'd be with that one....) As for the other connotation: I am an Oregonian, but don't most of the rest of you also think of the UO when they hear "Ducks?"

[wheateater]

If the Ducks follow the baseball Angels in any way WHATSOEVER (i.e.- changing the name to include "Los Angeles" in any form), I will personally strangle every person living in that farce of a region called Orange County.

Move the damn team to Winnipeg and call them the Jets, dammit!

[Brian in Boston]

The new owner said the most they would do is drop the mighty and just be the ducks.

Wrong. Actually, Mr. and Mrs. Samueli have said that they are going to let the fans decide whether or not the team should be completely rebranded in time for the 2006-2007 season. As a result, both "Mighty" and "Ducks" could be jettisoned.

[Brian in Boston]

What he said no to Los Angeles Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. That doesn't mean they won't switch to the Los Angeles Ducks.

Wrong again. The Samuelis have also said that they have no intention of using Los Angeles as a place name. They are Orange County residents and are committed to branding the team with the Anaheim place name, as Anaheim is the city in which the franchise operates.

[Mac the Knife]

Maybe they'll rebrand them the "Little Ol' Ladies of Pasadena." That's in Orange County, right?

[OMMF]

"Little Ol' Ladies of Pasadena."

As long as Fedorov is there.

[Alphabet Man]

Mighty Ducks is a mad movie....i liek the 'We are the Champions' song on it....

[Brian in Boston]

Maybe they'll rebrand them the "Little Ol' Ladies of Pasadena." That's in Orange County, right?

No. Pasadena is located in Los Angeles County.

[Dilbert]

I would have to pick the Anaheim Seals or Anaheim Ducks(or as I call them sometimes the Anaheim Aflacs)

[IronChefShark]

I would have to pick the Anaheim Seals

the only way that name would work for them is if they announced that they were moving to Oakland

(and that's not happening)

[Seadragon76]

Why not just the Ducks? You get to keep the name and drop the Disney-esque feeling to the team.

Either that or give them a name that is worthy of the area: the Anaheim Amigos.

[winters in buffalo]

Why not just be the Anahiem Mighty?

[Roger Clemente]

Why not just leave it the :censored: alone? When you've had the same name and uniforms for 12 years, you've become a tradition, as unorthodox a reason as it may seem.

--Roger "Time?" Clemente.

[wheateater]

Nevermind...

[pflava]

Why not just leave it the :censored: alone? When you've had the same name and uniforms for 12 years, you've become a tradition, as unorthodox a reason as it may seem.

--Roger "Time?" Clemente.

Um.............no. Sorry, no "tradition" in Anaheim. Mighty Ducks has always been a completely stupid and somewhat embarassing name. Unfortunately, "Ducks" isn't much better. Time to blow the whole thing up and come up with a new identity altogether.

[PeytonManningRocks]

Why not just be the Anahiem Mighty?

Oh heavens no! That's about as bad as any team name. Just say no to adjectives!

[Roger Clemente]

Why not just leave it the :censored: alone?   When you've had the same name and uniforms for 12 years, you've become a tradition, as unorthodox a reason as it may seem.

--Roger "Time?" Clemente.

Um.............no. Sorry, no "tradition" in Anaheim. Mighty Ducks has always been a completely stupid and somewhat embarassing name. Unfortunately, "Ducks" isn't much better. Time to blow the whole thing up and come up with a new identity altogether.

So what do the fans that love the name do? Has anybody thought of that?

I'd keep the name even if means continuing to be the perpetual laughingstock of the league. Every league needs one. And whenever the Ducks win, it'll just make every loss for their opponents feel that much more embarassing.

--Roger "Time?" Clemente.

[Brian in Boston]

So what do the fans that love the name do?  Has anybody thought of that?

The Samuelis have said that they will conduct a poll of fans to determine whether or not they want to change the name and - if so - what the new name should be. So, the name will be maintained if the majority of fans see absolutely nothing wrong with it. If the majority of fans would rather see a new identity package, so be it. Their voices will be heard on that, as well.

Of course, this is assuming that we can trust the veracity of the aforementioned polls.

[NMLSooner]

I don't know what they should nickname their team, but I do not understand why people get upset if they are called Los Angeles. Does anybody, other than the mayor's office, think Anaheim is a major league city? Do they really think they would have ANY teams if they were not a part of the Los Angeles metropolis. Boston College isn't called Chestnut Hill College. Miami University is not Coral Gables University. The Dallas Cowboys are not the Irving or soon to be Arlington Cowboys! The Hyattsville Redskins defeated defeated the East Rutherford Giants 20-17. How stupid is that.

[Brian in Boston]

Do they really think they would have ANY teams if they were not a part of the Los Angeles metropolis. Boston College isn't called Chestnut Hill College. Miami University is not Coral Gables University. The Dallas Cowboys are not the Irving or soon to be Arlington Cowboys! The Hyattsville Redskins defeated defeated the East Rutherford Giants 20-17. How stupid is that.

Your analogies - with the possible exception of Arlington, Texas - really don't hold up to scrutiny.

Chestnut Hill, MA: Chestnut Hill is neither a municipality nor a political entity of its own. It is a name applied to a cluster of neighborhoods in Greater Boston, including sections of the City of Boston, the City of Brookline and the City of Newton. Given the fact that a portion of the Chestnut Hill neighborhood is comprised of a section of the City of Boston, it makes perfect sense to label the university there as Boston College.

Coral Gables, FL: Coral Gables, while a distinct municipality from the City of Miami, is nevertheless located in Miami-Dade County, hence the use of Miami in the university's name makes sense.

Irving, TX: Irving, Texas, while a distinct municipality from the City of Dallas, is nevertheless located in Dallas County, hence the reason that the name Dallas Cowboys makes sense.

Hyattsville, MD and East Rutherford, NJ have populations of 14,733 and 8,716, respectively. Given the populations of Washington DC (563,384) and New York City (8 million), I think it is understandable why teams in Hyattsville and East Rutherford have not adopted the names of the municipalities in which they play as their place-names. Your analogies would be better positioned if you queried why the NFL franchises in Hyattsville and East Rutherford aren't labelled the Maryland Redskins and New Jersey Giants?

As for the Dallas Cowboy's future move to Arlington, your analogy begins to make a bit more sense here. After all, Arlington is a city of 332,969 people located in an entirely separate county (Tarrant County) from Dallas. However, the city of Arlington has made the choice not to require that the Cowboys change their place name to Arlington. That is their choice.

Contrast this with the fact that the City of Anaheim - a municipality of 328,014 people (hardly a small town) located better than thirty miles from downtown Los Angeles in an entirely different county - entered into a lease provision with the Angels that required the team to include the place-name Anaheim in their team name. The reason? The City of Anaheim wanted to receive the benefit of the name recognition that comes to a municipality that plays host to a major professional sports franchise. They felt that this was fair compensation for the improvements that the municipality made to the Angels' home facility.

Said lease provision, as well as the responsibility to be bound by it, was inherited by Arte Moreno upon his purchase of the team. While Mr. Moreno would argue that the name Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim is technically in compliance with the lease provision, there is no escaping the fact that the name does not fulfill the spirit in which the provision was drafted. In point of fact, given that the Los Angeles place-name takes prominence in the team's new moniker, the practical use of Anaheim is lost in the vast majority of broadcast and print coverage of the franchise... just as Mr. Moreno was aware it would be when he adopted the new name. Hence, you can "salute" Mr. Moreno for his business "savvy", but the fact remains that his business ethics - as illustrated by this case - are sorely lacking.