The World's Most Ridiculous Non-Winning/Discarded Sports Team Names

[mania]

Wrong. Longhorn is a breed... there are Longhorn steers, which are castrated, as well as Longhorn bulls and cows.

[Lord Dravan]

I recall that when Columbus was granted an NHL team they went to the league with two name choices. "Blue Jackets" and "Justice". Not a shock that the NHL picked "Blue jackets" not sure why ownership thought "Justice" would have been a good name to market. Did they actually have a name the team contest???

[DrBear]

The reason for "Bay State Patriots" was that they were moving next to the harness track in Foxboro - the Bay State Raceway. So with the NFL worried about gambling, it had to be nixed. (And I'm sure Green Bay and San Francisco would have grumbled, as would Tampa Bay if it had a team at the time)

[leopard88]

OK, more ...

In the '95 NFL expansion, these names were considered:

Baltimore (they eventually picked Bombers):

Rhinos

Carolina (Panthers)

Rhinos

The NFL was really pushing Rhinos in Baltimore at the time of the expansion derby. I don't remember if they pushed it again when the Browns/Ravens came to town.

Here's the full list of precursors to Avalanche:

It is interesting that two of those names have been used in Denver since then:

Rapids -- soccer

Outlaws -- lacrosse (IIRC)

[fuzzy510]

When the Washington Wizards had their "name-the-team" vote back when they changed from Bullets, the other names considered were Dragons, Express, Stallions and......Sea Dogs.

[rams80]

Weren't the Houston Astros close to a name change back in the late 1990s?

I seem to recall seeing (on this board) that they wanted to change to the Houston Diesel or Diesels.

[CC97]

When the Washington Wizards had their "name-the-team" vote back when they changed from Bullets, the other names considered were Dragons, Express, Stallions and......Sea Dogs.

I voted for Washington Barracudas... yeah, I know.

[Brick]

My favorite among the nicknames for the team that eventually became the Wild was Northern Lights. The North part recalls the North Stars. The Light is what you light when you score a goal.

[sc49erfan15]

Surprised that no one has mentioned that the Charlotte Hornets were almost the...

Charlotte Spirit.

Let it be known that the Charlotte Hornets predated the WNBA by almost 10 years.

[Korkie]

The 2 other finalists for the Charlotte Bobcats were the Charlotte Flight and the Charlotte Dragons.

[raz]

Another rumored Houston Astros rename: Central Texas Express.

Also, when the USFL was announced, the team that ended up the Oakland Invaders was briefly named the Bay Area Invaders.

And remember the XFL San Francisco Demons began life, but never played, as the San Jose Demons.

[hawk36]

In the 90s when there were talks regarding moving the Minnesota Timberwolves to New Orleans, the firm I was working for was asked to come up with marketing concepts for the:

Louisiana Purchase

They actually already had a logo complete with $ sign and a primarily green color scheme with purple and yellow secondary colors. Always thought that would have been a great team but, alas, it never happened.

[Sodboy13]

Speaking of the XFL, the Birmingham Thunderbolts were originally going to be the Birmingham Blast, but concerns about dredging up the area's history of racially-motivated bombings led them to rethink that.

[Diablo de Tejas]

The Dallas Stars were considering being the Dallas Lone Stars

Right, except that would have been a better name. I still don't understand how the North Stars didn't become the Lone Stars. Would have taken a little of the burn off the anger for me if Norm Green had done more than just lop the word "North" off the team name when he skipped town.

Wasn't there a public vote when the Devil Rays were being organized? I can't find the list, but I seem to recall there being some howlingly bad names on the list -- including, of course, the name eventually chosen.

I will say this, it would be funny for a team called the "LONE" starS to be plural.

And it's not funny for a team to call themselves North StarS? I mean technically, there is only one north star in the sky.

[Island_Style]

The Dallas Stars were considering being the Dallas Lone Stars

Right, except that would have been a better name. I still don't understand how the North Stars didn't become the Lone Stars. Would have taken a little of the burn off the anger for me if Norm Green had done more than just lop the word "North" off the team name when he skipped town.

Wasn't there a public vote when the Devil Rays were being organized? I can't find the list, but I seem to recall there being some howlingly bad names on the list -- including, of course, the name eventually chosen.

I will say this, it would be funny for a team called the "LONE" starS to be plural.

And it's not funny for a team to call themselves North StarS? I mean technically, there is only one north star in the sky.

Ummmm, duh

[gueman]

OK, more ...

In the '95 NFL expansion, these names were considered:

Baltimore (they eventually picked Bombers):

Rhinos

Carolina (Panthers)

Rhinos

The NFL was really pushing Rhinos in Baltimore at the time of the expansion derby. I don't remember if they pushed it again when the Browns/Ravens came to town.

Remember the rumor that if Leonard ?Boogie? Weinglass was to get the expansion team it was gonna be the Baltimore Boogie's.

And the NFL had mock ups made of both the Baltimore Bombers, and the Baltimore Rhino's helmets. I remember hearing Scott Garceau tell a story that the NFL had both helmets there when the expansion announcements were made. I think St. Louis had 2 as well the Stallions and the Archers. I always thought the Archers could have been one of he coolest logos ever.

Oh well...

When the Fredrick Keys came into being, the second place name was the Flintstones. And it actually would have worked because there are 2 quarries about a mile or 3 from the stadium.

Also the Bowie Baysox almost became the Bowie Knives, and I think the Bowie Kuhns got a few votes too.

[Viper]

Here's the full list of precursors to Avalanche:

It is interesting that two of those names have been used in Denver since then:

Rapids -- soccer

Outlaws -- lacrosse (IIRC)

And of course, "Avalanche" itself is a locally recycled nickname (it was originally the name of Denver's MISL team).

[AndrewPF]

As a companion to The World's Most Ridiculous Sports Team Names thread, always know that things could have been worse.

The San Jose Sharks could have been The San Jose Yodeling Yams.

The Chicago Red Stars (it hasn't won yet, but I sense a groundswell) of WPS could have been The Chicago Stinking Onions.

The Michigan Panthers of the USFL could have been The Detroit Rens (short for Renaissance).

I didn't particularly go for the WNBA Atlanta Dream, but it could have been the Sizzle (a name only Snoop Doggy D-o-double-gizzle could love).

The Lehigh Valley IronPigs is awful, but the Phantastics would have been infinitely worse.

Box lacrosse team Boston Blazers could have had the name Chowder Heads, Wicked Pissah Pythons, and Tea Party.

And of course, MLS's central teams could have sounded like a bad trip to the proctologist (Wiz, Burn).

Any other "could be worse" moments that you know of?

What's wrong with that? That name would've been, well...wicked pissah.

[leopard88]

Here's the full list of precursors to Avalanche:

It is interesting that two of those names have been used in Denver since then:

Rapids -- soccer

Outlaws -- lacrosse (IIRC)

And of course, "Avalanche" itself is a locally recycled nickname (it was originally the name of Denver's MISL team).

I forgot about that.

[agentrygraphics]

I recall that when Columbus was granted an NHL team they went to the league with two name choices. "Blue Jackets" and "Justice". Not a shock that the NHL picked "Blue jackets" not sure why ownership thought "Justice" would have been a good name to market. Did they actually have a name the team contest???

IIRC, yes...and I submitted "Ohio Puckeyes" as a team name.