All Time Worst Professional Sports Team Nicknames

[kmccarthy27]

Ten bad names:

5. Carolina Hurricanes - I kinda figured the U had the name to themselves in the minds of Americans, plus it's not good to name a team for a meteorological enemy of the region.

Washington Nationals (MLB) - should've just went with Senators. IMHO.

Maybe they knew if they did that, the franchise would just leave again. Actually, given the history with both names, they may not be safe either way.

They could not use the Senators because the Twins or the Rangers own the Trademark and they would not give it up. If you notice the W is slightly different on the caps to be different than the Senators.

[KennyRock]

Ten bad names:

5. Carolina Hurricanes - I kinda figured the U had the name to themselves in the minds of Americans, plus it's not good to name a team for a meteorological enemy of the region.

Washington Nationals (MLB) - should've just went with Senators. IMHO.

Maybe they knew if they did that, the franchise would just leave again. Actually, given the history with both names, they may not be safe either way.

They could not use the Senators because the Twins or the Rangers own the Trademark and they would not give it up. If you notice the W is slightly different on the caps to be different than the Senators.

It's the Rangers. The fact that they owned the nickname was the nail in the coffin, but I thought that even before that legal issue Senators had proved less popular for political reasons.

None of this changes the fact I was just making a joke, and didn't actually believe that's why they chose Nats.

[JH42XCC]

IIRC, according to one legend, the Detroit Tigers (MLB) were named for the Detroit Light Guard military unit, who were known as "The Tigers". Either that or they may have been named for the black & orange striped socks they wore in their early years. Meanwhile, the Detroit Lions (NFL) name was inspired by the Tigers baseball team.

On the Cubs/Bears side of things, the Chicago Cubs (MLB) were named as such in 1902 due to the many young players they hand on the team at the time, while the Chicago Bears (NFL), their nickname served as a football companion to the Cubs baseball team.

[29texan]

I don't know if this has been touched on, but it was mentioned earlier about the Texas Rangers' name. So just to explain....

1.) They're called the 'Texas Rangers' in honor of the legendary law enforcement in the state. It's not about state ownership. That's why they're not the Dallas Rangers or Fort Worth Rangers or Arlington Rangers.

2.) I know this is the Fort Worth coming out in me, but they're not "Dallas' Team" They belong to the entire Metroplex. The Cowboys are a different story.

3.) While I'm on the topic, I just wanna congratulate the Rangers for a good season..... even though they couldn't go all the way.

And Congrats to the San Francisco Giants.... which is another questionable name from relocation, but I wont get into that.

The only nickname I really hate are the Wizards. People, there are WORSE and more offensive things in this world than Bullets.

[The_Admiral]

1) Duh, but that doesn't make it a good name. If they moved to Lancaster and called themselves the Pennsylvania Dutch, it would still be a crappy name.

2) All four teams "belong to" greater Dallas-Fort Worth and beyond; there's no sense in splitting hairs here.

[29texan]

1) Duh, but that doesn't make it a good name. If they moved to Lancaster and called themselves the Pennsylvania Dutch, it would still be a crappy name.

2) All four teams "belong to" greater Dallas-Fort Worth and beyond; there's no sense in splitting hairs here.

Well, opinions are opinions....

And even though the (pro) teams are considered to belong to the entire Metroplex, we still get shots of Dallas after every other commercial. Fort Worth, it's own city, doesn't get that luxury, other than TCU..... and even then, you don't hear our town's name as much.

[The_Admiral]

Because Dallas is the major city of the metropolis and Fort Worth isn't. I don't really know what's in Fort Worth. Anything I know about Texas is more than I want to.

[29texan]

Because Dallas is the major city of the metropolis and Fort Worth isn't. I don't really know what's in Fort Worth. Anything I know about Texas is more than I want to.

Well, it's the PRIMARY major city if that's what you mean, because Fort Worth's a major city as well. But I'm just tellin' you how it is.... Like Texas or not.

[Corvus]

While extinct, sabre tooth tigers and dinosaurs are freaking awesome, therefore your thesis is critically flawed.

[Mingjai]

Anyway, there is only one team nickname that actually bother me.

The Celtics. Mostly because of how it's said. "Sell-tics." Anywhere else I've seen Celtics it is pronounced "Kel-tics." With all the Irish themed logos running around that organization, you'd think someone would either correct that or explain why it's pronounced that way. I've never looked it up though, maybe they have.

Perhaps you should look it up. In the Oxford English Dictionary, both "Sell-tics" and "Kell-tics" are equally correct pronunciations of Celtics. Anyone that tells you the "Kell-tic" is the only correct pronunciation is either being an intellectual snob or is uninformed.

Apparently the words Celt and Celtic originate from the Greek word "Keltoi," where the "k" pronunciation originates. In Classical Latin, the word became "Celtae" (still rendered with a "k" sound), but in the transition to early Romance, the sound transformed to more of an "s" sound. Because of the French influence on the English language from the Norman invasion of England, many words of Romantic origin beginning with "Ce" have the "s" sound in English.

Even the legendary Glasgow soccer team Celtic F.C., with its Irish roots, is pronounced "Sell-tic."

[topperblue]

As someone who likes to paint logos on fields, I'd much rather paint the Purple Cows logo than the Browns helmet. (not that I own a single piece of purple clothing... )

[Elfman]

You know what, I've got a few minutes to spare.

10/9) There are no Bears, Cubs, or Bulls in the city of Chicago. Did it ever occur to you that, just maybe, aggressive, powerful animals make suitable representations for sports franchises?

8) Ever seen a Franciscan priest?

We had a Franciscan occasionally perform services at the Catholic Church my family went to. His title was "Father". He dressed just like the pic above.

7) This is the Pittsburgh Civic Arena. It is where the Pittsburgh NHL team played from 1967 to 2010.

See how it looks like an igloo? Most people called it that, in fact. A building shaped like an igloo, a sport played on ice, hmm, seems like a penguin would be a natural association for a mascot representation, plus the alliteration makes the team name easy to remember. Could have been Eskimos too, but since there never were any in Pittsburgh, I guess that also would have been unacceptable.

6) The hundreds of thousands of people of Nordic descent from Minnesota say "Hi."

5) I'm sure this is because you think "Harry Potter" automatically when you hear Wizard, because you are 14 (I'm not buying that '89 birth year for a second,) and you are part of the "reading's for dorks" fraternity. There are many far better reasons why Wizards is a poor name.

4) The name dates from the first decade of the 1900s, when language constructs were different. White stockings have been a part of the uniform in years prior, though not always. And yet, you have no problem with the Boston Red Sox.

3) So teams can only be named after things that are currently alive?

2) A large fossil was discovered while the Predators' arena was being constructed. Thus the name and logo.

1) Oh, Christ almighty, not this again.

Bull, Bear is for the stock market

[Varsity Blue]

Anything I know about Texas is more than I want to.

You must not be very bothered, then.

[fumbler]

Moving teams kepping their nicknames.

St Louis Rams

Washington Redskins

[sportswizard1983]

Moving teams kepping their nicknames.

St Louis Rams

Washington Redskins

Also, all the others who've done the same:

Atlanta Braves

Oakland Athletics

Los Angeles Dodgers

San Francisco Giants

Arizona Cardinals

Indianapolis Colts

San Diego Chargers

Atlanta Hawks

Golden State Warriors

Los Angeles Clippers

Los Angeles Lakers

Memphis Grizzlies

New Orleans Hornets

Sacremento Kings

Utah Jazz

Calgary Flames

not to say that any of these are actually bad. Actually, one of the best names that were kept after moving were the Houston Rockets, since NASA is in Houston.

And for those (and there may not be that many of you, lol) who don't know the original cities for the teams I have mentioned, here you go:

Atlanta Braves - Boston Braves, Milwaukee Braves

Los Angeles Dodgers - Brooklyn Dodgers

Oakland Athletics - Philadelphia Athletics, Kansas City Athletics

San Francisco Giants - New York Giants

Arizona Cardinals - Chicago Cardinals, St. Louis Cardinals, Phoenix Cardinals

Indianapolis Colts - Baltimore Colts

San Diego Chargers - Los Angeles Chargers

Atlanta Hawks - Milwaukee Hawks, St. Louis Hawks

Golden State Warriors - Philadelphia Warriors, SF Warriors

Los Angeles Clippers - San Diego Clippers

Los Angeles Lakers - Minneapolis Lakers

Memphis Grizzlies - Vancouver Grizzlies

New Orleans Hornets - Charlotte Hornets

Sacremento Kings - Kansas City Kings

Utah Jazz - New Orleans Jazz

Calgary Flames - Atlanta Flames

[rams80]

Moving teams kepping their nicknames.

St Louis Rams

Washington Redskins

For the frickin' 26,735th time, there is nothing "organic" about the Rams nickname to Cleveland or Los Angeles. It wasn't bestowed by the fans, but the owner at the time.

[fumbler]

Moving teams kepping their nicknames.

St Louis Rams

Washington Redskins

For the frickin' 26,735th time, there is nothing "organic" about the Rams nickname to Cleveland or Los Angeles. It wasn't bestowed by the fans, but the owner at the time.

It's still the way a club is moved or transfered to another city and keeps the old nickname and or logo.

Lulz at the JAZZ in Utah.

[rams80]

Moving teams kepping their nicknames.

St Louis Rams

Washington Redskins

For the frickin' 26,735th time, there is nothing "organic" about the Rams nickname to Cleveland or Los Angeles. It wasn't bestowed by the fans, but the owner at the time.

It's still the way a club is moved or transfered to another city and keeps the old nickname and or logo.

Lulz at the JAZZ in Utah.

Cleveland wanted to name their football team after its coach. Forget that.

Also, drop the Utah crap.

[IceCap]

Moving teams kepping their nicknames.

St Louis Rams

Washington Redskins

A team name belongs to the private entity that is the team. Not the fans or the city. If a team wants to take their identity with them when they move they can.

[BBTV]

Moving teams kepping their nicknames.

St Louis Rams

Washington Redskins

A team name belongs to the private entity that is the team. Not the fans or the city. If a team wants to take their identity with them when they move they can.

Hot dog, we have a wiener.

Cities can work stipulations into funding deals where the owners would maybe agree to relinquish the nickname if they moved the team, in exchange for stadium funding or infrastructure improvements, etc., but short of that, yeah - it's NOT the city's team, it's NOT a national institution (they don't sing the star spangled banner when Target opens every morning, so they shouldn't when a game starts either) and it's silly to have a ton of local pride in a team comprised of players and coaches who would never have even been in most of these cities had they not been drafted or offered a sh t load of money. Hell - in many cases, the owners aren't even from the city, and in some cases, they don't even spend much time there.