Bye Bye Kings, Hello Royals

[rams80]

... they were orginally called the Rochester Royals...then kept the name in Cincinnati and Kansas City (where it eventuilly switched to the Kings due to their MLB team with the same name).

The NBA franchise was never named the Royals while playing in Kansas City. They were renamed the Kings upon arrival in Kansas City in 1972, as MLB's Kansas City Royals had been playing in the Missouri city since 1969.

You mean upon arrival in Kansas City and Omaha.

I still don't know why, since St. Louis still had the football Cardinals/baseball Cardinals, KC couldn't have had the baseball Royals/basketball Royals.

Because they had a decade to see what happened to the football Cardinals in that market?

[powersurge]

Why do I get the feeling that if the Kings do move to So Cal and opt for the name "LA Royals" that they will still somehow be more relevant and popular than the LA Clippers?

Even with Blake Griffin on their team the Clips continue to fall further into obscurity. Sad.

[Evil Doctor]

St. Louis will likely pick up the Hornets once Howard Balsille purchases the Blues and moves them to Hamilton.

And Howard Balsille would be...?

Besides the punchline of that joke, the guy who tried to buy the Phoenix Coyotes in a bankruptcy deal and the previous attempts at other NHL teams.

Don't seem to recall a Howard Balsille ever trying to buy the Coyotes or any other franchise for that matter...?

[McCall]

St. Louis will likely pick up the Hornets once Howard Balsille purchases the Blues and moves them to Hamilton.

And Howard Balsille would be...?

Besides the punchline of that joke, the guy who tried to buy the Phoenix Coyotes in a bankruptcy deal and the previous attempts at other NHL teams.

JIM Balsille

[The_Admiral]

I thought the joke was that it was some Jim Balsillie/Howard Baldwin hockey gadfly hybrid.

[Evil Doctor]

JIM Balsille

Oh, so close...it's actually James Laurence "Jim" BALSILLIE

[Sport]

Why do I get the feeling that if the Kings do move to So Cal and opt for the name "LA Royals" that they will still somehow be more relevant and popular than the LA Clippers?

Even with Blake Griffin on their team the Clips continue to fall further into obscurity. Sad.

I don't think that's true at all. Everywhere I've read the Clippers are getting more publicity than I've ever seen and it's all because of Blake Griffin.

[IceCap]

Why do I get the feeling that if the Kings do move to So Cal and opt for the name "LA Royals" that they will still somehow be more relevant and popular than the LA Clippers?

Even with Blake Griffin on their team the Clips continue to fall further into obscurity. Sad.

I would say you've missed the mark here. They're not going to surpass the Clippers as the market's number 2 team. If you're still a Clippers fan you're in it for the long haul by this point.

[loogodude90]

Why do I get the feeling that if the Kings do move to So Cal and opt for the name "LA Royals" that they will still somehow be more relevant and popular than the LA Clippers?

Even with Blake Griffin on their team the Clips continue to fall further into obscurity. Sad.

I would say you've missed the mark here. They're not going to surpass the Clippers as the market's number 2 team. If you're still a Clippers fan you're in it for the long haul by this point.

I disagree. As a long-suffering Wizards fan who lives in the Baltimore market, I would root for the Baltimore team if we were to get one. It's more a matter of rooting for the home team that's most marketed to me. Right now that's the Wizards for me. But I would stop rooting for them if Baltimore got a team. I'm sure there are plenty of fans in Orange County who think the same way.

[rams80]

Why do I get the feeling that if the Kings do move to So Cal and opt for the name "LA Royals" that they will still somehow be more relevant and popular than the LA Clippers?

Even with Blake Griffin on their team the Clips continue to fall further into obscurity. Sad.

I would say you've missed the mark here. They're not going to surpass the Clippers as the market's number 2 team. If you're still a Clippers fan you're in it for the long haul by this point.

I disagree. As a long-suffering Wizards fan who lives in the Baltimore market, I would root for the Baltimore team if we were to get one. It's more a matter of rooting for the home team that's most marketed to me. Right now that's the Wizards for me. But I would stop rooting for them if Baltimore got a team. I'm sure there are plenty of fans in Orange County who think the same way.

But most of them are Laker fans. You ain't bailing on the Lakers because of a marginally closer team.

It's one thing to bail on an out of market team that has been so historically inept they passed out "2nd Round Bitches!" T shirts when they finally got over that hump a couple of years ago. It's another (much less likely) thing to bail on an in market team with the most titles in league history and oh...BTW is the 2-time defending league champions.

[IceCap]

Why do I get the feeling that if the Kings do move to So Cal and opt for the name "LA Royals" that they will still somehow be more relevant and popular than the LA Clippers?

Even with Blake Griffin on their team the Clips continue to fall further into obscurity. Sad.

I would say you've missed the mark here. They're not going to surpass the Clippers as the market's number 2 team. If you're still a Clippers fan you're in it for the long haul by this point.

I disagree. As a long-suffering Wizards fan who lives in the Baltimore market, I would root for the Baltimore team if we were to get one. It's more a matter of rooting for the home team that's most marketed to me. Right now that's the Wizards for me. But I would stop rooting for them if Baltimore got a team. I'm sure there are plenty of fans in Orange County who think the same way.

You live in Baltimore. The Wizards are the closest team, but if Baltimore got a team you'd have a legitimate home town team to support. Baltimore is, in and of itself, a separate market from Washington D.C.

Anaheim is just a suburb of Los Angeles. The Lakers and Clippers ARE the home town teams. A third team located in Anaheim is, practically speaking, no more of a home town team to Anaheim then either the Clippers or Lakers.

Also, any Clippers fans who would be inclined to ditch the team in favour of supporting a more successful one have probably already jumped ship (pardon the pun)to support other teams. At this point any remaining Clippers fans are likely in it for the long haul.

Besides, are the Kings/Royals really a better alternative then the Clippers to the "screw the Lakers" LA basketball crowd? Both teams are inept, but at least the Clippers fail in exciting new ways. The Kings are just sort of there.

[Joshawaggie]

So, now Sacramento is part of the Bay Area? Have any of you even been to California?

It's close enough.

well then NYC is in New Jersey and San Diego part of Mexico

Would it really be a great idea to have one NBA franchise in Sacramento and two others in the bay area, in SF and SJ?

For sports purposes, I consider it part of the bay area. Sue me.

I think you might mean to say Northern California. Say that.

[omnivore]

Why do I get the feeling that if the Kings do move to So Cal and opt for the name "LA Royals" that they will still somehow be more relevant and popular than the LA Clippers?

Even with Blake Griffin on their team the Clips continue to fall further into obscurity. Sad.

I would say you've missed the mark here. They're not going to surpass the Clippers as the market's number 2 team. If you're still a Clippers fan you're in it for the long haul by this point.

I disagree. As a long-suffering Wizards fan who lives in the Baltimore market, I would root for the Baltimore team if we were to get one. It's more a matter of rooting for the home team that's most marketed to me. Right now that's the Wizards for me. But I would stop rooting for them if Baltimore got a team. I'm sure there are plenty of fans in Orange County who think the same way.

You live in Baltimore. The Wizards are the closest team, but if Baltimore got a team you'd have a legitimate home town team to support. Baltimore is, in and of itself, a separate market from Washington D.C.

Anaheim is just a suburb of Los Angeles. The Lakers and Clippers ARE the home town teams. A third team located in Anaheim is, practically speaking, no more of a home town team to Anaheim then either the Clippers or Lakers.

Also, any Clippers fans who would be inclined to ditch the team in favour of supporting a more successful one have probably already jumped ship (pardon the pun)to support other teams. At this point any remaining Clippers fans are likely in it for the long haul.

Besides, are the Kings/Royals really a better alternative then the Clippers to the "screw the Lakers" LA basketball crowd? Both teams are inept, but at least the Clippers fail in exciting new ways. The Kings are just sort of there.

Anaheim is an entirely different county than Los Angeles. While it's geographically close, the OC is different. Despite the proximity, it's akin to Jersey and New York City in the sense that it's a large area in it's own right on the periphery of a much larger metropolis. Unlike say, suburban Chicago people who will claim the city from an hour out, folks from the OC and to a lesser extent, Jersey aren't going to claim they live in the big city because they live in distinct areas separate from there.

And Anaheim already has two teams of it's own and previously hosted an NFL team. No matter what the Angels are called, they're certainly in Anaheim and aren't going anywhere. So a 3rd team there might fly in the face of the wisdom of folks who've never been there, but...it makes a lot more sense than I think people want it to. But this will be one of those fun scenarios on message boards where we bump a thread from years ago and see who was right no matter how it goes down.

[BBTV]

Jesus not this again.

[IceCap]

Why do I get the feeling that if the Kings do move to So Cal and opt for the name "LA Royals" that they will still somehow be more relevant and popular than the LA Clippers?

Even with Blake Griffin on their team the Clips continue to fall further into obscurity. Sad.

I would say you've missed the mark here. They're not going to surpass the Clippers as the market's number 2 team. If you're still a Clippers fan you're in it for the long haul by this point.

I disagree. As a long-suffering Wizards fan who lives in the Baltimore market, I would root for the Baltimore team if we were to get one. It's more a matter of rooting for the home team that's most marketed to me. Right now that's the Wizards for me. But I would stop rooting for them if Baltimore got a team. I'm sure there are plenty of fans in Orange County who think the same way.

You live in Baltimore. The Wizards are the closest team, but if Baltimore got a team you'd have a legitimate home town team to support. Baltimore is, in and of itself, a separate market from Washington D.C.

Anaheim is just a suburb of Los Angeles. The Lakers and Clippers ARE the home town teams. A third team located in Anaheim is, practically speaking, no more of a home town team to Anaheim then either the Clippers or Lakers.

Also, any Clippers fans who would be inclined to ditch the team in favour of supporting a more successful one have probably already jumped ship (pardon the pun)to support other teams. At this point any remaining Clippers fans are likely in it for the long haul.

Besides, are the Kings/Royals really a better alternative then the Clippers to the "screw the Lakers" LA basketball crowd? Both teams are inept, but at least the Clippers fail in exciting new ways. The Kings are just sort of there.

Anaheim is an entirely different county than Los Angeles. While it's geographically close, the OC is different. Despite the proximity, it's akin to Jersey and New York City in the sense that it's a large area in it's own right on the periphery of a much larger metropolis. Unlike say, suburban Chicago people who will claim the city from an hour out, folks from the OC and to a lesser extent, Jersey aren't going to claim they live in the big city because they live in distinct areas separate from there.

And Anaheim already has two teams of it's own and previously hosted an NFL team. No matter what the Angels are called, they're certainly in Anaheim and aren't going anywhere. So a 3rd team there might fly in the face of the wisdom of folks who've never been there, but...it makes a lot more sense than I think people want it to.

The NFL team, when it played in Anaheim, used the Los Angeles name. Had the Mighty Ducks not gone with the Anahiem name we wouldn't think twice about Anahiem-based teams using the Los Angeles name.

Anaheim, in fact all of Orange County, only exists in the form that it does because of Los Angeles. LA is the economic, cultural, and social centre of the region. Anaheim is also within the Los Angeles media market. Anaheim is a suburb of Los Angeles. Simple as that. Any notion within Orange County that they're separate from LA is only born out of a misplaced sense of suburban pride.

Or if you want an even more convincing argument, consider this. Most basketball fans in Orange County are currently Lakers fans. Why would they drop the Lakers to support the Kings, of all teams?

But this will be one of those fun scenarios on message boards where we bump a thread from years ago and see who was right no matter how it goes down.

I don't have to dig up old threads to disprove your "the Kings will do fine in Anaheim by courting the transplants" theory. All I have to do is point you in the direction of the Phoenix Coyotes thread in the Sports in General forum.

[rams80]

I don't have to dig up old threads to disprove your "the Kings will do fine in Anaheim by courting the transplants" theory. All I have to do is point you in the direction of the Phoenix Coyotes thread in the Sports in General forum.

Or the annual discussions about why nobody in Florida appears to like baseball.

[The_Admiral]

Any notion within Orange County that they're separate from LA is only born out of a misplaced sense of suburban pride.

And disowning coloreds.

[chakfu]

It's another (much less likely) thing to bail on an in market team with the most titles in league history

Did I miss some discussion about the Kings moving to Boston?

[rams80]

It's another (much less likely) thing to bail on an in market team with the most titles in league history

Did I miss some discussion about the Kings moving to Boston?

That NBL title is just as legitimate as any of the Celtics.

[chakfu]

It's another (much less likely) thing to bail on an in market team with the most titles in league history

Did I miss some discussion about the Kings moving to Boston?

That NBL title is just as legitimate as any of the Celtics.

As "any" of the Celtics, which were all in the NBA and in Boston? Funny how every NBA book I've ever seen lists champions starting with the '47 Warriors, and omits NBL champs. ABA champs are omitted as well, and they merged into the NBA too.

You wanna talk "legitimate", maybe we should start by vacating the last couple won because of a certain donation. At least the current Heat assembled by collusion between the players which is technically within the rules...

I wasn't even aware that Lakers fans tried to claim an NBL title in order to tie the Celtics. Do they even have a banner up for it in Staples? I know they don't even give enough consideration to the Minneapolis NBA/BAA titles to give them regular banners.

I guess we can add this to the list of blatant lies frequently told by Lakers fans and apologists, in addition to:

1. Gasol for cap space, low draft picks, and marginal prospects was no worse than Garnett for Al Jefferson, cap space, low draft picks, and marginal prospects

2. The Lakers offer of Bynum for Garnett was better than Jefferson for Garnett, despite the fact that Bynum had done next to nothing at that point and Jefferson routinely was putting up 20/10

3. My personal favorite - Trevor Ariza's injury was a big part of the 2008 Finals outcome. Even though he was back from that injury by the conference finals.

I would think the enjoyment the Lakers' fans have gotten out of the last 3 decades (and the knowledge that the league and, apparently, other teams like Memphis, will do all they can to ensure their success continues) would be enough. But you guys still have to make up utter nonsense, it's kind of crazy.