Location Name Changes

[hawk36]

Anyone know which team plays the furthest away from the city it claims? Quick Google Maps research show these. Any others I missed?

Los Angeles Angels

26 miles from Los Angeles

Dallas Cowboys

15 miles from Dallas

New York Giants/Jets

13 miles from New York

[winghaz]

The Angels only play 26 miles from Los Angeles? Sheesh, that's plenty close enough for them to claim L.A.

By the way, as a 9-year-old on a trip to California, in 1965, I remember going to an Angels game in Dodger Stadium. I also remember the big talk of them moving down the freeway to Anaheim. I was told by my aunt and uncle, who lived in Pomona, that Anaheim was where Disneyland was. Heck, I had never heard of Anaheim before. At that time, if you lived outside of Californa (especially if you were 9 years old), you thought of Disneyland as being part of L.A., or at least the L.A. area.

Sure, times have changed. But it just doesn't bother me that the Angels want to call themselves the Los Angeles Angels. It does, however, bother me that they want to be called the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

[Gothamite]

Trust me, they don't want that at all. They want to be the "Los Angeles Angels."

But they have to in order to tap into the LA money without bruising the delicate sensibilities of Anaheim's insecure city fathers, they're stuck with the compromise name.

New York Giants/Jets

13 miles from New York

Is that by car? Seems very high.

San Francisco to Santa Clara would easily take the prize, if the 49ers manage to complete their folly.

[The_Admiral]

Palace of Auburn Hills is 32 miles from Grand Circus Park. By car, at least. I don't think Google Maps lets you measure as the crow flies. Otherwise no way is it 13 miles from Manhattan to the Meadowlands.

The Senators are a murky situation because I think Kanata amalgamated into Ottawa so that technically it's now in Ottawa even though it's like 25 miles from Ottawa proper.

[Gothamite]

And that 13 miles is probably to City Hall downtown.

Think it's closer to half that from New Meadowlands to the east shore of the Hudson River as the crow flies.

[bosrs1]

Trust me, they don't want that at all. They want to be the "Los Angeles Angels."

But they have to in order to tap into the LA money without bruising the delicate sensibilities of Anaheim's insecure city fathers, they're stuck with the compromise name.

New York Giants/Jets

13 miles from New York

Is that by car? Seems very high.

San Francisco to Santa Clara would easily take the prize, if the 49ers manage to complete their folly.

Problem you have in California that kinda negates the whole concept is massive urban sprawl. The San Francisco Bay Area/San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland CSA despite what Oakland, San Jose, and San Francisco would like you to think it just one big metro area. "Los Angeles" is similarly just another big metro area, the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana MSA, despite what Santa Ana, Anaheim, LA, and Ventura would like you to think.

So the Angels calling themselves "Los Angeles" really isn't as disingenuous as it would appear to someone from other areas. Same with the Niners choosing to remain "San Francisco" when they move to Santa Clara.

[Tygers09]

Weren't the Patriots originally called Boston Patriots but when they moved to Foxborough, they were renamed New England because the close proximity to both Boston and Providence?

Denver Rockies/Rapids/Avalanche just doesn't sound right, keep Colorado

Los Angeles Angels[of Anaheim] - California Angels

Texas Rangers- what, call them the Dallas/Fort Worth Rangers,better yet the Arlington Rangers?

Charlotte Panthers I could see but prefer keeping it Carolina

Carolina Hurricanes- Raleigh/Durham Hurricanes?? I'm afraid not

Tennessee Titans- Nashville Titans?? Nope..

Detroit did have a roller hockey team named the Motor City Mustangs, and another hockey team called the Motor City Mechanics; both I thought were cool regional names.

[KJHillis]

Weren't the Patriots originally called Boston Patriots but when they moved to Foxborough, they were renamed New England because the close proximity to both Boston and Providence?

Denver Rockies/Rapids/Avalanche just doesn't sound right, keep Colorado

Los Angeles Angels[of Anaheim] - California Angels

Texas Rangers- what, call them the Dallas/Fort Worth Rangers,better yet the Arlington Rangers?

Charlotte Panthers I could see but prefer keeping it Carolina

Carolina Hurricanes- Raleigh/Durham Hurricanes?? I'm afraid not

Tennessee Titans- Nashville Titans?? Nope..

Detroit did have a roller hockey team named the Motor City Mustangs, and another hockey team called the Motor City Mechanics; both I thought were cool regional names.

As a South Carolina native, I know the Panthers are supposed to be a team of the Carolinas. Jerry Richardson graduated from Wofford .

[sc49erfan15]

As a South Carolina native, I know the Panthers are supposed to be a team of the Carolinas. Jerry Richardson graduated from Wofford .

Yes, and Bank of America Stadium was originally named "Carolinas Stadium" before Ericcson bought the rights.

And I'm not sure if I completely buy it, but renaming them the Charlotte Panthers (still sounds weird to me) would negate the symbolism/coincidence of the logo being roughly in the shape of the outline of the Carolinas:

Again, not sure I buy it, but if it's not intended, it's a heck of a coincidence.

[Bravo96]

True, but do the Panthers have many fans in SC? Besides for the preseason games, does anyone actually support them, and make a drive up to watch them play?

(As a side note, I went to a game last Sunday for the first time in 2 years, and they actually have a sizeable, supportive fanbase. Good to see.)

[sc49erfan15]

True, but do the Panthers have many fans in SC? Besides for the preseason games, does anyone actually support them, and make a drive up to watch them play?

(As a side note, I went to a game last Sunday for the first time in 2 years, and they actually have a sizeable, supportive fanbase. Good to see.)

I'm from Rock Hill, about 15 miles away. Most people that I know that didn't have any other reason to cheer for another team (I'm an exception) are Panthers fans. My grandfather is from Rock Hill and he's a PSL owner/season ticket holder. There's a pretty sizable Panthers fan base, at least in the region of SC surrounding Charlotte.

I currently live closer to the center of SC, about 2 hours from Charlotte. There are considerably less Panthers fans, but there definitely are some.

I'm not sure about the Greenville/Spartanburg/Upstate area or Charleston area (I get the impression that it's closer to a Panthers/Falcons split in those places) but at least in some parts of SC there is considerable support for the Panthers.

[xTr1pleXx]

I'll give a very concise reason why the "Giants/Jets should be named for New Jersey!" argument is bogus.

MetLife Stadium is about the same distance from 42nd and Broadway as Citi Field is (in fact, I think it's a little closer to Times Square than Citi Field is, but I don't have the numbers on me). Yankee Stadium, while slightly closer, is a comparable distance from Times Square as the other two stadiums.

East Rutherford is more than just "a part" of the NYC Metropolitan Area. It's right next to New York City. Extremely, extremely close. There are lots of parts of New York City proper that are a greater distance from Midtown than is East Rutherford.

Just because the slightly wider of the two rivers separates the southwestern part of Bergen County from Manhattan doesn't mean it's not anywhere close to the city, or that the teams can't identify themselves using their metropolitan area's name.

Having an issue with the Giants and Jets names would be just as asinine as having an issue with the Redskins, Bills, Cowboys, and Dolphins names. In fact, the Giants and Jets play CLOSER to Midtown Manhattan than most of those teams do to their respective downtown areas.

[poser]

The San Francisco 49ers are moving 42 miles from downtown San Francisco.

[Varsity Blue]

I like the name Golden State Warriors, it's different. Also like the Boston Patriots. Tampa Bay Buccaneers has a nice bounce. Tampa Buccaneers is sorta flat.

Solve the Washington argument by calling the Wizards the Capital City Bullets like the old days. Capital City Redskins/Nationals? I already call the Redskins "D.C. Skins."

[IceCap]

I like the name Golden State Warriors, it's different. Also like the Boston Patriots. Tampa Bay Buccaneers has a nice bounce. Tampa Buccaneers is sorta flat.

Solve the Washington argument by calling the Wizards the Capital City Bullets like the old days. Capital City Redskins/Nationals? I already call the Redskins "D.C. Skins."

Well DC IS the technically the name of the US capital. The city hasn't been known as "Washington" officially since 1871.

[The_Admiral]

I saw the last post was Ice_Cap and I was going to say "hey Ice_Cap remember when we did this thread last year and a bunch of people jumped down your throat for that whole business about DC's government not being called 'the City of Washington'" but looks like you beat me!

[WSU151]

New Orleans Hornets should totally change to Charlotte Hornets... Wait...

[IceCap]

I saw the last post was Ice_Cap and I was going to say "hey Ice_Cap remember when we did this thread last year and a bunch of people jumped down your throat for that whole business about DC's government not being called 'the City of Washington'" but looks like you beat me!

Fun times all around indeed.

I get the sentimentality attached to the name "Washington." Also, I understand that despite what's official the name of the city's always been "Washington" to most people. That's not anything to scoff at, public perception's a powerful thing. So I don't really have a problem with DC-based teams using the name "Washington."

I just think "District of Columbia"/"DC" is a viable alternative. I'm still not sure why pointing out that "Distinct of Columbia" is the only official name for the US capital caused so much ruckus on here.

[kw11333]

Rare one. The Washington Stealth of the NLL, who play in Everett, Washington (and sometimes Seattle). I actually hate the name, because even I thought they played in DC.

Naming them the "Texas Rangers" has allowed them to make their fan base bigger. There is a lot of people around Texas who prefer them because they represent Texas better than Houston does.

[illwauk]

NFL: Indiana Colts

I've loved this ever since it was mistakenly put into Tecmo Bowl. Thank goodness the Pacers founders actually considered what a mouthful Indianapolis is when they chose their name.

MLB: Los Angeles Angels

This one should be obvious. Normally in a situation like the Angels' I would prefer Anaheim or Orange County since there's a team that actually plays in LA proper, but not only is the Angels name a tribute to the old PCL club, it really doesn't make sense paired with any other locale but Los Angeles.

NBA: San Francisco Bay Warriors

I don't like when teams name themselves to claim an area that has other teams. This name acknowledges San Francisco as the center of the region, but does so in a way that doesn't alienate the other Bay cities, including Oakland, where they actually play.

NHL: Manitoba Jets

Had things played out the way they should have and the Coyotes moved to Winnipeg, it wouldn't make sense to call them anything but the Winnipeg Jets. But since it was the Thrashers who ended up moving and they decided to go with a completely separate identity than the original Jets, they may as well mark the distinction with a completely different name.

NCAA: Any non-flagship state school using the flagship's name.

By this, I mean every "University of North Carolina" that's not in Chapel Hill, every "University of Wisconsin" that's not in Madison, every "University of Texas" that's not in Austin, or "Texas A&M" that's not in College Station, etc. The lone exception is the University of California, which is actually unified by a singular identity and mission statement.