I honestly don’t know if there are a lot of Hornets in New Orleans, but I’m pretty certain there aren’t a large number of jazz clubs in Salt Lake City. So why then, when the NBA Jazz franchise left New Orleans in 1979 and moved to Utah, didn’t they leave the moniker behind and instead adopt a nickname that’s reflective of something, well, Utah-ish?
A professional sports team’s nickname should reflect something notable about the city or region they represent, right? The Colorado Rockies. The Pittsburgh Steelers. The St. Louis Blues. The Houston Rockets. Each reflects something notable about the place they call home.
Unfortunately, there are plenty of examples where the nickname simply doesn’t fit. Along with the Utah Jazz – probably the best example of a terrible fit – there are the Los Angeles Lakers. Can you think of some important lakes in greater LA? The Arizona Cardinals? Too hot there for those little birds. The Calgary Flames? Whatever.
Locally, our four major sports teams represent very well, thank you. The Broncos, Avalanche, Rockies and Nuggets are all very reflective of our region. Remember, back in the mid-1970’s our basketball team was named the Rockets, which didn’t have much to do with this area. The switch to the Nuggets, and the reference to the gold miners who flocked here a century ago, was a very solid choice. Houston, with its ties to the space industry, is the right place for the Rockets (and the Astros, for that matter.) Think about the relevance of having the Trailblazers in Oregon. Solid again. How about the Dallas Cowboys and Houston Texans? Perfect, just like in the football teams in New Orleans, Miami and New England, among many. And what’s a better fit than the Montreal Canadiens or the Toronto Maple Leafs?
Most of the teams that have ill-fitted nicknames got stuck with them after the franchise moved there. Some have done it right. For example, when the NBA franchise was moved from Seattle to Oklahoma City this season, the name was changed from the Supersonics (a lot of high tech airplane work is done in the Seattle area) and re-named the Thunder, which there is plenty of in OKC.
When Seattle lost their baseball team, the Pilots, after the 1969 season, the team was re-named the Brewers when they landed in Milwaukee. Same deal for the baseball team that moved from Washington D.C. (the Senators) to Minneapolis and became the Twins. Excellent choices.
When the NFL Browns were stolen away from Cleveland, two cities did the right thing. First, Baltimore (which had been on the other end of such a theft) adopted the name the Ravens (a reference to Baltimore favorite son Edgar Allen Poe’s famous poem). Then the NFL did the right thing and added a replacement franchise for Cleveland, and the Browns moniker was brought back. It was another example of good thinking when the NHL franchise moved from Hartford to Carolina and switched from the Whalers to the Hurricanes.
Yet we still have some irregulars out there. Sadly, when the Colts left Baltimore in the middle of the night in 1984 for Indianapolis, the nickname should have stayed beind. Along with the new residence the franchise should have gotten a new nickname, like the Racers. For that matter, why did the baseball team remain the Dodgers when they moved out of Brooklyn? Surely they could have come up with something more representative of LA? Why did the NFL team remain the Cardinals when they moved out of St. Louis and landed in Phoenix? And why did the Rams stay the Rams when they left LA and moved to St. Louis?
This can all be corrected. It’s time for some immediate re-naming for a few franchises.
Start in the NBA by returning the Jazz nickname to the New Orleans franchise. Then, make Utah the Lakers (Minnesota, where the nickname originated, is fine with the Timberwolves) for the big salt lake located there, and turn Los Angeles’ better NBA team into the Stars (duh). The NFL team in Arizona should be named the Rattlers (a nice combo with the well-named baseball team the Diamondbacks…), and St. Louis should get the Cardinals back for football AND baseball. It worked before.
Of course, none of this will matter in a decade or so, when all pro sports teams will start to follow the lead of…gulp…soccer (gasp!) and start naming the franchises after the corporations that own and/or back them.
It may be tough getting used to “The Denver Bowlens,” but think how cool all those patches on the jerseys are going to look.
Comments