Sports teams name changes

HesCalledDyer · August 2019

Even more wtf? than name changes are drastic team color changes. Like the Canucks of the 80s/90s or when the Buffalo Sabres changed to black, red, & silver for a few years. The Padres since the early 90s. Or the Florida Marlins who cant settle on anything for more than a decade.

erebus · August 2019

Hahaha

Remember the Cooperalls for the Flyers and Whalers, and the WhiteSox experiment with shorts!

tempo_n_groove · August 2019

mcgruff10 said:

Being from New Jersey I hate that my favorite football team is named the New York Giants.

The "New York Football Giants" is the actual proper name as to not get confused with the old New York Giants baseball team.

JojoRice · August 2019

Spotted an old Atlanta Knights jersey over the weekend. Havn't seen one of those in years! They were a minor league hockey team here in Atlanta before the Thrashers were born.

mcgruff10 · August 2019

tempo_n_groove said:

mcgruff10 said:

Being from New Jersey I hate that my favorite football team is named the New York Giants.

The "New York Football Giants" is the actual proper name as to not get confused with the old New York Giants baseball team.

All the more reason to rename them to the “New Jersey football Giants”.

MayDay10 · August 2019

HesCalledDyer said:

Even more wtf? than name changes are drastic team color changes. Like when the Buffalo Sabres changed to black, red, & silver for a few years.

Unlike now, which the 'style' is retro (which is how it should be)... the mid-late 90s there was that huge Black fad with sports teams colors. The Sabres fell victim to that...
Also, the team's original owner was ill, and as NHL salaries grew, John Rigas of Adelphia Communications was floating the team money to remain solvent and was basically the defacto owner... and would become the actual owner shortly after, once Seymour Knox III passed away. The team was moving into a new arena for 96-97, Rigas bought the team, and I feel he wanted them as his own team. Changed the colors to black and red (which was adelphia's colors). The team's history was basically scrubbed. They rarely did anything acknowledging the past, this day in Sabres history, etc. Rigas and his family eventually went for prison for corporate fraud.

The worst result of this though was that The Aud was left to rot. There were a lot of team artifacts, video, audio, etc that was left in there and was destroyed due to moisture, mold, etc.

The Sabres are going back to royal blue next season (20-21) which will be great

The Juggler · August 2019

MayDay10 said:

My biggest sports name pet peeve is the trendy 2-name team name that started in the early 00s, hit a peak of absurdity maybe 6 years ago and I think we are getting through it. It is most prominent in Minor League baseball where the powers that be have taken a giant shit on anything representing tradition or history.

Iron Pigs, RailRiders, Blue Jackets, Blue Wahoos, Valley Cats, RockHounds, Lumber Kings, Rubber Ducks, Lake Monsters, Golden Knights, etc.

Red Sox? White Sox?

MayDay10 · August 2019

I wouldn't consider those names to be absurd... and they are more than 100 years old.

These other names, they are often casting aside names that had history or really beginning to accumulate tradition. I wouldnt put it past these minor league "baseball" marketours to cast all these names aside right when it is convenient to do so.

The Juggler · August 2019

MayDay10 said:

I wouldn't consider those names to be absurd... and they are more than 100 years old.

These other names, they are often casting aside names that had history or really beginning to accumulate tradition. I wouldnt put it past these minor league "baseball" marketours to cast all these names aside right when it is convenient to do so.

Well...I know "Iron Pigs" sounds stupid but that name is actually deeply rooted in the history Lehigh Valley. And they let the fans vote on the name. Wouldn't be surprised if those other teams had a similar situation.

tempo_n_groove · August 2019

My fav out there is Rocket City Trash Pandas!

They were called the Mobile Bay Bears prior.

Oh yeah, they haven't played a single game yet though, lol!
Image result for trash pandas

mrussel1 · August 2019

Mobile, AL? Do they call themselves Rocket City?

dankind · August 2019

dankind said:

I just saw some millennial in Boston wearing a Tampa Bay Rowdies shirt. No bullshit.

I’d forgotten all about the Rowdies.

D'oh! A quick Google search shows that the Rowdies are an active team again -- and have been since 2008.

ed243421 · August 2019

mickeyrat · August 2019

mrussel1 said:

Mobile, AL? Do they call themselves Rocket City?

Huntsville Al is a major NASA rocket center

mickeyrat · August 2019

mrussel1 said:

Mobile, AL? Do they call themselves Rocket City?

moved...

https://www.milb.com/rocket-city

HesCalledDyer · August 2019

MayDay10 said:

HesCalledDyer said:

Even more wtf? than name changes are drastic team color changes. Like when the Buffalo Sabres changed to black, red, & silver for a few years.

Unlike now, which the 'style' is retro (which is how it should be)... the mid-late 90s there was that huge Black fad with sports teams colors. The Sabres fell victim to that...
Also, the team's original owner was ill, and as NHL salaries grew, John Rigas of Adelphia Communications was floating the team money to remain solvent and was basically the defacto owner... and would become the actual owner shortly after, once Seymour Knox III passed away. The team was moving into a new arena for 96-97, Rigas bought the team, and I feel he wanted them as his own team. Changed the colors to black and red (which was adelphia's colors). The team's history was basically scrubbed. They rarely did anything acknowledging the past, this day in Sabres history, etc. Rigas and his family eventually went for prison for corporate fraud.

The worst result of this though was that The Aud was left to rot. There were a lot of team artifacts, video, audio, etc that was left in there and was destroyed due to moisture, mold, etc.

The Sabres are going back to royal blue next season (20-21) which will be great

Damn! That's some interesting and unfortunate history there. Sounds like some of the shady shit that cheap bastard Dollar Bill Wirtz used to pull in Chicago.

mrussel1 · August 2019

mickeyrat said:

mrussel1 said:

Mobile, AL? Do they call themselves Rocket City?

Huntsville Al is a major NASA rocket center

HughFreakingDillon · June 2021

Edmonton Eskimos now officially the Edmonton Elks.

HughFreakingDillon · June 2021

erebus said:

some random thoughts on sports team names

maybe the team names should stay with the city
I have always thought the Los Angeles Lakers and Utah Jazz are not really fitting. Give them back to Minni and N.O. Come up with something relevant to the city, Washington Expos just wouldn't work
I think the Clippers are open to a name change when they move arenas?
Minnesota Nor Stars great, Wild lame
Devil Rays great, Rays lame
Houston Oilers great, Texans meh
Imagine the Colt .45's still existing, I like the Astros better
Bullets had to go, but Wizards?????
Raptors, all time bad,dated name

Redskins and Indians have to go
I'm okay with Blackhawks and Braves

was hilarious, the CFL had two Roughriders at onetime in an 8 team league

I think when Indy plays in Baltimore, the scoreboard says Indianapolis, not Colts, as they are still mad

just some of my rando thoughts, what are your sporting name pet peeves?

and just for clarity, the CFL had two Roughrider teams because originally they were in two different leagues; those two leagues became one and voila, two teams with the same name in the same league.

Sports teams name changes

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