The Dolphins Make Me Cry.com - Forums

I'm a big fan of team names.   I think it can make or break an identity.

Excluding your personal favorite teams, what do you think are the best and world names in sports?

BEST: Detroit Pistons -- I think it's unique, its a definite call back to the city, and it creates a mental image of a driving force.

WORST: Utah Jazz -- I love the name Jazz...it just sucks that its in Utah and not in New Orleans.

Honorable mention to the Washington Wizards.  It's not the name Wizards; it's just that for a city like DC where there is so much history, to fall back on a generic term like Wizards is criminal.  Call them the Eagles or the Independence or the Generals or the Monuments or the Memorials or the Constitution or whatever....damn.

I think the best names are those that really identify with the city:

Detroit Pistons
Indiana Pacers
New Orleans Jazz (ahem) and Saints
Pittsburgh Steelers
Buffalo Bills
Milwaukee Brewers
Houston Astros and Rockets

For the record, the Dolphins would be just as well-suited to San Diego as they are to Miami.

Worst:

LA Lakers
Utah Jazz
Memphis Grizzlies

If I had to pick one of each, I'd probably pick the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Utah Jazz.

All three of the teams I cheer for have team names that are perfectly suited for their respective cities. The San Francisco 49ers, the Phoenix Suns and the San Diego Padres.  So, I have a 3-way tie for the best team name.

The worst team names are the Dallas Cowboys, New York Yankees and LA Lakers, based solely on the fact that when I hear those names, I have an involuntary gag reflex.

Damn near all the teams in the NBA have retarded names. That said I'm gonna go by league (Overall Best and Worst in bold)

NBA- Best: Chicago Bulls / Worst: New Orleans Pelicans
NFL- Best: Minnesota Vikings / Worst: Houston Texans
NHL - Best: New Jersey Devils / Worst: Anaheim Ducks
MLB - Best Arizona Diamondbacks / Worst: Washington Nationals

I'm of the opposite mindset of most people. I don't really care if a team's name has any historical reference to the city or its surroundings, most of the time it just ends up sounding stupid when there's a deliberate attempt. If it works and sounds good, great.

What is a Padre?

Padres are priests in Spanish. It isn't the literal word I don't think but it means father.

Count me in for names that tie with the city. The list is pretty long in that regards. The possible worst name in sports, New York Red Bulls.

Part of me really wonders if that was a joke...  ;)

It means "dad" in spanish, I know.  But I don't know what that has to do with San Diego.  ...even if you're referring to priests.

Padres could be basically any city in CA, NM, TX, or FL.
Suns could be any city in those same states + AZ (the same reason I don't particularly like the Miami Heat as a name).
I grudgingly accept that the 49ers are a relevant team name to San Francisco.

The bad ones for me,off the top of my head......
Montréal Canadiens
Walgreens...Err Washinton Nationals...
The real name of the Angels..The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (the Identity crisis of where they are)

The odd ones for me are the ones that changed because of moving..The Rams in St. Louis (I still think L.A.),but they have the St. Louis Cardinals,but the Cardinals in football are in Arizona (which I still think St. Louis)

I like the Bears,Cubs connection thing in Chicago...They both played in Wrigley..ok My bias there...
I also like the Steelers,Brewers names that fit,though the Brewers could fit in St. Louis too I guess..

Mission San Diego (San Diego de Alcala) was the first Spanish Mission in the USA. It was also the first Church in California. Basically, the King of Spain at the time sent several groups of Franciscan Friars from Baja Mexico up to that area to prevent the Russians from getting a foothold on the Cali coast. Today, the Mission District is one of San Diego's most historic areas.


...and the New Jersey Devils would be more appropriately located in Hell...got it.

Wait, you mean New Jersey isn't Hell?

^^^ Nah, Hell smells better.

Or, to bastardize a bounty hunter quote from The Chronicles of Riddick... "If I owned New Jersey and Hell, I'd rent out New Jersey and live in Hell."

That's cool and all, but is that common knowledge?  You seemed surprise that I didn't know that.

I didn't know it either, but it makes total sense.  Maybe it is common knowledge to people who live in San Diego

I guess it could be a regional thing... I grew up in the Southwest, and we vacationed in San Diego (coincidentally, at Mission Beach) when I was a kid. 

I actually wasn't surprised that you didn't know the origins of the Padres name...I was just surprised you didn't know what the word "Padre" meant. South Florida has a fairly high Latino influence, maybe not as much as Arizona, but I still figured the word "Padre" would be common knowledge, like "adios," "manana" and other Spanish terms that have made their way into the English lexicon. If I told someone "see ya manana," and they asked "what is manana?" I would be similarly surprised.

Yeah, I know what the word literally means.  But I don't know why you'd have a team called the San Diego Dads.

Yeah... Padres = Friars = Priests

They aren't really the San Diego Dads as much as they are the San Diego Priests.

Yeah, it makes total sense now.  Lesson learned.

I take a little bit of personal humor over the fact that I, a confirmed atheist, have been a lifelong fan of the Priests. ;D

That's like the rationale for the naming of the Charlotte Hornets... if you need to reference some arcane historical factoid that is really only known to locals, that's not something that's really identified with that city.  No one needs to explain the Steelers or the Brewers or the Pistons.

And I don't think the Devils are a particularly good example of a good name.

Padres mascot: Swinging Friar

(http://www.swrnn.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/2012_04_07_san_diego_padres_sd_dirk_flickr.jpg)

I disagree, the best names are those in which ONLY the locals get it.  Kinda like an inside joke. 

I'll take a swing:

NFL:
Best: Pittsburgh Steelers
Worst: Houston Texans

MLB:
Best: Milwaukee Brewers
Worst: Kansas City Royals/Washington Nationals/Seattle Mariners

NBA:
Best: Minnesota Timberwolves/Dallas Mavericks
Worst: Memphis Grizzlies/Brooklyn Nets/Washington Wizards

NHL:
Best: Toronto Maple Leafs
Worst: Columbus Blue Jackets

I disagree on almost every point you made there...

* The team names are supposed to have more significance to locals than some nameless Joe Schmoe on the other side of the country. Joe Schmo up in Connecticut isn't buying any tickets for the Padres home games.
* Talk to 100 young people from the West Coast, and I'll bet you have to explain the "Steelers" meaning to half of them.
* The Jersey Devil myth is one of the great American urban legends, which, imo, makes the name "The New Jersey Devils" nothing short of brilliant.

^^ I have no idea what the Jersey Devil is. Never heard of it.  Except for David Clarkson.  He sucks.

The jersey Devil,AKA the Leeds Devil..The story is 7th or 13 the child of the leeds family,supposedly born demon like.The Myth is it's supposedly still in the New Jersey Pine Barron's? Barrens....

Modified to add...
Ok, googled to see how close I was off the top of my head...it was the 13th child of the Leeds family,but it's the pine barrens,not Barrons. :D

I love folklore,legend.....

1) The team name isn't supposed to represent anything but whatever the owner wants it to.  I personally think that it's better when a team's mascot reflects something that a city is widely known for, not some obscure piece of local trivia, but that's me.
2) The collapse of American manufacturing does make both the Steelers' and the Pistons' names less weighty.  That being said, if we're going to survey young people to determine relevance, the Anaheim Mighty Ducks have had the best name of all time.
3) I had never even heard of the Jersey Devil.  I'll retract my statement on that one.

Is that from some official modern era "Team Name Rules and Regulations" document, or does it go all the way back to the third tablet of God's Commandments that Moses broke when he stumbled while coming down from Mount Sinai?  ;)

More names for the Wizards: Presidents, Colonials, Rebels, Revolutionaries, Revolution, etc.

I still think they should have stuck with the Bullets...

Worst I've ever heard in my life:  The CFL's Montreal Alouettes.  What in the blazes is an Alouette??  The name sounds too girly for me

You should teach your ears to hear French better...you know, like they hear French in Montreal.

An Alouette is a small bird.

On a side note...you really, really should go with something more basic for your next persona, like a janitor, landscape architect or dish washer. You simply don't have the chops to play a Professor on TV...or on TDMMC.

The Texans name is horrible.  I've lamented it since the beginning.  It sounds like it was the very first named pitched in the branding brainstorming session.

On a positive front, I was happy to see the CFL lower the amount of Roughrider squads to one.

I'll go on record as saying that no state in the USA has as much state-pride as Texas. It may sound horrible to you, but to Texas natives, it's likely considered to be the coolest name in the league.


On a freaky tangent... The first school I attended after High School was our local Yavapai Community College...home of the Roughriders. ;D

Go Roughriders!!  3-time National Junior College World Series Champions, 7-time National Junior College Soccer Champions

Actually the name Texans has been used quite a bit in the state throughout history. They seem to love it down there.

I'm well aware of the history of the name, actually.  It still sucks no matter how you slice it IMO.  I'm never in favor of naming your team after your state, city, or whatever geographical description you can think of.

I currently reside in this hellish state.  As far as reactions I've got from my fellow residents, they're mixed at best.  A lot of folks think it's a boring name, and almost no people are aware of any prior history.  (History is a very poorly understood subject here)  Most people don't care in Houston, though.  They're just happy to have a team again.

So is the mod who allowed this bullshit post to remain but deleted my original response. 

Wasn't me last time, it is this time.  Direct insults are a violation of forum rules. 

Word. It's boring and outright stupid. Your team is named after people who live in the city's state. Brilliant. If it weren't for the Ducks I'd have given my NHL worst to the Canadiens.

Then would you mind enforcing them across the board?

I believe team names should reflect a local meaning or at least something original.
So, here's my stab at this.

NFL best: Buccaneers, Raiders, Steelers, Cowboys, Vikings
Worst: Jaguars (Really?), Titans (no imagination), Redskins (racist)

NBA best: Lakers, Sixers (I was born in 1976), Bucks (Fear the Deer)
worst: too many in this league. Nets (lame), Wizards (see nets), Clippers (see nets), Grizzlies (should've been renamed Blues or Blue Notes or something dealing with music), Bobcats (already going back to the Hornets).

MLB: Padres, A's, Brewers, Mets (hate NY teams, but this does fit), White & Red Sox (only sport that can get away with a team name after clothing).
worst: Marlins ( was Sharks too easy or hit too close to home for the owner?).
On a side note, how is there not a team in Louisville?

NHL best: the original 6 and the Devils.
Worst: Blue Jackets (worst in sports).

Are we doing college next?

I hate the Lakers name, in LA.

I actually like Blue Jackets.