Names of sports team

[Itse]

Originally Posted by Maritime Q-Scout

I thought EPL teams did in fact have team names but through habit or tradition they went with the club name.

Isn't Manchester United the Red Devils, and Arsenal FC the Gunners?

BTW, Arsenal isn't really different from Raptors. They started out as a football club for an ammunition factory ( originally called "Royal Arsenal FC"), and only became Arsenal when they became a company. They're just one of the numerous London teams (like Everton, Crystal Palace, Chelsea, Tottenham, Fulham, West Ham, Millwall, Wimbledon and whatnot)

[afc wimbledon]

Originally Posted by Itse

BTW, Arsenal isn't really different from Raptors. They started out as a football club for an ammunition factory ( originally called "Royal Arsenal FC"), and only became Arsenal when they became a company. They're just one of the numerous London teams (like Everton, Crystal Palace, Chelsea, Tottenham, Fulham, West Ham, Millwall, Wimbledon and whatnot)

I have to disagree, English clubs nicknames go back a century and were just the 'organic' names the supporters adopted, West Ham are known as both the hammers and the Irons due to their origins as an ironworks factory team, Liverpool fans stand in the 'Kop', the home end of the stadium, kop is the africaans dutch word for hill that was adopted by Liverpool fans around the time of the battle of Spion Kop in the Boar war, it was thought the steep stadium terrace resembled the hill that the battle was fought on.

The Raptors were named by some PR firm and has sod all to do with Toronto or the fans and in a century will be just as bloody meaningless as it is now but no one will remember Jurrasic Park either

[Redliner]

Originally Posted by Incogneto

I have a pet peeve: The Lethbridge Hurricanes.

Most teams are named for something powerful/great/celestial (Giants, Titans, Stars, Jets, Kings), or something that has a meaning to the city (Flames in Atlanta, Panthers in Florida, Ducks in Disney.

....But then there is the Lethbridge Hurricanes. There are no hurricanes in Lethbridge. Yes, there are in Carolina, and yes, it is 'windy' in Lethbridge, but there is no torrential downpours, and the winds are not hurricane force, and there are definitely no hurricanes there.

Damn the Lethbridge Hurricanes, and I hope they never win again.

I grew up in Lethbridge. Trust me, Hurricanes is a very fitting name. The winds in southern Alberta actually do reach hurricane force on occasion, and the crazy weather down there is something else.

Oh, and fun fact - the Lethbridge Hurricanes predate the Carolina ones.

[Fozzie_DeBear]

You think those names are odd? Hold my Sapporo...

Weird Japanese Team Names

[FireGilbert]

I've always thought the Atlanta Flames being named after General Sherman burning the city down was odd. It's like hey remember that time our city was such an important part of the slave state confederacy that we were invaded with the entire city burnt to the ground?

[GordonBlue]

Originally Posted by Locke

What are some awesome Team Names though?

I know theres the Butte Pirates, the Yuma Criminals and The Old Albanians for starters.

I was always amused by the Macon Whoopee

[Resolute 14]

"HC Calgary" would be boring as hell, so I prefer the modern convention. MLS is ridiculous when half the league acts North American while the other half channels a major inferiority complex and tries to be European. Toronto FC is bad enough, but Real Salt Lake is just embarrassing. And don't get me started on the absurdity of the new Canadian Premier League's team names.

Historically, our hockey teams did follow old-school naming rules though. Ottawa HC was colloquially known as the "Silver Seven" before becoming the Senators. The first Stanley Cup champions was the Montreal Hockey Club. while following teams were less the "Montreal Shamrocks", but rather a team that represented the Shamrock athletic club, etc.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by afc wimbledon

I have to disagree, English clubs nicknames go back a century and were just the 'organic' names the supporters adopted, West Ham are known as both the hammers and the Irons due to their origins as an ironworks factory team, Liverpool fans stand in the 'Kop', the home end of the stadium, kop is the africaans dutch word for hill that was adopted by Liverpool fans around the time of the battle of Spion Kop in the Boar war, it was thought the steep stadium terrace resembled the hill that the battle was fought on.

The Raptors were named by some PR firm and has sod all to do with Toronto or the fans and in a century will be just as bloody meaningless as it is now but no one will remember Jurrasic Park either

Whoa man.....whoa....I was with you right up to here....lets not say things we cant take back...

[dubc80]

I'm always amused by the Cleveland Browns.

- Who thought having no logo (as a logo) was a good idea?
- Brown and orange and not complimentary colors
- What is a Brown anyway?

Who approved this?

[habernac]

Originally Posted by dubc80

I'm always amused by the Cleveland Browns.

- Who thought having no logo (as a logo) was a good idea?
- Brown and orange and not complimentary colors
- What is a Brown anyway?

Who approved this?

Paul Brown, the founder of the team


I'm a fan of Bret Hart, but we have the worst WHL team name in the Hitmen. Ugh.

[4X4]

Albuquerque Isotopes FTW!

[Incogneto]

Originally Posted by Redliner

I grew up in Lethbridge. Trust me, Hurricanes is a very fitting name. The winds in southern Alberta actually do reach hurricane force on occasion, and the crazy weather down there is something else.

Oh, and fun fact - the Lethbridge Hurricanes predate the Carolina ones.

A hurricane requires a large body of water. Last time I checked, there wasnt a large body of water anywhere close to Lethbridge.

Call the team the Gusts, or Tornados. Hurricanes is Dumb.

[dubc80]

Originally Posted by habernac

Paul Brown, the founder of the team


I'm a fan of Bret Hart, but we have the worst WHL team name in the Hitmen. Ugh.

Ha! So the originator named the team after himself? That's hilarious.

[Lubicon]

Minor league baseball:
Lehigh Valley IronPigs

College:
Arkansas Tech Wonder Boys
Campbell Fighting Camels
UC Santa Cruz Banana Slugs
Minnesota Golden Gophers

[Redliner]

Originally Posted by Incogneto

A hurricane requires a large body of water. Last time I checked, there wasnt a large body of water anywhere close to Lethbridge.

Call the team the Gusts, or Tornados. Hurricanes is Dumb.

https://www.lethbridge.ca/Things-To-...Lake-Park.aspx


Seriously though, there probably aren't too many panthers in Florida either. Or actual flames in Calgary. (yes, I know the name is from Atlanta but they could have easily changed it when the team moved here) I have heard the phrase "blowing like a hurricane" uttered when describing the weather in Lethbridge more times than I care to count so personally I think the name is fine.

Agree to disagree I guess.

[CliffFletcher]

Originally Posted by GullFoss

Why do North American franchises have team names like "San Jose SHARKS" and "Toronto RAPTORS" while all other places in the world have name that are just FC or HC or United or City.

Those were sports teams entering new North American markets and targeting kids in their marketing. Sports over here, especially in a new market, is regarded as family entertainment, so they're marketed like a blockbuster movie franchise. It's also why we have mascots, pyrotechnics, etc. that you don't see in traditional football markets - the team is selling an entertainment event.

Until recently, taking a 9 year old kid to a game in the EPL would have been unthinkable. Football matches were for boozy, 20-50 year old working-class men. The teams over there are also deeply embedded in the identity of the community in a way they aren't in North America. They didn't need to reach out with family-friendly entertainment branding.

[Resolute 14]

Originally Posted by dubc80

I'm always amused by the Cleveland Browns.

- Who thought having no logo (as a logo) was a good idea?
- Brown and orange and not complimentary colors
- What is a Brown anyway?

Who approved this?

The Cincinnati Reds say hi. Also, the Boston Red Sox and Chicago White Sox that are, quite literally, named after the colour of the stockings they wore. Or more specifically for the White Sox, were named after the original team name of the Cubs: The Chicago White Stockings.

[Lubicon]

Originally Posted by Redliner

https://www.lethbridge.ca/Things-To-...Lake-Park.aspx


Seriously though, there probably aren't too many panthers in Florida either. Or actual flames in Calgary. (yes, I know the name is from Atlanta but they could have easily changed it when the team moved here) I have heard the phrase "blowing like a hurricane" uttered when describing the weather in Lethbridge more times than I care to count so personally I think the name is fine.

Agree to disagree I guess.

True, but it is the official state animal.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florida_panther

[Jimmy Stang]

Fun fact: The Los Angeles Dodgers got their name quite organically because sports writers in the late 1800s just started calling them that. When they were in Brooklyn, it was in the early years of trolleys on the streets in that area, and people were continuously getting killed and maimed by them. So the name Trolley Dodgers was born, then just Dodgers, and when they moved to LA, the name went with them.

I like names with a bit of history. Even if the Calgary Flames are named after an American Civil War event that is literally quite foreign to us as Canadians, that is part of the team's history and evolution. In 100 years, the pop culture origins of the Ducks, Raptors, etc. will be an interesting historical tidbit in the histories of those teams the same way the Dodgers name origin seems odd now.

[Redliner]

Originally Posted by Lubicon

True, but it is the official state animal.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florida_panther

Now THAT I did not know. I stand corrected.