The only true way to be non-offensive is to agree to drop every team name that was named after a person or a position or title that a person could ever hold. Then only PETA would be angry for exploiting animal names and we all know PETA isn't real people with feelings or anything.
I went with Animal Names as my favorite because most of my preferred teams have those, but I always enjoyed that the Dodgers comes from the Brooklyn Trolley Dodgers.
And did you know the Green Bay Packers are named for meat packers (i.e., the industry that turns cattle into steaks and hamburgers or hogs into bacon and sausage)? When the team was formed they were given money for uniforms and equipment by the Indian Packing Company, and in return the team was named after the company.
@jqubed That it would. Same with 49ers (slur to describe those that came west for the gold rush). Yankees itself was a slur of the British to describe the American colonists who they saw as unrefined and lacking proper poise.
@wisenekt I think slang and slur are very different things. I've never seen or heard of 49ers as anything other than slang. It didn't carry the same type of disdain as "Okies," for example.
If I had my own league, I would name teams after fun things. There would be teams like Buffalo Snow Cones, Dallas Beef By-Product, New York Sewage and Detroit Human Remains.
I'm a dyed-in-the-wool SF Giants fan, but I voted for professions just for the Brewers. Because beer. I would also like the Vintners and the Distillers.
@patthetuck I moved away too long ago myself. Would go back if I could. I don't root for the Cavs but if NE Ohio can forgive LeBron they're better people. Remember Jim "It's not about the money." Thome?
@VeeDubTDI I can't find a clip, but I remember on Weekend Update (I think with Norm MacDonald) the joke was along the lines of: "The Washington Bullets plan to change their name to distance themselves from an image of crime. So from now on they'll be called The Bullets."
C'mon, I'm a Philly guy. Of course I went with Whatever. Phillies, Flyers, 76ers? I actually blame the Eagles for not being something cooler and stranger like the Phlights.
"I used to like to watch sports a lot, but not as much anymore, ‘cause I’m always disappointed. I’d always rather see the actual animals fighting than the teams with those names. Colts vs Bears — yeah! Wizards vs Heat — freaking awesome! Magic vs Jazz — that’s a little too gay for me, I’m gonna pass on that one." - Demetri Martin
Meh.
The only true way to be non-offensive is to agree to drop every team name that was named after a person or a position or title that a person could ever hold. Then only PETA would be angry for exploiting animal names and we all know PETA isn't real people with feelings or anything.
@wisenekt people eating tasty animals
I went with Animal Names as my favorite because most of my preferred teams have those, but I always enjoyed that the Dodgers comes from the Brooklyn Trolley Dodgers.
And did you know the Green Bay Packers are named for meat packers (i.e., the industry that turns cattle into steaks and hamburgers or hogs into bacon and sausage)? When the team was formed they were given money for uniforms and equipment by the Indian Packing Company, and in return the team was named after the company.
I love purple.
@jqubed You mean they aren't the Green Bay Trash Trucks?
@theco2 Only in Minnesota, Illinois, and/or Michigan.
@jqubed Did you know that Trolley Dodgers was designed as a slur of the upper class to describe the working class?
@wisenekt So this sort of fits into the racist (classist?) category?
@jqubed That it would. Same with 49ers (slur to describe those that came west for the gold rush). Yankees itself was a slur of the British to describe the American colonists who they saw as unrefined and lacking proper poise.
@jqubed How many people know the KC Royals were named after a livestock show?
@SIMBM I did not know that.
@wisenekt I think slang and slur are very different things. I've never seen or heard of 49ers as anything other than slang. It didn't carry the same type of disdain as "Okies," for example.
I love how "Horribly offensive epithets" is in the lead. I wish all sports team names could be offensive.
@Al_Coholic I would start coming up with team names, but I'm sure people would get butt hurt.
If I had my own league, I would name teams after fun things. There would be teams like Buffalo Snow Cones, Dallas Beef By-Product, New York Sewage and Detroit Human Remains.
As a Boilermaker, I was tempted to vote Professions... dat racism, doe.
@moldovanhipster Boiler Up!
I'm a dyed-in-the-wool SF Giants fan, but I voted for professions just for the Brewers. Because beer. I would also like the Vintners and the Distillers.
I'm waiting for the fantastic creatures option. Go Sacramento Dragons! Beat the Raleigh-Durham Unicorns!
Go Cleveland! Go Tribe!!!
@irishbyblood As a former Clevelander, I will always cheer for the Browns, Indians, and Cavs.
@patthetuck I moved away too long ago myself. Would go back if I could. I don't root for the Cavs but if NE Ohio can forgive LeBron they're better people. Remember Jim "It's not about the money." Thome?
Add Vikings to Horribly Offensive Epithets. Or you'll get a cease-and-desist letter from the NNAL.
(North-American Nordic Antidefamation League)
@PocketBrain Skol!
Remember the Washington Bullets? We had to change that name because it was too violent. Now we're the Wizards. :(
PS: I voted for horribly offensive epithets.
@VeeDubTDI I don't know why you're sad, wizards are way cooler than bullets
@VeeDubTDI I can't find a clip, but I remember on Weekend Update (I think with Norm MacDonald) the joke was along the lines of: "The Washington Bullets plan to change their name to distance themselves from an image of crime. So from now on they'll be called The Bullets."
C'mon, I'm a Philly guy. Of course I went with Whatever. Phillies, Flyers, 76ers? I actually blame the Eagles for not being something cooler and stranger like the Phlights.
"I used to like to watch sports a lot, but not as much anymore, ‘cause I’m always disappointed. I’d always rather see the actual animals fighting than the teams with those names. Colts vs Bears — yeah! Wizards vs Heat — freaking awesome! Magic vs Jazz — that’s a little too gay for me, I’m gonna pass on that one."
- Demetri Martin
Does anyone else think colors for team names is extremely lame?
@theco2 The Stanford "Cardinal" is for the color, not the bird or church official.
I love purple.
The UC Santa Cruz Banana Slugs (And beakfast octopuses) deserve their own category: Mollusks.
@KDemo Go Slugs! Especially when one of their shirts was worn in Pulp Fiction.