That quote, which is now found on inspirational posters for just about any team sport, is attributed to legendary Penn State football coach Joe Paterno.
In this week’s blog post I wanted to dive into the topic of team names. Specifically, those that don’t seem to match the city in which they play.
Most of these teams are members of the National Basketball Association. I talk about some of these franchises and more in a supplemental audio clip to this week’s blog post, so be sure to check it out here:
If you’ve been following my blog, you know that the Dodgers are always on Darrell’s mind. The baseball team was founded in 1883 in Brooklyn, New York, when they were known as the Grays that year. They were the Atlantics for a season, then back to the Grays, then the Bridegrooms, the Superbas, the Trolley Dodgers, which then got shortened to Dodgers, then the Robins, and then finally back to the Dodgers. The fans of the Brooklyn ball club were nicknamed “trolley dodgers” as early as 1895, because they had to dodge the street cars outside the stadium.
Joseph P. Sullivan wrote about this dangerous experience for early baseball fans in the May 2007 issue of the Journal of Urban Technology:
“Today, the electric trolley is an object of nostalgic affection. Many people delight to see the old machines rolling down the street. It was not always so. In the 1890s, the electric trolley terrified many New Yorkers. The electric streetcar was much faster than a horse streetcar and caused many accidents. In Brooklyn especially, the trolley frequently killed or maimed young children. As a result, the electric trolley became a symbol of the chaotic nature of modern, urban life. By April 1895, the trolley had killed 107 people and injured about 450.”
There are a couple other sports franchises that I don’t mention in the audio file that I want to touch upon. The National Football League’s Indianapolis Colts were originally from Baltimore, where the Preakness Stakes is held every year. Baltimore’s history of horse racing and breeding was the inspiration for the team name.
The Calgary Flames of the National Hockey League originated in Atlanta, Georgia in 1972. They were named Flames because Army General William Sherman burned down the city toward the end of the Civil War. You can read about his “March to the Sea” in this History.com article.
I will end by saying that there have been franchises that seized that opportunity to generate excitement and sell brand new merchandise after moving, by switching to a moniker that made sense. One great example is the Houston Oilers of the AFL/NFL. They moved to Tennessee in 1997, and after two seasons as the Oilers, changed their name to the Titans.
