Which is really cool. "Hornets" is a great name for a team based in Charlotte. The city was nicknamed the hornet's nest as early as the Revolutionary War. It's so ingrained in the city's consciousness that a hornet is on the Charlotte police department's badges.
"Hornets" as a name didn't have any significance to New Orleans. But it's not like it was the only team name that had a tenuous to nonexistent connection to its team's surrounding area. Here's some examples of names that just plain don't work for that team's city, listed in order of kind of to very egregious.
Before we begin, I'd like to thank my brother Erik, paleontologist in training for his help with this article and for not making me look like a moron (or as much of one). I was originally going to put the Toronto Raptors and Nashville Predators on this list, but according to him, raptors and sabre tooth tigers were indeed indigenous to the Toronto area and Tennessee, respectively. So you're off the list Toronto and Nashville. Just watch your asses.
MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES
Most of the team names I'm going to list here actually made sense at one point. The Grizzlies' name is no different. They began play in the 1995-96 NBA season as the VANCOUVER Grizzlies, which has an abundance bears in the area, grizzlies included. They moved to Memphis, Tennessee in 2001 and kept their name. Unfortunately for them, there are no grizzlies in Memphis, the state of Tennessee, or any part of the eastern United States. Grizzlies mainly inhabit dense forests and mountainous areas, none of which can be found in the Volunteer State.
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| The great mountains of Tennessee... |
NEW ORLEANS HORNETS
I went over this in the prologue. As much as we may make fun of the "Pelican" name, it's more appropriate for New Orleans than "Hornets." Although New Orleans is no stranger to affecting name appropriateness...
UTAH JAZZ
The Jazz were originally based in New Orleans, known the world over for jazz musicians and hangovers. The Jazz moved to Salt Lake City in 1979. Conservative, Mormon and possibly jazz-hating Salt Lake City. But the name has been embraced in the area because, well, the Jazz were awesome for, like, 25 straight years. Winning really does cure all ills.
LOS ANGELES DODGERS
Back when the Dodgers were in Brooklyn they had numerous (and often, ridiculous) names. But when "Dodgers" came around it stuck... for two years. Then the team was renamed the Superbas (?!?) and then were the Robins for almost twenty years. But THEN the Dodgers name stuck.
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| "'Dodgers' is passe. I've been thinking of renaming the team 'the Cthulhus.'" |
The name fit the borough, although today it's terribly antiquated. It referred to Brooklyn natives trolley dodging, because apparently the threat of being run over by a trolley was very real eighty years ago. To quote Billy Joel, the good old days weren't always good. Of course there are no trolleys in New York City anymore, or in Los Angeles for that matter. Ironically, if the team moved to San Francisco back in the day, the name would still apply.
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| Pictured: a potential killing machine. |
LOS ANGELES LAKERS
Staying in Tinseltown, here's another name that no longer makes sense. Originally the Minneapolis Lakers, the name was in reference to Minnesota being the Land of 10,000 Lakes. Good name. Once the team moved west in 1960, there was a slight problem- there are no lakes in Los Angeles, or in the entire state of California. Que sera, I guess.
WASHINGTON WIZARDS
This one's a bit different, since "Wizards" could be seen as a bit of a generic name. I'll say the name does fit the city, but it calls attention to some pretty shady parts of Washington, D.C.'s history. Now with that carrot dangling in front of you, here's some back-story.
The Wizards were originally based in Chicago, but when they moved to Baltimore in their third season, they assumed the nickname "Bullets." It was a reference/homage to the original Baltimore Bullets, who won the 1948 NBA championship (BAA at the time) and folded in the mid-50s. The moniker stuck even after the team moved a city over to the nation's capital, and all was right in the world. Until 1997.
Washington, D.C. had quite the homicide streak in the early 90s, making owner Abe Pollin increasingly uncomfortable what with his team being named the Bullets and all. Finally, after Yitzhak Rabin, the Israeli Prime Minister and Pollin's friend was murdered, Pollin decided to have the name changed to something more politically correct.
A contest was held for fans to choose the team's new nickname, eventually narrowing it down to Wizards (obviously), but also Sea Dogs, Dragons, Express and Stallions. Now none of those names are great, but they didn't call attention to Washington D.C.'s reputation for busting caps in your ass, so when "Wizards" was chosen, all was good. Except it wasn't.
You see, Washington, D.C. was quite the hub for the Ku Klux Klan back in the day. The title for head-racist was grand wizard. (Funnily enough, dragon can also be a high ranking KKK official in certain branches.) So to try and go with a more politically correct name, the team chose the most politically incorrect name it could have possibly gone with. Nice going, Mr. Pollin.
NEW YORK RANGERS
Oh yeah. Even the old ones aren't perfect. The Rangers were founded in 1926 by Tex Rickard, who built the third incarnation of Madison Square Garden where the Rangers would play. Rickard at one time had been the marshal in the town of Henrietta, Texas, and was nicknamed "Tex" by the locals because people from Texas are nothing if not creative.
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| The Super Rangers from Right to Left: Shorty, Slim, Glasses and Black Guy |
Even after he moved on from the Lone Star State, Rickard held Texas firmly in his heart. So when a second New York hockey team was set up (the New York Americans predated the more well known team by one season), Rickard named them "Tex's Rangers" after, you guessed it, the Texas Rangers. So yeah, the New York Rangers are named after a police force from a completely different state. But they aren't the only seasoned New York team to have a geographically impaired name...
NEW YORK YANKEES
Get ready for some sweet, sweet irony. Back in the day (my new favorite sentence, apparently), "Yankee" was a term given to residents of the New England area who descended from the original British colonists. The term eventually became one for ALL Americans, regardless of geographic origin, but New-Englanders are "actual" Yankees, NOT New Yorkers. The term is far more appropriate for people who live in... Boston. Yep. Boston Yankees would be fair game. Maybe the Yankees could go back to one of their older names to make things better. Highlanders, perhaps?
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| "There can be only me." |
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