Is there any significance/What is the significance...

[BCWWF]

I was thinking about it today, and since it is kind of a low time while waiting for the NFL, college football and the MLB playoffs to start, might as well post this...I know most sports teams are named after something significant, for example in my city, the Minnesota Twins (Twin Cities, Minneapolis, St. Paul), Vikings (large population of Scandanavians). The other two teams, Timberwolves and Wild, are probably based on the Boundary Waters canoe area, but don't have as much significance.

So here I made two lists. The first one is teams with generic sounding names, to see if there is any real significance or if they were just feeling lazy. The second is a list of team names that are obviously named after something, but I don't know why. I left out obvious ones, and if there are ones that I know but others might not, I put the answer.

GENERIC TEAM NAMES: ANY SIGNIFICANCE? (Note, a lot are probably just named after animals from the region or something, but sometimes there are other stupid reasons, like Charlotte Bobcats.)
Miami Dolphins
Baltimore Ravens
Cincinnati Bengals
Indianapolis/Baltimore Colts
Jacksonville Jaguars
Tennessee Titans
Denver Broncos
Kansas City Chiefs
Oakland/LA Raiders
San Diego Chargers
New York Giants
Chicago Bears
Detroit Lions
Atlanta Falcons
Carolina Panthers
Arizona Cardinals
St. Louis/LA Rams
Baltimore Orioles
Tampa Bay Devil Rays
Toronto Blue Jays
Cleveland Indians
Detroit Tigers
Kansas City Royals
LA Angels
Oakland Athletics
Atlanta Braves
Florida Marlins
Chicago Cubs
Pittsburgh Pirates
St. Louis Cardinals
Arizona Diamondbacks
New Jersey Nets
Toronto Raptors
Chicago Bulls
Cleveland Cavaliers
Milwaukee Bucks
Atlanta Hawks
Charlotte Bobcats (Their owner is named Bob or something)
Washington Wizards
Dallas Mavericks
Memphis/Vancouver Grizzlies
Charlotte/NO/OKCity Hornets
San Antonio Spurs
Utah Jazz (Used to be from NO, home of jazz)
Golden State Warriors
Phoenix Suns
Sacramento Kings
New Jersey Devils
New York Rangers
Pittsburgh Penguins
Boston Bruins
Buffalo Sabres
Toronto Maple Leafs
Atlanta Thrashers
Florida Panthers
Tampa Bay Lightning
Columbus Blue Jackets
Nashville Predators
Calgary Flames
Edmonton Oilers
(Is there a reason two canadian teams are essentially named the Canadiens? Specific reasons)
Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (Named after the best movie ever)
Dallas Stars (Stole it from the fucking North Stars of MN)
LA Kings
Phoenix Coyotes
San Jose Sharks

TEAM NAMES: WHAT'S THE SIGNIFICANCE?
Buffalo Bills: (He wasn't from there, was he?)
New York Jets
Cleveland Browns
New Orleans Saints (and the logo)
Boston Red Sox (or is it nothing more than the obvious?)
Cincinnati Reds
Philadelphia Phillies (did they invent Phillies as a nickname?)
Los Angeles Dodgers
San Diego Padres
The Giants, Brooklyn or New York I guess
Boston Celtics (I thought Celts were scottish, not irish)
New York Knicks (I know it is Knickerbockers, but why?)
Seattle Supersonics
LA Clippers (Named after some boats, but why?)
LA Lakers (Moved from Minnesota, Minnesota is the land of lakes, 10,000+)
Philadelphia Flyers
Detroit Red Wings (there is a city in MN named Red Wing, and the shoes are based here, so WTF)
St. Louis Blues (I am not aware of the blues culture coming from STL?)

If people know some of these, maybe we can try a college version. That'd be crazy.

[BCWWF]

Mainly, I am just wondering why Detroit has the two most generic names, Tigers and Lions, since obviously there are no lions or tigers anywhere near Michigan.

[ct2k]

The Irish, Welsh and Scottish are all considered 'Celts' by most, so yeah it does figure with the Celtics.

I'm guessing the NJD's name has something to do with the New Jersey Devil but don't quote me on that:p

[Joey Slugs]

MLB

Pittsburgh Pirates—The franchise was called the Innocents until 1891 when it signed second baseman Lou Bierbauer. His old club, the Philadelphia Athletics, and its fans weren't at all happy about the way Bierbauer was "obtained" and dubbed his new club the Pirates because they "pirated" the star player away from them.

San Francisco Giants—In the 1880s when the club was in New York and known as the Gothams, manager Jim Mutrie stood up in the dugout after a win and referred to the team as "my Giants."

Minnesota Twins—The Twins are named after the "twin cities" of Minneapolis and St. Paul.

Los Angeles Dodgers—The club resided in Brooklyn, N.Y., from 1890–1957 and was named the Trolley Dodgers in reference to the borough's maze of trolley lines near the Brooklyn Bridge. It was later shortened to Dodgers and the name stuck even after the team moved to Los Angeles in 1958.

Houston Astros—Formerly known as the Colt 45s, the team was renamed the Astros in 1965 in reference to Houston's new NASA Space Center.

Milwaukee Brewers—The Brewers were named in 1970 after the numerous beer breweries in the Milwaukee area.

N.Y. Mets—The team's corporate name was the New York Metropolitan Baseball Club, Inc. Simply put, "Mets" is short for Metropolitans.

Montreal Expo—The Expos are named after Expo '67, the world's fair held in Montreal two years before the team's inaugural game. The fair ran for the entire year and drew approximately 50 million people.

Anaheim Angels—The club was originally in Los Angeles from 1961–1965. Los Angeles is Spanish for "the angels."

Cleveland Indians—The Cleveland baseball team, known in the 1890s as the Spiders, had one of the first American Indians in the majors–Louis Francis Sockalexis. Sadly, the term, "Indians" was reportedly given to the team by disrespecting fans around the country. In less than three years, injuries and alcoholism forced Sockalexis out of baseball after only 367 at-bats. In 1915, two years after his death, the name was officially changed to the "Indians." Some say the name was given to honor Sockalexis. Others disagree.

Detroit Tigers—In 1901, players on Detroit wore yellow and black socks. Editor Philip Reid thought they were similar to those worn by the Princeton University Tigers football team.

NFL

Arizona Cardinals—The Cardinals are the NFL's oldest franchise and both team and nickname date back to Chicago 1901. Owner-manager Chris O'Brien deemed the used, faded maroon jerseys he acquired from the University of Chicago "cardinal red." When the American Professional Football Association began in 1920—out of which the NFL grew—the team from Chicago was known as the Cardinals.

Baltimore Ravens—The clear winner of a Baltimore Sun telephone poll in 1996, the name is borrowed from a well-known poem by Baltimore native Edgar Allan Poe (http://www.factmonster.com/ce6/people/A0839442.html).

Chicago Bears—Coach George Halas (http://www.factmonster.com/ipka/A0109252.html) inherited co-ownership of the Decatur (Ill.) Staleys from factory owner A. E. Staley in 1921 and promptly moved them north to Chicago's Wrigley Field (then Cubs Park). In keeping with the park's summer tenants—Major League Baseball's Cubs—Halas renamed the team the Bears.

Green Bay Packers—America's first pro football dynasty was also the first franchise to utilize corporate sponsorship. In 1919, the Indian Packing Company gave the team $500 for uniforms and equipment. From then on they were called the Packers.

Philadelphia Eagles—The team, which joined the NFL in 1933, based its nickname and logo on the Blue Eagle symbol, an emblem created for business participating in President Franklin Roosevelt's new National Recovery Administration.

Kansas City Chiefs—Lured from Dallas by Kansas City mayor H. Roe "Chief" Bartle in 1963, owner Lamar Hunt changed the team's name from Texans to Chiefs in his honor.

NBA

Atlanta Hawks—The Tri-City Blackhawks, of the National Basketball League, were acquired by the NBA in 1949. Officials in the three cities—Moline and Rock Island, Ill., and Davenport, Iowa—named the team after Sauk Indian Chief Black Hawk, who fought the United States in the Black Hawk War (http://www.factmonster.com/ce6/history/A0807772.html) of 1831 over his settlement in Illinois. The name was shortened to Hawks in 1951, when the team moved to Milwaukee before a stop in St. Louis and finally Atlanta.

Denver Nuggets—The NBA already had a team called the (then San Diego, now Houston) Rockets when this American Basketball Association team made its intentions to join the NBA known in 1974. Team officials chose the Nuggets because it paid tribute to the 19th century mining boom in Colorado.

Detroit Pistons—Fred Zollner, who owned a piston-making plant in Fort Wayne, Ind., was the team's first owner. The Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons, were renamed the Pistons when they moved to Detroit—the automotive capital of the world—in 1957.

Indiana Pacers—Chosen by investors, the name is said to reflect the area's rich harness racing history and the pace car at the country's most famous auto race-the Indianapolis 500.

Los Angeles Clippers—A contest held when the team was based in San Diego (1978–1984) determined this nickname. It's said to pay tribute to the great sailing ships that passed through San Diego Bay. The team took the name to L.A. in 1984.

Los Angeles Lakers—Originally based in Minneapolis, Minn., the name was based on the state motto "The Land of 10,000 Lakes." Despite the lack of lakes in Los Angeles, the team kept the name when it relocated in 1960.

New Jersey Nets—A charter member of the American Basketball Association in 1967, this team was first known as the Americans. When they moved to Commack, N.Y., a year later they chose the Nets because they were an important part of the game, and the name rhymed with other pro teams from New York: the Mets and Jets.

N.Y. Knickerbockers—Knicks for short, this is a reference to the style of pants worn by 17th century Dutch settlers, who founded what is now New York. The rolled-up-just-below-the-knee look, known as knickers, was very popular, and its association with N.Y. sports' teams dates back to the 1840s.

Seattle Supersonics—When the expansion franchise in Seattle joined the NBA in 1967, Boeing, the airplane manufacturer then headquartered in Olympia, Wash., was working on supersonic jet that would rival the Concorde. The plane never took off, but Seattle fans voted for the name anyhow.

Utah Jazz—An ideal name for this NBA franchise when it was set in New Orleans, the birthplace of jazz music, in 1974. Five years later the Jazz moved to Salt Lake City and the name went with them.

NHL

Anaheim Mighty Ducks—The team has been owned by Disney since it joined the NHL as an expansion team in 1993. It got its ridiculous name from the 1992 Disney movie (http://www.factmonster.com/ipea/A0160934.html) starring Emilio Estevez (http://www.factmonster.com/ipka/A0763690.html).

Boston Bruins—After Charles Adams purchased the team in the mid-1920s, the team's colors were actually more important to him than the team's name. Since Adams was also president of Brookside Stores, whose colors were brown with yellow trim, his new team was also required to wear the same colors.

The name Bruins was chosen in a contest, under the following guidelines: "The name chosen should preferably relate to an untamed animal whose name was synonymous with size, strength, agility, ferocity, and cunning; and in the color brown category."

Calgary Flames—The team was located in Atlanta from 1972–1980 and was named after the city's burning during the Civil War. The name was kept after the Flames' move to Calgary in 1980, with the flaming "A" on the front of the players' jerseys being replaced by a flaming "C."

Detroit Red Wings—In 1932 the team (then known as the Falcons) was purchased by James Norris. Norris had once played for a team in Montreal known as the Winged Wheelers and based on that, decided to name his new team the Red Wings with a winged wheel as the logo. The logo is a natural fit for Detroit, also known as "The Motor City."

New Jersey Devils—As legend has it, the "Jersey Devil" is a half-man, half-beast who has roamed New Jersey's Pine Barrens for over 250 years.

New York Rangers—The team's first owner in 1926 was Madison Square Garden president G. L. "Tex" Rickard. Fans and sportswriters referred to the new squad as "Tex's Rangers," and the name eventually stuck.

[Joey Slugs]

Above taken from http://www.factmonster.com/spot/nameorigins1.html

[RoXer]

The name Bruins was chosen in a contest, under the following guidelines: "The name chosen should preferably relate to an untamed animal whose name was synonymous with size, strength, agility, ferocity, and cunning; and in the color brown category."

lol

[Kris P Lettus]

http://www.utsa.edu/today/images/graphics/nosaints.jpg

The Fleur de Lis is an old symble which means "Serinity of Mind, Body, and Soul".. It was branded on French convicts that were going to be put to death hundereds of years ago.. It was supposed to help them accend to Heaven or something of that effect.. The name "Saints" comes from similar background in that it came to NOLA when it was first settled by the French and prolly had to do with the Church.. I don't know the exact meaning, but there are fleur de lis's all over NOLA and there are other connections like the song "Oh When the Saints", which is used as a traditional Jazz funeral march..

History of Song (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/When_the_Saints_Go_Marching_In)

I dunno..

I'll reserch more later..

[Kris P Lettus]

the team was named the Saints on 9 January 1967, since the franchise had been granted to New Orleans on All Saints' Day.

[JohnnyDrama]

The Reds nickname is just a shortened version of Red Stockings. The original 1876 team was the Red Stockings, but they disbanded and went to Boston to be the Boston Red Stockings. A new team in Cincinnati formed, and the team just shortened the name to the Reds so they wouldn't be confused with the Boston team, which was already shortened to the Red Sox.

[OssMan]

i remember when the nationals were coming to town and they had kids write in to the washington post what they wanted to name the team,

Soldiers
Pilots
Banana Smooshers

[YOUR Hero]

Toronto Raptors was a 'name the team' contest.

Edmonton Oilers, the huge Alberta Oil fields have to do with the naming of this team.