Things are changing for the Florida Marlins. In addition to moving into their new 37,000 seat, retractable roofed home next season near downtown Miami, the Marlins will sport a new moniker, the Miami Marlins. I kind of like it. I think it has a nice ring to it, Miami Marlins. I like the alliteration. And lord knows the Marlins certainly need a change from whatever they have been doing recently. The new name got me thinking about a bunch of other notable recent sports name changes. Allow me to go through a few:
The Tampa Bay Rays: They dropped the “Devil,” changed the colors, redesigned the unis, and won the AL Pennant. Clearly it worked. I like it both ways, the Devil was cool but having just the Rays is sleek.
Chad Ochocinco: Stupid. Infuriatingly, aggravatingly, stupid. An incredibly obnoxious move from one of the most unlikeable football players in recent memory. Ochocinco? Does he know it means “eight five” not “eighty five”? I refuse to call him by his stupid new name, to me he is Chad Johnson and always will be. If I was Bill Belichick I would have told him to change it back before I would let him play a down.
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim: Another terrible name. First it was Los Angeles Angels, then California, then Anaheim, now it’s like all three. Make up your minds. I happened to like Anaheim Angels (more alliteration) and I think the new name is a cheap marketing ploy to get people to think the Angels are more high class and to convince people in LA that the stadium is not that far away. You’re in Anaheim, it’s a different city, own it.
Metta World Peace (formerly Ron Artest): Confusing
Arizona Diamondbacks: Yes, it’s the longest name in pro sports but they pull it off well. The new Sedona red unis are great (though so were the old purple ones) and the long name isn’t an issue because it can be shortened so easily to Dbacks. Unlike the Rays, their stadium is top of the line and was on full display during this year’s All Star game. Already winners of a world championship in 2001, the Diamondbacks have gone from weird expansion team to full fledged member of the league without a second thought status really fast and really well.
That’s all I could think of for right now in terms of recent(ish) name changes that are noteworthy but it got me thinking of something else. Pro baseball is the oldest of the professional sports in this country and I think that the team names reflect it. In baseball we have the Athletics, the Dodgers, the Red Sox and the White Sox, the Yankees, and even the Metropolitans, names which for the most part have a long and creative history behind them (see the Dodgers, Yankees, and Athletics for starters). Other sports just aren’t the same. In the NFL, NBA (except for the Knickerbockers), and the NHL, everything is named for some object. You’ve got the Bears, Nets, and Maple Leafs. The Raiders, Bucks, and Lightning. The Rams, Kings, and Avalanche just to name a few. Baseball is just different. Even the Cubs is a strange name for a sports team if you think about it a little bit.
Just food for thought.
Stat of the Day: By 1918, 50% of the cars in the world were Ford Model T’s.
-Max Frankel
