what the heck is a Mighty Duck?

November 9, 2005 9:08 AM

I've recently become obsessed with the origin of American sports team names. In particular, team names which make a specific reference to something unique in the history or culture of the team location. Does anyone know of an online list of this type of information? And also, anyone care to site any not obvious examples of this from American sports?

Some examples of what I'm talking about off the top of my head:
Baltimore Ravens - a reference to Baltimore as the birthplace of Poe
New England Patriots - Revolutionary War
SF 49ers / Denver Nuggets - Gold
Columbus Bluejackets - Ohio's Civil War heritage
Tennessee Titans - Nashville's nickname "Athens of the South"
Seattle Supersonics / Houston Astros - aviation/space heritage
New Jersey Devils - a reference to the local legend "Jersey Devil"

posted by peppermint22 to sports, hobbies, & recreation (52 comments total)

A mighty duck.
posted by loquax at 9:12 AM on November 9, 2005

The Utah Jazz (NBA) were originally the New Orleans Jazz, which makes much, much more sense.

The LA Lakers (NBA) were originally the Minneapolis Lakers, and Minnesota is the "Land of 10,000 Lakes"
posted by unixrat at 9:13 AM on November 9, 2005

Here you go, a list of them all I think...
posted by loquax at 9:13 AM on November 9, 2005

Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
posted by veedubya at 9:22 AM on November 9, 2005

Argh. Poe wasn't born in Baltimore. Baltimore just stole him from Richmond. Poe was really born in Boston, but still, Richmond is Poe's home. Baltimore's just where he staggered around and dropped dead.

/rant
posted by xmutex at 9:24 AM on November 9, 2005

The Minnesota Vikings are inspired by the mysterious Kensington Rune Stone, discovered in 1898.
posted by glibhamdreck at 9:24 AM on November 9, 2005

Aww, that takes all the fun out of it. :)
posted by unixrat at 9:24 AM on November 9, 2005

Although, I guess, thinking about it, the Baltimore Crabs, or the Baltimore Homicide Rates don't sound nearly as good.
posted by xmutex at 9:25 AM on November 9, 2005

The Kansas City Royals were named as a homage to the Kansas City Monarchs.
posted by ursus_comiter at 9:31 AM on November 9, 2005

The Green Bay Packers [WikiPedia].
posted by ldenneau at 9:40 AM on November 9, 2005

The Oklahoma Sooners are named after Oklahoma settlers who jumped the gun and claimed land before the land run officially began in 1889.
posted by ThatSomething at 9:47 AM on November 9, 2005

Old baseball teams have some of the best names, like the Baltimore Terrapins
posted by sohcahtoa at 9:49 AM on November 9, 2005

The New York Jets changed their name from the Titians because their location at the time was between JFK and La Guardia airports.
posted by skynxnex at 9:51 AM on November 9, 2005

The Atlanta Thrashers are named after Georgia's state bird and a founder of Atlanta.
posted by Frank Grimes at 9:52 AM on November 9, 2005

The Presbyterian College Blue Hose!
posted by MrMoonPie at 10:03 AM on November 9, 2005

[nitpicking]

"cite" examples, not 'site'.
posted by Miko at 10:04 AM on November 9, 2005

The UNCC 49ers, so named for the road the University's on.
posted by MrMoonPie at 10:06 AM on November 9, 2005

They're not American, but they're in the same sports leagues:

The Toronto Blue Jays were owned by Labatt (who make Blue beer -- note that their logo now just says "Jays" since Labatt sold their share, even though they're still called the Blue Jays); the Toronto Maple Leafs after the national symbol; the Toronto Raptors because Jurassic Park was big at the time, and we've regretted it since; the Montreal Canadiens because, well, guess (but the Montreal Habitants after the settlers of Quebec); the Quebec Nordiques after the North; the Montreal Expos from Expo '67 in Montreal; the Ottawa Senators after the federal government, and originally named in 1901, and yes, we know that's a centurion on the logo; the Vancouver Canucks because, well, guess; Edmonton Oilers after the Alberta oil industry.
posted by mendel at 10:06 AM on November 9, 2005

-Carnegie Mellon Tartans are named in reference to Andrew Carnegie's Scottish Heritage.
-The Stanford Cardinal are named not after the bird, but after the bright red color of their uniforms.
-Pittsburgh Steelers and their logo are coined after US Steel. Pittsburgh has long been known as a "Steel Town."
-The UC Santa Cruz Banana Slugs were named after a local mollusk found in the campus forests, and was a pot-shot at all the other school that made sports a big competitive deal.
-The University of Maryland Terrapins are named after the state reptile, the Diamondback Terrapin. (The campus paper is also called "The Diamondback.")
posted by sarahnade at 10:12 AM on November 9, 2005

The Calgary Flames are so named because they used to be located in Atlanta, and called the Atlanta Flames. That is a reference the great Atlanta Fire which burned down a majority of the city.

Many A&M universities are called the Aggies, because that is what an Agricultural student was called.
posted by ruwan at 10:12 AM on November 9, 2005

Cleveland Browns
posted by grateful at 10:14 AM on November 9, 2005

Not sure if you care about college teams?
Tufts Jumbos (as in Elephants). Has to do with an actual elephant from PT Barnum.
posted by cushie at 10:32 AM on November 9, 2005

What about the Detroit Pistons? Or is that just too obvious?

See also, Ohio State Buckeyes.

What about teams that make no sense, like the Michigan Wolverines or the Utah Jazz!?
posted by dpx.mfx at 10:49 AM on November 9, 2005

dpx: The Utah Jazz was the New Orleans Jazz, mentioned earlier in this discussion. One of Michigan's state nicknames is "The Wolverine State", according to their Wikipedia article.
posted by mendel at 10:55 AM on November 9, 2005

"Montreal Canadiens" isn't actually as obvious as that. "Canadien" refers specifically to French-speaking residents before Quebec was given to England (who tried to give it back to France after conquering Quebec City). So it's not translatable to "Canadian" in the current sense of the word - it refers specifically to the settlers of Quebec. Another word for them is "Habitant" - so Canadien and Habitant (or Hab as the nickname more often goes) are exact synonyms.

One that has stymied me is "Colts" for the Indianapolis and formerly Baltimore Colts. What do Colts have to do with Charm City?

Cleveland Browns are after the team's intial founder (although really the team he founded is now the Baltimore Ravens).

Green Bay Packers is after the meat-packing industry in the area.
posted by mikel at 11:06 AM on November 9, 2005

One that has stymied me is "Colts" for the Indianapolis and formerly Baltimore Colts. What do Colts have to do with Charm City?

The Colts is a reference to the Preakness, which is run in Pimlico, Maryland not too far off from Baltimore.

The original Cleveland Browns were named after Paul Brown, the founder of the team and one of the founding fathers of the NFL.

And (IIRC), the Brooklyn Dodgers (now, of course, the LA Dodgers) were called that as a shortened form of "trolley-dodgers," which was what most late-19th-century Brooklyn kids were on their way to the ballpark.

Of course I could be wrong on all of these ...
posted by LilBucner at 11:12 AM on November 9, 2005

The Chicago White Sox were named after the Chicago Cubs.

When the Cubs were first started in 1871, they were named the Chicago White Stockings. Because they wore long white stockings. The name was changed to the Colts from 1894 to 1847. It was given to them after their manager at the time, Cap Anson, appeared in a film titled "The Runaway Colt." They were the Orphans from 1898 to 1907. The name was given to them after their manager Cap Anson, also known as Pop, was fired. According the Cub website, "In 1902, noting the emphasis on young players by new manager Frank Selee, the Chicago Daily News penned the nickname Cubs for the first time. The moniker prevailed over time and was officially adopted by the club in 1907." The Cubs (when the were the White Stockings) were a really good team.

The White Sox started of life as the Sioux City Cornhuskers. They then moved to St. Paul and in 1900 moved to Chicago as part of the brand spanking new American League. When they moved the club adopted the original name of the Cubs, White Stockings, probably to spite the Cubs. The name was shortened to White Sox in 1902.
posted by nooneyouknow at 11:26 AM on November 9, 2005

loquax's link is incorrect when it says the Cleveland Indians were originally called the Cleveland Spiders. They're completely different franchises.

Go Jumbos
posted by ootsocsid at 11:28 AM on November 9, 2005

The Toledo Mud Hens.
posted by jjj606 at 11:35 AM on November 9, 2005

"The Houston Oilers went to Tennessee, where there is no oil, and the New Orleans Jazz went to Utah, where there is no music."

dpx: There were, in fact, wolverines in Michigan back in the day. Never as far south as Ann Arbor, though, I don't believe.
posted by electric_counterpoint at 11:41 AM on November 9, 2005

The Chicago White Sox were named after the Chicago Cubs.

When the Cubs were first started in 1871, they were named the Chicago White Stockings.

Similar deal with the Red Sox. The Boston Braves were originally named the Red Stockings (just like the Cincinatti team where many of their players came from in 1876). The Braves, I believe, had something to do with an owner who was involved with Tammany Hall politics -- and not, directly, Native Americans.

Great question, btw. This topic has always interested me too.
posted by SuperNova at 11:46 AM on November 9, 2005

The following bit of information from this previously mentioned site is incorrect:

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.

Point of fact, Knickerbocker is a character created by famous New Yorker Washington Irving, in a book called Diedrich Knickerbocker's History of New York.

This book was immensely popular at the time, being witty in it's mythologizing of New York history. So much so, that the moniker 'Knickerbocker' came to represent anyone from New York City who could claim lineage to the initial Dutch Settlement.
posted by AccidentalHedonist at 11:54 AM on November 9, 2005

The Bridgeport Bluefish are named after, well, a really vicious fish abundant in Long Island Sound.
posted by Opposite George at 11:59 AM on November 9, 2005

mikel writes "Another word for them is 'Habitant' - so Canadien and Habitant (or Hab as the nickname more often goes) are exact synonyms."

I've mulled over where 'Habs comes from for ages. Thank you all powerful internet and your prophet mikel.
posted by Mitheral at 12:09 PM on November 9, 2005

The Milwaukee Admirals (AHL Hockey) were named after a brand of refrigerators sold in the owner's store.
posted by fellion at 12:12 PM on November 9, 2005

What's that joke about [your least favourite team] being bought by the Philippines and changing their name to "The Manila Folders"?
posted by AmbroseChapel at 12:14 PM on November 9, 2005

Unlike the Wolverines, there are plenty of Gophers in Minnesota.
posted by unixrat at 12:41 PM on November 9, 2005

Another interesting thing is the similarities between teams in the same city. The Chicago Bears and Cubs. The New York/New Jersey Jets, Mets, and Nets. There used to be both NFL and MLB St. Louis Cardinals, known as the "football Cardinals" and "baseball Cardinals." There was a Brooklyn Dodgers NFL team from 1930 to 1943.

Last season the Angels, based in Anaheim, changed their name to The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, which means "The The Angels Angels of Anaheim" if you translate the Spanish.

Most of the team names in the WNBA are related to the names of the NBA teams in the same cities.

The Canadian Football League had the Ottawa Rough Riders and the Saskatchewan Roughriders; they've played each other for the championship several times.

This site has detailed lists of all of the current and previous team names for American baseball, football, basketball, and hockey.
posted by kirkaracha at 1:28 PM on November 9, 2005

kirkaracha: you go forgot Pola...errr...the New York baseball Giants and the New York football Giants.

Meet the hurricane that gave the Carolina Hurricanes their hurricane name.
posted by NoMich at 1:38 PM on November 9, 2005

"The New York Football Giants" is still the legal name of the corporate entity that owns the team.
posted by goddam at 2:23 PM on November 9, 2005

The Atlantic League's Long Island Ducks evoke the Island's duck farming history and this classic example of roadside architecture.

On the copycat name theme:

There was an NHL team named the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1925 to 1930.

My father remembers the New York Black Yankees playing in Yankee Stadium (1930s or thereabouts.)

The New York Mets are named after the New York Metropolitans, an American Association team from the late 19th century. The factmonster link misses this important point.
(Neither they nor the Cardinals are named after ecclesiastical big-wigs!*)

The Atlantic League's Newark Bears echo the name of an International League team active from 1926 to 1949.

*Okay, bar bet question time: Name two former Cardinals represented by plaques in Yankee Stadium's Monument Park. A: Plaques commemorating the visits of Pope Paul VI in 1965 and Pope John Paul II in 1979 were dedicated in Monument Park by the Knights of Columbus.
posted by Opposite George at 4:22 PM on November 9, 2005

Re: the Calgary Flames

"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.""

I like how the Flames retain the (nicely designed) Flaming A from their Atlanta days for use on the sweaters of their Assistant Captains (hockey teams generally feature a Captain - who wears a C on the breast/shoulder of his sweater, and two Assistants, who wear As). It can be (barely) seen here.
posted by Rock Steady at 4:30 PM on November 9, 2005

Come to think of it, Miller Huggins and Roger Maris both played for Saint Louis (NL) so the question should be "Name three (or four) former Cardinals...
posted by Opposite George at 4:42 PM on November 9, 2005

The state animal of Michigan is the Wolverine. Makes more sense than the Spartans up the road at MSU, although I guess they go along with the Trojans in California.

The University of Connecticut's athletic teams are called Huskies. Not because there are a lot of huskies in Connecticut, but because the school is called UConn.

The minor league baseball team in Lansing is called the Lugnuts. And there's the West MI Whitecaps in Grand Rapids.
posted by jlkr at 5:53 PM on November 9, 2005

One more: Stratford, Connecticut's world-famous women's softball team, the Brakettes, was organized and sponsored by the brake manufacturer Raybestos, a major local employer for years.

Raybestos left Stratford and withdrew their support in the 1990s but the team still goes by its original name.
posted by Opposite George at 6:28 PM on November 9, 2005

The Cincinnati Bengals are named after the fact that the Cincinnati Zoo has a cutting edge Bengal Tiger breeding program (White Bengal Tigers in particular, which always makes me thing the team colors should be white and black instead of orange and black).

The old ABA Cincinnati Royals were named the Royals for the fact that Cincinnati is the Queen City.
posted by Mick at 6:35 PM on November 9, 2005

This list may be a good jumping-off point.

The Brooklyn Cyclones are named after the adjacent roller coaster on Coney Island.

The Durham Bulls are named after Bull Durham tobacco, which was made by the American Tobacco Company in Durham, NC.
posted by Vidiot at 9:20 PM on November 9, 2005

The Calgary Flames are so named because they used to be located in Atlanta, and called the Atlanta Flames. That is a reference the great Atlanta Fire which burned down a majority of the city.

It should also be pointed out that the Calgary franchise kept the Flame name/logo because the city (at the time of the transfer) had just been granted the right to host the 1988 Winter Olympics (and the Olympic flame).
posted by grum@work at 10:39 PM on November 9, 2005

The Wolverines as a name comes from Wolverine State, which comes from the nickname given to Michiganders by either Ohioans (during the war they almost fought over ... I kid you not ... Toledo), or Indians. They were seen as rapacious and/or vicious as the animal.

Similarly, the University of Wisconsin Badgers comes not from the animal per se, but from the nickname given to hardscrabble miners in the Lead Region (SW Wis./NW Ill.), during the first "[precious metal] rush" before the state even existed (Galena, Ill. was one of the largest cities in the country for a moment in time). The miners, like badgers, seemed to live in their holes, only poking their heads out warily and occasionally.

The Milwaukee Brewers because that city used to be the top beer producer (now it's something like 10th or 14th, surprisingly, due to corporate consolidation and closure of 19th-century breweries). The Milwaukee Bucks because of, well, the deer. I think. So those are in the more obvious category. The first is maybe in the "ironic" category.

The Chicago Bulls are, of course, because of the Chicago Stockyards, where a prodigious number of bulls met their maker. It was such an operation, tourists in town were practically required to visit.

Baltimore's just where he staggered around and dropped dead.

...and wrote "The Raven". Anyway, it was selected in a public vote.

the Baltimore Homicide Rates don't sound nearly as good.

One reason the D.C. NBA team changed from the Washington Bullets to the Washington Wizards ...
posted by dhartung at 10:48 PM on November 9, 2005

Philadelphia Eagles are named after the new deal era National Recovery Act. (popular logo was an eagle)

Philadelphia 76ers (obvious)
posted by furiousxgeorge at 3:50 AM on November 10, 2005

Philadelphia Eagles are named after the new deal era National Recovery Act. (popular logo was an eagle)

and during WW2, when a lot of pro athletes (along with a lot of regular guys) were going off to war, the Eagles and Steelers combined their teams to form the Steagles. Look it up - I kid you not.
posted by LilBucner at 8:25 AM on November 10, 2005

One interesting team name (provided anyone's still reading here) is the McGill Redmen. At one point some misguided football manager put a stylized Plains Indian-style headdress kind of thing on the football helmet, and in general there was an uproar about calling them the "Redmen" as you might imagine.

The thing is that the team name never had anything to do with natives at all - it came from the era when teams were called "Red Stockings" and such and the team was literally simply named after the color they wore. They wore red, hence "Redmen". So the johnny-come-lately lame-o indian head was ditched from the helmet, where is was totally out of place, but the teams are still called the Redmen and this is totally non-controversial because people know the history more.

The womens' teams are called the "Martlets" after the tiny little bird in the McGill logo.
posted by mikel at 7:30 PM on November 10, 2005