Why is Columbus not CLB?

December 9, 2005 10:40 PM

Why is the Columbus Blue Jackets hockey team often abbreviated as "CBJ"?

While ESPN.com uses CLS, and CBS SportsLine chooses CLB, most television tickers use CBJ, as does SportsCenter for all of its graphics, and many newspapers, too. I understand Colorado may already stake claim to COL, but I don't understand why there is no standard for Columbus, or why the team name would ever be used for an abbreviation over CLB or CLS.

posted by brad! to sports, hobbies, & recreation (10 comments total)

... Columbus Blue Jackets??
posted by nathan_teske at 11:22 PM on December 9, 2005

Thanks, Nathan!

I think I may need to be more clear. While most others are shortened by city name (special exception when there are multiple franchises in one place -- LAL, LAC; NYJ, NYG), Columbus does not follow suit.

This would be like the Detroit Red Wings being DRW or the Buffalo Sabres being BFS. I don't get why Columbus does not use the convention of abbreviating by name of city only.
posted by brad! at 11:33 PM on December 9, 2005

I think the question is more about why that particular combination of letters is used, when most other abbreviations don't include the team's name, only the city in which the team is based.

If I'm not mistaken, the Chicago White Sox occasionally show up in tickers and score boxes as CWS, presumably to avoid confusion with the Cubs, but never the other way around. A more common one is NYY for the New York Yankees and NYM for the Mets.

If I had to guess, I'd say CBJ is a more familiar and obvious term than CLS or CLB, which aren't obvious abbreviations of Columbus for anyone living outside the area (and possibly even to the locals). The different treatments could simply be a result of news organizations having different house style rules.
posted by chrominance at 11:37 PM on December 9, 2005

Yep, CWS = Chicago White Sox in tickers/scoreboxes, but I don't think I've ever seen anything but CHI for the Cubs.
posted by scody at 11:56 PM on December 9, 2005

It's probably CBJ because people are more likely to recognize BJ as standing for Blue Jackets than COL or CLS or CLB as standing for Columbus.
posted by kindall at 12:01 AM on December 10, 2005

COL would be the Colorado Avalanche. CBJ is probably the only instantly recognizable 3 letter abbreviation for the Jackets. I think team abbreviations are chosen to be recognizable and distinct, not to follow some particular standard. Sorta like the ticker symbols on the stock market.
posted by mullacc at 12:24 AM on December 10, 2005

Scody: I see Chicago White Sox shortened to CHA (Chicago American League, apparently) and Chicago Cubs shortened to CHN (Chicago National League) frequently, though no particular example comes to mind at the moment. Same for NYN (NFC Giants) and NYA (AFC Jets)
posted by mattwatson at 12:58 AM on December 10, 2005

The airport code for Columbus is CMH which would take a good while to learn. CBS is a TV network. COL is taken, as said above. What are the other choices? CLS, CLB, and CBJ, I guess. I live in Columbus, and the city sort of has a chip on its shoulder about still being refered to as Columbus, Ohio in the press instead of just Columbus. I've never heard anyone complain about the sports ticker, but if this issue gets out down here it will only add to the inferiority complex. The team itself does bad enough for that. If each city could choose its own abbreviation, I'm sure Columbus would vote for OSU. The Buckeyes are all that matter.
posted by putzface_dickman at 7:31 AM on December 10, 2005

That's what CHA stands for! I've seen the CWS and CHI abbreviations before, but never CHN. Anyway, I always thought it was just a strange abbreviation for CHicAgo because the cubs had dibs on CHIcago.

Fascinating.
posted by aladfar at 10:58 AM on December 10, 2005

CBJ just seems the most intuitive.

By the way, I believe I've seen the Cubs abbreviated as CHC. (Prior to the advent of interleague play, both were just CHI.)
posted by evilcolonel at 9:24 PM on December 10, 2005