Poll: Team name change, if not Bullets?

[sashae]

I'm definitely a fan of the Zephyrs... different name, fun name, and not as goofy as the Wizards.

Bullets would be my #1 choice, but I agree it's unlikely (and it's a shame that it is.)

I also like the name of another former DC franchise, the Diplomats. I'd be happy to root for the Dips...

[Zonkerbl]

When I moved here in 99 I totally dug why you would change the name from the bullets, that was just an unfortunate name. I still think "Raptors" sucks worse than "Wizards." For some reason Wizards always makes me think of three year olds running around with magic wands and capes asking for candy. Zephyrs is fine. I imagine Ted will do it if he really feels it's necessary, but it doesn't seem to be a big deal to him. He knows much more than me about branding and so on so I'll leave it up to him to decide if it's worth it.

[CaPtaiN eYeSaNo]

I'd prefer to keep the name Wizards over anything even resembling anything political!

[Wes_Tiny_Abe_]

When I moved here in 99 I totally dug why you would change the name from the bullets, that was just an unfortunate name. I still think "Raptors" sucks worse than "Wizards." For some reason Wizards always makes me think of three year olds running around with magic wands and capes asking for candy. Zephyrs is fine. I imagine Ted will do it if he really feels it's necessary, but it doesn't seem to be a big deal to him. He knows much more than me about branding and so on so I'll leave it up to him to decide if it's worth it.

You want to know what is really unfortunate?

All of the people like you who have been moving here in large numbers for the past 10 years.

[Wes_Tiny_Abe_]

How about THE WASHINGTON MARSHMALLOWS?

Because many of the recent new arrivals to this city are soft and white.

But since you want to bring race into this now..

Yup, my bad, I shouldnt have done that...

Wall-E is the gentrified version of Short Circuit.

[w dumseld]

I saw the lightening bolt. The new name should be

The Washington Rare Essence

Just need to get permission or something

And then we could solve what music gets pumped into the games

[hands11]

The Washington Wallbangers
The Washington - Who am I, What am I doing here
The Washington - Rename the Wiz Thread Wont Die
The Washington - Crab Dribbles
The Washington Gride Lock - Works for traffics and congress
The Washington Yooooooo

[Wes_Tiny_Abe_]

Washington Disgusting Condos

[hands11]

http://www.truthaboutit.net/2010/08/sha ... it-is.html

Looks like we are going to the Wizards for at least a little while longer.

Let take a loot the team names that exist and why.
http://www.nba.com/features/behind_the_name.html

NBA teams have resorted to a variety of methods to get their nicknames -- fan vote, history of the area, inherited after team relocation, etc. However the means, some names have taught us that Timberwolves are indigenous to the state of Minnesota. On the other hand, team names may confuse as you may wonder where are all the bodies of fresh water in Southern California that we have the Los Angeles Lakers.

Bobcats - Animal - Bobcats, indigenous to the Carolinas

Bucks - Animal - selected from more than 14,000 contest entries - “because it is indigenous to Wisconsin,”

Bulls - Animal - name denoted strength and power, and it tied in to the city’s meatpacking tradition and the Chicago Amphitheater’s (first home court of the Bulls) proximity to the famed Chicago Stockyards.

Cavaliers - A Person - held a contest to name the city’s new basketball club. - “represent a group of daring, fearless men, whose life’s pact was never surrender, no matter what the odds.”

Cavalier was the name used by Parliamentarians for a Royalist supporter of King Charles I during the English Civil War (1642–1651). Prince Rupert, commander of much of Charles I's cavalry, is often considered an archetypical Cavalier

1. A gallant or chivalrous man, especially one serving as escort to a woman of high social position; a gentleman.
2. A mounted soldier; a knight.
3. Cavalier A supporter of Charles I of England in his struggles against Parliament. Also called Royalist.


Celtics -A people - The Iron Age and Roman-era Celts (pronounced /ˈkɛlts/ or /ˈsɛlts/, see names of the Celts) were a diverse group of tribal societies in Europe who spoke Celtic languages

Clippers - A contest decided on Clippers because the city was known for the great sailing ships that passed through San Diego Bay

Grizzlies - Animal
When the Grizzlies came into existence in Vancouver, British Columbia, prior to the 1995-96 season, the ownership group wanted a name symbolic of Vancouver and the entire province of British Columbia. After initially tabbing “Mounties” as the team’s name, a tribute to Canada’s iconic Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the franchise instead changed the name to “Grizzlies”. Grizzly bears are indigenous to British Columbia, and are a highly prominent icon both in northwestern native culture and Western Canada as a whole.

Hawks - Indian Tribe
Because Sauk Indian Chief Black Hawk’s tribe was located in Rock Island and a major part of the 1831 Black Hawk War was fought in the surrounding areas, the team was named the Tri-Cities Blackhawks. The club joined the NBA in 1949, and in 1951, the franchise relocated to Milwaukee, where the nickname was shortened to Hawks. The team moved to St. Louis in 1955, and finally to Atlanta in 1968.

[hands11]

con't

Heat - Miami is hot
Hornets - Bug
Jazz - In 1974 a contest was held to name the expansion team in New Orleans.

Kings - The team relocated to Cincinnati in 1957, and became the Kansas City/Omaha Kings in 1972. I guess OH thinks a lot of themselves with this King stuff.

Knicks - The term "Knickerbockers" traces its origin back to the Dutch settlers who came to the New World

Lakers - The Minneapolis Lakers began play in the National Basketball League in 1947-48 The nickname chosen for the team was based on the state motto, “The Land of 10,000 Lakes.”

Magic - So a contest was held with the Orlando Sentinel for fans to submit their picks for the name of the future team. A total of 4,296 entries were submitted and after a committee was selected to review the entries, four names emerged as finalists - the "Heat", the "Tropics", the "Juice" and the "Magic".

Mavericks - In March 1980, radio station WBAP conducted a Name the Team contest. More than 4,600 entries. Derived from the English word maverick meaning "independent". The word itself is derived from the surname of a 19th-century Texas ranche

Nets - I guess basketball nets -
Also, Nets rhymed with other New York sports franchises, baseball’s Mets and football’s Jets. Before joining the NBA in 1977, the team returned to the Garden State, kept its nickname and became the New Jersey Nets.

Nuggets - refers to the 19th century mining boom in Colorado, when people rushed to the area, hoping to make their fortunes by panning for gold and silver nuggets.

Pacers - having to do with the racing.
An original member of the ABA, this franchise’s nickname was decided on by the group of investors.

Indianapolis attorney Richard D. Tinkham recalls the nickname Pacers was chosen because it was reflective both of the state’s rich history with harness racing pacers and the pace car used for the running of the Indianapolis 500.

The team kept the name when it joined the NBA in 1976

[hands11]

con't

Pistons - because of the owner.
The franchise was founded in Fort Wayne, Ind., as the Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons, a National Basketball League (NBL) team. Owner Fred Zollner ran a foundry that manufactured pistons primarily for car, truck and locomotive engines.

Though the Pistons enjoyed a solid local following, their city's small size made it difficult for them to be profitable. In 1957, Zollner moved the team to Detroit, a much larger city that hadn't seen professional basketball in a decade. When the team relocated to the Motor City, the name Pistons was still appropriate in the nation’s automobile capital.


Raptors - Animal
oronto was awarded a franchise, a nationwide "Name Game" contest to name the team would follow as the franchise felt that turning to the fans to help develop an identity was the ideal course to take

The name game became one of the most popular in league history, generating more than 2,000 different entries. The final top -10 list was dominated by animal names. The list included, Beavers, Bobcats, Dragons, Grizzlies, Hogs (Toronto's nickname is Hogtown), Raptors, Scorpions, T-Rex, Tarantulas, and Terriers.

On May 15, the team's new moniker, the Toronto Raptors, was unveiled on national television. The franchise's logo featured an aggressive, sharp-toothed dinosaur dribbling a basketball. The team colours were to be bright red, purple, black, and "Naismith silver" - in honour of Canadian James Naismith, who invented the game of basketball in 1891.

Rockets - because of NASA
n 1967, San Diego became the 12th member of the NBA. Basketball fans there were asked to choose a nickname for the team. Rockets was picked because it reflected the outstanding growth of space-age industries in San Diego.

Even though the team relocated to Houston in 1971, the nickname still fits because of the NASA space program’s operation center there.


Sixers - reference 1776
The NBA franchise actually began in 1949, when six teams from the midwest-based National Basketball League joined the Basketball Association of America to form the 17 team National Basketball Association. One of those teams was the Syracuse Nationals, which eventually became the Philadelphia 76ers.

Syracuse Nationals moved to Philadelphia in 1963. It is known for its part in the 1776 singing of the Declaration of Independence.

[hands11]

con't'


Sonics now the Thunder because..about the storms.

The Seattle SuperSonics (also commonly referred to as the Sonics) were an American professional basketball team based in Seattle, Washington that played in the Pacific and Northwest Divisions of the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1967 until 2008. Following the 2007–08 season, the team relocated to

Oklahoma City, and now plays as the Oklahoma City Thunder.



Spurs - Reference to cowboy spurs.
An original member of the ABA, this franchise—which joined the NBA in 1976 – was born in Dallas as the Chaparrals. When the original investors agreed to start a team, they were dining in a posh club called the Chaparral Club.

One of the owners noticed an image of the chaparral, which is a roadrunner, on the napkin, and everyone agreed the bird would make a nice, lively mascot. In 1970, they became a regional franchise called the Texas Chaparrals, then they relocated to San Antonio in 1973. Team officials wanted a name that reflected the Western heritage of Texas, so a contest was held and the name Spurs was chosen.


Suns - The weather.
"That was a great name," Eller says of Bagnall's choice. "In fact, Firebirds was one of the names that we considered."

Of course, Jerry Colangelo, then-general manager of the new franchise, went on to select "Suns" out of the 28,000 responses received in the "Name the Team" contest. Selinda King won season tickets for one year and $1,000 cash after being selected the lucky winner of the contest.


Timberwolves - Animal

Four months before the NBA granted Minnesota a franchise, the nickname of "Timberwolves" was selected as the winner of a "Name the Team" contest. Fans throughout and beyond Minnesota submitted 6,076 entries featuring 1,284 different nicknames. Timberwolves, which was submitted 17 times, and Polars were the finalists. The other 1,282 entries ran through a number of different categories, including animals, fish, political interests, outer space, already-existing team names, some names that had to be researched in a dictionary and a potpourri of nicknames that no specific category could claim.

Upon the selection of the two finalists, the choice of whether the NBA team would be the Timberwolves or Polars was left up to the 842 City Councils around the state. They rendered their decision and only one task was left: to determine the winner of the contest.

The names of the 17 entrants who submitted "Timberwolves" were placed in a drawing, which was won by Tim Pope of Brooklyn Center, Minn., who received a trip to the 1987 NBA All-Star Weekend in Seattle.

[hands11]

con't

Trail Blazers - abotu the land
Two weeks after being awarded an expansion franchise in 1970, team management held a contest to select the team's name. More than 10,000 entries were submitted. The most popular choice was "Pioneers", but that name was excluded from consideration as it was already used by sports teams at Portland's Lewis and Clark College. The name "Trail Blazers" received 172 entries, and was selected as the name.[3]

The 5 on 5 "pinwheel" logo of the Portland TrailBlazers represents two teams of 5 facing off in a shape that roughly forms lower case letters 't' and 'b' and even looks a little like a 'P' for the Portland TrailBlazers.


Warriors - reference to Piledelphia before they moved.
When Philadelphia was awarded a charter NBA franchise in 1946, the owners decided to name the team after an old Philadelphia basketball team, the Warriors, who played as members of the American Basketball League in 1925.

The team became the San Francisco Warriors after they relocated to the West Coast in 1962, and changed its name to the Golden State Warriors—symbolizing a team belonging to all of California, the Golden State -- upon settling into a new home in Oakland in 1971

[hands11]

Wizards - So what would we change it to.

If we play off the Redskins and the local Indian tribes.

Warriors would have worked well. We have the Pentagon, Commander and Chief, Annapolis, Norfolk and the ships.

Washington Tribe

http://www.indigenouspeople.net/easterntribes.htm

Animals

http://www.sailor.lib.md.us/MD_topics/res/env_ani.html

Maryland - Bears, Cats( bob cats ), Birds ( hawks ), Eagle ( the capitols ),
We have the black bears and crabs.

Washington Crabs - cuz we love LeBron also.
Washington Sharks

Weather
Washington Storm
Washington Lightening

Things the city if known for.
The Cherry Blossoms. The Washington Blossoms
Sailing. There is lot here and a lot of water stuff but many don't experience it but there is a lot with the bay, the ocean and other rivers.

[Wes_Tiny_Abe_]

The Washington ORGANIC EATING WANNA-BE URBAN INFLATED RENT PAYERS.

[Tommy Udo 6]

If my memory is correct, the team was called the Zephyrs only in their last season in Chicago. The original name was the Chicago Packers - which I hated because "Packers" seemed to go with "Green Bay", who were just starting to dominate the NFL in the earlt Sixties.

I remember watching a few games on TV - as the Packers and then the Zephyrs. If Chicago wasnt given a replacement franchise - the Bulls - I would probably be a Wizard fan today.

[Hoopalotta]

If my memory is correct, the team was called the Zephyrs only in their last season in Chicago. The original name was the Chicago Packers - which I hated because "Packers" seemed to go with "Green Bay", who were just starting to dominate the NFL in the earlt Sixties.

I remember watching a few games on TV - as the Packers and then the Zephyrs. If Chicago wasnt given a replacement franchise - the Bulls - I would probably be a Wizard fan today.

And we've got Kurt now too, so really, there's a lot of gravity pulling you in here.

[Bickerstaff]

The Washington Arrogant Native Washingtonians

[fifthstop]

Can only be the Seadogs.

[montestewart]

The Washington Arrogant Native Washingtonians

On the news, they'd just say the Wawas