RealGM

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/958 ... mes-part-1

according to zach lowe's new article where he ranks the best nicknames

cats finished 28th, higher than cavs and nets. i'm actually shocked we werent dead last. sadly he did not mention what our ranking would have been as the hornets. seems like that would have been a no-brainer for the article.

28. Charlotte Bobcats

If you're starting a basketball team in North Carolina and you're leaning toward another freaking cat nickname, at least go with Cougars, in honor of the successful ABA franchise the Carolina Cougars, which at various times involved Larry Brown (as coach), Doug Moe (assistant coach), Roger Brown, Billy Cunningham, Steve "Snapper" Jones, and other notables.3

Nope. The franchise went with Bobcats, an unsubtle nod to the first name of its original owner, Robert Johnson. Negative points for self-aggrandizement. The bobcat is apparently indigenous to the region, but it's a generic name, one Johnson actually tried to defend by saying, "No one wants to meet up with a bobcat in the woods, and that's the feeling we intend to create on the court with our team's new identity." Yeah, that didn't turn out.

The color scheme doesn't help; the orange makes me long for a Creamsicle. All hail the return of the Hornets.

nuggets at 21 is way too low. thats a great nickname. its unique and historical.

happy that the lakers at 20 didnt get a pass. its an awful nickname that is only accepted because its ingrained.

wizards a solid 10 spots behind where the bullets would have been.

part 2 coming later

somebody tweet lowe and ask him where hornets would rank if this was done next year?

part 2 is up

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/958 ... es-part-ii

the top 5 (and i have no argument with the top 5)

1. trail blazers
2. 76ers
3. celtics
4. pistons
5. knickerbockers

i agree with lowe. i love nicknames that are unique and are tied to the region in some manner. all of the top 5 might that criteria.

on a side note, seattle supersonics and charlotte hornets would also be in my top 5 for the same reasons. supersonics is my all-time #1 favorite professional nickname in any sport.

yea im kinda surprised that Bobcats wasn't last....and im still getting used to Pelicans in New Orleans not sure they should be 10

Agree with all the reasons Jazz is a great nickname - but not in Utah. I can't overcome the cognitive dissonance on that one, and still feel that name should have returned to New Orleans.

Agree on the Pistons name, but wish they could come up with a automotive/engine related logo. The horse imagery mixes the metaphor for me.

Would have put the Nuggets way higher and the Thunder way lower.

I like Phoenix Suns more than Zach does.

Prefer Toronto Huskies to Raptors (I once posted on their board they should drop the dinosaur imagery, officially shorten the name to Raps and change their logo to rap music imagery - nice reaction to that one ha ha a ha).

I also would have had the Spurs higher, I really like that name, logo, etc.

Supersonics nickname is the main reason I became a fan. I loved that freaking name as a kid.

It was hilarious to listen to an hour-long podcast of Lowe and Damashek (funny dude) debate these nicknames. At times some of the arguments made by Lowe, as solid and fact-based as always, seemed like quotes straight out of an article from The Onion.

It is all opinion based - and so is this - but I don't have any problem with the name Bobcats.

I think it's a cool name in fact. Can be shortened and played with and it is solid as a stand alone. There aren't too many other teams in sports that are already called Bobcats so it stands out as an original.

I like it.

"No one wants to meet up with a bobcat in the woods, and that's the feeling we intend to create on the court with our team's new identity."
Lol, that was foreshadowing on how Johnson's stint as an owner was going to go right there. If I met up with a bobcat in the woods I'd probably react like the double rainbow guy, bobcats are the ninjas of the outdoors. I've only seen fleeting glimpses of them very occasionally, they pretty much avoid humans completely.

But I didn't mind Bobcats as a name either and I'm one of the few that preferred orange. I disagree wildly with Lowe's list, Pelicans is dumb name and a dumb bird any way you slice it.

BigSlam wrote:There aren't too many other teams in sports that are already called Bobcats so it stands out as an original.

Still a terrible name. Names gotta be:

• *belligerent sounding
• *cool sounding
• *historic/regionally relevant

Bobcats just sounds lame. The god-awful orange is so hideous that I wouldn't wear those colors if you gave me some Bobcats gear. And I just don't see any fans in Charlotte buying it.

The Hornets sounded cool and belligerent. It had historic significance. The Hornets @ the Hive - year after year of sold out home games with a lively crowd was one of the best -- if not the best in the league. The Hornets teal color was great. Everyone goes for black/blue/red combinations but the teal still looked great and unique, and you could sport it around. Even Hugo was a great mascot -- probably the best along with the Phoenix gorilla back in the day.

Even for a fanatical basketball fan, it's tough to go to games even with these rock bottom prices because the Bobcats got nothing. Absolutely nothing. Horrible management. Horrible drafting. Horrible colors. Horrible logo. Horrible team name. No local support -- understandably. And you get yourself into a game or two and it's just dead. And who do you watch? Our franchise Kemba Walker have another 4-17 type of night? Or #2 pick MKG making Tony Allen look like Jordan on offense? Henderson is decent but he's at best a role player.

I really want to get into it and the name change helps if only for nostalgic reasons. Al Jefferson is not a savior but at least he brings guaranteed low post scoring, footwork to get excited about and may have an underrated ZBO like effect. Zeller I am very skeptical about but prove me wrong. I've been waiting a few years since I moved back to Charlotte for this to turn around.

Bobcats name would have been fine if our original owners name was Kyle Vanderkeefen instead of Bob, and if the original colors didn't look like a construction zone.

Liver_Pooty wrote:Bobcats name would have been fine if our original owners name was Kyle Vanderkeefen instead of Bob, and if the original colors didn't look like a construction zone.

We'd probably be the Charlotte Vanderkeefencats if that was the case. Still sounds cooler.

Biz Gilwalker wrote:

Liver_Pooty wrote:Bobcats name would have been fine if our original owners name was Kyle Vanderkeefen instead of Bob, and if the original colors didn't look like a construction zone.

We'd probably be the Charlotte Vanderkeefencats if that was the case. Still sounds cooler.

Vanderkeefencats sounds like an Eastern European city

well if you want to expand this to all sports teams there are some pretty terrible names, such as

1-The University of Arkansas at Monticello Boll Weevils
2-The Scottsdale Community College Fighting Artichokes
3-The Amherst College Lord Jeffs

Obviously, this is just completely opinion so anyone can develop such a list without any real basis for their picks. I think the Pelicans at #10 is a joke. And I'm not a fan of the Bobcats name either but the Cougars? Given that words connotation I really don't think we'd want to go down that path.