INTRODUCTION
What's in a name? Plenty. There's pride, passion, and a sense of identity. Perhaps there is no greater association with names in our society than in the arena of sports. Yet individual player's names sewn onto the back of uniforms ultimately fade behind the team names emblazoned across the front. Even legendary sports heroes such as Michael Jordon, Jackie Robinson, Tom Brady, and soccer's Mia Hamm take their place beneath the banners of Chicago Bulls, Brooklyn Dodgers, New England Patriots and Team USA.
Sports fans are rarely shy about proclaiming their loyalties. T-shirts, jerseys, jackets and caps provide open testimony for all to see. For many fans, the pronoun We has replaced They. We won! We lost! We're #1! It's a true tribute to the unifying nature of sports. And at the heart of every such connection is a team name. Such affiliations can forge lifelong bonds, extending from the playing fields and stands into the streets and collective consciousness of the surrounding city. The chasm separating Cubs fans on the north side of Chicago from White Sox fans on the south side can run as deep and wide as any natural divide.
Rivalries and factions based on team names inserted after the word "Go ____!" can literally fracture households. But when the pull is strong enough, even the allegiance of boundaries can be overcome. Yes, the visitors can actually garner cheers over the home team. And as the overwhelming popular Dallas Cowboys' championship squads of the 1990's can attest, it is indeed possible to become "America's Team."
If you take the time to examine the nicknames of your favorite professional and college sports teams, you'll discover that they've been inspired by history, science, literature, music, and a slew of other subjects. That's right. The teams for which you root read like an encyclopedia of learning.
Nicknames can be created in any number of fashions. Baseball's Colorado Rockies recognize an outstanding geological feature—the Rocky Mountains. Football's Pittsburgh Steelers are an example of a name inspired by a regional occupation—Pennsylvania's steel industry. Some teams, such as the Boston Celtics and Sad Diego State Aztecs, are named after people who influenced a particular city or region. Today, however, the debate rages over the appropriateness of teams named after Native American culture. Nicknames such as Indians, Braves, and of course, Redskins, remain at the center of the controversy.
Franchises that have moved from one city to another aren't obligated to change their nicknames. That can create some head-scratching combinations, such as the puzzling Utah Jazz of professional basketball (Jazz has its roots in Utah? Really?).
What historical events are behind names such as the Philadelphia 76ers, San Francisco 49ers and Oklahoma Sooners? How do the names of women's professional teams today differ from those of the 1940s? What inspired the owner of the Washington Bullets to change his team's name to the Wizards? How did the University of Florida's nickname impact upon the sports drink Gatorade?
Together, we will answer these questions and many more as we explore the significance of the names bestowed upon our favorite sports teams. Along the way we will encounter a number of Challenges that will exercise our minds and creativity. We'll even have several opportunities at a rather unique challenge—giving a brand new sports franchise a fitting and inspiring name. But most of all, we will celebrate the moving, thought-provoking, and powerful nature of these nicknames until you leap to your feet and shout, "That's my team!"
World History
Warring Parties
The origins of football or futballe can be traced back to the beginning of the 2nd century in England. After an occupation of more than 20 years, British forces finally drove out the invading Danes. Years later, Danish skulls, unearthed from British battlefields, were kicked about the countryside for sport. Eventually, the skulls were replaced with inflated cow bladders. Contests emerged between neighboring towns. The object was to kick these bladders—the early ancestors of football pigskins—into the center of the opposing town. There were neither rules nor referees in these often violent encounters. King Henry II (1133-1189) banned the competitions during his reign because of the vandalism and mass homicides that accompanied them. After that, the popular game was only played in places where the participants could bribe the authorities. By the sixteenth century, however, it was reestablished publicly, being played on fields with borders and real goalmouths to defend. It eventually morphed into the game of soccer. Some three hundred years later, American college football was born—though it more resembled the sport of rugby than the football we know today—when in 1869, a pair of New Jersey schools, the Rutgers Queensmen (Rutgers University) defeated the New Jersey Tigers (Princeton University) by a score of 6-4 in the city of New Brunswick. 2
Today the National Football League features a trio of teams whose nicknames reflect the game's warring roots: Vikings, Buccaneers and Raiders.
Minnesota Vikings (1961-present)
The Vikings received their name because of a strong Nordic heritage in the Northern Midwest of the US, which is populated by many Danish, Finnish, Icelandic, Norwegian, and Swedish-Americans. In Norse, "Viking" means piracy. But the Vikings were more than brutal pirates. They were explorers, warriors, and merchants as well. The Vikings both plundered and colonized the coasts of Northern and Western Europe from the 8th to 11th centuries. They possessed advanced sailing and navigational skills, and traveled in longboats that used both sails and oars for added speed.4The Vikings, though, were generally a non-literate culture, recording little of their own history in books. Most of what we know about the Vikings comes from other cultures.
The horn emblems that decorate the Minnesota Vikings' football helmets are meant to mirror those once believed to be worn by real Vikings. However, these warriors never actually went into battle with horns on their helmets. Why? The Vikings' close-quarters style of combat would have caused serious harm to their fellow troops if sharp horns had been attached.
In popular culture, Marvel Comics' superhero Thor is based on the Asgardian God of Thunder of Norse mythology. Thor's enchanted hammer, Mjolnir, grants him incredible powers, including flight and the manipulation of weather. Now wouldn't he enhance the Vikings' chances for a winning football season?
The Minnesota Viking's fight song, Skol, Vikings, is also tied to the team's Nordic heritage. Skol is a Danish-Norwegian-Swedish word that means "cheers" or "good health", as in a celebratory toast.5 The song is played at home games whenever the Vikings score a touchdown.
Singer-songwriter Prince (1958-2016), a Minnesota-native, also wrote a fight song for the Vikings entitled Purple and Gold, inspired by their team colors.6
To learn more about Vikings, go on-line and check out the Viking Age or Viking longships. You can also research the lives of famous Viking warriors such as Erik the Red and his son Leif Ericsson. And don't forget to hear Prince's rendition of Purple and Gold.
Alternative Team Names: Vikes. The Vikings are also referred to as the Purple People Eaters because of their purple uniforms and fearsome defense which swallows up opponents.
Other Teams Named Vikings: Cleveland State (OH) and Portland State (OR)
Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1976-present)
The Buccaneers get their name from the French word boucan; a grill used for smoking the dried meats once served on ships at sea.7 That basically means buccaneers were among the earliest fans of jerky. During the late 17th century, buccaneers were sponsored by England and France to disrupt the rival Spanish shipping industry in the Caribbean. Authors such as Robert Louis Stevenson and Jonathan Swift glorified the adventures of these organized bands of pirates who democratically elected their captains and evenly divided their stolen spoils under the principals of liberty, equality and fraternity. The crew, not the captain, decided which ships to attack.8 These buccaneers sailed without pay, growing wealthier only on what they plundered. How much of a team were the early buccaneers? They actually formulated a kind of insurance policy for their shipmates who were injured in battle and couldn't partake in the crew's next raid, ensuring them a cut of the profits. But don't believe the buccaneers were overly kind. They earned a reputation as such fierce fighters that many ships simply surrendered to them. That combination of team spirit and toughness made Buccaneers a great nickname for a football franchise in Tampa Bay, a harbor city situated on the west central coast of Florida.
Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island is a famous tale of buccaneers and buried gold. Check it out from your local library and read about teen Jim Hawkins' adventure aboard the pirate ship Hispaniola, as he tries to keep a treasure map from falling into the hands of a one-legged buccaneer named Long John Silver.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers began by losing the first 26 games in their franchise's history, thus giving their own fans that sinking feeling. Not to fret, though. The Buccaneers eventually went on to capture Super Bowl XXXVII in 2002, defeating a fellow war-inspired team named the Oakland Raiders by a score of 48-21. The team currently plays at Raymond James Stadium, which has a 103-foot pirate ship built into it. The ship has a huge skull decorating the bow (front) and eight working cannons. It is manned by a 30-person crew on game days. Whenever the Buccaneers score, the cannons are fired—seven times for a touchdown (7 points), three times for a field goal (6 points), and twice for a safety (2 points).
Keeping to a Theme: A pair of Tampa Bay's soccer teams also carried buccaneer/pirate inspired nicknames. They were the Tampa Bay Rowdies (1975-1993) and the Tampa Bay Mutiny (1995-2001). A "mutiny" occurs when a faction of shipmates overthrow the captain, seizing control. But since buccaneers elected their captains and could probably call for a revote, a mutiny sounds rather extreme. Don't you think?
Alternative Team Name: Bucs
Other Teams Named Buccaneers: The New Orleans Buccaneers played pro hoops in the American Basketball Association from 1967-1970. Also, the University of the Virgin Islands calls their athletic teams the Buccaneers.
Oakland Raiders (1960-present)
The Oakland Raiders' nickname was ultimately inspired by a marine raider from World War II (1939-1945), who submitted it for a name-the-franchise contest. That wasn't the original winning entry, though. Ownership had decided on a different submission, the Oakland Senors (Mister or Sir in Spanish). But the nickname was suddenly switched prior to the team beginning play, after the press hinted that the contest was rigged.
The real-life Raiders were part of the United States Marine Corps, an elite fighting force within an elite fighting force. They staged special amphibious or water-related raids behind enemy lines, usually landing on the shore in rubber boats.9
The football franchise bearing the Raiders' name developed an image just as tough. The battle cry of their fans, who often wave the Jolly Roger (pirate flag featuring a skull and crossbones), is simply "Go to War!" On the field, the Raiders, clad in silver and black uniforms, featured players with nicknames such as "Snake," "Mad Bomber," "Hit Man" and "Dr. Death." In 1978, in a sad and freak occurrence, Raiders' defender Jack "The Assassin" Tatum delivered a devastating hit on Darryl Stingley, leaving the New England Patriots' receiver a paraplegic, and forever searing the Raiders' over-the-top aggressive nature into sports culture.
Images of Raiders in popular culture can be seen in a pair of world-recognized video games. In Call of Duty, the first level is set on Makin Island with fictionalized members of the legendary 2nd Marine Raiders. Madden NFL is named after John Madden, who coached the Oakland Raiders to victory in Super Bowl XI and became even more well-known as a TV announcer and sports analyst. The EA Sports game, which first appeared in 1988, has come out with a new edition every year since 1990, selling more than 130 million copies.
And of course, there's the 1981 adventure film Raiders of the Lost Ark, in which George Lucas and Steven Spielberg introduced the world to Dr. Indiana Jones, played by Harrison Ford. Interestingly, the movie is set in the year 1936, six years prior to the advent of the real-life Marine Raiders.
In 2020, the Oakland Raiders are scheduled to move their franchise to the city of Las Vegas.
Alternative Team Names: Silver and Black (teams' colors), Men in Black (for the popular 1997 sci-fi film Men in Black), Raider Nation, The Black Hole (Raiders' defense). The team also went by the name the Los Angeles Raiders (1982-1984) when its home games were played in LA.
Other Teams Named Raiders: Colgate University (NY) and Wright State University (OH). Texas Tech University goes by Red Raiders.
Pittsburgh Pirates (1882-present)
In 1889, baseball's Pittsburgh Alleghenies, who played beside the Allegheny River in Pennsylvania, were renamed the Pirates. They were given that nickname after a complaint was lodged against them by another team, accusing the Pittsburgh club of being "piratical" or pirate-like in their signing of a player from the roster of a franchise that had recently folded.10
Hall of Famer Honus Wagner played for the Pirates from 1897 to 1917. Due to his superb speed, Wagner was nicknamed "The Flying Dutchman," which is also the name of the legendary ghost pirate ship that can never make port, with the souls upon it doomed to sail the seven seas forever. 11
Images of the Flying Dutchman can be seen in many diverse forums. The ship has appeared in cartoons such as SpongeBob SquarePants and Scooby-Doo, while also being the subject of an opera by German composer Richard Wagner (1813-1883) called The Flying Dutchman. In literature, Samuel Taylor Coleridge's famed poem The Rime of the Ancient Mariner (1798), has a similar ghost ship inhabiting its stanzas. And in popular film, The Flying Dutchman ship appears in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006).
One Expensive Baseball Card: The Honus Wagner baseball card (T206) is one of the rarest in the world, with fewer than 60 copies known to still be in existence. How did it get so rare? The card was issued by the American Tobacco Company from 1909 to 1911, and was given away free with the purchase of its tobacco products. Wagner, however, was a fierce opponent of tobacco and refused to let his card continue in production. So fewer than 200 cards were ever distributed to the public. In 2007, a T206 Honus Wagner judged to be in near-mint conditioned sold for $2.8 million, the highest price ever paid for a baseball card.12
Alternative Team Names: Bucs and Buccos
University of East Carolina Pirates
East Carolina University, located along the Tar River in Greenville, North Carolina, once went by the nickname Teachers, because the school trains future educators. But after several seasons of being held scoreless multiple times in football games, the university searched for a name that might evoke more spirit from the student-body. The eventual choice was Pirates.
In an incredible coincidence, one of the Carolina's most famous pirates was an Englishman named Edward Teach. (Teach. Teachers. That's spooky!) He was better known as Blackbeard the Pirate, who sported a thick black beard as part of his fearsome image. In 1718, Teach perished in a bloody battle with soldiers, several months after running his ship, the Queen Anne's Revenge, aground at the entrance to a North Carolina harbor. The price of defeat in those days? William Teach's severed head was hung from the conquering ship's bowsprit (the metal or wooden beam extending forward from the front point of the boat).13
Other Teams Named Pirates: Hampton University (VA) and Seton Hall University (NJ). There's also pro football's Pittsburgh Pirates (1933-1939). That team was once coached by John "Blood" McNally. Now that's a nickname for a Pirate!
University of New Orleans Privateers
The University of New Orleans reached back into its city's warring past to choose the nickname Privateers. Unlike pirates, privateers were commissioned by a state to attack enemy ships. They obtained what was known as a letter of marque to make their actions legal, and not a hanging offense. Though the crews weren't paid, they were allowed to keep what they seized from other vessels. 14
During the Battle of New Orleans in January 1915, privateers were vital in securing the city, which sits at the mouth of the Mississippi-Missouri River system, against the powerful British Navy. The most well-known of the privateers was Jean Laffite, a Frenchman. During this intense battle versus the British, Lafitte aided US forces led by General Andrew Jackson, who later became the 7th President of the United States and is currently pictured on the $20 bill. Those heroics by Laffite eventually earned him a Presidential Pardon by James Madison for his past piracy.15
Washington Wizards (1997-present)
Sporting contests are often described in the media using violent imagery, with words like "whipped," "slaughtered," and "destroyed" punctuating the storyline. But in 1997, Baltimore/Washington Bullets (1963-1996) owner Abe Pollin decided the name of his pro basketball team was inappropriate for Washington DC, a city which at the time was suffering from a severe outbreak of gun violence. Pollin was also moved by the assassination of his close friend, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. Therefore, the owner renamed his franchise the Washington Wizards.
"Bullets connote killing, violence, death," Pollin told the New York Times. "Our slogan used to be ‘Faster than a speeding bullet.' This is no longer acceptable."16
Challenge #1
Welcome to your first Challenge. Now that we've properly warmed-up, get ready to exercise your brain. Here are your instructions: grab a sheet of paper and rewrite the following game summary removing the war-like imagery and replacing it with words that carry less violent connotations:
VIKINGS SLAUGHTER BUCS
The Minnesota Vikings battered the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday Night Football 40-17. The Buccaneers' defense was assaulted by two first-quarter touchdowns as the Vikings' vaunted passing attack ripped apart the opposition's secondary. Minnesota runners struck for 200 yards on the ground, including a walloping 90-yard touchdown run just before halftime that all but killed the Buccaneers' chances and spirit. The 23-point loss was the worst whipping of the season for the Buccaneers who had been slapped with a three-touchdown beating in their previous game.
Sporting Peoples
Boston Celtics (1946-present)
The franchise's first owner, Walter Brown, chose the name Celtics because so many people of Irish descent inhabited the city of Boston, Massachusetts. That meant he wanted to fill the stands with paying fans. The Celts (pronounced Kelts) were various groups of people who lived throughout Europe at a time when the Roman Empire was growing. The main trait linking the tribes of Celts was their language,17 which still has a strong presence today in Scotland, Wales, and Ireland.
Boston's Celtics amazingly won eight consecutive NBA Championships from 1959-1966. Now that's a dynasty! Hall of Fame center Bill Russell won 11 titles playing for the Celtics.
Alternate Team Name: Celts
Other Teams Named Celtics: Carlow University (PA)
Notre Dame Fighting Irish
The University of Notre Dame calls it sports teams the Fighting Irish. In the early 19th century, there was a strong Anti-Catholic sentiment facing Irish Immigrants who'd come to the US. Signs were actually posted at work sites looking to hire that read: Irish Need Not Apply! or Irish Go Home! The phrase "Fighting Irish" was a slur in New England during this time period. Notre Dame, which is located in South Bend, Indiana, embraced the nickname to represent people who suffer from discrimination.18
Alternative Team Names: Irish and Fighting Leprechauns (from logo).
Edmonton Eskimos (1949-present)
The Canadian Football League's Edmonton Eskimos are named after the indigenous people who have traditionally inhabited the polar regions of Canada, Siberia, Alaska, and Greenland. The term Eskimo, though, has fallen out of favor in many places and is often considered insulting. It has widely been replaced by "Inuit." The Inuit smartly adapted to the harsh and freezing weather of their landscape by relying on fish, sea mammals, and land mammals for their food, clothing, power source, and tools.
Alternative Team Names: Esks, Eskies and the Double-E.
Other Teams Named Eskimos: Pro football's Duluth Eskimos (1926-1927)
University of Pennsylvania Quakers
The Quakers first appeared in England during the middle of the 17th century. They broke away from the established Church of England and faced strong persecution there. Pennsylvania, which was founded by William Penn in 1682, was intended as a safe place for Quakers to practice their faith. Hence, the University of Pennsylvania refers to its sports teams as the Quakers. One of the things Quakers have contributed to our language is the usage of thou as a pronoun, often replacing you. For example: Thou hast (has) been gone for a long time.
Other Teams Named Quakers: Guilford College (NC), Earlham College (IN) and Wilmington College (OH).
San Diego State Aztecs
The Aztec empire refers to certain ethnic groups of central Mexico who dominated the area from the 14th through 16th centuries. San Diego State chose the nickname to honor the Aztec civilization's qualities of strength, valor and intellectual achievement. The Aztecs were ingenious farmers who battled the intense heat of their region by building an elaborate system of water canals for irrigation. The Aztecs also built steep pyramids with religious temples on top at which to worship. They even created their own calendar in the form of a round Sun Stone—perhaps the most famous work of Aztec sculpture, weighing nearly 24 tons and featuring the face of their Sun God.
Go on-line or to your local library to find out about the Aztecs' fierce battles with the Spanish conquistador Hernan Cortes that ultimately changed the balance of power in the region.
Other Teams Named Aztecs: Pima Community College (AZ)
Yeshiva University Maccabees
Chanukah is known as the Festival of Lights, and the Maccabees play an important role in that celebration. In reclaiming their temple after a sustained war against those who wanted to suppress their religious freedoms, the Maccabees possessed enough clean oil to burn but for one day. The oil, however, miraculously lasted for eight days. This is why modern menorahs have eight candles, to recognize each day the oil burned. New York's Yeshiva University, a school of Jewish heritage and faith, calls their athletic teams the Maccabees.
University of Hawaii Rainbow Warriors and Rainbow Wahine
When a beautiful rainbow appeared over the stadium during a University of Hawaii football game, the press seized on the image and began calling the team the Rainbows, instead of their actual name at the time, the Deans. And the colorful nickname caught on.
During the late-18th century, King Kamehameha and his warriors fought to unite the Hawaiian Islands. There are eight major islands and hundreds of smaller ones spread over 1,500 miles. In paying homage to their roots, the University added Warriors to the team's nickname, becoming the Rainbow Warriors. Wahine is the Hawaiian word for women. Correspondingly, the school's women's teams are nicknamed the Rainbow Wahine.
Hawaii is our 50th state, giving us the final star on the US flag. It is the only US state outside of North America—rather, it is located in a region of the world called Oceania.
Alternative Team Names: Bows and SandBows (women's team).
1Roger Treat, The Encyclopedia of Football (New York, A.S. Barnes and Company, 1974) 15-16.
2"The First Game," Scarlet Nights.com 2017 https://scarletknights.com/sports/2017/6/11/sports-m-footbl-archive-first-game-html.aspx (10 Aug. 2017)
3"Viking Pirates," History of Piracy 2018, http://www.thewayofthepirates.com/types-of-pirates/viking-pirates/ (25 Sept. 2018)
4Harry Atkins, "Ten Facts about Viking Longships" History Hit 2018, https://www.historyhit.com/facts-about-viking-longships/ (15 Aug. 2018)
5"NFL Fight Songs," Football Babble 2018, https://www.footballbabble.com/football/nfl/fight-songs/ (1 Sept. 2018)
6Ben Goessling, "Prince Penned Purple and Gold Fight Song" ESPN.com 2016, http://www.espn.com/blog/minnesota-vikings/post/_/id/18649/prince-penned-purple-and-gold-fight-song-for-vikings-in-2010 (1 Sept. 2018)
7"Buccaneer," On-line etymology 2018, https://www.etymonline.com/word/buccaneer (5 Aug 2018)
8Tim Beattie, British Privateering Voyages of the Early Eighteenth Century England, (Boydell & Brewer, 2015) 54.
9Joseph Alexander, Edson's Raiders: The 1st Marine Raider Battalion in World War II Maryland (US Naval Institute Press 2000) 14-15.
10Chris Potter, "Why Is Our Baseball Team Called the Pittsburgh Pirates?" Pittsburgh City Paper 2003 https://www.pghcitypaper.com/pittsburgh/why-is-our-baseball-team-called-the-pittsburgh-pirates-what-do-pirates-have-to-do-with-pittsburgh/Content?oid=1335541 (10 Aug 2018)
11"Honus Wagner," Info Please 2012 https://www.infoplease.com/encyclopedia/people/sports-and-games/sports-biographies/wagner-honus (16 July 2017)
12"Nuns Sell Baseball Card for $262,000," Los Angeles Times.com 2010, http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/sports_blog/2010/11/nuns-sell-baseball-card-for-262000.html (30 September 2018)
13"Blackbeard and Pee Dee," East Carolina University 2013, http://core.ecu.edu/psyc/wuenschk/Blackbeard.htm (18 May 2017)
14"Jean Lafitte: American Pirate," Encyclopedia Britannica on-line 2018, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jean-Laffite (11 May 2017)
15"Famous Privateer: Jean Lafitte," The Way of the Pirates 2018, http://www.thewayofthepirates.com/famous-privateers/jean-laffite/ (10 April 2017)
16Dan Steinberg, "Why Abe Pollen Went from Bullets to Wizards" Washington Post.com 2010, http://voices.washingtonpost.com/dcsportsbog/2010/02/why_abe_pollin_went_from_bulle.html (5 April 2017)
17Owen Jarus, "History of the Celts," Live Science 2014, https://www.livescience.com/44666-history-of-the-celts.html (14 January 2017)
18"What's in a Name?" University of Notre Dame 2006, https://www.nd.edu/features/whats-in-a-name/ (15 May 2017)
19"Quakers," US History.com 2018, https://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h486.html (9 June 2017)
20"Aztec Sun Stone," Ancient History Encyclopedia 2013, https://www.ancient.eu/image/1416/aztec-sun-stone/ (25 August 2016)
21"U of H Traditions," University of Hawaii 2016, https://hawaiiathletics.com/sports/2012/6/18/GEN_0618120234.aspx (22 August 2017)
|
