In specific the Knickerbockers were a very powerful aristocrat club in early 1800's NYC. They were know to be "sporting" gentleman, hence the association of that name with a sporting franchise. The most famous Knickerbocker was the guy who wrote "Twas the Night Before Xmas" - - forget his name. I propose a 3 way name trade. Utah gives New Orleans back the name Jazz. NO gives Memphis the name the Hornets & Memphis gives Utah the Grizzlies. The Raptors & the Wizards are some of the worst professional sports team names ever. Naming your team after a successful movie the year your club opens (mid 90's/"Jurassic Park") is like getting a tattoo of your girlfriends name. It doesn't exactly have staying power. The Wizards is so offensive b/c after decades of problems African American communities (especially in DC) with gun violence in this country it took the murder of Rabin (sp? - - an Israeli) to convince the owner to change the name. Then of course he changes it to a name with certain KKK connotations. Very classy.
Though I have no problem with the name "Wizards," I don't believe he ever should have changed it from "Bullets." Yeah, I'm sure that's what he was thinking.
I never claimed it was intentional, but the word basically has 2 conotations in modern America. That Gandalf guy & the leader of the KKK.
I assumed the original owners of the Dallas Mavericks just looked at all the local college team names and picked the one they liked best to steal.
Dude, it's a velociraptor. Bad drawing, but it's not a Trex; those things are beasts. This thing looks more birdlike. Come on, JURASSIC PARK!
I believe this is close but I think it has more to do with their football team as well. As the chicago bears and the chicago bulls. Their mascots have more to do with the stock market. Bull market and Bear market.
one thing... the movie "JP" only helped them name TOR's team by bringing the "raptor" into wider use in our everyday vocabs..... There were fossils found in the greater TORONTO area that were believed to be velociraptor bones (it's not just fiction)...
What about a team that gets its name from a piece of equipment? The New Jersey Nets? What if other sports adopted this way of thinking? Houston Goal Posts? New Orleans Kicking Tee? San Diego Athletic Supporters with Cups? Denver Pine Tar?
Washington changed their nicknames to supposedly "better represent" D.C. When you think about it, Bullets was a name which perfectly represented the district.
Weren't the Bulls orginally called the Stags? And isn't a clipper like a pair of scissors used to shear sheep?
The Bulls are a distinct team formed in 1966. The Chicago Stags were one of the original franchises, but they disbanded in 1950. The Washington Wizards were once located in Chicago as well and were called the Chicago Packers in 1961/62 and then becames the Chicago Zephyrs in 1962/63. The next year, they moved to Baltimore and became the Bullets. So, three different teams in Chicago history. Also, Clippers refers to a sailing vessel, which were commonly seen in San Diego.
I hear that so much these days playing pick up ball. "Man so & so is a Wizard with the ball. He's got crazy magic".
