WE don’t have to religiously watch games to be aware of the names of popular sports teams. But sometimes, we wonder how those teams got their names, right?
Here in the country, the Philippine Basketball Association’s San Miguel team is called the Beermen for obvious reasons. Now, let’s go Stateside and begin with two Los Angeles (LA) teams, the Dodgers and the Lakers.
LOS ANGELES DODGERS – The reigning World Series champions are originally founded in 1883 and were based in Brooklyn, New York where they are called the Grays. Electric trolley cars were then popular in the borough and evading them while crossing the streets became a favorite pastime aside from baseball. Writers then baptized the team as “Trolley Dodgers”. In 1932, it officially became the Dodgers, keeping the nickname until they moved to LA in 1958.
LOS ANGELES LAKERS – In 1947, the Minneapolis Lakers joined the National Basketball League and after a year, moved to the National Basketball Association’s forerunner, the Basketball Association of America. Minnesota’s state motto is “The Land of 10,000 Lakes” and that’s where Minneapolis got its name. The team relocated to LA in 1960 and retained the name, no matter how few the lakes are in Los Angeles.
MINNESOTA VIKINGS – Joining the National Football League (NFL) in 1960 as an expansion team, the Minnesota franchise is the most successful NFL team never to win a Super Bowl, although they appeared in four Super Bowls. Because the state is a known hotspot for Scandinavian culture, the team’s first general manager, Bert Rose chose the name Vikings to represent the many people of Minnesota who traced their roots to Scandinavia.
GREEN BAY PACKERS – The third-oldest franchise in the NFL dating back to 1919 and considered as one of the world’s most valuable sports teams. The Green Bay Packers are the most successful NFL franchise with 13 league championships. The team got its name when Curly Lambeau made a deal with a meatpacking firm, the Indian Packing Company, where he holds a day job when not playing football. He convinced the owners to provide the team with $500 for uniforms and equipment. The owners have allowed Lambeau to use the company’s athletic field. To honor his benefactors, Lambeau named his team Packers.
NEW YORK KNICKERBOCKERS – Until today, the team calling Madison Square Garden their home is still officially known as the Knickerbockers although widely referred to as the Knicks. In the 1800s, New York was called Little Amsterdam because it was reportedly settled by the Dutch. The nickname was about baggy pants rolled up just below the knee and fastened with either a button or a buckle called knickerbockers or knickers which were popular among male New Yorkers and later became part of women’s fashion.
SAN FRANCISCO 49ers – California is called the Golden State because the gold rush began in 1848 and peaked in 1849, where an estimated 300,000 gold prospectors came to the state for seven years. They were called forty-niners. Almost a century later, San Francisco’s first major sports team took its name from those prospectors.
PHILADELPHIA 76ers – Founded in 1946, the team was originally known as the Syracuse Nationals and was based in upstate New York. The team relocated to Philadelphia in 1963 and named itself the Sixers or 76ers after the United States Declaration of Independence from the British in 1776 which was signed in Philadelphia.
Other sports teams have interesting names like Japan B-League’s Akita Northern Happinets and San-En Neo Phoenix with a Filipino import. Likewise, there’s a football club named Nagoya Grampus. Maybe this football team is owned by a group of grumpy grandpas?/PN
