New Charlotte Nickname

[Dback Jon]

Bobcats, Flight or Dragons

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/basketball/news/2003/05/06/charlotte_name_ap/

 

[jbeecham]

I don't really like any of those......if I had to chose one it would probably be flight.

 

[elindholm]

Yeah, Flight is okay. Bobcats sounds like a junior-high school team, and Dragons is just a cheap knockoff of Raptors. Flight is kind of neat because of the Wright brothers tie-in.

 

[Dback Jon]

It is really too bad the NBA did not require the Hornets to leave the name in Charlotte - it has a lot of local connotations.

I am not fond of abstraction nicknames like Flight, Heat, Magic etc. The original nickname for the first Charlotte team was the Spirit.

Of the three, I like the Bobcats the best.

 

[Mike Olbinski]

They all suck, IMO. Those names all sound so cheesy, high-schoolish or WNBA-like...

Mike

 

[jbeecham]

If they are considering bobcats then why not just call them the Charlotte Blue Devils or the Charlotte Tar Heels because that sounds like a college or HS team name.

 

[fordronken]

Bobcats- Like a division II college team
Flight- Like a WNBA team
Dragons- Like an NBDL team

However, names like Knickerbockers, Celtics, Trailblazers, Supersonics, Pistons, etc. don't really seem that interesting when you think that someone sat down and tried to find the best possible idea.

My suggestions:

The Charlotte Harlots
The Charlotte Charlatans
The Charlotte Bob Johnsons
The Charlotte Not Larry Birds

 

[thegrahamcrackr]

ROFL

 

[elindholm]

The Charlotte We Think Jordan Is Here Somewheres?

 

[Dback Jon]

Originally posted by fordronken
Bobcats- Like a division II college team
Flight- Like a WNBA team
Dragons- Like an NBDL team

However, names like Knickerbockers, Celtics, Trailblazers, Supersonics, Pistons, etc. don't really seem that interesting when you think that someone sat down and tried to find the best possible idea.

My suggestions:

The Charlotte Harlots
The Charlotte Charlatans
The Charlotte Bob Johnsons
The Charlotte Not Larry Birds

Agree with you assessments of the nicknames - don't care for any of them, Bobcats best of a sorry lot.


How about the Charlotte Lattes?

 

[Dback Jon]

Nate Davis from USA Today's take:


A demand for nickname justice
The Charlotte Bobcats? The Charlotte Flight? The Charlotte Dragons? These are the choices the people of the Queen City have to choose from?
In the immortal words of Dickie V., "Are you serious?"

Tuesday's announcement that the NBA's Charlotte expansion franchise, set to begin play in the 2004-05 season, had narrowed its nickname choices to the aforementioned trio definitely signals a lack of inspiration in North Carolina.

Come on, people of Charlotte, you're better than this. You need to breathe fire (like a dragon) and claw and scratch (like a bobcat), to ensure that a new campaign for a better nickname takes flight.

I mean, this is the state that has a Class A baseball team called the Kannapolis Intimidators, an affiliate of the White Sox. The Intimidators play in Dale Earnhardt's hometown and even had a logo once complete with the original Intimidator's visage — at least a hat, sunglasses and a bushy mustache — superimposed on a baseball.

They've cornered the market on Tar Heels and Demon Deacons and put the 'Blue' in Blue Devils.

I'm telling you, there are creative people in the tobacco state. Don't saddle them with another bland moniker — Wolfpack comes to mind, you N.C. State types.

Granted, Charlotte's braintrust has already whittled down 1,200 suggestions to its list of three. I'm sure they've already thrown out 'Charlotte Sometimes' (a fine song by The Cure) and 'Charlotte Webs' (Why not replace a Hornet with a spider? Eight legs are better than six.) But there had to be a few gems in that list of 1,200.

Bobcats? Sure, it's a cutesy nod to team owner and BET founder Robert (Bob) Johnson and I hear bobcats are even indigenous to the region — maybe one of them ate Eric Robert Rudolph. But we already have a team named after its owner ... have you ever been caught dead in Cleveland Browns gear? And the city already has the Panthers — one feline team is surely enough.

Flight? Are they going to put Orville and Wilbur's bird on the jersey? Do they realize they're poaching the nickname of the NBDL's Huntsville team? I mean, you think of Huntsville, Alabama, you think of the Huntsville Flight — totally synonymous, right?

Or is 'Flight' just a sleight-of-hand attempt to lure Michael Jordan into the team's hierarchy? Hmmm ...

Dragons? This is sooooooo NFL Europe. The Associated Press also reports that there is no historical connection between Dragons and the city of Charlotte or state of North Carolina. This was news to me.

Of course, I can't complain without offering a solution, and I think I have a good one.

First let's strip the New Orleans team of the name 'Hornets' and offer it back to the people of Charlotte. The 'Hive' used to literally buzz with 20,000 screaming fans and that insectoid buzz over the loudspeakers during playoff time. Why shouldn't it be that way again? Those were the best of times for Charlotte basketball.

Secondly, let's finally take the 'Jazz' out of Utah and return that name to New Orleans. With the breakup of Stockton and Malone and the ensuing overhaul that's coming for that franchise, let's just start over there. I mean, the team doesn't even the musical eighth-note on its jersey anymore. What do the Wasatch Mountains have to do with the fine music of the Crescent City? It's an outrage. It's a further outrage that the current Hornets have tried to Jazz-ify their teal uniforms with green, gold and purple trim. I demand justice.

I'm sure there are plenty of jazzy and snazzy choices the people of Utah can concoct. The Missions? The Salt Flats? The Starzz? Maybe, perhaps, Bobcats; surely there are more predatory cats in Utah than in Charlotte. Regardless, plenty of good choices available.

This nickname thing has gotten out of hand in recent years. I can't bear to watch the NHL playoffs for fear of seeing a Mighty Duck. I thank my lucky Starzz that the Raptors are extinct again. (Though I did learn that Devil Rays are apparently popsicle-colored, stinging fish, but I digress.)

As someone who lives in Washington, I can tell you that nobody is happy with the 'Wizards' — the team or the nickname. The groundswell of support to restore the 'Bullets' is building anew. Don't make the same mistake down south that we did and let your owner pick your nickname.

Take back the 'Hornets.' Take back 'Cougars,' your old ABA nickname, though it offends my feline sensibilities. Go with 'Knights' — I know it's the name of your minor league baseball team, but there used to be something cool about having a pair of Cardinals in St. Louis.

Please do the right thing, people of Charlotte. It'll be a tangled Charlotte's Web you weave if you resign yourself to Bob's cats

 

[capologist]

Originally posted by Dback Jon
It is really too bad the NBA did not require the Hornets to leave the name in Charlotte - it has a lot of local connotations.

Yup. Gotta love any team with “harlot, *****” in its name.

It’s too bad the NBA didn’t require the Jazz to leave their name where it belongs.

Charlotte’s team should be called the Hornets, New Orleans’s team should be called the Jazz, and Utah’s team should be called the [insert tasteless Mormon joke and/or Stockton/Malone thuggery joke here].

 

[jbeecham]

on that note, why not give Minnesota back the name Lakers.

I really don't think the name Hornets should be reserved for Charlotte. There are hornets all over the country......now in other cases like the Jazz it makes sense for it to stay in New Orleans.

 

[elindholm]

on that note, why not give Minnesota back the name Lakers.

 

[capologist]

On a similar note, there are a couple of names that are so appropriate for their cities that it’s difficult to believe that the names predate the teams’ tenure in the cities. The Detroit Pistons used to be the Fort Wayne Pistons, and the Houston Rockets used to be the San Diego Rockets. Weird, huh?

 

[fordronken]

On a similar note, there are a couple of names that are so appropriate for their cities that it’s difficult to believe that the names predate the teams’ tenure in the cities. The Detroit Pistons used to be the Fort Wayne Pistons, and the Houston Rockets used to be the San Diego Rockets. Weird, huh?

No wonder they moved.

 

[Krangodnzr]

Originally posted by jbeecham
on that note, why not give Minnesota back the name Lakers.

I really don't think the name Hornets should be reserved for Charlotte. There are hornets all over the country......now in other cases like the Jazz it makes sense for it to stay in New Orleans.

But the name Hornets for Charlotte has a historical connotation. During the Revolutionary War, Charlotte was a small hamlet. The residents of Charlotte fought of the British with hornet's nests and the local dogs, and it actually was quite effective.

 

[Dback Jon]

Originally posted by Krangthebrain
But the name Hornets for Charlotte has a historical connotation. During the Revolutionary War, Charlotte was a small hamlet. The residents of Charlotte fought of the British with hornet's nests and the local dogs, and it actually was quite effective.

Which is why the Hornets name should be left in Charlotte. I knew the name had a Relolutionary War connection, but wasn't sure what it was - thanks Krang.

 

[Krangodnzr]

Originally posted by Dback Jon
Which is why the Hornets name should be left in Charlotte. I knew the name had a Relolutionary War connection, but wasn't sure what it was - thanks Krang.

Hey, I should know, since I am a Carolina native.....God's country!

 

[elindholm]

"Flight" has a historical connection as well. That's why I think it's better than the other two. It does sound sort of girlish, but I think that impression would fade over time.

 

[Krangodnzr]

Originally posted by elindholm
"Flight" has a historical connection as well. That's why I think it's better than the other two. It does sound sort of girlish, but I think that impression would fade over time.

Very true, since NCs license plates have the slogan "First in Flight"

 

[Dback Jon]

Originally posted by Krangthebrain
Very true, since NCs license plates have the slogan "First in Flight"

I thought that was France's slogan........

 

[Krangodnzr]

Originally posted by Dback Jon
I thought that was France's slogan........

No France's slogan is "Turn tail and run like a coward"

(My parents had some of their English friends visit this weekend. I asked them what they thought of the French....they said, "The French are the French. They have to do everything their way. Hey, at least you don't have to deal with them!" )

 

[elindholm]

Very true, since NCs license plates have the slogan "First in Flight"

Ah, right. And then, if the new Charlotte team wins their division, they can print up collector's plates that say "Flight in First."

 

[Dback Jon]

Originally posted by elindholm
Very true, since NCs license plates have the slogan "First in Flight"

Ah, right. And then, if the new Charlotte team wins their division, they can print up collector's plates that say "Flight in First."

Or, if they suck: Flight bites
Lose a game: Flight grounded
Lose in playoffs: Flight cancelled
If Jordan becomes GM: Air takes Flight job.