Minor things that annoy you-sports edition

[texaskdog]

I’m sure sports fans in Minnesota and Wisconsin hate being combined or thought of as a single entity:

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/target-apologizes-for-selling-minnesota-badgers-onesies-wisconsin-color-us-red-230348720.html

Why are there two Dakotas?

[NWI_Irish96]

I’m sure sports fans in Minnesota and Wisconsin hate being combined or thought of as a single entity:

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/target-apologizes-for-selling-minnesota-badgers-onesies-wisconsin-color-us-red-230348720.html

Why are there two Dakotas?

Short version of the story is back when they were the Dakota territory, they voted to move the capital from the southern half to the norther half of the territory, and that made the southern part mad enough that they split off.

[Beltway]

I'm sure sports fans in Minnesota and Wisconsin hate being combined or thought of as a single entity:
https://www.yahoo.com/sports/target-apologizes-for-selling-minnesota-badgers-onesies-wisconsin-color-us-red-230348720.html

Why are there two Dakotas?

Why are there two Carolinas?

[Max Rockatansky]

I'm sure sports fans in Minnesota and Wisconsin hate being combined or thought of as a single entity:
https://www.yahoo.com/sports/target-apologizes-for-selling-minnesota-badgers-onesies-wisconsin-color-us-red-230348720.html

Why are there two Dakotas?

Why are there two Carolinas?

Didn't used to be when the Province of Carolina was around.  It seems that the Carolina Panthers recognize (albeit probably accidentally) the British origins of the Carolinas. 

I'm curious now, do people in South/North Carolina and South/North Dakota have sports rivalries of dislike each akin to something Michigan/Ohio?   Regarding sports my wife frequently calls Michigan and Michigan State simply just "Michigan."   Half my family went to MSU but all the uneducated heathens (myself included) are Michigan fans, neither of us likes to be categorized as the same thing.   

[jeffandnicole]

I’m sure sports fans in Minnesota and Wisconsin hate being combined or thought of as a single entity:
https://www.yahoo.com/sports/target-apologizes-for-selling-minnesota-badgers-onesies-wisconsin-color-us-red-230348720.html

Why are there two Dakotas?

Why are there two Carolinas?

Why aren't there two Nebraskas?

[1995hoo]

I'm sure sports fans in Minnesota and Wisconsin hate being combined or thought of as a single entity:
https://www.yahoo.com/sports/target-apologizes-for-selling-minnesota-badgers-onesies-wisconsin-color-us-red-230348720.html

Why are there two Dakotas?

Why are there two Carolinas?

Didn't used to be when the Province of Carolina was around.  It seems that the Carolina Panthers recognize (albeit probably accidentally) the British origins of the Carolinas. 

I'm curious now, do people in South/North Carolina and South/North Dakota have sports rivalries of dislike each akin to something Michigan/Ohio?   Regarding sports my wife frequently calls Michigan and Michigan State simply just "Michigan."   Half my family went to MSU but all the uneducated heathens (myself included) are Michigan fans, neither of us likes to be categorized as the same thing.   

The Carolina Panthers adopted "Carolina" for marketing reasons. That's also why the original owner insisted on playing the first season somewhere in South Carolina while the stadium in Charlotte was under construction (they played at Clemson that season). I think the college sports rivalry between the two states isn't as strong since South Carolina left the ACC almost 40 years ago (they were an independent for a long time and then joined the SEC). While Clemson is an ACC member, they're historically (and currently) much stronger in football, and much weaker in basketball, than the North Carolina schools. Their big "rivalry game" in football is the Clemson—Carolina game, meaning the game against South Carolina, which is usually played at the end of the season like many other rivalry games.

My wife frequently does what you describe–she calls Ohio State "Ohio" and frequently doesn't distinguish between Florida and Florida State. We have relatives who are either alumni of, or current students at, both UF and FSU, and they just roll their eyes because we've all realized it's pointless to say anything.

[Beltway]

I'm sure sports fans in Minnesota and Wisconsin hate being combined or thought of as a single entity:
https://www.yahoo.com/sports/target-apologizes-for-selling-minnesota-badgers-onesies-wisconsin-color-us-red-230348720.html

Why are there two Dakotas?

Why are there two Carolinas?

Why aren't there two Nebraskas?

Why aren't there two Pennsylvanias?  East and West.

[Max Rockatansky]

I'm sure sports fans in Minnesota and Wisconsin hate being combined or thought of as a single entity:
https://www.yahoo.com/sports/target-apologizes-for-selling-minnesota-badgers-onesies-wisconsin-color-us-red-230348720.html

Why are there two Dakotas?

Why are there two Carolinas?

Why aren't there two Nebraskas?

Why aren't there two Pennsylvanias?  East and West.

East and West Florida used to be a thing.

[CNGL-Leudimin]

Why there is West Virginia but no East Virginia? Or better, why isn't "plain" Virginia called East Virginia (even though it stretches further West than West Virginia)?

Seriously, stop. Your guys already ruined one of my favorite threads (the "Threads you'll never see on aaroads.com" one), leaving me without a place where to put whacky titles that will never be threads here.

[1995hoo]

Why there is West Virginia but no East Virginia? Or better, why isn't "plain" Virginia called East Virginia (even though it stretches further West than West Virginia)?

....

You mean "the counties that refer to themselves as 'West Virginia,'" as one of our former governors jokingly phrased it.

[jeffandnicole]

Why there is West Virginia but no East Virginia? Or better, why isn't "plain" Virginia called East Virginia (even though it stretches further West than West Virginia)?

Seriously, stop. Your guys already ruined one of my favorite threads (the "Threads you'll never see on aaroads.com" one), leaving me without a place where to put whacky titles that will never be threads here.

Why is there only one pond?  Why don't we call it "North Atlantic Ocean" and "South Atlantic Ocean"?

[1995hoo]

The geographical discussion does prompt me to think of a minor thing that annoys me that comes from sports–when people think a sports team's "geographic" name that doesn't correspond to a city is the correct name for a place. I think I've seen this most often in reference to the three teams located in the Tampa Bay area (the Lightning, Buccaneers, and Rays)–over the years, including once when I was an editor at a newspaper, I've seen references along the lines of, "The game will be played in Tampa Bay, Florida, on [date]." Incorrect because "Tampa Bay" is not the name of a city. Perhaps if there were some sort of open-water water polo tournament played in the actual bay it might be correct to say "Tampa Bay, Florida," but otherwise, the Bolts and the Bucs play in Tampa and the Rays play in St. Petersburg.

[jeffandnicole]

The geographical discussion does prompt me to think of a minor thing that annoys me that comes from sports—when people think a sports team's "geographic" name that doesn't correspond to a city is the correct name for a place. I think I've seen this most often in reference to the three teams located in the Tampa Bay area (the Lightning, Buccaneers, and Rays)—over the years, including once when I was an editor at a newspaper, I've seen references along the lines of, "The game will be played in Tampa Bay, Florida, on [date]." Incorrect because "Tampa Bay" is not the name of a city. Perhaps if there were some sort of open-water water polo tournament played in the actual bay it might be correct to say "Tampa Bay, Florida," but otherwise, the Bolts and the Bucs play in Tampa and the Rays play in St. Petersburg.

See Always: New York Giants & Jets.

The Philadelphia Union Soccer team plays in Chester, PA.  As far as I know, they never wanted to referred to as Chester Union.  Moving away from sports, Harrah's Casino in Chester was originally called Chester Harrah's, no doubt to appease the local government folks.  After several years, with Chester going absolutely no where in terms of improvement, they changed their name to the more recognized Philadelphia Harrah's (albeit still located in Chester).  For what it's worth, it sits right next to the Delaware River, and if you go during the day, offers nice views of the river, the Commodore Barry Bridge and New Jersey along the riverline.

[Max Rockatansky]

The geographical discussion does prompt me to think of a minor thing that annoys me that comes from sports–when people think a sports team's "geographic" name that doesn't correspond to a city is the correct name for a place. I think I've seen this most often in reference to the three teams located in the Tampa Bay area (the Lightning, Buccaneers, and Rays)–over the years, including once when I was an editor at a newspaper, I've seen references along the lines of, "The game will be played in Tampa Bay, Florida, on [date]." Incorrect because "Tampa Bay" is not the name of a city. Perhaps if there were some sort of open-water water polo tournament played in the actual bay it might be correct to say "Tampa Bay, Florida," but otherwise, the Bolts and the Bucs play in Tampa and the Rays play in St. Petersburg.

Something I've observed with the Detroit teams is that they tend to match what the area is about by way of names like the Red Wings and Pistons.  I always found the Pistons name interesting since the team originated in Fort Wayne but had a perfect name when they moved to Detroit.  Amusingly the Red Wings were called the Cougars and Falcons first before the modern convention was adopted.  The Red Wing logo was adopted from a Montreal athletic club but it was picked because it matched the city better.  The Tigers and Lions are both fairly generic, on the college level I don't believe their are Wolverines in the lower Peninsula...there certainly isn't Spartan warriors running around. 

Arizona had a good mix of names with the; Suns, Coyotes, and Diamondbacks.  The Cardinals seem out of place a desert environment but at the very least said bird can be observed in Arizona.

[1995hoo]

The geographical discussion does prompt me to think of a minor thing that annoys me that comes from sports–when people think a sports team's "geographic" name that doesn't correspond to a city is the correct name for a place. I think I've seen this most often in reference to the three teams located in the Tampa Bay area (the Lightning, Buccaneers, and Rays)–over the years, including once when I was an editor at a newspaper, I've seen references along the lines of, "The game will be played in Tampa Bay, Florida, on [date]." Incorrect because "Tampa Bay" is not the name of a city. Perhaps if there were some sort of open-water water polo tournament played in the actual bay it might be correct to say "Tampa Bay, Florida," but otherwise, the Bolts and the Bucs play in Tampa and the Rays play in St. Petersburg.

See Always: New York Giants & Jets.

The Philadelphia Union Soccer team plays in Chester, PA.  As far as I know, they never wanted to referred to as Chester Union.  Moving away from sports, Harrah's Casino in Chester was originally called Chester Harrah's, no doubt to appease the local government folks.  After several years, with Chester going absolutely no where in terms of improvement, they changed their name to the more recognized Philadelphia Harrah's (albeit still located in Chester).  For what it's worth, it sits right next to the Delaware River, and if you go during the day, offers nice views of the river, the Commodore Barry Bridge and New Jersey along the riverline.

I think we're addressing two different issues. Your examples are of teams that play outside the city for which they're named, but the city in question is still a real place (New York and Philadelphia). I don't particularly mind a team playing in the suburbs and using the name of the city of which it's a suburb, especially if the team used to play within the city limits but moved further out as part of getting a new stadium built. At some point, of course, a suburb might be so far away as to make the name a little weird–the San Francisco 49ers playing in Santa Clara is a good current example, and the USFL's Baltimore Stars playing in College Park is a good historical example (in the case of the Stars, they had been the Philadelphia Stars for two years, then moved to Baltimore because the USFL planned to move to the fall, but the baseball team in Baltimore objected to sharing the stadium during the spring and early summer, so the Stars wound up in College Park).

I was referring more to the situation where a team's name doesn't use a city or state as its "geographic" indicator. The Tampa Bay teams are a good example. There are two pro teams calling themselves "Carolina" (one in Charlotte, the other in Raleigh), there are the Golden State Warriors, and there are probably a few others (New England Patriots come to mind, although it's not incorrect to say "the game is in New England"). To say the game will be played in Tampa Bay, Florida, is always incorrect because there is no such city. It would be incorrect to refer to a Giants home game as being "in New York" because they play in New Jersey, but New York is at least a real place.

....

Arizona had a good mix of names with the; Suns, Coyotes, and Diamondbacks.  The Cardinals seem out of place a desert environment but at the very least said bird can be observed in Arizona.

The Cardinals' name originated when the team played in the Chicago area (I think they originated in Racine, actually) and it originally referred to their jersey color.

[Max Rockatansky]

^^^

What is interesting about the Cardinals is that the Bidwell family has owned the team since 1933.  To that end it is probably reasonable to assume the name "Cardinals"  has stuck around despite the team moving numerous times probably because the family doesn't want to change it.  And yes, I've heard the same thing the name coming from the kind of muddy colored red jerseys the team wore as being origin story of the name. 

[mgk920]

Why the interest in 'fútbol' among the very young?

- Simplicity - the rulebook is a very thin pamphlet and very easy to understand.  That utter simplicity also allows the players to develop and hone unique individual skills.
- Everyone on the field has multitudes of opportunities to meaningfully handle the ball.  You don't have that with baseball or American football.
- The constant running and constant action is a great way to blow off energy and develop fitness habits that they can carry on later in life.

Those interests, skills and the resulting love of the game carry on into higher level competitions in most of the rest of the World.

Mike

[NWI_Irish96]

^^^

What is interesting about the Cardinals is that the Bidwell family has owned the team since 1933.  To that end it is probably reasonable to assume the name "Cardinals"  has stuck around despite the team moving numerous times probably because the family doesn't want to change it.  And yes, I've heard the same thing the name coming from the kind of muddy colored red jerseys the team wore as being origin story of the name. 

For decades, the Cardinals shared Comiskey Park with the Sox and the Bears shared Soldier Field with the Cubs.  Overwhelmingly, Chicagoans favored baseball and football teams from the same side of town.  When the Cardinals left, a lot of their fans drifted to the Packers as they became the Bears' new rival.  The Bears moved to Soldier Field in 1971, so fans of my generation and younger don't associate them with the Cubs in the same way, but to this day, there are a sizable number of older White Sox/Packers fans.

[1995hoo]

Why the interest in 'fútbol' among the very young?

- Simplicity - the rulebook is a very thin pamphlet and very easy to understand.  That utter simplicity also allows the players to develop and hone unique individual skills.
- Everyone on the field has multitudes of opportunities to meaningfully handle the ball.  You don't have that with baseball or American football.
- The constant running and constant action is a great way to blow off energy and develop fitness habits that they can carry on later in life.

Those interests, skills and the resulting love of the game carry on into higher level competitions in most of the rest of the World.

Mike

I once read a (fiction) book in which a character said one positive about soccer is that "you don't need to be six foot six and weigh 225 pounds to be able to play." (The book was published around 1980, so the "225 pounds" reference sounded less absurd in reference to football than it would now.) The author, who coached a boys' travel soccer team on Long Island, had elsewhere been quoted as saying more or less the same thing, so the character was pretty clearly conveying her view.

[GaryV]

I'm sure sports fans in Minnesota and Wisconsin hate being combined or thought of as a single entity:
https://www.yahoo.com/sports/target-apologizes-for-selling-minnesota-badgers-onesies-wisconsin-color-us-red-230348720.html

Why are there two Dakotas?

Why are there two Carolinas?

Why aren't there two Nebraskas?

Why aren't there two Pennsylvanias?  East and West.

In soccer there is.  There are 55 state soccer organizations as I recall.  PA, NY, CA, TX and maybe OH are split.

[Beltway]

Why there is West Virginia but no East Virginia? Or better, why isn't "plain" Virginia called East Virginia (even though it stretches further West than West Virginia)?

Some people here think that there should be a state of North Virginia, basically the first and second ring Washington area counties and cities.

[Beltway]

The geographical discussion does prompt me to think of a minor thing that annoys me that comes from sports–when people think a sports team's "geographic" name that doesn't correspond to a city is the correct name for a place. I think I've seen this most often in reference to the three teams located in the Tampa Bay area (the Lightning, Buccaneers, and Rays)–over the years, including once when I was an editor at a newspaper, I've seen references along the lines of, "The game will be played in Tampa Bay, Florida, on [date]." Incorrect because "Tampa Bay" is not the name of a city. Perhaps if there were some sort of open-water water polo tournament played in the actual bay it might be correct to say "Tampa Bay, Florida," but otherwise, the Bolts and the Bucs play in Tampa and the Rays play in St. Petersburg.

Same issue with "Hampton Roads."  While "Roads" is not a common type-name for a body of water, that is what it is in this case.

"Hampton Roads" is the historic name for the five-mile wide, last ten miles or so of the James River before it empties into Chesapeake Bay, and it is the place where the Elizabeth River and the Nansemond River empty into the James River.

[Beltway]

Why the interest in 'fútbol' among the very young?
- Simplicity - the rulebook is a very thin pamphlet and very easy to understand.  That utter simplicity also allows the players to develop and hone unique individual skills.
- Everyone on the field has multitudes of opportunities to meaningfully handle the ball.  You don't have that with baseball or American football.
- The constant running and constant action is a great way to blow off energy and develop fitness habits that they can carry on later in life.

-- Very easy to set up sandlot and other ad hoc formats to play impromptu games in empty lots, large yards, fields, streets, indoor rooms, etc.

Granted American football lends itself to that as well, and subsets like 2 or 3 guys playing "go out for a pass," "kick a field goal," etc.

[Verlanka]

I always found the Pistons name interesting since the team originated in Fort Wayne but had a perfect name when they moved to Detroit.

The Pistons originated as the Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons after team owner Fred Zollner, who manufactured pistons for cars, trucks, and trains. When he moved the team to Detroit, Zollner kept the "Pistons" name since Detroit was at the center of the auto industry.

[kphoger]

Why the interest in 'fútbol' among the very young?
- Simplicity - the rulebook is a very thin pamphlet and very easy to understand.  That utter simplicity also allows the players to develop and hone unique individual skills.
- Everyone on the field has multitudes of opportunities to meaningfully handle the ball.  You don't have that with baseball or American football.
- The constant running and constant action is a great way to blow off energy and develop fitness habits that they can carry on later in life.

-- Very easy to set up sandlot and other ad hoc formats to play impromptu games in empty lots, large yards, fields, streets, indoor rooms, etc.

Granted American football lends itself to that as well, and subsets like 2 or 3 guys playing "go out for a pass," "kick a field goal," etc.

A distinct advantage of soccer related to the bolded statement above is that it's easier to play soccer in a confined space than it is to play American football.