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July 19, 2013 4:59 AM Subscribe
The Charlotte Hornets are back! This may signal a return to the iconic teal and purple color scheme made so popular by Starter jackets.
That makes sense. I see a lot of kids wearing purple and teal Hornets caps (and I don't even live in North Carolina) so I guess there's a retro cool thing going on with the Hornets right now.
posted by mcmile at 5:12 AM on July 19, 2013
posted by mcmile at 5:12 AM on July 19, 2013
Oh yay! I in no way follow the NBA (or live in the US for that matter), but I still have a Charlotte Hornets cap which I bought because I liked the colours and logo. It has the distinction of being the only cap I've ever bought - I usually wear hats or the free caps you get at trade shows.
posted by pianissimo at 5:18 AM on July 19, 2013
posted by pianissimo at 5:18 AM on July 19, 2013
I grew up in North Carolina in the 80s and 90s. The Charlotte Hornets color scheme is so indelibly stamped on my brain that if you quizzed me on NBA team colors, I'd probably answer "teal and purple" for half of them.
posted by Metroid Baby at 5:18 AM on July 19, 2013 [3 favorites]
posted by Metroid Baby at 5:18 AM on July 19, 2013 [3 favorites]
Writing from New Orleans: You're welcome.
posted by localroger at 5:20 AM on July 19, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by localroger at 5:20 AM on July 19, 2013 [1 favorite]
Aaaaand charlottehornets.com redirects to www.nba.com/pelicans. They still don't have their own domain locked down. Hilarious.
posted by Rock Steady at 5:23 AM on July 19, 2013
posted by Rock Steady at 5:23 AM on July 19, 2013
On the other hand, the Pellicans are a really stupid name. I like the Alligators, or Les Pirates, or The Battle (The Battle of New Orleans, geddit?).
But, really, the Utah Jazz needs to become the Utah Roadrunners and NoLa can go back to being The New Orleans Jazz. Because no-one but middle-age couples who listen to NPR and like dancing in public goes to see The Zydeco.
posted by Slap*Happy at 5:24 AM on July 19, 2013
But, really, the Utah Jazz needs to become the Utah Roadrunners and NoLa can go back to being The New Orleans Jazz. Because no-one but middle-age couples who listen to NPR and like dancing in public goes to see The Zydeco.
posted by Slap*Happy at 5:24 AM on July 19, 2013
I thought I remembered a Hornets starter jacket with the pinstripes, but Google doesn't show it so I guess not.
posted by surplus at 5:34 AM on July 19, 2013
posted by surplus at 5:34 AM on July 19, 2013
The Pelicans is a great name. I really like it. They've also done great stuff with the logos.
posted by oddman at 5:43 AM on July 19, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by oddman at 5:43 AM on July 19, 2013 [1 favorite]
Huh... I was going to say this sounds very Cleveland Brownsian, but apparently Cleveland actually got to keep not only the name Browns but also all the history, etc, so the Browns of today are officially the same franchise as before.
Of course, the original Charlotte Hornets didn't exactly have the depth of history that the Browns did.
posted by kmz at 6:24 AM on July 19, 2013
Of course, the original Charlotte Hornets didn't exactly have the depth of history that the Browns did.
posted by kmz at 6:24 AM on July 19, 2013
Aaaaand charlottehornets.com redirects to www.nba.com/pelicans. They still don't have their own domain locked down. Hilarious.
The domain is owned by the NBA and actually first redirects to nba.com/hornets before redirecting to nba.com/pelicans. I guess they just haven't updated their stuff yet.
posted by kmz at 6:25 AM on July 19, 2013
The domain is owned by the NBA and actually first redirects to nba.com/hornets before redirecting to nba.com/pelicans. I guess they just haven't updated their stuff yet.
posted by kmz at 6:25 AM on July 19, 2013
It seemed like every team in every sport was wearing teal throughout the nineties, but apparently it was just the Hornets and the Pistons and the Jazz and the Sharks and the Marlins and the Grizzlies and the Diamondbacks and the Mariners and the Jaguars.
posted by Sys Rq at 7:01 AM on July 19, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by Sys Rq at 7:01 AM on July 19, 2013 [2 favorites]
On the other hand, the Pellicans are a really stupid name. I like the Alligators, or Les Pirates, or The Battle (The Battle of New Orleans, geddit?).
I'm okay with basketball (which should be a game of athleticism and grace) using team names that aren't all violence and mayhem and EXTREME.
Okay, maybe Pelicans aren't the best example of grace, but at least they're trying.
posted by Etrigan at 7:05 AM on July 19, 2013
I'm okay with basketball (which should be a game of athleticism and grace) using team names that aren't all violence and mayhem and EXTREME.
Okay, maybe Pelicans aren't the best example of grace, but at least they're trying.
posted by Etrigan at 7:05 AM on July 19, 2013
On the other hand, the Pellicans are a really stupid name.
Look, the only rules for sports names should be "nothing actually offensive or bigoted" (which is why the Washington Redskins, Atlanta Braves and Cleveland Indians all fail). After that, there is nothing so stupid that it cannot be a great team name. After all, the Pelicans play in the same league as the New York Knicks (not even a word), the Boston Celtics (mis-pronounced), the L.A. Lakers and Utah Jazz (two teams which moved from Minnesota and New Orleans, respectively, where the names made sense - you can probably throw the Memphis Grizzlies in here too even though they say grizzly bears used to hang out in Tennessee all the time), and the Toronto Raptors, which only exists because the Raptors came into existence just after Jurassic Park did.
And that's before you get into the ridiculous-but-awesome world of college team names, like the University of Alabama Crimson Tide, the University of Delaware Fighting Blue Hens, the UNC Tar Heels, the Campbell University Fighting Camels, the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers and my personal favorite, the Wake Forest Demon Deacons.
By this standard, "Pelicans" is excellent. They already have a nickname ("the Pellies," which is wonderful), the team name is distinctly Louisianan and the logo is gorgeous. What's not to like about that?
posted by mightygodking at 7:10 AM on July 19, 2013 [2 favorites]
Look, the only rules for sports names should be "nothing actually offensive or bigoted" (which is why the Washington Redskins, Atlanta Braves and Cleveland Indians all fail). After that, there is nothing so stupid that it cannot be a great team name. After all, the Pelicans play in the same league as the New York Knicks (not even a word), the Boston Celtics (mis-pronounced), the L.A. Lakers and Utah Jazz (two teams which moved from Minnesota and New Orleans, respectively, where the names made sense - you can probably throw the Memphis Grizzlies in here too even though they say grizzly bears used to hang out in Tennessee all the time), and the Toronto Raptors, which only exists because the Raptors came into existence just after Jurassic Park did.
And that's before you get into the ridiculous-but-awesome world of college team names, like the University of Alabama Crimson Tide, the University of Delaware Fighting Blue Hens, the UNC Tar Heels, the Campbell University Fighting Camels, the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers and my personal favorite, the Wake Forest Demon Deacons.
By this standard, "Pelicans" is excellent. They already have a nickname ("the Pellies," which is wonderful), the team name is distinctly Louisianan and the logo is gorgeous. What's not to like about that?
posted by mightygodking at 7:10 AM on July 19, 2013 [2 favorites]
Boston Celtics (mis-pronounced)
You know who else mispronounces it?
There are two ways to say it. Deal.
posted by Sys Rq at 7:26 AM on July 19, 2013 [4 favorites]
You know who else mispronounces it?
There are two ways to say it. Deal.
posted by Sys Rq at 7:26 AM on July 19, 2013 [4 favorites]
New York Knicks (not even a word)
You mean the New York Nickerbockers? Kind of like the Red Sox - appellation through distinctive apparel.
And, yes, the Lakers need to be renamed as well, as should all teams that relocate yet have a regionally-derived name. The L.A. Larrybirds has a nice ring to it.
posted by Slap*Happy at 7:26 AM on July 19, 2013
You mean the New York Nickerbockers? Kind of like the Red Sox - appellation through distinctive apparel.
And, yes, the Lakers need to be renamed as well, as should all teams that relocate yet have a regionally-derived name. The L.A. Larrybirds has a nice ring to it.
posted by Slap*Happy at 7:26 AM on July 19, 2013
You mean the New York Nickerbockers? Kind of like the Red Sox - appellation through distinctive apparel.
The New York Knick(erbocker)s are named after Knickerbockers, not knickerbockers.
posted by Sys Rq at 7:30 AM on July 19, 2013 [1 favorite]
The New York Knick(erbocker)s are named after Knickerbockers, not knickerbockers.
posted by Sys Rq at 7:30 AM on July 19, 2013 [1 favorite]
The Attenborough Birds tv show had great footage of pelicans hatching three eggs, tossing out the runt a couple days later, then tossing out the second most viable chick a couple days after that with a closeup of the poor traumatized chick stumbling around on the ground waiting to get eaten by a local predator.
Pelicans are predators. They aren't apex predators but they are bloodthirsty killers nevertheless. If you accidentally corner one get the fuck out of there.
posted by bukvich at 8:03 AM on July 19, 2013 [1 favorite]
Pelicans are predators. They aren't apex predators but they are bloodthirsty killers nevertheless. If you accidentally corner one get the fuck out of there.
posted by bukvich at 8:03 AM on July 19, 2013 [1 favorite]
I see a lot of kids wearing purple and teal Hornets caps (and I don't even live in North Carolina) so I guess there's a retro cool thing going on with the Hornets right now.
I take some comfort in the fact that for once, when I don't like the look of something the kids these days are wearing, it's not because I'm old. It wasn't that nice 20 years ago, either! Starter jackets, too -- god I hope those don't make a comeback.
The retro cool cap out here seems to be the Expos. The Montreal fan base seems to have exploded since they ceased to exist; I didn't see this many Expos hats when they were actually located in Montreal.
posted by Hoopo at 8:46 AM on July 19, 2013 [1 favorite]
I take some comfort in the fact that for once, when I don't like the look of something the kids these days are wearing, it's not because I'm old. It wasn't that nice 20 years ago, either! Starter jackets, too -- god I hope those don't make a comeback.
The retro cool cap out here seems to be the Expos. The Montreal fan base seems to have exploded since they ceased to exist; I didn't see this many Expos hats when they were actually located in Montreal.
posted by Hoopo at 8:46 AM on July 19, 2013 [1 favorite]
Toronto Raptors, which only exists because the Raptors came into existence just after Jurassic Park did.
This was the worst. Blatant attempt to piggyback on Jurassic Park Mania, which has got to be the most short-sighted possible way to choose a name for a team. It's like if Charlotte changed their name to "The Charlotte Batmans." Yes, I know you'd all buy the jersey and so would I, but it's stupid.
"Raptors" was a result of a naming contest, that according to Wikipedia also included "T-Rex", "Terriers", and "Scorpions" (there are no scorpions anywhere near Toronto) so it wasn't necessarily the worst of the bunch. A friend of mine entered the name "Toronto Towers", which I think is infinitely better, but I'm no kind of ad wizard.
posted by Hoopo at 9:06 AM on July 19, 2013
This was the worst. Blatant attempt to piggyback on Jurassic Park Mania, which has got to be the most short-sighted possible way to choose a name for a team. It's like if Charlotte changed their name to "The Charlotte Batmans." Yes, I know you'd all buy the jersey and so would I, but it's stupid.
"Raptors" was a result of a naming contest, that according to Wikipedia also included "T-Rex", "Terriers", and "Scorpions" (there are no scorpions anywhere near Toronto) so it wasn't necessarily the worst of the bunch. A friend of mine entered the name "Toronto Towers", which I think is infinitely better, but I'm no kind of ad wizard.
posted by Hoopo at 9:06 AM on July 19, 2013
The retro cool cap out here seems to be the Expos. The Montreal fan base seems to have exploded since they ceased to exist; I didn't see this many Expos hats when they were actually located in Montreal.
Well, the Montreal Expos logo is preferable to their current one. Wear the Walgreens logo on your hat? I think not!
posted by explosion at 9:07 AM on July 19, 2013
Well, the Montreal Expos logo is preferable to their current one. Wear the Walgreens logo on your hat? I think not!
posted by explosion at 9:07 AM on July 19, 2013
"Raptors" was a result of a naming contest, that according to Wikipedia also included "T-Rex", "Terriers", and "Scorpions" (there are no scorpions anywhere near Toronto) so it wasn't necessarily the worst of the bunch.
"Terriers" would have been a great team name because then we would colloquially be known as the Yaps.
posted by mightygodking at 9:19 AM on July 19, 2013
"Terriers" would have been a great team name because then we would colloquially be known as the Yaps.
posted by mightygodking at 9:19 AM on July 19, 2013
Wear the Walgreens logo on your hat?
The Washington Walgreens...I like it!
posted by rhizome at 10:00 AM on July 19, 2013 [1 favorite]
The Washington Walgreens...I like it!
posted by rhizome at 10:00 AM on July 19, 2013 [1 favorite]
then we would colloquially be known as the Yaps
"Hogs" was also one of the finalists. I think "Hogtown Hogs" would be pretty great, but I could see why that might not be an image Toronto would want to run with
posted by Hoopo at 10:16 AM on July 19, 2013
"Hogs" was also one of the finalists. I think "Hogtown Hogs" would be pretty great, but I could see why that might not be an image Toronto would want to run with
posted by Hoopo at 10:16 AM on July 19, 2013
I think Pelicans is a great team name, and I'm not just saying that because I live in Charlotte!
posted by Slothrop at 12:38 PM on July 19, 2013
posted by Slothrop at 12:38 PM on July 19, 2013
I moved to Charlotte in 1988, the first year the Hornets played. They were the first major league team in a city that wanted desperately to be major league. And the brand-new Charlotte Coliseum, with reversible traffic lanes to ease congestion and Maya Lin shrub sculptures in front because we were just so pretentious, was THE place to be. Standing ovations for 30 point losses and a lot of enthusiasm, optimism and fun. A few years later, our baby daughter learned to love "The Bugs" and basketball. The Bobcats just never really caught on for a lot of reasons (among them, Bob Johnson being kind of aloof and an arena that got built in spite of a referendum against it). It will be neat to see if the return of the Hornets name brings back some of that early spirit.
posted by Sweetie Darling at 6:29 PM on July 19, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by Sweetie Darling at 6:29 PM on July 19, 2013 [1 favorite]
Huh... I was going to say this sounds very Cleveland Brownsian, but apparently Cleveland actually got to keep not only the name Browns but also all the history, etc, so the Browns of today are officially the same franchise as before.
This is really tangential, but one thing I find fascinating about soccer (okay, it's an endless source of trivia) is how the question of successor states is handled (and more broadly the question of what is a country in FIFA's eyes). If a country changes somehow, someone often gets designated the successor state and inherits the FIFA membership, ranking, past results and so on. Russia is the successor to the USSR, for example. But both Russia and Serbia are actually successor states twice over. The USSR team was replaced by a CIS team at Euro 92, which was then replaced by Russia. Serbia inherited the Serbia and Montenegro team (which played the 2006 World Cup as Serbia and Montenegro, despite the country having ceased to exist), which in turn was the successor to Yugoslavia. (Absurdly, Germany might actually be the successor to itself, depending on how the pre-war results were handled. I don't think it's the successor to either East Germany or Saarland, rather I think they just ceased to exist.)
posted by hoyland at 7:59 PM on July 19, 2013 [1 favorite]
This is really tangential, but one thing I find fascinating about soccer (okay, it's an endless source of trivia) is how the question of successor states is handled (and more broadly the question of what is a country in FIFA's eyes). If a country changes somehow, someone often gets designated the successor state and inherits the FIFA membership, ranking, past results and so on. Russia is the successor to the USSR, for example. But both Russia and Serbia are actually successor states twice over. The USSR team was replaced by a CIS team at Euro 92, which was then replaced by Russia. Serbia inherited the Serbia and Montenegro team (which played the 2006 World Cup as Serbia and Montenegro, despite the country having ceased to exist), which in turn was the successor to Yugoslavia. (Absurdly, Germany might actually be the successor to itself, depending on how the pre-war results were handled. I don't think it's the successor to either East Germany or Saarland, rather I think they just ceased to exist.)
posted by hoyland at 7:59 PM on July 19, 2013 [1 favorite]
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