Comments (15)

1. Columbus Blue Jackets (NHL)

   posted by Tim on 7-20-2010 at 8:44 am

2. Nevermind…just finished reading the instructions…whoops

   posted by Tim on 7-20-2010 at 8:45 am

3. Got all 6, though was hung up on the longer tenured of the football teams.

   posted by Pylon on 7-20-2010 at 8:46 am

4. Got all 6, took a while for the football teams. In terms of defunct teams:

   -Cleveland Blues/Bronchos in the early 1900s (MLB-Eventually become Indians)

   -For one year in the 1970′s, the Bullets (Become the NBA’s Wizards) were known as the Capital Bullets

   posted by Chris on 7-20-2010 at 10:04 am

5. Nice one re: the Bullets, Chris. I had forgotten about that… it was the 1973-74 season.

   posted by Sandy Wood on 7-20-2010 at 10:13 am

6. The Cleveland Bulldogs in the NFL. The Canton Bulldogs and Cleveland Indians were merged to form this team, which won a controversial championship in 1924. Some ex-Canton players got together to reform the Canton Bulldogs the following year, but by 1927 both teams had folded.

   posted by Mark on 7-20-2010 at 10:41 am

7. Did some looking at some secondary leagues, just for fun.

   WHA — Calgary Broncos, founded in 1971 — but never played a game. Their spot (with some of their players) was taken by the Cleveland Crusaders.

   USFL — Chicago Blitz, lasted two seasons, coached by the legendary George Allen (1983) and Marv Levy (1984). They were actually two different franchises — the Blitz and the Arizona Wranglers swapped teams before the 1984 season.

   posted by Mark on 7-20-2010 at 10:54 am

8. Found another defunct one — Columbus Buckeyes, 1883-1884, in the American Association. The AA was a precursor to the AL, and MLB considers them a “major league” and counts their records — including no-hitters by Buckeyes Frank Mountain and Ed “Cannonball” Morris.

   posted by Mark on 7-20-2010 at 11:02 am

9. Neat, Mark. Wouldn’t it have been great to serve up a starting rotation of pitchers with names like “Mountain” and “Cannonball”?

   posted by Sandy Wood on 7-20-2010 at 11:11 am

10. Ain’t that the truth — where have all the great nicknames gone? A-Rod? Pudge? Blah.

    By the way, I found two more Cleveland Blues, one in the NL and one in the AA, unrelated to the Blues/Bronchos AL franchise that later became the Indians.

    Also, the Cleveland Blues/Bronchos were officially named the Cleveland Bluebirds, but the players hated the name. Most sportswriters at the time used Blues, and the Bronchos nickname never caught on. They became the Naps in 1903 (after their superstar Nap Lajoie), before becoming the Indians in 1915.

    posted by Mark on 7-20-2010 at 11:42 am

11. If you’re willing to go outside the big four, Major League Lacrosse currently fields a team called the Chesapeake Bayhawks.

    posted by Danno on 7-20-2010 at 4:30 pm

12. Don’t forget the Cleveland Barons of the NHL. For two glorious seasons Cleveland was a Big-4 city and those teams went a combined 288-358-26 over those 2 years with 3 winning seasons (1 for the Browns, 2 for the Cavs) and 2 playoff appearances (2 first round losses for the Cavs).

    The Barons started life as the Oakland Seals (later the California Golden Seals), one of the original 6 expansion teams in the NHL in 1967-68. They moved to Cleveland prior to the 76-77 season.

    After the 77-78 season the Barons were merged with the Minnesota North Stars in an effort to keep both teams afloat. It worked. Once the North Stars were stolen by then-owner Norm Greed, er Green (we’re still a little bitter), and moved to Dallas they won a Stanley Cup after getting to the finals twice and losing while in Minnesota.

    posted by eric! on 7-20-2010 at 5:05 pm

13. Ever have one of those mornings where you wake up, and reality seems subtly different? You know, where it seems like either you’ve had a monumental longterm cluelessness that just now ended or you’ve shifted into an almost identical parallel universe?

    Okay, I don’t follow sports, but still, how had I not noticed there was an NBA team called the Bobcats?

    posted by Kevin on 7-20-2010 at 5:29 pm

14. Glad you asked. The Charlotte Bobcats were an expansion team in 2004 — they replaced the Charlotte Hornets (which relocated to New Orleans in 2002).

    The Bobcats are now owned by some dude… Jordan something or other. Used to play a bit. Wasn’t too bad. Wears Nikes, and Hanes underwear.

    posted by Mark on 7-20-2010 at 5:51 pm

15. I know what you mean, Kevin. I felt the same way when I looked in the NBA standings one day and saw Oklahoma City. Did I sleep through that one?

    posted by Ron on 7-21-2010 at 12:50 am

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