NAME GAME

by Michael Peroutka

Do you ever just yearn for the good old days.  When I was a kid things were way more simple.

For example, you didn’t need to remember two mascot names for the teams in St. Louis, or New York.  They were the Cardinals and the Giants.  The New York baseball Giants moved to San Francisco when I was just six years old, but I remember asking my dad how they could do that.  It just seemed so wrong to me.

The St. Louis football Cardinals pulled up stakes after the 1987 season and redirected their mail to Tempe, Arizona for a while before settling outside of Phoenix.  Twenty five years later I still can’t get used to saying Arizona Cardinals -- or St. Louis Rams, for that matter

I know this confusion has a long history but I just don’t think it’s healthy. 

Take the Atlanta Braves.  They used to be the Milwaukee Braves when I was a kid, but before that they were the Boston Braves.  And the Oakland Athletics used to be the Kansas City Athletics, who used to be the Philadelphia Athletics. 

Stop it already.

When a team moves – if it really has to move – can we just get a new name?  Is there a shortage of names or something?  When the A’s left Philadelphia, why couldn’t they become the Kansas City Stockyards or something?  Then, if they have to go to Oakland, can’t they call themselves the Oakland BayWatchers, or BridgeBuilders, or something?

And don’t start me on the Colts.  1983. Middle of the night.  Mayflower Moving vans in the snow.  But I’m almost over it. 

Without a doubt, the Colts uniforms were and still are the best looking uniforms in the league.  No contest.  I really miss the Colts. 

Can I just have a moment to myself, here.

Like I said, I’m almost over it.

This is MAP for IOTC bringing you TAV.