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The Central Florida teams (Orlando Magic for Disney, Tampa Bay Buccaneers for its coastal location, Tampa Bay Lightning for being the city with the most thunderstorms, and Tampa Bay Rays for the numerous rays in the nearby waters) are also not too far behind.
Baltimore at one point (in the early '60s) was a four-team market, although the most-appropriately named Orioles are the only team that still is based there since then, and was fairly well represented of the region. The Colts were named for the nearby Colt 45 plant, although the Ravens are somewhat better due to Edgar Allan Poe's poem, the former Bullets for the frequent military bases and history of its defense system (and prior to its reputation of violence), and the Clippers (NFL and later AHL) for the numerous ships that would sail in the harbor/bay.
NFL
Giants: Taken from the baseball team that used to be in NYC but moved to SF. It doesn't really have anything to do with NYC and it's not even original!
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Giants always made sense to me because NY is where everything is bigger, larger than life, and gigantic.
I think Dallas (Cowboys, Rangers, Mavericks, Stars), Phoenix (Coyotes, Cardinals, Diamondbacks, Suns) and Minneapolis (Twins, Wild, Vikings, Timberwolves) also make very strong cases.
Dallas Stars were Minnesota North Stars. Which was actually even more reflective of Minnesota than 'Stars' is of Dallas.
The state motto for Minnesota is L'Étoile du Nord which means star of the north in French.
I think the Eagles don't really represent Philly in particular but the nation as a whole, like the Yankees. The 76ers works well for Philly since the 4th of July actually happened there.
But for NYC, I always thought that our sports teams names are kind of boring to be honest. I'll try to do this with NYC:
NFL
Giants: Taken from the baseball team that used to be in NYC but moved to SF. It doesn't really have anything to do with NYC and it's not even original!
Jets: apparently they got their name because they used to play near LaGuardia airport. Interesting, but not a good representation of NY
NBA
Knicks: apparently comes from the pants that Dutch settlers of NYC wore. Kind of strange name choice IMO
Nets: this one's real exciting..... The Nets are named after .....(drumroll)..... A ****ing basketball Net! lol
MLB
Yankees: because America? Or Northerners? Nothing to do with NYC in particular tho.
Mets: Metropolitans. It's boring, but it's something I guess
NHL
Rangers: originally called Tex's Rangers (named for a guy named Tex) was supposed to sound like "Texas Rangers".... Even though the team is in New York
Islanders: named because they originally played on Long Island. This one makes the most sense, BUT just last year the stadium on Long Island closed down and so the Islanders moved to Brooklyn... So now it kind only kind of makes sense. Because although Brooklyn is on the same Island, it does not count as part of Long Island. But the Islander's logo includes a picture of the entire Island, including Brooklyn and Queens. So maybe it works?
Conclusion: NYC sports names are very boring and most don't make sense or represent the city or region at all. And the ones that do are very plain/boring or just some unusual reference that you wouldn't get unless you Google'd it (Knicks). We also have a team named after Texas (Rangers) and one that was just completely stolen from another team that's no longer in NY (Giants).
Really NYC? We have 8 teams! We could've been more creative. It's difficult to pick a worst. I guess best would be Mets because it makes sense, even though it is a boring name IMO. I think NYC could possibly be the worst in this category.
Given that the eagle can be viewed as being a symbol of freedom and given Philadelphia's history, it can be viewed as being appropriate or fitting.
Giants always made sense to me because NY is where everything is bigger, larger than life, and gigantic.
I think the football team the New York Giants are named after the former New York baseball team, the New York Giants. The baseball team, originally the Gothams began to be called the Giants in the 1800s.
It is said that after one particularly satisfying victory over the Philadelphia Phillies, Mutrie, who was also the team's manager, strode into the dressing room and exclaimed, "My big fellows! My giants!"[12] From then on, the club was known as the Giants.
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lol
