Tuesday, December 9, 2008

City or State?

Here's some randomness for you, while I work on Novelaborate stuff...

After watching an intense Monday Night Football game last night (go Panthers!) I was thinking about where all the NFL teams are from. Why are some of the 32 teams representative of just a city, while others are representative of an entire state? I kind of explained it to myself this way (Keep in mind this is just the NFL... I can do other sports leagues, too, but for now, football...) :

Some states have more than one team.
So,

NY: Buffalo Bills, New York Jets, New York Giants... You're okay.
PA: Philadelphia Eagles, Pittsburgh Steelers... You're cool, too.
TX: Houston Texans, Dallas Cowboys... Fair enough.
FL: Miami Dolphins, Jacksonville Jaguars, Tampa Bay Buccaneers... Gotcha.
OH: Cincinnati Bengals, Cleveland Browns... Yup.
CA: Oakland Raiders, San Diego Chargers, San Francisco 49ers... Mmhmm.
MO: Kansas City Chiefs, St. Louis Rams... Sure. (But your state sucks this year. Sorry!)

Some teams represent major cities with large populations, so that makes sense.
So,

Seattle Seahawks
New Orleans Saints
Atlanta Falcons
Washington Redskins
Chicago Bears
Detroit Lions
Baltimore Ravens
Indianapolis Colts
Denver Broncos...

all OK, I guess. Some are more obvious than others, though.

Lastly, some states represented have relatively small populations, or at least their major metro areas aren't as large or as well known, so one football team per state, I suppose, makes sense.
So,

Tennessee Titans
Arizona Cardinals
Minnesota Vikings...

That's okay with me I guess. Minnesota might be iffy.

That leaves three (in my opinion) oddballs:

Carolina
Green Bay
New England

And why are they oddballs?

Green Bay Packers- the only team I'd say that is supposedly representative of one city, a city which is truly small-market and doesn't, at least initially, make sense. Green Bay? Is that even the capital of Wisconsin? I didn't think it was... Or am I wrong? If so, apologies. But what's so wrong with Wisconsin Packers?

Carolina Panthers/New England Patriots- the only two teams whose supposed area of representation covers more than one state. While the Panthers play in N.C., this isn't reflected in the name. Did they think "North Carolina Panthers" would sound too weird? I guess it is a bit odd... Who knows. And then New England... well I just don't know what to make of that. They play in Massachusetts. I guess "Foxboro Patriots" just didn't have the ring they were looking for.

Anyway, perhaps this post isn't even of much value. I was just curious. And now it's official... I only have a problem with three NFL team names. Not bad, I suppose.

Maybe I'll examine the NHL next. I am a big fan after all...

2 comments:

Heather said...

Nice way to organize the info!

My family insists that I participate in this NFL prediction league thing, and since I'm pretty much the only one who doesn't actually watch the games, I make all of my picks based on which mascot would win in a one-on-one cage match. Rule of thumb: when in doubt, pick the one that's bigger, has better weapons, or has more teeth. It only gets tricky when it's something like Raiders vs. Buccaneers, since they're both pirates.

Anonymous said...

Good write! As I said, I know nothing of sports, but I found this post entertaining and interesting ...