Question

[icepixie]

Hmmm. I appear to be writing fanfic for my fake TV show. I'd say I'm writing actual canon for it, because it's mine and technically anything I write for it is canon, right? but...it reads like fic. It really does. This is not a short story, with its associated rising and falling action, etc., in any way, shape, or form. It does not introduce the characters in any meaningful way. It's totally four little filler fics stuck together because they share a theme. (Not to mention that some of the voices are ripped straight out of fanfic. And by "some" I pretty much mean "all.")

That said: in this universe, by 2231 Vancouver has a major league baseball team. (WHY do I keep writing characters who like team sports when I hate them, why why why?) I need a name for this team. I get the impression that baseball team names usually have some connection to their city, and sports team names in general often make reference to sharp pointy objects, such as an animal with sharp teeth, a person whose job it was to fight with swords or spears, &tc. Granted, baseball naming appears less bloodthirsty than other sports.

Anyway, the only two names I can come up with are Pioneers and (Killer) Whales. The first one has promise; the second, not so much. Suggestions? If it helps, this team is not very good; they aren't as unlucky as the Cubs (who, sorry to say, are still the watchword for "lost hope" even two centuries on), but they aren't in danger of stumbling into a World Series anytime soon, so something that sounds hapless might be good.

Also, a related question: let's say that someone is commenting on a team's haplessness, and doing so by saying, "They haven't won a title/pennant/championship/? in twenty years!" I don't really know how baseball playoffs are structured, but I want to emphasize that this team has not been doing well, so what level would they not exceed if they sucked just enough for non-fans to make fun of them, but for fans to keep cheering them on?

Comments

[graycardinal]

"Killer Whales" is indeed a little unwieldy; OTOH, "Orcas" (another word for "killer whale") would work well. Also: Islanders, Ravens, Thunderbirds.

And "pennant" (aka "league championship") is probably good for competitive reference.

[aris_tgd]

Vancouver BC, or WA? ;)

[kurayaminokoe.livejournal.com]

My softball/baseball team is called Quick, but generally, yeah, there's a city/place name and something that sounds good? I've also seen teams that obviously get sponsored and use the company's name in their name. I also know there's a team called Survivors.

We play like...5th division, which is like, the suckiest and lowest division *snort*. Not sure how play offs go anyhow, cause I'm not in the states, and really, you don't expect me to play play-offs lol.

I need to read the post you linked to but my dinner really needs preparing.

[idharao.livejournal.com]

Hey there!

I added you because of your fabulous Fred and Ginger stuff, hope you don't mind. :)

As for a team that sucks but people still love, The NY Mets are the major team where I live in Queens NY. I'm personally a Yankees fan, but there are RABID Mets fans who just can't let it go, no matter how bad the team does. It's a combination of nostalgia and Queens pride and anti-Yankees sentiment. So... the Mets aren't great but people are just nuts about them. Look up some stuff about them; once you get past the crazy "THE YANKEES ARE THE DEVILLLLL!" stuff, it's really some nice and proud stuff.

A team that sucks wouldn't make it to the playoffs, which is where they play for the pennant (which means they're the best in the league-- in the US there's the American and the National leagues and one team from each plays in the Series) that would qualify them for the World Series. A sucky team would win games on and off but never quite get to the championship games. Hope that helps!

[rivendellrose.livejournal.com]

I know little to nothing about sports teams, but back in the late 90s, Seattle had a women's basketball team called the Reign. I always loved the implied pun, and it would work equally well for Vancouver...

Edited to add: while I'm providing local anecdotes that might be useful in naming sport teams, maybe Orca would work better than Killer Whale? Other local options for animals that would be good to name a team after are Sockeyes (a kind of salmon - that one might be great, as it's also aurally reminiscent of team names like the White Sox?), Sturgeons, Ospreys, etc?

[mylittleredgirl.livejournal.com]

Wheeee! Baseball and fic! :)

On the first note - I have written future-AU-anti-OTP fic for one of my fake shows. IDEK.

Baseball! <3 I kind of love that baseball is still being played on a major league scale by 2231. That is crazy and awesome.

It's kind of hard to foresee what the demographics or culture of a city might be like in 200 years, but before I noticed the date I was thinking of the "Dragons" possibly, as those have pointy teeth and would be a nod to the high Chinese population in the city and the related cultural influence - Chinatown is a big deal there. Their hockey team is the Canucks, so you could just steal that name or go with something equally Canadian. Their soccer team is the Whitecaps, which I find dorky and hapless, also. Personally, I think they should be the Inukshuk (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inukshuk), though! :) It was the symbol for the Vancouver Olympics aside from generally being awesome. At the very least, Inukshuk Field for their park, right?

The Cubs are famously cursed to never win the Pennant, which is the step right before the World Series. It a team hasn't made the playoffs in 20 years, they will definitely be written off by other teams, so that's probably a good way to go!

[amaresu]

The Vancouver hockey team is called the Canucks and they have a killer whale as a mascot?

As for the suck-not suck thing it could be a bit like Minnesota sports. The teams are just good enough that you continually hold out hope that they'll win something and then they fail. They fail utterly. They could win everything they needed to win over the course of the season and then at the big game it's like the forget how to play. And yet, we still hold out hope that one day they'll give us the payoff. Because sometimes they do, but only once every few decades. So you end up with rather devote sports fans that are all the same not that surprised when they don't win the big trophy.