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Post by Albert Fish Taco on Aug 19, 2019 20:28:17 GMT -5
I'm sure the half-assed proposal for the Tampa Bay Rays to split games between their current notoriously empty and unloved stadium and Montreal is just a ploy to shake the local governments of the greater Tampa-St Petersburg-Clearwater metro area down for a municipally funded stadium. But it could be an indication that the team might want to take the logical step of decamping to a location that might better appreciate a playoff caliber team. If they did move permanently to Montreal, what should they be renamed?
Below are some options. I'm open to additional ideas.
Expos -
Pros: As the name of the team now known as the Washington Nationals (talk about cities that don't deserve a MLB team), there's a good thirty-someodd year history of baseball in Montreal under this name.
Cons: Expos is possibly the lamest team name in any of the big four professional leagues in North American sports history (yes it's worse than Clippers, Padres or Mighty Ducks). Also that team never won anything beyond a gimmck-y split season division title in 1981.
Roys -
Pros: Only one letter off from their current name. French for Kings so a nod to the local language and history as a crown colony of the Ancient Regime. Nods to their pre-Expos farm team (of the Dodgers) the Royales without infringing on the KC franchise's name. Also nods to general local sports history through 90's Habs goalie Patrick Roy.
Cons: Still too close to Royals. Pronounced "Waahhh" so too easy to belittle among anglophones.
Voyageurs -
Pros: Nods to local history. Gimmick 7th inning stretch race can be of mascots in goods laden bateaux.
Cons: None that I can think of.
Diables -
Pros: Ties to history in Tampa since they started out as Devil Rays. Francophone. Devils and Satan are always badass and cool.
Cons: Probably a reason why the current team just shortened it to Rays (though likely not good one).
Chevaliers -
Pros: Somehow there hasn't been a knights themed team yet in any of the big 4 pro sports. Francophone. Ties to Ancient Regime, though less relevant since courtly scene fading out by time of the colony (Catherine D'Medici's husband dying that grisly death jousting for fun and all that).
Cons: Might get called Chevys.
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Post by Powerthirteen on Aug 19, 2019 22:48:34 GMT -5
I like Roys but there is no way on God's green earth that the other 29 teams' good ol' boy announcers are going to be able to keep the French pronunciation straight. Voyageurs feels too thematically close to Les Habitants imo. Chevaliers is great. Also "Padres" is a great name in large part because it led to this amazing logo:  |
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Post by Some Kind of Munster on Aug 20, 2019 8:08:47 GMT -5
I'm a traditionalist so I think any Montreal MLB team should be named the Expos, even it's a dumb-as-shit name for a team. Largely because I want to see guys playing in those cool-ass Expos hats again.
That said, I think Voyageurs is great – as you mentioned, it ties into local history, and it's appropriately French while still being relatively easy for the anglos to pronounce (you know 90% of the baseball world is just going to say "Voyagers", but whatever).
A few minor quibbles with the other suggestions:
"King" in French is "Roi" (although it's pronounced the same as the name "Roy".
"Somehow there hasn't been a knights themed team yet in any of the big 4 pro sports." Has the Las Vegas Golden Knights' Cinderella season been forgotten already?
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Post by Albert Fish Taco on Aug 20, 2019 11:49:37 GMT -5
I'm a traditionalist so I think any Montreal MLB team should be named the Expos, even it's a dumb-as-shit name for a team. Largely because I want to see guys playing in those cool-ass Expos hats again. That said, I think Voyageurs is great – as you mentioned, it ties into local history, and it's appropriately French while still being relatively easy for the anglos to pronounce (you know 90% of the baseball world is just going to say "Voyagers", but whatever). A few minor quibbles with the other suggestions: "King" in French is "Roi" (although it's pronounced the same as the name "Roy". "Somehow there hasn't been a knights themed team yet in any of the big 4 pro sports." Has the Las Vegas Golden Knights' Cinderella season been forgotten already? I knew there had to be a knights themed franchise I was forgetting Also now that I think of it, both Red Sox and White Sox are dumber team names than Expos. I’d assume they’d keep the Expos tricolor caps, and possibly even the M in the font that looked like Aim toothpaste even without using the Expos name (kind of like how the Mets blue and orange were in tribute to the Dodgers and Giants). I have an Andre Dawson bobble head at my office cube in the classic Expos uni. |
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Post by Superb Owl 🦉 on Aug 20, 2019 13:16:09 GMT -5
I think it would have to be the Expos, except does MLB do that dumb ass thing the NBA does where you can't ever go back to a previous logo/uniform as your default so they can keep the throwback gravy train perpetually rolling?
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Crash Test Dumbass
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Post by Crash Test Dumbass on Aug 20, 2019 14:16:39 GMT -5
I would like the Chevaliers if only so the entire stadium would go "HOHN HOHN HOHN" at every opportunity.
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Post by Jimmy James on Aug 20, 2019 14:36:37 GMT -5
Roys - Somehow there hasn't been a knights themed team yet in any of the big 4 pro sports. Where do the Cleveland Cavaliers stand? It has the same Latin root as chevalier, but it's more associated with the English civil war than the knights-in-armor feudalism time period. |
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Post by Powerthirteen on Aug 20, 2019 14:45:49 GMT -5
Roys - Somehow there hasn't been a knights themed team yet in any of the big 4 pro sports. Where do the Cleveland Cavaliers stand? It has the same Latin root as chevalier, but it's more associated with the English civil war than the knights-in-armor feudalism time period. There were also the Cleveland Crusaders for a while, although the WHA only sort of counts.  |
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Post by Albert Fish Taco on Aug 21, 2019 9:31:23 GMT -5
Roys - Somehow there hasn't been a knights themed team yet in any of the big 4 pro sports. Where do the Cleveland Cavaliers stand? It has the same Latin root as chevalier, but it's more associated with the English civil war than the knights-in-armor feudalism time period. Hmm I’m really off base in my counting of knights themed teams. I’d consider the Cavs knight adjacent even if it calls to mind more of the Stuart loyalists a la the University of Virginia team. |
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Post by Albert Fish Taco on Aug 21, 2019 9:33:48 GMT -5
I think it would have to be the Expos, except does MLB do that dumb ass thing the NBA does where you can't ever go back to a previous logo/uniform as your default so they can keep the throwback gravy train perpetually rolling? I’d assume that legally the Nationals retained the rights to the Expo name. But they apparently ignore their pre-DC history and would be amenable to selling such rights. |
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Post by Superb Owl 🦉 on Aug 21, 2019 10:07:27 GMT -5
I think it would have to be the Expos, except does MLB do that dumb ass thing the NBA does where you can't ever go back to a previous logo/uniform as your default so they can keep the throwback gravy train perpetually rolling? I’d assume that legally the Nationals retained the rights to the Expo name. But they apparently ignore their pre-DC history and would be amenable to selling such rights. Yea, I would assume it'd be a similar thing to the New Orleans Pelicans selling all the Hornets rights to the new Charlotte franchise |
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Post by Powerthirteen on Aug 21, 2019 10:39:59 GMT -5
I think it would have to be the Expos, except does MLB do that dumb ass thing the NBA does where you can't ever go back to a previous logo/uniform as your default so they can keep the throwback gravy train perpetually rolling? I’d assume that legally the Nationals retained the rights to the Expo name. But they apparently ignore their pre-DC history and would be amenable to selling such rights. They did wear Expos uniforms for a throwback night last month, so they don't totally ignore their history. |
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Post by Jean-Luc Lemur on Aug 21, 2019 22:50:39 GMT -5
"King" in French is "Roi" (although it's pronounced the same as the name "Roy". Going to be super-pedantic and note that when Québec was a French colony you could spell it either way |
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ArchieLeach
AV Clubber
I talk too much, I worry me to death
Posts: 289 
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Post by ArchieLeach on Aug 27, 2019 6:38:48 GMT -5
I think they should call themselves the Packers just to mess with us.
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Post by Nudeviking on Aug 27, 2019 19:13:15 GMT -5
Thee Montreal Tabernacs
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Post by Desert Dweller on Aug 31, 2019 23:51:12 GMT -5
I'm voting for Chevaliers. Even though you are right that it would lead to them getting called "Chevys". And that would undoubtedly lead to some questionable marketing decisions. But still Chevaliers is great.
Though, my second choice would be Expos, because I loved the uniforms and especially the hats.
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Baron von Costume
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Post by Baron von Costume on Sept 4, 2019 14:59:03 GMT -5
There is literally zero chance it won't be the Expos whenever/if ever a team returns. There'd be a riot w/ anything else, Expos love still runs deep. Also it's at least english pronounceable. Also pfft, Voyageurs near Montreal weren't real Voyageurs  They were the b-team dudes that got the stuff to the real hardcore types. |
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They were the b-team dudes that got the stuff to the real hardcore types.