Cosmonaughts

How bout the Houston Isotopes?

Well, there's no space program any more, so why not?

Nobody's using this one, give it a whirl.

Gulper Eel: Change it back to the Colt .45s, just to watch the leftists wet themselves in outrage.

It's not like anything happened to the murder rate in DC when the Bullets became the Wizards.

Why do they hate beer?

Gulper Eel: Change it back to the Colt .45s, just to watch the leftists wet themselves in outrage.

It's not like anything happened to the murder rate in DC when the Bullets became the Wizards.

The DC murder rate dropped dramatically since they became the Wiz. In 1996 -- the last year of the Bullets -- there were 396 murders in the District. It dropped virtually every year after that. It was 132 in 2010. At the same time the population went up. The name change had nothing to do with it, of course, but let's not let facts get in the way of your rightist blustering.

Leave the name alone, but if you've got to change it to the Buffaloes.

They are a bottom dwelling team with with 60 million in payroll, with almost 30 million of that going to three overrated guys. They are in complete rebuilding mode, and when I mean complete, I mean Tampa Bay Rays levels of rebuilding.

It's creating a buzz here in Houston. New uniforms, new log and possibly new name? It's generated a stir of emotions and has people talking about the Astros in this city, which they haven't in about 4 years.

He probably has no intention to change the name, just to troll the city. At least he's doing something, Drayton has been in "sell" mode for 6 years since the sweep in the World Series.

yequalsy: Gulper Eel: Change it back to the Colt .45s, just to watch the leftists wet themselves in outrage.

It's not like anything happened to the murder rate in DC when the Bullets became the Wizards.

The DC murder rate dropped dramatically since they became the Wiz. In 1996 -- the last year of the Bullets -- there were 396 murders in the District. It dropped virtually every year after that. It was 132 in 2010. At the same time the population went up. The name change had nothing to do with it, of course, but let's not let facts get in the way of your rightist blustering.

The real problem - Wizards = dumbest nickname ever

+ Politics Tab ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ------->

Keep them as the Astros. As a White Sox fan, I'd hate to see the one team they faced in the World Series sort of go away.

JosephFinn: Keep them as the Astros. As a White Sox fan, I'd hate to see the one team they faced in the World Series sort of go away.

They also faced The Cubs, The Dodgers, and The Giants in the World Series. They beat The Cubs, The Giants, and The Astros.

/Carry on misinformed gentlemen

Houston Iron Pigs?

chimp_ninja: FinFangFark: It's creating a buzz here in Houston. New uniforms, new log and possibly new name? It's generated a stir of emotions and has people talking about the Astros in this city, which they haven't in about 4 years.

Meh. I like the Astros name-- it highlights something distinct about the city that they should be proud of.

You want a terrible sports team name? The Houston Texans. I guess that's helpful for NFL fans who don't know where Houston is. They ended up using bulls for their logo anyway, so they should have given a nod to their community and named them the Houston Toros. It's too close to the Dallas Cowboys either way, but nearly any name is better than "Texans".

I'm fine with the Astros, and I admit, going with Texans was stupid. There were hundred of submissions for team names that had to do with a combination of bulls/toros, etc. I support the Houston NFL franchise, and despite the Cowboys, well mostly their douchbag fan base, but yes, Texans was really a silly name.

rumor has it they made a large sum offer to Bud Adams to purchase the Oilers naming rights from him, b/c the city wasn't able to secure the name of the team like the Browns did as part of the moving of the Titans. But, Adams, focusing his franchise as being the fark you to the city of Houston, wasn't taking any amount of money.

I love the steel blue uniforms, the red jerseys (though not the ketchup bottle special nights), but man, there are times when I just shake my head when announcers say THE HOUSTON TEXANS.

I think with 50 years behind the name Astros, I don't think Crane will change the name.

the Houston Fourth-Place-Is-A-Triumphs

chimp_ninja: You want a terrible sports team name? The Houston Texans. I guess that's helpful for NFL fans who don't know where Houston is. They ended up using bulls for their logo anyway, so they should have given a nod to their community and named them the Houston Toros. It's too close to the Dallas Cowboys either way, but nearly any name is better than "Texans".

As a Phillies fan, I humbly (and shamefully) submit my own team's name for consideration. I love my Phillies but it's a pretty silly name for a team.

ATRDCI: Whats sad is that the last good GM we had, whom Drayton let go, was the same guy who rebuilt the Rays.

That was because Hunsicker butted heads with the owner quite a bit on what is best for the franchise, both in the minors and major levels. He did trade away young talent to bring in veterans who could contribute, but he also was wanting to spending money and sign higher slotted draft picks.

IMO Drayton was more concerned with the marketing of the team, as long as it was turning a good profit. After that World Series, with a bunch of aging stars on the downhill, and a crappy new GM that was just his yes-man (Tim Purpura was a joke of a GM), Drayton wanted out of the game. He knew it was going to be nearly decade long process of rebuilding from scratch, and didn't want in on that.

It's sad how his ownership ended in the city, b/c he did so much for the franchise and the community when he bought the team in the early 90s. The fans really turned on him the past 5 years, and were happy to see a change.

Now, fans are turning to Les Alexander, and I think turning on him would be a big mistake. He wants to win now, and is pushing his GM to make deals for the present, but in the NBA, you have to tank to get a high draft pick to build something, or spend huge amounts of cash for free agents, which no big names really want to come to Houston, so right now the team is at the middle of the pack, and either will need a huge trade to force a superstar here, or tank and get a high prospect.

Houston Wehaveaproblems!

Booooooo. Astros was one of the unique names in pro sports. It's cool when a team chooses a regional thing that describes their town like Steelers, Phillies, or Brewers. There are plenty of Indians and Wildcats.

Spungos?

It can't be that bad for them. They're stepping into the AL West. They should easily have a rip roaring battle over not last with Seattle and Oakland.

Easily solution.

The1andonlyZack: They also faced The Cubs, The Dodgers, and The Giants in the World Series. They beat The Cubs, The Giants, and The Astros.

/Carry on misinformed gentlemen

How could the Astros have faced all those NL teams, including themselves, in the World Series? And BEATEN them, to boot!

Houston Basement Dwellers - it works with how they sit in the standings, and it'll be a hit with those who still live with their Mom.

funk_soul_bubby: Easily solution.

That post sucked.

funk_soul_bubby: Easily solution.

[beeradvocate.com image 157x300]

That would be awesome.

How about the "Houston Armpits".

/Texans will get it.

yequalsy: Gulper Eel: Change it back to the Colt .45s, just to watch the leftists wet themselves in outrage.

It's not like anything happened to the murder rate in DC when the Bullets became the Wizards.

The DC murder rate dropped dramatically since they became the Wiz. In 1996 -- the last year of the Bullets -- there were 396 murders in the District. It dropped virtually every year after that. It was 132 in 2010. At the same time the population went up. The name change had nothing to do with it, of course, but let's not let facts get in the way of your rightist blustering.

So...why does DC still have a football team called the Redskins?

Mosquitoes

I like the older names that are relevant to a cities history, even if anachronistic. For instance the Knicks. Everyone knows that the Knicks are short for Knickerbockers, but not many know that the term Knickerbocker was a gang of New Yorkers that would hang by the docks and beat Irish Immigrants as they left the boat. Then the New York Mets came in the 60s which is of course short for Metropolitans which, oddly enough, was a local gang in the late 1800s that would wait at the dock to beat Irish Immigrants as they left the boat. The Brooklyn Dodgers, who moved to LA, was a name based on a local street game called Dodgey played in the slums, where local youths would chase Irish Immmigrants through the streets and beat them with sticks. Of course there were the NY Giants as well, that moved to San Francisco. Many assume that the nickname the Giants was meant to inspire fear with an imageof large men who could beat 3-4 immigrants at once with their stout arms and giant hands but this is not so. The original Giants were a temperance league founded in Albany, that moved to NY when their leader Louisa-Eloise Penobscott found that the Irish Immigrants they blamed for the alocohol problems were available to be more easily beaten in NY as opposed to Albany.

I think it's great for teams to kep attached to the their roots, is all I'm trying to say.

rudemix: I like the older names that are relevant to a cities history, even if anachronistic. For instance the Knicks. Everyone knows that the Knicks are short for Knickerbockers, but not many know that the term Knickerbocker was a gang of New Yorkers that would hang by the docks and beat Irish Immigrants as they left the boat. Then the New York Mets came in the 60s which is of course short for Metropolitans which, oddly enough, was a local gang in the late 1800s that would wait at the dock to beat Irish Immigrants as they left the boat. The Brooklyn Dodgers, who moved to LA, was a name based on a local street game called Dodgey played in the slums, where local youths would chase Irish Immmigrants through the streets and beat them with sticks. Of course there were the NY Giants as well, that moved to San Francisco. Many assume that the nickname the Giants was meant to inspire fear with an imageof large men who could beat 3-4 immigrants at once with their stout arms and giant hands but this is not so. The original Giants were a temperance league founded in Albany, that moved to NY when their leader Louisa-Eloise Penobscott found that the Irish Immigrants they blamed for the alocohol problems were available to be more easily beaten in NY as opposed to Albany.

I think it's great for teams to kep attached to the their roots, is all I'm trying to say.

Yeah, we're done here...shut it down people!

Might as well change it. They missed the chance for the all-time best team name when they had a minor league team in Kissimmee, Florida, and they refused to call them the Kissimmee Astros.

Rapmaster2000: Booooooo. Astros was one of the unique names in pro sports. It's cool when a team chooses a regional thing that describes their town like Steelers, Phillies, or Brewers. There are plenty of Indians and Wildcats.

Given the state of NASA, I think a name change is definitely in order. Maybe the Houston Hitchers, to commemorate the fact that the only Americans can get into space is to hitch a ride with the Russians.

/Pirates fan grateful for Houston's continued existence

How about the PLANET HOUSTONS?

IntotheAbyss: [hefl.homestead.com image 200x287]
Nobody's using this one, give it a whirl.

That's exactly what I was thinking. And it works better than "Barbecue inhaling gutbuckets."