and all that Jazz

The Los Angeles Lakers - a team that is familiar to everyone. After all, they've been great for a long time. The name just rolls off the tongue with a touch of alliteration. L.A. Lakers - yup, it just sounds so natural to say. Then again, what does Los Angeles have to do with lakes? Where are all the lakes? Enough to name a team after? Oh that's right, they moved from Minneapolis, and there are lots of lakes in Minnesota!

I just like to think about teams that moved and didn't bother changing their team names. Staying in Los Angeles and the NBA, what about the Clippers? Is Los Angeles known for its harbor and sailboats? Ah, they moved from San Diego - that makes sense! And when the (football) St. Louis Cardinals moved to Arizona, I had to check my favorite bird identification guide to see if cardinals are found there. They are, but not necessarily in Phoenix (they were originally known as the Phoenix Cardinals). But in Arizona? Parts of it, so I guess that's okay then.

My favorite example is the NBA's Utah Jazz. Again, I'm sure people don't even stop to think about it: Jazz? In Utah? Well, I guess so, but I like to imagine a jazz musician from New Orleans (New Orleans Jazz, right?) snapping his fingers, saying, "Ooh yeah... give me some of that jazz, some of that... Utah Jazz!"