Quote:
Originally Posted by freeweed
Yeah, I was being tongue in cheek. "Proper Nouns" are just improper nouns that we appropriate into a name, making them "Proper". There's literally no difference between "Blue Bomber" and "Redblack" beyond the decade they were coined in.
The analogy to company names is apt. But companies don't often travel like a team does. Do they plan on calling them one name when playing at home, and the other name when playing in Montreal? Or do they call them both names at home, one name in Vancouver, and another in Montreal? And what happens if New Brunswick ever gets a CFL franchise?
The whole thing just seems awkward and I can't think of a similar precedent. Unless people still misspell "Canadiens" a lot. We certainly did as kids.
For the record, I've never in my life heard a single person use "Larks" as a nickname for the Als. I was being a little more than tongue in cheek with that one. 
Actually, I never thought to pay close attention to this when visiting - is it PFK on one side of the river, KFC on the other? A strict divide in Ottawa-Gatineau?
Oh and lastly, I prefer the French name. "Red and Black" I could have gone with. "Redblack" just sounds stupid. |
I thought you were being a little tongue-in-cheek, but I went with it anyway. I've heard Larks a few times but it's rare. As for when/how they will use it, I'm sure it will just be a situation where whatever language is being spoken, that's the name that will be used (no matter the location it's done) along with signage for both around their own stadium.
And as far as the Raptors go... Yes they will be profitable, partly because the Leafs are so successful and can force ticket sales, and party because they play in an American League and mooch some American TV rights money. If Leafs season ticket holders didn't have to purchase Raptors tickets, the Raptors wouldn't bring in $31 mill in gate receipts... And who knows what their profit would be then? That's what I mean by a floor below them. They don't need to stand on their own merits. They get "charity" from other MLSE properties and from the value the NBA has in the USA. There is also a bit of a shell game regarding NBA and MLB media deals for the Toronto teams. As the media outlets own the teams, they can pay whatever they feel they need to to make the team look profitable, regardless of whether they will make money on the contract or not.
And about being a sports powerhouse, isn't it the World Class American cities that Toronto wants to be in with? In which case it is failing miserably having the 21st ranked team by value in both the MLB and NBA (remember to most in the US, the NHL had about the same 'esteem' as the CFL does in your eyes, so the fact that Toronto has the most valuable team by a large margin doesn't register in their list of things that matter).
Also, there is no reason to put quotes on pro when talking about the CFL.