How 9 Sports Teams Got Their Names

There are some names in sports that just don't fit. You start to ask yourself how did someone come up with such a ridiculous name. Some sports team's names are representative of the place they play, while others really make you think that a person just pulled a name out of a hat. Well here are 9 famous sports teams and a short answer to where their names came from.

New Jersey Nets - Basketball is obviously played with nets but why name a team after a piece of equipment? Nets' owners didn't. In fact they named the team after two New York area teams, the Jets and the Mets. They wanted a rhyming name that would draw in the crowds of both teams.

Baltimore Ravens - Sure maybe there are ravens in Baltimore, but probably not. When the Cleveland Browns moved to Baltimore in 1999 they changed their name to the Ravens because one of the most famous writers in history was born and lived in Maryland, Edgar Allen Poe, who's most famous for writing the poem, "The Raven."

Washington Wizards - Formerly known as the Washington Bullets, their new name was voted on by the city after officials and owners agreed that Bullets was an inappropriate name for a team in a city where homicide rates by hand guns was all too high.

Utah Jazz - The genre of jazz has absolutely nothing to do with Utah or Salt Lake City where they play. However, New Orleans does, which is where this franchise got its start.

Los Angeles Lakers - Another name that came with the team when it moved. The city of angels isn't home to many lakes, but Minnesota is the Land of a Thousand Lakes, where the team originated.

Toronto Raptors - Of course there are no dinosaurs in Toronto, in fact there is probably no evidence that dinosaurs ever roamed in the city's area. However when the NBA added expansion teams in 1995, the hit movie of the summer was Jurassic Park. It's key dinosaur, the raptor.

New Jersey Devils - While New Jersey may be called the "Armpit of America" there is no evidence that the anti-Christ resides in the Garden State. However, local folklore brings out the stories in the old folks, and the Jersey Devil is something worth investigating.

Los Angeles Dodgers - When they moved out to sunny California from Brooklyn, the Lovable Losers kept the name they had. They were called the Dodgers because their full name couldn't fit on a newspaper front page, the Trollydodgers, named after the people of Brooklyn who had to get out of the way of oncoming trolleys.

Orlando Magic - No mystery here really if you think about it. Orlando is home to Disney's Magic Kingdom, so the name just fits.