QUARANTINE BLOG # 653

January 19, 2022

Finishing up the origin of NFL nicknames, the San Francisco 49ers, who began play in the All-America Football Conference in 1946, were named after the settlers who ventured to the San Francisco area during the gold rush of 1849.  

There were 1,700 unique names among the more than 20,000 submitted for the Seattle Seahawks in a name-the-team contest in 1975, including Skippers, Pioneers, Lumberjacks, and Seagulls. “Our name suggests aggressiveness, reflects our soaring Northwest heritage, and belongs to no other major league team,” Seattle general manager John Thompson said.  The Seahawks’ helmet design is a stylized head of an osprey, a fish-eating hawk of the Northwest.  

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers was chosen from a fan survey as a nod to pirates who raided Florida’s coast during the 17th century.  The Houston Oilers moved to Tennessee in 1995 and played as the Oilers for two seasons before the name Titans was chosen in a statewide contest to reflect strength, leadership and other heroic qualities.  

One year after he acquired an NFL franchise in Boston, George Preston Marshall changed the team’s nickname from Braves to Redskins.  The nickname was meant to honor head coach and Native American William Henry “Lone Star” Dietz.  The Redskins kept their nickname when they relocated to Washington, DC, in 1937.  Because of the Native American mascot controversy, they have been playing as the Washington Football Team since 2020.  A new name will be announced at Super Bowl LVI.

👉  Speaking of the “Native American” mascot controversy, IMHO, those folks should be called “First Nation People,” because they were first in this country.  Since the word “native” is defined as “relating to or describing someone’s country or place of birth or someone who was born in a particular country or place,” I am a native American.  I am not a member of a First Nation tribe.  Just saying.

👉  Another new team nickname that will debut this year is the Cleveland Guardians.  The franchise originated in 1894 as the Grand Rapids Rustlers, a minor league team in the Western League.  The team relocated to Cleveland in 1900 and was renamed the Cleveland Lake Shores.  Since then they’ve been called the Bluebirds, the Naps (after team captain Nap Lajoie) and the Indians.  After it came under criticism as part of the Native American mascot controversy, the team ceased using the name “Indians” following the 2021 season, officially becoming the Guardians.  The team’s mascot is named “Slider.”

👉  Speaking of nicknames, professional baseball in the Pittsburgh area began in 1876 with the organization of the Allegheny Base Ball Club.  The team joined the minor league International Association in 1877, only to fold the following season.  In 1881 a new Allegheny club was organized which began play in 1882 as a founding member of the American Association.  In 1887, after five mediocre seasons in the A.A., Pittsburgh became the first A.A. team to switch to the older National League.

This is the box score from the first game played by the Pittsburgh baseball team.  On April 7, 1882 a team from the best nine cricket players in Pittsburgh was chosen, and given the name the “Crickets” to face the new Major League club, hoping to give them a little competition.  The Alleghenys handled them easy, winning 32-2 in eight innings.

Before the 1890 season, almost all of the Alleghenys’ best players bolted to the Players’ League’s Pittsburgh Burghers.  The Players’ League collapsed after the season, and the players were allowed to go back to their old clubs.  The Alleghenys scooped up highly regarded second baseman Lou Bierbauer, who had previously played with the Philadelphia Athletics who had failed to include Bierbauer on their reserve list.  In an official complaint, a league official claimed the Alleghenys’ signing of Bierbauer was “piratical.”  Their allegedly “piratical” act gained them the occasional nickname “Pirates” starting in 1891. Within a few years, the nickname caught on with Pittsburgh newspapers.  The nickname was first acknowledged on the team’s uniforms in 1912.

Pirates logo 1958-1966, worn during the 1960 World Series when Bill Mazeroski hit the only 7th game, 9th inning World Series winning home run defeating the New York Yankees 4 games to 3.

Logo worn by the Bucs since 2009.

  👉  Before we wrap up this almost all sports issue of QB, here are a couple of Book Toons:

👉  And one Smiley that’s book related:

👉  And one from Calvin and Hobbes:

👉  And two from Ooh You’re Gold:

👉  And finally Jennifer sends a salute to old (or possibly older) age:

🛐  Today’s close by, Gwen Ford Faulkenberry, is from Mornings with Jesus.

I’d been feeling run down for several days – just no energy.  I thought I had mono or something (this piece was written in 2013).  Before I called to make a doctor’s appointment, for some reason it popped into my head: Could you possibly be pregnant?  The answer was fairly easy.  No.  Surely not.  We had three children.  I was about to turn forty.  We were not planning to have any more.

Still, I decided to take a test.  A few moments later my husband found me in our closet staring at the results with wide eyes.  He hugged me and then we both stared into the changing landscape of the future.  There were questions aplenty: about finances, my job, my age, even where to put another person in our three-bedroom house.

A year later now, we stare with wonder into the blue eyes of our new baby girl, and fear melts into peace.  Another precious life has been entrusted to us, evidence His thoughts are not our thoughts nor His ways our ways.  No, I think.  They are infinitely better.

Faith step: Are you willing to trust Jesus as He changes your plans?  Is He welcome in your home?  Your job?  Your life?

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