http://sports.tbo.com/sports/MGB2U77YXIE.html

They're changing their name from Devil Rays to something else because there is a negative association with the word Devil.

The only thing that is negative about it is that the poor sea creature had such a joke of a franchise bringing down it's name.

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I think the Tampa Bermuda Triangles would be an appropriate name.

Full Speed Ahead - Fire At Will - Gig'em

really speaks volumes about the franchise.. to hell with fielding a competitive team, worry more about the nickname.. good job guys!

I remember when they first announced Devil Rays as their mascot, some PC freaks got bent out of shape because "ray" spelled backwards is "yar". "Yar", apparently, is a slang term for satan.

You knew right then and there the Tampa Bay franchise didn't stand a chance.




The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever. - Isaiah 40:8, NIV

Are there any hardcore Devil Rays...or Rays fans? I have this theory that the best sports fans are the hardcore fans of permanently crappy teams (see Clippers). If there is a hardcore Devil Ray fan out there, he/she wins the Fan Heisman in my opinion.

Scoff if you want but it's a good idea. Having "devil" in your nickname does bring you down. Why just look at the Duke Blue Devils. No, wait. Look at the New Jersey Devils. No, wait, oh nevermind.

Maybe Sting Rays would work...

how about folding the franchise (along with the marlins maybe)...that's what they should do!

Don't forget about Dirt Devil vacuum cleaners. They aren't very popular.

What?

They're some of the most popular on the market?

OK...never mind.




The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever. - Isaiah 40:8, NIV

they just need to move to Vegas and call themselves the Runners.

It's not like this sort of thing is exactly unprecendented. A quick glance through baseball-reference pulled this up.

It took the Red Sox 7 years to settle on the Red Sox.
The Cubs - 28 years
Indians - 15 years
Astros - 4 years
Giants - 3 years
Pirates - 9 years
Yankees - 13 years

The Braves weren't the Braves until their 37th season. And from 36-40 they changed their name to the Bees before changing it back to the Braves.

The Reds took 9 years before settling on a franchise name, and then in the 50s they changed their name for 6 season to the Redlegs because of the Red Scare.

Philadelphia was the Quakers for thier first 8 seasons, then played as the Phillies for 53 years, then as the Blue Jays for 2 seasons before changing back to the Phillies.

And finally the franchise with major identity issues, Brooklyn took 17 years before coming up with the Dodgers, which they stayed as for 2 seasons, before reverting back to the Superbas for 1 year, then playing as the Robins for 18 seasons and finally turning back into the Dodgers for good in '32.

This is of course ignoring name changes of franchises that have moved (eg, Expos/Nationals, Pilots/Brewers, Browns/Orioles, etc.)

Maybe the new ownership feels like a name change will do something to invigorate the fan base so people will start showing up to their games so they can field a competitive club (Man, I sound like Tom Hicks).

I'm not really a Rays fan, but you really gotta love some of their young hitters. They've never had pitching worth a ****, but guys like Carl Crawford and Johnny Gomes are badass.

They tend to always get a great draft pick, just nothing comes to fruition.

Why don't they change their name to the Tampa Bay Double A's because they play like a AA team.

The Duke Blue Devils seem to do fine with their mascot. Seriously, did they need to do a study to find out that there is a negative association with the word "devil"?

Nice work, Bob. I've always wondered just what the heck a "Superba" was. And I did not know about the Phillies stint as the Blue Jays. Interesting.

I think we should all go to descriptive names and throw in the word 'devil'... I'll use my favorite team as an example...

"Texas Blue with a Little Bit of Black and Red Devil Rangers"

I'm picking the Chicago Devil Cubs to win it all this year.

I've always hated the Devil Rays for thier name alone. They really need to just leave Florida to the Marlins. There's only enough fans in Florida for one team anyway.

HAHA, leave florida to the marlins! they only have enough fans in florida to get excited about baseball every 5 years or so. You would think in a climate like Florida that baseball would be a lot bigger, but NOPE!

Move the team to Las vegas

I think they is one guy (die-hard) who sits behind the plate and yells all the time. I hear him everytime the Rangers play there.

Speaking of historical names...the Cubs were actually the White Stockings before the White Sox were. They were also the Orphans, the Colts, the Remnants, Black Stockings. There were a couple of other ones too that I can't remember.

This is the worst franchise in baseball with the worst stadium in history..... they should just fold!

they really do need to fold the franchise up, right along with their cheap tent of a stadium.

and remnants are what you have to flush the toilet a second time for.