YOUR OPINION PLEASE

[nospinzone1]

DOES EVERYONE HERE KNOW THE NICKNAMES OF ALL PROFESSIONAL TEAMS? I DOUBT IT. WHY THEN DO THE TWO PAPERS INSIST IN GIVING THE RESULTS OF PROFESSIONAL SPORTS CITIES WITH THEIR NICKNAMES?

WE KNOW THAT THEY ARE "CRACKERJACKS" JOCKS WANNABES AND THAT THEY POSSIBLY KNOW THEM ALL....BUT THE AVERAGE READER????? THE HEAD HONCHO OF THE WASHINGTON COMPOST SPORTS DEPT. IS SUCH AN EGOMANIAC THAT HE WOULD NOT EVEN RESPOND TO THAT LEGITIMATE QUERY.

[AuRevoirExpos]

DOES EVERYONE HERE KNOW THE NICKNAMES OF ALL PROFESSIONAL TEAMS? I DOUBT IT. WHY THEN DO THE TWO PAPERS INSIST IN GIVING THE RESULTS OF PROFESSIONAL SPORTS CITIES WITH THEIR NICKNAMES?

WE KNOW THAT THEY ARE "CRACKERJACKS" JOCKS WANNABES AND THAT THEY POSSIBLY KNOW THEM ALL....BUT THE AVERAGE READER????? THE HEAD HONCHO OF THE WASHINGTON COMPOST SPORTS DEPT. IS SUCH AN EGOMANIAC THAT HE WOULD NOT EVEN RESPOND TO THAT LEGITIMATE QUERY.

'Spin'....maybe if your email to him was in bold with your CAPS LOCK on, he possibly took the view that you were bawling at him!!  

Nicknames are fun aren't they? After all just about everybody on here refers to the 'Nats' .

[nospinzone1]

DOES EVERYONE HERE KNOW THE NICKNAMES OF ALL PROFESSIONAL TEAMS? I DOUBT IT. WHY THEN DO THE TWO PAPERS INSIST IN GIVING THE RESULTS OF PROFESSIONAL SPORTS CITIES WITH THEIR NICKNAMES?

WE KNOW THAT THEY ARE "CRACKERJACKS" JOCKS WANNABES AND THAT THEY POSSIBLY KNOW THEM ALL....BUT THE AVERAGE READER????? THE HEAD HONCHO OF THE WASHINGTON COMPOST SPORTS DEPT. IS SUCH AN EGOMANIAC THAT HE WOULD NOT EVEN RESPOND TO THAT LEGITIMATE QUERY.

'Spin'....maybe if your email to him was in bold with your CAPS LOCK on, he possibly took the view that you were bawling at him!!  

Nicknames are fun aren't they? After all just about everybody on here refers to the 'Nats' .

DO YOU KNOW THE NICKNAMES OF ALL PROFESSIONAL TEAMS. WHEN YOU SEE A BOX WITH RESULTS WITH NICKNAMES, DO YOU KNOW WHICH CITY THEY ARE QUOTING? I DARE SAY NOT. I DARE SAY ONLY ABOUT 5 PERCENT OF READERS KNOW THE NICKNAMES OF ALL PRO TEAMS.

BELIEVE ME, IN MY 70 YEARS AS AN EMPLOYEE OF THE ASSOCIATED PRESS AND THE WASHINGTON COMPOST I HAVE MET MANY SPORTS WRITERS AND 90 PERCENT OF THEM ARE FULL OF THEMSELVES. THEY HAVE AN EXAGGERATED OPINION OF THEIR WRITING.

[tomterp]

I know all  the baseball and football nicknames, and most of the college ones.  Have to admit that I know longer know all the hockey ones (too much change) and there are probably a couple of NBA ones I wouldn't get, but know most of them.  

I think one reason they do it is so they can have fun with word play surrounding the nicknames.

[Dave B]

DOES EVERYONE HERE KNOW THE NICKNAMES OF ALL PROFESSIONAL TEAMS? I DOUBT IT. WHY THEN DO THE TWO PAPERS INSIST IN GIVING THE RESULTS OF PROFESSIONAL SPORTS CITIES WITH THEIR NICKNAMES?

WE KNOW THAT THEY ARE "CRACKERJACKS" JOCKS WANNABES AND THAT THEY POSSIBLY KNOW THEM ALL....BUT THE AVERAGE READER????? THE HEAD HONCHO OF THE WASHINGTON COMPOST SPORTS DEPT. IS SUCH AN EGOMANIAC THAT HE WOULD NOT EVEN RESPOND TO THAT LEGITIMATE QUERY.

Think about that reverse of this.  Just giving city name can be just as uninformative.  I dont know which I prefer. Unless you want city and nickname....

[sportsfan882]

By nickname do you mean like "Nationals", "Capitals", "Wizards"?  If so, way more than 5% know the nicknames of professional teams.

[The Chief]

Yeah now I'm curious as to what all of these nicknames are.

[Nat of the Living Dead]

I think he might mean things like:

Nationals: Nats
Rockies: Rox
Orioles: O's
Redskins: Skins
Alex Rodriguez: A-Rod
Michael Vick: Bong Carrying Ron Mexico
A Cheater: Barry Bonds

[nospinzone1]

I think he might mean things like:

Nationals: Nats
Rockies: Rox
Orioles: O's
Redskins: Skins
Alex Rodriguez: A-Rod
Michael Vick: Bong Carrying Ron Mexico
A Cheater: Barry Bonds

NOOOOOO. I MEAN LIKE NATIONALS INSTEAD OF WASHINGTON
ORIOLES STEAD OF BALTIMORE, ETC. ETC.

[Ali the Baseball Cat]

I think he might mean things like:

Nationals: Nats
Rockies: Rox
Orioles: O's
Redskins: Skins
Alex Rodriguez: A-Rod
Michael Vick: Bong Carrying Ron Mexico
A Cheater: Barry Bonds

NOOOOOO. I MEAN LIKE NATIONALS INSTEAD OF WASHINGTON
ORIOLES STEAD OF BALTIMORE, ETC. ETC.

I agree with you that the sports journos presume much more a priori knowledge than the other hacks, but don't you think that's probably justified given the nature of the readership?  Only hockey fans know who the "Habs" or the "Bees" are, and similarly, only soccer fans know who the "Hoops" or the "Hibs" are.  Baseball is the same way.

[AuRevoirExpos]

I don't understand.

If a sports writer writes an article repeatedly using the word 'Yankees' instead of 'New York Yankees' ... or 'Dodgers' instead of 'Los Angeles Dodgers' ... and the reader hasn't a clue what he's talking about, then the chances are that the reader certainly isn't a baseball fan in the first place and couldn't possibly have the remotest clue what he's reading about!

[nospinzone1]

I don't understand.

If a sports writer writes an article repeatedly using the word 'Yankees' instead of 'New York Yankees' ... or 'Dodgers' instead of 'Los Angeles Dodgers' ... and the reader hasn't a clue what he's talking about, then the chances are that the reader certainly isn't a baseball fan in the first place and couldn't possibly have the remotest clue what he's reading about!

Even ho chi minh nows who the yankees and dodgers are; but what average fan knows the nicknames of a zillion teams....no many I venture.

[Dave B]

But what is the benefit of knowing what city a team is from?

[nospinzone1]

But what is the benefit of knowing what city a team is from?

WHAT IS THE BENEFIT OF NOT KNOWING? CITIES WE KNOW, NICKS WE DONT KNOW THEM ALL