Opinion: The nicknames of Memphis sports teams, ranked

Memphis will have a new professional sports team to cheer on as Memphis Express was chosen Monday to be the name of the new Alliance of American Football league team in the city.

I wanted to see how the other names of Memphis’ past or present professional sports teams stack up to the Express. 

Note: This is only listing professional or semi-professional teams, so it does not include college teams. Another note: This may be the most difficult task I have completed while attending this institute of higher education.

 

25. Memphis Reds, Grays, Browns

For the minor league baseball team that played in the Southern League from 1885 to 1888 this color wheel of team names could not stop spinning, apparently. They are last in this list mainly because color names are boring unless they mean something city-specific and also because they could not decide on which color represented them best.

 

24. Memphis Fever Germs

The city of Memphis had its population destroyed by six different Yellow Fever outbreaks lasting from 1828 to 1879. More than 7,000 people died. So how does Memphis pay its respect to those lost? They name a Southern League baseball team after what killed them. Kind of insensitive with the team only starting in 1893 — less than 15 years after the outbreak ceased.

 

23. Memphis Red Sox

The Boston Red Sox adopted that nickname in 1908, so this Memphis negro league team going with that name in 1920-50 is unoriginal. I feel like there could have been plenty of other names that weren’t the name of one of the best baseball teams of that era. 

 

22. Memphis Rogues

Maybe it sounds cool, but it does not really have much meaning. What is a rogue, and how does it relate to Memphis? The North American Soccer League team in 1978-80 did not care for my opinion.

 

21. Memphis Lambs

Personally, I have not seen many lambs roaming around Memphis. Contact me if there are some. Maybe there were in 1894-95 when this Southern League baseball team adopted this name, but I doubt it.

 

20. Memphis Grizzlies

Coming from a lifelong Grizzlies fan, the name could have been better. We have come to embrace the Grizz, and I appreciate what the organization does for the city, but honestly, I think there are about three grizzly bears in Memphis, thanks to the zoo. This name has nothing to do with Memphis. When they relocated from Vancouver, where there actually are grizzly bears, a name change could have been in order. 

 

19. Memphis Turtles

This Southern Association baseball team played in 1909-11, which was before Americans wanted everything instantly. There are probably turtles in the depths of the Mississippi River. Although slow, turtles can be quite ferocious, so I can see what they were going for with this name. 

 

18. Memphis Maniax

Another case of not having anything to do with Memphis, the Maniax were the city’s short-lived XFL football team in 2001. I don’t like names that are intentionally misspelled. I get what they were doing, putting the “X†for the XFL, but the effort did not pay off.

 

17. Memphis Xplorers

This Arena Football League developmental team from 2000-06 is above the Maniax solely because the name may have something to do with exploring the river. But again, there’s no reason to intentionally misspell names.

 

16. Memphis Houn’Dawgs

This is a wasted name. The 2000-01 American Basketball Association team had a great idea but executed it poorly. Stop misspelling names. I’d like to see a correctly spelled version of this name for a Memphis team eventually. 

 

15. Memphis Americans

The 1981-84 Indoor Soccer League team did not really try with the Americans. Patriotic, I guess. Give it more thought.

 

14. Memphis Giants

I am just going to hope this 1892 Southern League baseball team was named for the city’s aspirations of becoming a large city at that time. I have not researched the reasoning, if there is any. But if my educated guess is correct, that’s not too bad of a name.

 

13. Memphis Eclipses/Eurekas

This 1886 negro league baseball team gets bonus points for originality, especially at a time when their counterparts were named after colors. 

 

12. Memphis 901 FC

Sorry to English Premier League fans, but I like names with mascots. And saying the whole name every time I talk about our new United Soccer League team is a mouthful. I like the effort to localize the name, but just “Memphis FC†or “901 FC†would have been better. 

 

11. Memphis Chicks

The minor league baseball team in 1978-97 had a localized name, after the Chickasaw Native American tribe, but I don’t really like names after marginalized peoples. The logo looked good, but let’s try to keep names of a people group who were pushed out of the region out of sports teams’ names.

 

10. Memphis Southmen

Not a very menacing name for the 1974-75 World Football League team, but, yes, we are in the South. They did know their regions of the United States.

 

9. Memphis Mad Dogs

The name of the Canadian Football League’s 1995 expansion team flows pretty well off the tongue, but apparently, Memphians have problems thinking of anything that has to do with the city. 

 

8. Memphis Express

Here is our newest team. The name makes it seem like FedEx owns the team, which they do not, so the corporate-sounding name is a little odd. But I like paying homage to a company that invests so much in the city, and I like that they did not use FedEx’s color scheme, but a safe red, white and blue.

 

7. Memphis Egyptians

Weird to name a team after another country’s citizens, but Memphis is also named after an Egyptian city. The 1901-08 Southern League baseball team had a good train of thought. 

 

6. Memphis Pharaohs

See No. 7. To their credit,  this 1995-96 Arena Football League team knew Pharaohs were the ancient leaders of their country. 

 

5. Mississippi River Kings

Not only were they named after our important body of water, but also “Kings†refers to our King of Rock ‘n Roll. Our minor league hockey team had a good name going until they stopped playing after last year.

 

4. Memphis Blues

This color name gets a pass because it is also the name of the music that originated here. The negro league team name that eventually transferred to a minor league baseball team in 1968-76 actually has a lot to do with the city. If Utah’s NBA team ever decides to let their related music name go, the Grizzlies should look into this.

 

3. Memphis Showboats

Original, city-related and describing an exciting team, the name of the 1984-85 USFL team should have stuck around longer. Hopefully it will be brought back. Solid team-naming skills, Showboats. 

 

2. Memphis Redbirds

There aren’t flocks of redbirds in Memphis, but there are some. It makes sense that the Cardinals’ AAA affiliate is named a different variation of the bird’s name. It now has an identity to the city. I like it. Also, they won the minor league championship this year.

 

1. Memphis Hustle

Easy choice. The Grizzlies did a better job naming their G-League affiliate. The Hustle name embodies how the Grizzlies have played recently on the court as well as how the city is a blue-collar, go-get-it kind of city. It draws emotion for fans of the basketball team in Memphis. Slam dunk on the team name.