You're a Strange
Animal

Stephanie Smith, OP Zoological Expert

 

There are so many sports teams that are
named after animals. Even in high school I’m
sure some of you cheered on your Lions,
Tigers, or Bears. Oh my. That trend continues
into professional sports as well. But why are
certain teams named after animals? And what
significance do the names have? Well, I was
determined to find out.

Do you know why the Boston Bruins of
the NHL are called the Bruins? Well, it’s
because when Charles Adams purchased the
team in the mid-1920s, he decided that the
team’s colours were more important to him
than its name. Since Adams was also presi-
dent of Brookside Stores, whose colours
were brown with yellow trim, he thought it
important that his new team wear those same
colours. The name Bruins was actually cho-
sen later on in a contest, under the following
guidelines: “The name chosen should prefer-
ably relate to an untamed animal whose name
was synonymous with size, strength, agility,
ferocity, and cunning; and in the colour
brown category.” Thus, the Bruins were born.

What about the Chicago Bears? Well,
when coach George Halas inherited co-own-
ership of the Decatur Staleys from factory
owner A.E. Staley in 1921 he promptly
moved them north, to Chicago’s Wrigley
Field, which at the time was called Cubs Park.
In keeping with the park’s summer tenants—
Major League Baseball’s Cubs—Halas
renamed the team the Bears. Cubs, Bears, it’s
the same animal!

The Philadelphia Eagles, a team which
joined the NFL in 1933, based its nickname
and logo on the Blue Eagle symbol, an
emblem created for business participating in

 

President Franklin Roosevelt’s new National
Recovery Administration. The Florida
Panthers are another example of a team that
have a meaning behind their name. The state
of Florida is home to a species of panther
that is in desperate need of attention or else
it may go extinct. When H. Wayne Huizenga
purchased the Florida team, he wanted to
draw attention to the plight of the animal and
so chose the name Panthers.

But some are not so apparent. The
Phoenix Coyotes don’t really have-much of a
story behind their name. The only reason why
they would call their team the Coyotes would
be because, like the coyote scavenges for
food, so do the Coyotes scavenge for wins.
There is also the oddly named The Anaheim
Ducks. Once called the Mighty Ducks of
Anaheim because Disney owned their team
and decided that an NHL team named after a
kids move was a great idea, recently dropped
the Mighty part. They became the Ducks; the
mighty, majestic, vicious, duck. Or not. To
most, the duck is not an animal you think of
when you think of sports teams.

There are many teams in high school
sports, college sports, amateur sports, and
professional sports that name their team after
animals. Whether it is to invoke the attributes
of the animal they are named after, whether it
is to create some identity based on people’s
familiarity with a-specific animal, or whether
it was a phone in poll in the newspaper; it is
something that has always been as long as
Sports have been around. And it is something
that will continue as more teams surface. It is
something that is universal across all sports in
all countries all across the globe.

 

 

Canucks Corner

Predators Hunt The Vancouver Orca
Stephanie Smith, OP Sports Editor

  
  
   
  
 
 
  
  
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
  
  
  
 
 
  
  
 
 
  
  
  
 
 
 
 
  
   
   
 

 

bpsports@gmail.com

The Canucks are tricky little devils.
Thankfully, in their game on Friday
November 17, they finally pulled out a win!
They won 4-2 against the St. Louis Blues.
They won the next two games as well, 2-1
against the Chicago Blackhawks, and 4-3
against the Detroit Red Wings. However, this
short lived winning streak would come crash-
ing down on them.

On Thursday November 23 they played
against the Nashville Predators. And of
course, when I say they played against, I
mean they were on the ice at the same time
as. What they did could not be considered
playing by any stretch of the imagination.
They were slaughtered in a 6-0 loss. It was
especially disappointing because of the previ-
ous game. The game on November 22 was
exciting, inspiring even.

Vancouver came out, and within 18 sec-
onds Ryan Kesler managed to slam one in.

. However, by the end of the first period the

Red Wings were winning 2-1. It didn’t help
that they were leading 3-1 at the end of the
second. Worst part is; the Canucks weren’t
even playing poorly! And then it happened.
The Canucks actually managed to get some
bounces!

Early in the third period Markus Naslund
scored, making it 3-2. They were back in it,
and there was still 15 minutes to pull out the
win, or the tie to bring it to overtime. Oh,
and guess what they did? Brendan Morrison
scored a few minutes later and tied it up at
three. There were some tense moments
though. Luongo kept the Canucks alive and

saved the day more than a few times. Jan
Bulis blew a beautiful shot that would have
won it in regulation. But with the tie the
Canucks took the Wings into OT. Three min-
utes in, Brendan Morrison again becomes an
overtime hero and scored the game winning
goal, making it 4-3 for the Canucks and gain-
ing them their third win in a row.

However, all that cheer and inspiring play
was lost in the 6-0 Nashville pounding. I am
at-a loss as to what the problem is. It’s not
really goaltending, as Luongo has been okay.
And even in that 6-0 loss that Dany Sabourin
started, only one of those goals could really
be attributed to goaltending. The rest were
bad bounces, deflections, and rebounds. The
defence has been okay, not stellar, but not as.
bad as they look. The offence is a little weak,
but not incredibly so. It might just be a mat-
ter of a team that does not click. One might
remember the NY Rangers and their
$90,000,000 dollar payroll. The team, full of
superstars could not play together at all. They
looked excellent on paper, and yet could not
win. Perhaps the Canucks are suffering that
same problem. They look okay on paper, but
the chemistry is just not there.

We may have to wait until the trade dead-
line to really get going. It might take some-
thing like that to shake up the team enough
to get some wins, and of course by that time
it will be too late. This might be one of those
discarded seasons, much like last season. I
hope not, I hate missing the playoffs, but if
it’s necessary in order to build a great team I
suppose I can live with it for now.

oe