The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
I didn't mind when they were the California Angels, I don't have any problem with the Anaheim Angels, and I wouldn't be bothered by them changing the name to the Los Angeles Angels. But two things. First, make up your fucking mind already. And second when you make up your mind, do it from one of the three reasonable choices listed above, not the incredibly stupid sounding, The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. I understand wanting to name the team for a larger metropolitan area instead of a small city where they are actually located. This happens all the time in sports. But you can't have it both ways, pick one or the other. If you want to make everyone happy, go back to the California name, otherwise pick one. This ridiculous name is only going to make Los Angeles, Anaheim, the Angels, and Major League Baseball look stupid. Also, no one is ever going to use it. It will always be shortened to something more managable. Hopefully Major League Baseball or the City of Anaheim or someone will be able to do something about this, if the Angels aren't smart enough to fix it themselves.
3 comments:
I guess because the team plays there.
When Disney signed the most recent agreement with the city of Anaheim back in the late 90's, there was a clause in that contract saying that the name "Anaheim" needed to be somewhere within the name of the team. It did not say where exactly the word Anaheim had to be, only that it had to be there.
This is the source of the name you consider to be ridiculous. The new owner, Arte Moreno, who bought the team from Disney, has to keep the word Anaheim in the team's name due to the contract Disney signed. So in order to change the team's name to the "Los Angeles Angels", a decision he has made which he feels will help his team market to the L.A. area better, he has to use the "Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim" in order to not breach the contract.
One can debate at length whether or not changing the team name at all is a good or bad decision, given the nature of the Orange County media markets, and so forth, but if you're wondering where the structure of the name comes from, that's it.
And by the way, as far as I can tell, there is nothing that either the city of Anaheim or MLB will be able to do about it. Almost any judge that the city brings this case to will respond by saying that if they wanted the name of the team to be the Anaheim Angels, they should have specified that in the contract, and since they didn't spell that out exactly, the name change still fits with the requirements of their contract. The only person who can undo this name change would be Mr. Moreno himself.
Yeah I knew they had to keep Anaheim in there, which is why they really need to just keep the name the same.
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