Reportedly, the New Orleans Hornets are going to become the New Orleans Pelicans which will allow the Charlotte Bobcats to become the Charlotte Hornets (their original name). I am a big fan of this move and I am hopeful that it might spur sports teams to follow suit if they relocate in the future.
I think sports teams have an obligation to their city that if they leave, they leave their name and history behind. Since almost every team in every league benefits from public financing for their stadium/arena, this seems like a reasonable request. So, if the actually build the new football stadium in Los Angeles and say the Jaguars decided to relocate their, they leave behind the name Jaguars and the history up until when they move.
Lo0k around sports and you will see some strange names because of relocation. There are no lakes in Los Angeles, but there were in Minnesota. Salt Lake City isn’t known for its jazz, but New Orleans is. There aren’t any trollies to dodge in LA either, but Brooklyn sure had them. It’s not very hot in Calgary, but it was in Atlanta. You could go on for awhile.
The NFL did the right thing when Art Modell moved the Browns out of Baltimore. They made him leave the name and the history and when they created a new team for Cleveland, the Browns name was waiting for it. Sometime in the not so distant future a team will pick up and leave its current home for greener pastures. I hope that team and the ones that follow leave their names and history behind.
nysportsfanatic 
Comments
I doubt the name Thrashers will be needed again in my lifetime…that is, of course, if hockey is played again in my lifetime
Braves, Giants, A’s to name a few more names that moved
No, I would say Atlanta has had its chances with hockey. But, the Thrasher name should stay in Atlanta just in case.
Colts and A’s are biggies too.