What's In A Name?
Saturday, December 20, 2008
While the Angels are trying to wait and see if their offers are enough to land Mark Teixiera's services long-term, the organization does have a victory in the off-season of note: a four-year legal battle over their mockery-worthy full name is just about over now. A California appellate court has decided that the Angels can call themselves the "Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim" without violating an agreement with the city of Anaheim.
It's a battle of ownership changes -- Disney agreed to the Anaheim Angels name in exchange for public funding to renovate Anaheim Stadium, but when they sold to Arte Moreno, he wanted to expand the fan base and potential money from broadcasters by trying to make it more of a regional team -- although everyone out West with any suss considers the Dodgers the real Los Angeles team. Anaheim sued the franchise when the name change was first made in 2005, and the "of Anaheim" bit isn't likely to survive when the lease runs out.
So, our jokes an mockery are still good for the next six or seven years until the Angels can opt out of the lease. To note: if you're going to pump public money into any stadium/arena project and you want some naming choice, make it legally airtight -- considering the recent overtures of moving by teams, there's a very real chance we will face the "Oakland Athletics of Fremont" or the "San Francisco 49ers of Santa Clara" rather soon.
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim win case to keep name [Los Angeles Times]
Labels: Lawsuit, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, MLB
Sunday MLB Division Series Open Thread
Sunday, October 05, 2008
See, the Rays have some celebrity fans. I'd take Paul Azinger's support any day.
Natch, there's other stuff besides football today, and if you're gonna spend a good chunk of your day on TBS watching baseball, share with us! The Dodgers finished off the Cubs, and Tampa Bay, Philly, and Boston have the opportunity to do the same to their opponents today.
Philadelphia Phillies at Milwaukee Brewers (Game #4, 1pm)- Brian Anderson, Joe Simpson, John Smoltz and David Aldridge
Tampa Bay Rays at Chicago White Sox (Game #3, 4pm)- Don Orsillo, Harold Reynolds and Marc Fein
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim at Boston Red Sox (Game #3, 7pm)- Chip Caray, Buck Martinez and Craig Sager
After seeing Sager's lime green sport coat/yellow tie with pink flowers get-up on Friday, I'm curious to see what he can dig out that's louder as far as fashion goes.
Labels: Boston Red Sox, Chicago White Sox, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Milwaukee Brewers, MLB, MLB Playoffs, Philadelphia Phillies, Tampa Bay Rays, TBS Baseball