20 Sports Team Nicknames That are Worse Than the New Orleans Pelicans

Cornjerkers, Dangerous Darkies, and Dirt Bags.

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Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

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Bill Shakespeare once asked, "What's in a name?" Well, Shakespeare had clearly never been to a minor league baseball game. In case you haven't heard by now, because maybe you live under a rock or something, the NBA's New Orleans Hornets are changing their name to...the Pelicans. We bullshit you not. Sure, sports nicknames like, the Warriors, or the Knights, have become played out. You don't just want to be another animal from the jungle, or a random bird that has little or nothing to do with sports.

But, there's a fine line between being creative, and completely jumping off the deep end. A good team name should strike some amount of fear into an opponent, and have something that adequately characterizes the location where a team plays. A team name is an identity, a rallying cry, a unifying mantra for fans and players alike. Before we get all Gene Hackman in Hoosiers on you, let us just say that the nicknames on this list, are severely lacking in this criteria. These names were created with thoughts of, well, we don't know what the hell these teams were thinking. So, from the UC Santa Cruz Banana Slugs, to the Hoopeston Area Cornjerkers, we bring you 20 sports team nicknames that are worse than the New Orleans Pelicans.

Chinks

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Wet Sox

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Hot Dogs

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HardRockers

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Fighting Koalas

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Fighting Planets

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Syrupmakers

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Dangerous Darkies

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Space Pioneers

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Rainbow Warriors

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Chokers

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Tobacco Monopoly FC

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Dirt Bags

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Redskins

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Engineers

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Violets

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Banana Slugs

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Criminals

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Purple Pounders

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Cornjerkers

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