Sports teams continue to penalize themselves with tone-deaf nicknames and marketing

Last week, my colleague Brittany MacLean and I rated the newly released names and logos of the Northern Super League teams, which begins its inaugural season next spring.

After that discussion, I kept thinking about names and logos of teams. What's in a name, anyway? One could argue that it sets the tone for the culture of the team, charting a course for narratives and offering ideas about ways in which fans engage.

The NSL teams largely chose names connected to the beautiful and vast geography in this stunning country; Vancouver Rise, Ottawa Rapid, Halifax Tides, Calgary Wild, and Montreal Roses. The exception was AFC Toronto, but "Tdot" often likes to consider itself an exception to some degree.

The Professional Women's Hockey League did not do this when it revealed team names in September after playing its inaugural season without nicknames. It went in a very different direction and chose varying names that, in most cases, have a regional significance: Minnesota Frost, Boston Fleet, New York Sirens, Victoire de Montreal (Montreal Victory), Ottawa Charge, and Toronto Sceptres. 

The definition of sceptre is: a staff or wand held in the hand by a ruling monarch as an item of royal or imperial insignia, signifying sovereign authority.

Some discussion around it claimed the hockey sticks could be seen as symbols of power, like a sceptre was for a queen. 

WATCH | Ranking every NSL team name, logo:

Ranking every NSL team name, logo

I am an advocate of women's sports and was excited that the league got off to an explosive start. From draft day in the CBC atrium to the thrilling end of the season, the storylines of fan culture were fantastic.

It's not often that a new team name comes without any criticism, but the response