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[Tao_Moko]

Originally Posted by JustinD

This is incorrect, I would say all of the older franchise names have deeper meaning (many from their original locations of origin). The Detroit Tigers were named as a tribute to the Civil War Brigade for Detroit, "The Tigers". The original name of the Wolverines was never official. The Portmouth Spartans were relocated to Detroit and were renamed the Lions as a tribute to the popular sports team in the city...The Tigers. It was a theme.

The Bears were again a young franchise named to reflect the popularity of the other popular team of the city and continue a theme as well...The Cubs. They were previously the Decatur Staleys and named after a starch company that owned them. Not exactly a catchy name.

My great grandfather played for the Decatur Staleys and that was a sense of pride because he also worked at A.E. Staley Manufacturing and raised on a soy farm who supplied the plant. He unfortunately missed the most important year of their teams history and continued to play on what was more of a club after the Halas team moved up. The history I grew up with was that "Da Bears" were a continued theme playing off of the massively popular baseball franchise as you mention above.