Downtown Dios de los Muertos wearing California shades designed as a pro football team logo.
ADDED 12.18: The introduction of renderings for AEG's proposed stadium were revealed Dec. 15.
Bringing NFL football back to Los Angeles is an idea that simply will not die.
The duel between Tim Leiweke and Ed Roski to resurrect L.A. as a NFL town is turning into a quarterback controversy between two players with high Power Rankings.
ESPN reports Vikings vice-president of public affairs Lester Bagley has stated both camps have approached the team to discuss relocation. The Vikings lease at their civic-owned stadium will soon end and there has been no commitment on a public funded stadium complex.
Now it has been reported that AEG plans to buy 35% of the San Diego Chargers, another team that has been on the relocation short list. Like the Vikings, they want a new stadium and have been unable to get beyond a conceptual rendering. Of course, the sale is being denied.
It also means that even if L.A. can land a team it won’t be naming it, disappointing provincial purists who prefer Los Angeles to finally have a sports franchise reflecting the region, not East Coast migration patterns.
There is some consolation with the Chargers's name. It has a L.A. pedigree. The Los Angeles Chargers are a charter AFL team and played here for one year. The Los Angeles Vikings sounds out of place, but if they moved to Downtown it would have another relocated Minnesotan next door in The Lakers.
The bright side to a team that comes with a name is the tired snark won't come up; monikers like LA Traffic, Taggers, or Wanna-bes.
Still, a new name can be more than a nod to the city and the diverse cultures that have a shared tradition. Like the locals who honor the dead: Mexico’s Dias De Los Muertos in November, Japan’s Obon Festival in August, the Chinese Ghost Festival celebrated on the fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month.
The Los Angeles Spirit, L.A. Phantom, or even Los Muertos. Crazed and loyal costumed L.A. football fans can fill a section dubbed The Haunt.
Not only that, naming a team after cultural apparitions would honor the long list of pro football teams that once played in L.A. and are no longer with us.
Professional Football Teams in Los Angeles
Los Angeles Buccaneers (1926) National Football League
Los Angeles Wildcats (1926) American Football League *
California Shamrocks (1935-1935?) Pacific Coast Professional Football League
Hollywood Braves (1935-1935?) Pacific Coast Professional Football League
Los Angeles (Southern California) Maroons (1935-1935) Pacific Coast Professional Football League
Westwood Cubs (1935-1935?) Pacific Coast Professional Football League
Hollywood Stars (1936-1938) California Pro Football League
Los Angeles Bulldogs (1937) American Football League II*
Los Angeles Bulldogs (1940-1945) Pacific Coast Professional Football League
Hollywood Bears (1940-1942, 1945) Pacific Coast Professional Football League
Los Angeles Mustangs (1943-1944) Pacific Coast Professional Football League
Hollywood Rangers (1944) American Football League lll*
Los Angeles Wildcats (1944) American Football League lll*
Hollywood Wolves (1944) Pacific Coast Professional Football League
Los Angeles Dons (1946-1949) All American Football Conference
Los Angeles Rams 1 (1947-1995) National Football League
Los Angeles Chargers 2 (1960-1961 ) American Football League lV*
Long Beach Admirals (1967) Continental Football League
Los Angeles Express (1983-1985) United States Football League
Los Angeles Raiders 3 (1982-1995) National Football League
Los Angeles Cobras (1988) Arena Football League
Los Angeles Xtreme ( 2001) X Football League
Los Angeles Avengers (2000-2009) Arena Football League
ADD: Southern California Sun (1974 -1975) World Football League
* There were four unrelated leagues over history named "American Football League."
1: Anaheim Stadium (Orange County) in 1980 / St. Louis in 1995.
2: Moved to San Diego in 1961
3: Returned to Oakland in 1995.
Graphic: (c) 2010 ed fuentes/ viewfromaloft
