What we call our teams

Various broadcasters and sports media outlets supposedly are not going to use the nickname of the Washington NFL team this season, presumably referring to them as "Washington" or "the Washington team."

In the mid-'90s, Baltimore got a CFL team (when the NFL inexplicably passed a great football city over for an expansion team), which tried to call itself the "Baltimore CFL Colts." The Indianapolis Colts sued for trademark infringement and won a preliminary injunction (the case had a significant personal jurisdiction point). While the litigation was pending during the 1994 season, the team simply called itself the "Baltimore Football Club." During pre-game introductions, however, the announcer would say something like "And now, your Baltimore . . ." and the crowd would shout "Colts" over the rest of the announcement.

If the trend of not using the nickname becomes widespread enough, I wonder if some of the more hardcore Washington fans will take it upon themselves to shout the nickname themselves.