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HoopStudies
Joined: 30 Dec 2004
Posts: 705
Location: Near Philadelphia, PA
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 Posted: Thu Jan 05, 2006 4:23 pm Post subject: Standardizing Team Abbreviations |
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For people working with different databases of statistics, there are always standardization issues. Among the simplest one to deal with is team abbreviations. What I want to do here is propose some abbreviations for teams in history. Not that everyone who is generating data reads this site, but it's worth a try to at least get the new generation using common abbreviations.
Below are team names and suggested abbreviations. I have put in parentheses other options I've seen, including ones I think are rare and not worth keeping. A lot of these are from Dean Lavergne, but I've generally made modifications to be compatible with as large a number of data providers as possible.
AND = Anderson Packers
ATL = Atlanta Hawks
BAB = Baltimore Bullets ('48-'55)
BAL = Baltimore Bullets ('64-73)
BOS = Boston Celtics
BUF = Buffalo Braves
CAP = Capital Bullets
CHH (CHA is common but creates conflicts) = Charlotte Hornets
CHA (CHB is what DeanL uses)= Charlotte Bobcats
CHI = Chicago Bulls
CHP = Chicago Packers
CHS = Chicago Stags
CHZ = Chicago Zephyrs
CIN = Cincinnati Royals
CLE (CLV is rare) = Cleveland Cavaliers
CLR = Cleveland Rebels
DAL = Dallas Mavericks
DEN = Denver Nuggets (Current)
DET = Detroit Pistons
DNN = Denver Nuggets (1950)
DTF = Detroit Falcons
FTW = Fort Wayne Pistons
GSW (not GS or GOS) = Golden State Warriors
HOU = Houston Rockets
IND = Indiana Pacers
INJ = Indianapolis Jets
INO = Indianapolis Olympins
KCK = Kansas City Kings
KCO = Kansas City/Omaha Kings
LAC = Los Angeles Clippers
LAL (LAK is rare) = Los Angeles Lakers
MEM = Memphis Grizzlies
MIA = Miami Heat
MIH = Milwaukee Hawks
MIL = Milwaukee Bucks
MIN = Minnesota Timberwolves
MNL = Minneapolis Lakers
NOH (NOR is pretty common, too) = New Orleans Hornets
NOK (NOR and NOH are also used)= New Orleans/OK City Hornets
NJN (not NJ because 3 letter abbrevs are best) = New Jersey Nets
NYK (not NY because 3 letter abbrevs are best) = New York Knicks
NYN = New York Nets
ORL = Orlando Magic
PHI (not PHL) = Philadelphia 76ers
PHO (others: PHX) = Phoenix Suns
PHW = Philadelphia Warriors
PIT = Pittsburgh Ironmen
POR = Portland Trail Blazers
PRO = Providence Steamrollers
ROC = Rochester Royals
SAC = Sacramento Kings
SAN (others: SAS) = San Antonio Spurs
SDC = San Diego Clippers
SDI (others: SDR) = San Diego Rockets
SEA = Seattle Supersonics
SFW = San Francisco Warriors
SHE = Sheboygan Redskins
SLB = St. Louis Bombers
STL = St. Louis Hawks
SYR = Syracuse Nationals
TRH (TRN, not TOR): Toronto Huskies
TRI : Tri-Cities Blackhawks
TOR (DeanL uses TRN) = Toronto Raptors
UTA (not UTH) = Utah Jazz
VAN = Vancouver Grizzlies
WAB = Washington Bullets (others: WAS, WSB)
WAS = Washington Wizards (others: WAZ)
WAT = Waterloo Hawks
WCP = Washington Capitols
I think the ones to agree upon first are (with my preference first)
PHO vs PHX
WAS vs WAZ for the Wizards
WAB vs WAS vs WSB for the Bullets
SAN vs SAS
NOR vs NOH
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Author, Basketball on Paper
The postings are my own & don't necess represent positions, strategies or opinions of employers. |
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jkubatko
Joined: 05 Jan 2005
Posts: 702
Location: Columbus, OH
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| Posted: Thu Jan 05, 2006 4:45 pm Post subject: |
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You can see what I use on Basketball-Reference.com here.
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Justin Kubatko
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Mike G
Joined: 14 Jan 2005
Posts: 3570
Location: Hendersonville, NC
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| Posted: Thu Jan 05, 2006 4:49 pm Post subject: |
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Thanks for bringing this up, Dean.
Why are all-caps better?
I've seen STL used to mean 'steals' and 'St. Louis'. I abbreviate these Stl and StL, respectively. A capital letter indicates a word (or at least a syllable in a compound word, like TO).
MIA looks like 'missing in action'; Mia looks like the beginning of 'Miami'.
Many of these 3-letter abbreviations (not the acronyms) are actually the first syllable of the name they represent. Simply pronouncing the syllable invokes the rest of the name: Bal, Bos, Buf, Cap, Cin, Dal, Den, Hou, Ind, Mil, Min, Sac, Syr, Van..
When I look at LAC, I think L-A-C. When I see WAS, I think W-A-S. It slows me down, really.
For obscure/relocated teams, I'd say MnL 'looks like' 2 words. MNL may be 1 or 2 or 3.
I'd guess the casual fan might have even more trouble deciphering some of these. I see them a lot, and I still have to pause and decide what I'm looking at.
Why are 3 letters best? NY, NJ, NO, and SA look just right.
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HoopStudies
Joined: 30 Dec 2004
Posts: 705
Location: Near Philadelphia, PA
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| Posted: Thu Jan 05, 2006 5:17 pm Post subject: |
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| Mike G wrote: | Thanks for bringing this up, Dean.
Why are all-caps better?
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I don't care about caps or not. Neither do a lot of programs. Using case to distinguish things then presents a big problem. So for presentation, I'm fine with using MnL or StL or Mia, but for storing things in a db, consider case irrelevant at this point.
| Mike G wrote: | I've seen STL used to mean 'steals' and 'St. Louis'. I abbreviate these Stl and StL, respectively. A capital letter indicates a word (or at least a syllable in a compound word, like TO).
MIA looks like 'missing in action'; Mia looks like the beginning of 'Miami'.
Many of these 3-letter abbreviations (not the acronyms) are actually the first syllable of the name they represent. Simply pronouncing the syllable invokes the rest of the name: Bal, Bos, Buf, Cap, Cin, Dal, Den, Hou, Ind, Mil, Min, Sac, Syr, Van..
When I look at LAC, I think L-A-C. When I see WAS, I think W-A-S. It slows me down, really.
For obscure/relocated teams, I'd say MnL 'looks like' 2 words. MNL may be 1 or 2 or 3.
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The more obscure ones don't bug me much. I like getting the more modern ones in a pretty common format. The obscure ones don't get changed very often, so you don't have to worry about abbrevs, so I just defer to DeanL in most cases.
| Mike G wrote: |
Why are 3 letters best? NY, NJ, NO, and SA look just right. |
Common-length abbreviations help viewing and formatting a lot. Remember your problems with spacing that you've had. Those go away in a lot of cases with common-length abbrevs. Common-length abbrevs also help me in working with dbs to know that everything has a 3-letter abbrev if I type something in. Also, there have been a couple NY teams, a couple NO teams...
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Author, Basketball on Paper
The postings are my own & don't necess represent positions, strategies or opinions of employers. |
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Ed Küpfer
Joined: 30 Dec 2004
Posts: 785
Location: Toronto
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| Posted: Thu Jan 05, 2006 5:34 pm Post subject: Re: Standardizing Team Abbreviations |
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| HoopStudies wrote: | | For people working with different databases of statistics, there are always standardization issues. Among the simplest one to deal with is team abbreviations. What I want to do here is propose some abbreviations for teams in history. Not that everyone who is generating data reads this site, but it's worth a try to at least get the new generation using common abbreviations. |
This is difficult. I don't really care what abbreviations are used. The problems is that our data sources are inconsistent. For example, NBA.com uses two different abbreviations for a number of teams within their own website — eg, PHI/PHL, PHO/PHX, etc. How are we going to be able to impose order on that kind of chaos?
There are times when we want to add new data to our databases, and in those cases it makes sense to standardise. But in other cases, like if I just want to see who leads the league in TS%, when I'll just download the numbers from Doug Steele, and present them the way I find them. It doesn't make much sense in the latter case to go throught the trouble of converting the team abbreviations.
I think the best thing we can do is have a conversion table, maybe a publicly editable database where anyone can add sitings of new permutations. I have something like that on my hard drive, and believe me, it gets a lot of use. A public one would be better, though.
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HoopStudies
Joined: 30 Dec 2004
Posts: 705
Location: Near Philadelphia, PA
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| Posted: Thu Jan 05, 2006 5:39 pm Post subject: Re: Standardizing Team Abbreviations |
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| Ed Küpfer wrote: | | HoopStudies wrote: | | For people working with different databases of statistics, there are always standardization issues. Among the simplest one to deal with is team abbreviations. What I want to do here is propose some abbreviations for teams in history. Not that everyone who is generating data reads this site, but it's worth a try to at least get the new generation using common abbreviations. |
This is difficult. I don't really care what abbreviations are used. The problems is that our data sources are inconsistent. For example, NBA.com uses two different abbreviations for a number of teams within their own website — eg, PHI/PHL, PHO/PHX, etc. How are we going to be able to impose order on that kind of chaos?
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Well, my hope was to nudge them a little through this post. Not that most of the higher ups read this, but some do. In other words, I agree.
| Ed Küpfer wrote: |
I think the best thing we can do is have a conversion table, maybe a publicly editable database where anyone can add sitings of new permutations. I have something like that on my hard drive, and believe me, it gets a lot of use. A public one would be better, though. |
This is definitely an option. I hadn't thought of such a thing.
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Dean Oliver
Author, Basketball on Paper
The postings are my own & don't necess represent positions, strategies or opinions of employers. |
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jkubatko
Joined: 05 Jan 2005
Posts: 702
Location: Columbus, OH
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| Posted: Thu Jan 05, 2006 11:34 pm Post subject: |
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| Mike G wrote: | | MIA looks like 'missing in action'; Mia looks like the beginning of 'Miami'. |
"Mia" makes me think of Nomar Garciaparra's wife.
| Mike G wrote: | | Why are 3 letters best? NY, NJ, NO, and SA look just right. |
Is NY the New York Knicks or New York Nets? Is LA the Los Angeles Lakers or Los Angeles Clippers? With two letters it's impossible to tell.
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Kevin Pelton
Site Admin
Joined: 30 Dec 2004
Posts: 978
Location: Seattle
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| Posted: Thu Jan 05, 2006 11:39 pm Post subject: |
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I say this in large part because I work for an NBA team, but whenever possible I think it's absolutely imperative to standardize to "official" abbreviations.
As far as the offical "discrepancies," I'm pretty sure PHO changed to PHX this season (because it's what the Suns have in their secondary logo). Any confusion is due to PHO being grandfathered in. Can anyone point me to an example of PHL being used?
| Quote: | | But in other cases, like if I just want to see who leads the league in TS%, when I'll just download the numbers from Doug Steele, and present them the way I find them. It doesn't make much sense in the latter case to go throught the trouble of converting the team abbreviations. |
But it does make sense for Doug to conform, I think. (Easy for me to say.) |
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Ed Küpfer
Joined: 30 Dec 2004
Posts: 785
Location: Toronto
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| Posted: Thu Jan 05, 2006 11:48 pm Post subject: |
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| admin wrote: | | I say this in large part because I work for an NBA team, but whenever possible I think it's absolutely imperative to standardize to "official" abbreviations. |
I can go for that.
| Quote: | | Can anyone point e to an example of PHL being used? |
Sure.
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Bobster
Joined: 18 Aug 2005
Posts: 73
Location: Phoenix, AZ
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| Posted: Fri Jan 06, 2006 1:41 am Post subject: |
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John Grasso and i came up with this list a while back [with a few revisions] we included several additional leagues however. -
TEAM ABBREVIATIONS
AKF - Akron Firestone Non-Skids (NBL)
AKG - Akron Goodyear Wingfoots (NBL)
ANA - Anaheim Amigos (ABA)
AND - Anderson Duffey Packers/Anderson Packers (NBL/NBA/NPBL)
ATC - Atlanta Crackers (PBLA)
ATG - Atlanta Glory (ABL)
ATL - Atlanta Hawks (NBA)
BAC - Baltimore Claws (ABA)
BAL - Baltimore Bullets (NBA)
BFB - Buffalo Bisons (NBL)
BFG - Buffalo Germans (ABL)
BIR - Birmingham Skyhawks (PBLA)
BKA - Brooklyn Arcadians (ABL)
BKC - Brooklyn Celtics (ABL)
BKV - Brooklyn Visitations (ABL)
BLB - Baltimore Bullets (ABL/BAA/NBA)
BOS - Boston Celtics (BAA/NBA)
BSW - Boston Whirlwinds (ABL)
BTO - Baltimore Orioles (ABL)
BUF - Buffalo Braves (NBA)
CAD - California Dreams (WBL)
CAP - Capital Bullets (NBA)
CAR - Carolina Cougars (ABA)
CBC - Charlotte Bobcats (NBA)
CCO - Chicago Condors (ABL)
CHA - Charlotte Hornets (NBA)
CHB - Chicago Bruins (NBL)
CHG - Chicago American Gears/Chicago Gears (NBL/PBLA)
CHH - Chicago Hustle (WBL)
CHI - Chicago Bulls (NBA)
CHM - Chicago Majors (ABL)
CHO - Chicago Bruins (ABL)
CHP - Chicago Packers/Zephyrs (NBA)
CHR - Charlotte Sting (WNBA)
CHS - Chicago Stags (BAA/NBA)
CHT - Chattanooga Majors (PBLA)
CIN - Cincinnati Royals (NBA)
CLA - Cleveland Allmen Transfers (NBL)
CLC - Cleveland Chase Brass (NBL)
CLE - Cleveland Cavaliers (NBA)
CLP - Cleveland Pipers (ABL)
CLR - Cleveland Rebels (BAA)
CLW - Cleveland White Horses (NBL)
COL - Coumbus Athletic Supply (NBL)
COQ - Columbus Quest (ABL)
COX - Colorado Explosion (ABL)
CRK - Cleveland Rockers (WNBA)
CRO - Cleveland Rosenblums (ABL)
CSF - Chicago Studebaker Flyers (NBL)
DAL - Dallas Mavericks (NBA)
DEN - Denver Rockets/Nuggets (ABA/NBA)
DET - Detroit Pistons (NBA)
DLC - Dallas Chaparrals (NBA)
DLD - Dallas Diamonds (WBL)
DNV - Denver Nuggets (NBL/NBA/NPBL)
DPP - Detroit Pulaski Post Five (ABL)
DRO - Dayton Rockettes (WBL)
DTC - Detroit Cardinals (ABL)
DTE - Detroit Eagles (NBL)
DTF - Detroit Falcons (BAA)
DTG - Detroit Gems (NBL)
DTL - Detroit Lions (ABL)
DTS - Detroit Shock (WNBA)
DTV - Detroit Vagabond Kings (NBL)
DYM - Dayton Metros (NBL)
DYR - Dayton Rens (NBL)
ELP - East Liverpool Panthers (ABL)
EVN - Evansville Agogans (NPBL)
FLA - The Floridians (ABA)
FTG - Fort Wayne General Electrics (NBL)
FTW - Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons/Fort Wayne Pistons (NBL/BAA/NBA)
FWC - Fort Wayne Caseys (ABL)
FWH - Fort Wayne Hoosiers (ABL)
GRH - Grand Rapids Hornets (NPBL)
GRR - Grand Rapids Rangers (PBLA)
GST - Golden State Warriors (NBA)
HAW - Hawaii Chiefs (ABL)
HCA - Hammond Ciesar All-Americans (NBL)
HCB - Hammond Calumet Buccaneers (NBL)
HOU - Houston Rockets (NBA)
HSM - Houston Mavericks (PBLA)
HST - Houston Mavericks (ABA)
HTA - Houston Angels (WBL)
HTC - Houston Comets (WNBA)
IND - Indiana Pacers (ABA/NBA)
INJ - Indianapolis Kautskys/Indianapolis Jets (NBL/BAA)
INO - Indianapolis Olympians (NBA)
IOW - Iowa Cornets (WBL)
KAN - Kankakee Gallagher Trojans (NBL)
KCB - Kansas City Blues (PBLA)
KCH - Kansas City Hi-Spots (NPBL)
KCK - Kansas City Kings (NBA)
KCO - Kansas City-Omaha Kings (NBA)
KCS - Kansas City Steers (ABL)
KEN - Kentucky Colonels (ABA)
LAC - Los Angeles Clippers (NBA)
LAJ - Los Angeles Jets (ABL)
LAL - Los Angeles Lakers (NBA)
LAS - Los Angeles Stars (ABA)
LBC - Long Beach Chiefs (ABL)
LBS - Long Beach Stingrays (ABL)
LOC - Louisville Colonels (PBLA)
LOU - Louisville Alumnites (NPBL)
LSP - Los Angeles Sparks (WNBA)
MEM - Memphis Pros/Memphis Tams/Memphis Sounds (ABA)
MPH - Memphis Grizzlies (NBA)
MFD - Midland Dow A.C.'s/Flint Dow A.C.'s (NBL)
MIA - Miami Heat (NBA)
MIF - Miami Floridians (ABA)
MIL - Milwaukee Bucks (NBA)
MIN - Minnesota Timberwolves (NBA)
MLD - Milwaukee Does (WBL)
MLH - Milwaukee Hawks (NBA)
MNF - Minnesota Fillies (WBL)
MNL - Minnesota Lynx (WNBA)
MNM - Minnesota Muskies (NBA)
MNP - Minnesota Pipers (ABA)
MPL - Minneapolis Lakers (NBL/BAA/NBA)
NBW - Nebraska Wranglers (WBL)
NEB - New England Blizzard (ABL)
NEG - New England Gulls (WBL)
NJA - New Jersey Americans (ABA)
NJN - New Jersey Nets (NBA)
NOB - New Orleans Buccaneers (ABA)
NOH - New Orleans Hurricanes (PBLA)
NOJ - New Orleans Jazz (NBA)
NOP - New Orleans Pride (WBL)
NOR - New Orleans Hornets (NBA)
NSH - Nashville Noise (ABL)
NYC - New York Celtics (ABL)
NYG - New Jersey Gems (WBL)
NYH - New York Hakoahs (ABL)
NYK - New York Knickerbockers (BAA/NBA)
NYL - New York Liberty (WNBA)
NYN - New York Nets (ABA/NBA)
NYS - New York Stars (WBL)
OAK - Oakland Oaks (ABA)
OKD - Oklahoma City Drillers (PBLA)
OKO - Oakland Oaks (ABL)
OMA - Omaha Tomahawks (PBLA)
ORL - Orlando Magic (NBA)
ORM - Orlando Miracle (WNBA)
OSH - Oshkosh All-Americans (NBL)
PAC - Paterson Crescents (ABL)
PAW - Paterson Whirlwinds (ABL)
PHF - Philadelphia Fox (WBL)
PHI - Philadelphia 76ers (NBA)
PHM - Phoenix Mercury (WNBA)
PHP - Philadelphia Phillies (ABL)
PHR - Philadelphia Rage (ABL)
PHT - Philadelphia Tapers (ABL)
PHW - Philadelphia Warriors (BAA/NBA)
PHX - Phoenix Suns (NBA)
PIT - Pittsburgh Ironmen (BAA)
POR - Portland Trailblazers (NBA)
PRN - Pittsburgh Rens (ABL)
PRO - Providence Steamrollers (BAA)
PRT - Portland Power (ABL)
PTC - Pittsburgh Pipers/Pittsburgh Condors (ABA)
PTP - Pittsburgh Pirates (NBL)
PTR - Pittsburgh Raiders (NBL)
PWA - Philadelphia Warriors (ABL)
RCC - Richmond King Clothiers/Cincinnati Comellos (NBL)
RCH - Rochester Centrals (ABL)
RIR - Richmond Rage (ABL)
ROC - Rochester Royals (NBL/BAA/NBA)
SAA - Syracuse All-Americans (ABL)
SAC - Sacramento Kings (NBA)
SAM - Sacramento Monarchs (WNBA)
SAN - San Antonio Spurs (ABA/NBA)
SDC - San Diego Clippers (NBA)
SDR - San Diego Rockets (NBA)
SDS - San Diego Conquistadors/Sails (ABA)
SEA - Seattle Supersonics (NBA)
SER - Seattle Reign (ABL)
SFP - San Francisco Pioneers (WBL)
SFS - San Francisco Saints (ABL)
SFW - San Francisco Warriors (NBA)
SHE - Sheboygan Redskins (NBL/NBA/NPBL)
SJL - San Jose Lasers (ABL)
SJO - St. Joseph Outlaws (PBLA)
SLB - St. Louis Bombers (BAA/NBA)
SLS - St. Louis Streak (WBL)
SPL - St. Paul Lights (NPBL)
SPR - Springfield Squires (PBLA)
SPS - St. Paul Saints (PBLA)
SST - Spirits of St. Louis (ABA)
STL - St. Louis Hawks (NBA)
SYR - Syracuse Nationals (NBL/NBA)
TEX - Texas Chaparrals (ABA)
TLC - Toledo Jim White Chevrolets (NBL)
TLJ - Toledo Jeeps (NBL)
TOR - Toronto Raptors (NBA)
TRE - Trenton Bengals (ABL)
TRH - Toronto Huskies (BAA)
TRI - Tri-City Blackhawks/Tri-Cities Blackhawks (NBA/NBA includes Buffalo Bisons)
TRM - Toledo Red Man Tobaccos (ABL)
TUL - Tulsa Rangers (PBLA)
USZ - Utah Starzz (WNBA)
UTA - Utah Jazz (NBA)
UTS - Utah Stars (ABA)
VAN - Vancouver Grizzlies (NBA)
VIR - Virginia Squires (ABA)
WAM - Washington Metros (WBL)
WAR - Warren Penns (NBL)
WAS - Washington Bullets/Wizards (NBA)
WAT - Waterloo Hawks (NBL/NBA/NPBL)
WCA - Whiting Ciesar All-Americans (NBL)
WNY - Washington Taper/New York Tapers (ABL)
WPF - Washington Palace Five (ABL)
WSC - Washington Capitals (BAA/NBA)
WSH - Washington Caps (ABA)
WSM - Washington Mystics (WNBA)
WTP - Waterloo Pro-Hawks (PBLA)
YNG - Youngstown Bears (NBL)
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Mike G
Joined: 14 Jan 2005
Posts: 3570
Location: Hendersonville, NC
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| Posted: Fri Jan 06, 2006 7:46 am Post subject: |
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| jkubatko wrote: | | Mike G wrote: | | MIA looks like 'missing in action'; Mia looks like the beginning of 'Miami'. |
"Mia" makes me think of Nomar Garciaparra's wife.
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So why doesn't 'MIA' do the same?
From others:
| Quote: | | I don't really care what abbreviations are used |
| Quote: | | I don't care about caps or not. |
So if no one seems to actually Prefer all-caps, and it's harder for others to read, is there any reason to perpetuate this? Maybe it's more like an icon, rather than something you actually 'read' each time you see it. You gain a familiarity with it, and it ceases to baffle us. But then we're evolving into a codified subculture, alienated from the mainstream.
I have a strong penchant for user-friendly information. I don't know what to make of .42 reb/min, so I prefer per-36 or per-40 min. A visual distinction between a 1-word abbreviation and one of 2 or 3 words is just more/better information in the same 3 characters.
So I think there are at least a couple of considerations:
Standardization: we all like this .
Accessibility: new fans, casual fans, professionals, experts should all have optimal ability to grasp the nomenclature.
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Dan Rosenbaum
Joined: 03 Jan 2005
Posts: 541
Location: Greensboro, North Carolina
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| Posted: Fri Jan 06, 2006 7:57 am Post subject: |
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Hey Mike:
For me when I see the three-letter all caps, it tips me off immediately that this is the shortened version of a team name. Mia wouldn't necessarily do the same thing for me; it might seem like a first or last name.
I have heard no one else complain about the use of all caps for team abbreviations, so it is possible that this really is just a pet peeve of yours and thus your desire to make things easier for others isn't really doing that. It is not unusual for me to find out that things that help me do not help others at all.
Best wishes,
Dan |
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jkubatko
Joined: 05 Jan 2005
Posts: 702
Location: Columbus, OH
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| Posted: Fri Jan 06, 2006 10:05 am Post subject: |
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| Mike G wrote: |
So why doesn't 'MIA' do the same?
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Because it's in all caps.
| Dan Rosenbaum wrote: | For me when I see the three-letter all caps, it tips me off immediately that this is the shortened version of a team name. Mia wouldn't necessarily do the same thing for me; it might seem like a first or last name.
I have heard no one else complain about the use of all caps for team abbreviations, so it is possible that this really is just a pet peeve of yours and thus your desire to make things easier for others isn't really doing that. It is not unusual for me to find out that things that help me do not help others at all. |
Indeed.
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Mike G
Joined: 14 Jan 2005
Posts: 3570
Location: Hendersonville, NC
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| Posted: Fri Jan 06, 2006 10:18 am Post subject: |
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Maybe there just aren't enough acronyms in our reading, so we need more things disguised as acronyms.
Unfortunately, giving the go-ahead to turn StL into STL has also led some to turn Stl into STL. In your spreadsheet, you may be accustomed to your personal preferences; but when you share that information with me, it doesn't help my understanding to see column headings with abbreviations posing as acronyms.
After a while it's random application of all-caps; for example, this appears in a recent post:
| Quote: | POS — Position designation.
HT
WT
2Att/Min
3Att/Min
FTAtt/Min
PF/Min
USAGE — % of Tm possessions used by player
OREB%
DREB%
TO%
AST%
BLK%
STL%
%AST — % of FGM assisted by other players
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Here, a well-meaning contributor has randomly (it seems) used all-caps, or not, for whole words (USAGE), first-letter-plus-syllable (DREB), regular-old abbreviation (AST); and some of what I'd call 'proper' acronym (FGM) and abbreviation (FTAtt/Min): Proper in that there is one capital letter per term.
A spreadsheet can rather straightforwardly convert FTAtt to FTATT, if that looks better to you; or you may convert Bos to BOS. But in each case, you're losing some information. Or perhaps it's safer to say, someone who reads your work will have less information.
Some are amazed to learn there are many who find it hard to read text with no capitalization, or without punctuation, or with lots of misspelled words; there are rules and conventions that stand the test of time, usually for good reason. Not all abbreviations are acronyms.
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Kevin Pelton
Site Admin
Joined: 30 Dec 2004
Posts: 978
Location: Seattle
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| Posted: Fri Jan 06, 2006 11:05 am Post subject: |
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| I just don't see how this is our call to make; the NBA has set forth abbreviations (with some confusion), and they are certain letters and they are capitalized. If we didn't like the name "Toronto Raptors," would we just go and call them by another name? |
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