charge!

There was a blurb in yesterday's LA Times mentioning that the name for the San Diego Chargers came from its original owner Barron Hilton (of Hilton hotel fame) - he chose the name as a way to promote his new Carte Blanche credit card - and it was the LA Chargers. No. Really?? Really. I did some googling and found a lot of references seeming to confirm that. But also some stating that he liked it because of the bugle sound and "charge" chant used at Dodgers and USC games. Go figure. I didn't even know that they were a Los Angeles team first. It so happens they played in their "throwback" uniforms on Sunday.

Also found: that the Chicago Bears were originally the Chicago Staleys (named for the Staley Starch Company). The new owner changed them to the Bears as a reference to the Chicago Cubs Baseball Club. Also found: the Oakland Raiders were originally the Oakland Senors.

What did we ever do before Google? (Actually there are two encyclopedias in Mom and Dad's house on the same shelves they always were - thats what we did. But does anyone buy encyclopedias anymore?)