WTF is a Knicklebocker?

[Dex]

And how exactly does one pertain to basketball? :oops

[samikeyp]

Actually its "Knickerbocker"....got this from the Knicks site.

The term "Knickerbockers" traces its origin back to the Dutch settlers who came to the New World -- and especially to what is now New York -- in the 1600s. Specifically, it refers to the style of pants the settlers wore ... pants that rolled up just below the knee, which became known as "Knickerbockers," or "knickers".

Through history, the Dutch settler "Knickerbocker" character became synonymous with New York City. The city's most popular symbol of the late 19th and early 20th centuries was "Father Knickerbocker," complete with cotton wig, three-cornered hat, buckled shoes, and, of course, knickered pants.

The Knickerbocker name had its first use in the world of sports in 1845, when Alexander Cartwright's Manhattan-based baseball team -- the first organized team in baseball history -- was named the "New York Knickerbockers" or the "Knickerbocker Nine." The Knickerbocker name stayed with the team even after it moved its base of operations to Elysian Fields at Hoboken, N.J. in 1846. (The baseball link may have prompted Casey Stengel to joyously exclaim, "It's great to be back as the manager of the Knickerbockers!" when he was named pilot of the newborn Mets in 1961.)

Thus, the Knickerbocker name was an integral part of the New York scene when the Basketball Association of America granted a charter franchise to the city in the summer of 1946. As can best be determined, the final decision to call the team the "Knickerbockers" was made by the club's founder, the legendary Ned Irish.

"The name came out of a hat," recalled Fred Podesta, the longtime Garden executive who passed away at age 86 in 1999. "We were all sitting in the office one day -- Irish, (public relations director) Lester Scott and a few others on the staff. We each put a name in the hat, and when we pulled them out, most of them said Knickerbockers, after Father Knickerbocker, the symbol of New York City. It soon was shortened to Knicks."

In keeping with another New York tradition, the team's colors have always (except for the years from 1980-81 through 1982-83) been orange, blue and white. . .the official colors of New York City.

[Dex]

So they're named after pants.

Not just pants, but short pants.

Knicks = shants. Explains a lot. :lol

I still like the word. It's fun to say.

[samikeyp]

short, ugly pants! :spin

also was a brand of beer in the 60's.

[Dex]

They should make the team play in 'throwback' knickerbockers. :lmao

Thanks for the info. I'm obviously too lazy to google this stuff myself.

[ALVAREZ6]

yeah, i didn't find out until last year.

[FromWayDowntown]

I think they're really named for New Yorkers in general: knickerbockers. That jives with a couple of other things.

For example, the infrequently-heard fight song for Columbia University, which is in NYC and is terrible at virtually every sport known to man, includes a line that goes "Fight on to vict'ry ever'more, while the sons of Knickerbocker rally 'round Columbia." The Knickerbocker name, in that context, certainly relates to a person and would seem to mean the young men of New York who attend the university. (the sons of Knickerbocker).

It's an odd "knick"name, but it has some pretty interesting historical roots. It's certainly better than calling a team in LA the "Lakers," or calling a team in Utah the "Jazz."

[spurs_fan_in_exile]

Well, they would look just as silly if they moved to Wyoming and were still the Knickerbockers. The Lakers came from Minnesota (land of 10,000 Lakes) and the Jazz were formerly of New Orleans. I wish the Jazz had bothered to name themselves after their city's mascot. Then today we could watch the Spurs play the Utah Fat Sweaty Cajun Guys.

[FromWayDowntown]

Well, they would look just as silly if they moved to Wyoming and were still the Knickerbockers.

Sure. But the point is, they haven't, and their mascot is probably more appropriate than the mascots of many other NBA teams. I'm aware of the history of franchise movement, and I know where the Lakers and Jazz get their names, but if the question is how "good" is the Knickerbocker name, I'm saying it's better than either Lakers or Jazz. That's all.