About This Quiz
It was late October 2019 when a rare phenomenon happened. It wasn't a "sprite" (That's not a nod to the soda, but a rare type of lightning bolt that extends above a thunderstorm.) It wasn't even a total solar eclipse. It was that magical moment that has occurred only 21 times in history: The sports equinox. Not familiar with the term? A "sports equinox" happens when teams from all four major professional sports leagues play at least one game on the same day. That means, there's an NFL game, an NBA game, an MLB game and an NHL game ... all on the same day. Sounds like heaven for a sports fan, right?
North America is sports-rich. Included Major League Soccer, we have almost 150 pro teams we can choose to follow (or not) and cheer for (or not), spread across more than 50 cities in the United States and Canada. And, while soccer is gaining popularity, it's the "Big Four": The National Football League, the National Basketball Association, Major League Baseball and the National Hockey League that get most of our attention ... and love.
But, can you keep the teams from these leagues straight? Where do the Seahawks, with their college navy and action green logo, belong? Could you place the Thunder in the right league? What about the Cardinals? (That's a trick question ... there are Cardinals in multiple leagues!) Take a look at the logos in this quiz, along with the clues, and see if you can pair them to the appropriate league ... eeny, meeny, miny, moe!
The Chicago Bulls were a dominant force in the 1990s behind the star power of Michael Jordan. The franchise won six NBA championships between 1991 and 1998, Jordan's last year on the team.
The Philadelphia Phillies are a member of the National League East in Major League Baseball. Established in 1883, the franchise has two World Series titles - one in 1980 and one in 2008.
The NFL entered the Pacific Northwest in 1976, when the Seattle Seahawks were added as an expansion team. The team's logo started as the head of an osprey, a type of large raptor that dines on fish.
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They may have started as the Winnipeg Jets, but that's a coyote in the picture - an Arizona Coyote, that is, of the National Hockey League. The Jets relocated to Arizona in the mid-1990s, starting with the name Phoenix Coyotes.
The Baltimore Orioles compete in Major League Baseball and are, in fact, one of its charter teams from 1901. They weren't always in Baltimore, though. The team got its start in Wisconsin and took a detour through St. Louis before landing in Maryland.
With the guidance of hometown boy LeBron James, the Cleveland Cavaliers of the NBA brought the Ohio city its first major sports title since the 1960s when it won the NBA Championship in 2016.
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The Tennessee Titans, formerly the Tennessee Oilers, formerly the Houston Oilers, adopted the stars from the Tennessee state flag when it became the Titans. Regardless of its name, the team is - and has been - a member of the NFL.
Hurricanes is an ideal, if a bit scary, nickname for a North Carolina-based hockey team that's a member of the National Hockey League. The Hurricanes' logo is reminiscent of images used to warn about impending storms.
The New England Patriots are not only a member of the NFL, but a dominant member at that. The franchise has won six Super Bowl rings, all since 2001. Is that the definition of a dynasty? We think it might be!
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Football teams are made up of 11 on each side of the ball; baseball, nine; hockey, six. That leaves basketball and the NBA! The Portland Trail Blazers' logo represents the classic five-on-five matchup that pits five players on each team against each other.
The Diamondbacks are an Arizona-based member of Major League Baseball. Its logo's color scheme has been known to change during the team's history, but the crossbar in the "A" is a snake's tongue, an homage to the team's nickname.
The Las Vegas Golden Knights joined the NHL in the 2017-2018 season, immediately winning a conference championship. For the record, there is a Golden Knights football team in Florida, but they play under the NCAA umbrella, not the NFL.
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The Dallas Cowboys, frequently referred to as "America's Team," are a member of the NFL's National Football Conference. And, because everything in bigger in Texas, they play in a stadium equipped to accommodate 105,000 fans!
The "Original Six" refers to the original six members of the National Hockey League, alongside the Detroit Red Wings, Montreal Canadiens, Toronto Maple Leafs, Boston Bruins and New York Rangers.
The Memphis Grizzlies have been a member organization of the NBA since its founding in 1995. They started north of the border in Canada, however, and relocated to the Volunteer State in 2001.
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The Los Angeles (formerly San Diego) Chargers use an arc-shaped lightning bolt to represent a "charge," a logo they've employed since nearly the team's beginning in 1960. In 2017, the team relocated to L.A.
The Los Angeles Angels, which have also been called the California Angels and the Anaheim Angels, must have an angelic logo, right? Cue the halo, which currently sits atop the MLB team's capital "A."
The Predators, based in Nashville, joined the National Hockey League in 1998. They won back-to-back conference championships in the 2017 and 2018 seasons. Their mascot, Gnash, is a blue saber-toothed cat.
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The Miami Dolphins are a member of the NFL's American Football Conference. They played their first season in 1966 and, under the direction of former coach Don Shula, had the NFL's first undefeated season.
The Golden State Warriors, named in reference to California's nickname, call the San Francisco area home - evidenced by an image of the iconic Golden Gate Bridge in the middle of its logo.
The Milwaukee Brewers have long paid tribute to their area's beer-making industry through both their team name and logo. The team even plays its game in a facility called Miller Park.
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The Charlotte Hornets were founded in the NBA in 1988, spending all the time up to 2004 as the Hornets. They took a brief hiatus as the Charlotte Bobcats, before returning to the Hornets (and a similar logo) in 2014.
The Detroit Tigers of Major League Baseball opted for a simple logo that represents only the "D" in the team's name, using white lettering on a plain blue background. The Old English "D," as it is known, has been a part of their club since the 1930s.
The Minnesota Wild became part of the National Hockey League in 1997, playing its first games during the 2000 season. The logo incorporates a wild animal with the North Star for an eye and a forestry landscape.
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The fleur-de-lis is not isolated to just the NFL's New Orleans Saints alone. In fact, this symbol has quite a historical significance as a representation of French royals and is said to convey light and life.
The Toronto Blue Jays are an addition to Major League Baseball from our neighbors to the north - Canada. The maple leaf is an iconic Canadian image, but the blue jay may have been selected based on the colors of other Canadian teams and the team's original owners, Labatt Brewing Company.
The Colorado Avalanche have certainly had a good time with their logos over the years. From 1995 to 2015, they used an image of a Sasquatch foot, before turning to a snowy capital "A."
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The Houston Rockets, so-named for Houston's connection to the NASA space program, features a launching rocket and a ring designed to simulate an orbit streak. The Rockets are part of the NBA.
The Carolina Panthers are part of the National Football League and take the football field in Charlotte, North Carolina. Founded in 1993, the team name was chosen to be symbolic of both Carolinas.
The Detroit Red Wings (see the significance in the logo?) hold the distinction of having won the most Stanley Cup championships in the National Hockey League. Detroit is affectionately referred to as "Hockeytown."
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The New York Yankees are Major League Baseball royalty, if we're being honest. The team has won 27 World Series titles and has had famous names on its roster including Lou Gehrig and Joe DiMaggio.
The Milwaukee Bucks were founded in 1968 in Milwaukee and have remained in that community ever since. Early colors and logos were stylized after the Boston Celtics, but we think the newer deer logo is just awesome.
MLB's Pittsburgh Pirates, like its Pittsburgh Steelers, rely on a simple logo to get the job done. The script "P" has been a part of the Pirates logo for a long time, although we do long for the days when they included an actual pirate!
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The Dallas Stars of the National Hockey League have at least one thing in common with the Dallas team in the NFL: The star. Both logos feature a single star, an homage to the state's "Lone Star" designation.
The Indianapolis Colts play in the National Football League, and their home stadium has long been used as the site of the annual NFL Scouting Combine. Since a colt is a young horse, a horseshoe is a perfect fit (no pun intended).
The San Antonio Spurs play in the National Basketball Association. The unique logo, which incorporates a spur as a part of the team name, has been used in identifying the team since it moved to San Antonio in the 1970s.
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The Tampa Bay Rays have gone through several logos, including one with a depiction of a manta ray. This simpler version has a small sunburst in the name, meant to represent the always sunny climate of Florida.
The Buffalo Sabres play in the National Hockey League, as a part of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team holds an unfortunate record as one of two of the longest-running programs never to win a Stanley Cup.
They've moved around a bit, but the Rams have always been a part of the NFL. They spent some time in Los Angeles before moving to St. Louis, only to return to the West Coast in 2016.
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The Atlanta Pac-Mans, er, Hawks, are a part of the National Basketball Association. Despite the striking resemblance to Pac-Man himself, there is a Hawk in the team's logo that represents its name.