In The Big Inning...

So, I was chatting with my friend Dan about baseball, and he mentioned that he thought it was impressive how much of the United States' connection to the aerospace industry was reflected in our professional sports team names. I'm sure he's not at all biased by the fact that he works at Boeing, but I digress. At any rate, he pointed out the Houston Astros, the Houston Rockets, the Seattle Supersonics, and the New York Jets. (Yeah, I thought the last one was a stretch too, but you can't blame a guy for trying.) At any rate, I decided to do some investigation myself. Here's what my research turned up. (It goes roughly from most entertaining to least.) Let me know if there's something clever I missed.

The Illusionist Industry:
Orlando Magic
Washington Wizards

The Bible-thumping Industry:
New Orleans Saints
San Diego Padres
Anaheim Angels

The Plundering Industry (this might be my favorite):
Pittsburgh Pirates
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Minnesota Vikings
Oakland Raiders
Pittsburgh Stealers (ok, it's "Steelers", I know.)

The Interior Decoration Industry:
Cincinnati Reds
Cleveland Browns
St. Louis Blues
Green Bay Packers (Justin contributed this one. Un-PC, but too funny to omit.)

The Poker Industry:
Kansas City Royals
Sacramento Kings
Los Angeles Kings
Oakland A's (ha!)

The Meteorology Industry:
Tampa Bay Lightning
San Diego Chargers
Carolina Hurricanes
Phoenix Suns
Miami Heat
Colorado Avalanche

The Clothing Industry:
New York Knickerbockers
Boston Red Sox
Chicago White Sox

The Circus-performers industry:
Minnesota Twins
San Francisco Giants
Tennessee Titans

The Cattle-related Industry:
Chicago Bulls
Indianapolis Colts
Dallas Cowboys
San Antonio Spurs
Denver Broncos

The Zookeeping Industry:
Bears, Cubs, Bruins, Tigers, Panthers, Rams, Bengals, Diamondbacks,
Penguins, Timberwolves, blah, blah, blah.

The Native American Industry (otherwise known as casinos):
Washington Redskins
Atlanta Braves
Cleveland Indians
Kansas City Chiefs
Chicago Blackhawks

The Birdwatching Industry:
Baltimore Orioles
Toronto Blue Jays
St. Louis Cardinals
Atlanta Falcons
Arizona Cardinals
Baltimore Ravens
Atlanta Hawks
Anaheim Mighty Ducks
Pittsburgh Penguins

The Fishing Industry:
Seattle Mariners
Tampa Bay Devil Rays
Miami Dolphins
Florida Marlins
San Jose Sharks
New Jersey Nets

The Demographers Industry:
Boston Celtics
New York Yankees
New York Metropolitans
New England Patriots
Houston Texans
Vancouver Canucks

The Record-keeping Industry:
San Francisco 49ers
Philadelphia 76ers