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The era of the clever nickname is over.

I'm not talking about people nicknames. Instead I am referring to team names.

This weekend the expansion Houston Texans took the field for the first time ever. They won, but that is not pertinent to this column. The relevancy lies in their name.

Texans is the first good nickname I have heard in a while. It is good for the same reason Bears, Cowboys and Hoosiers are good: they are simple.

Simplicity is key for team names. The average sports fan does not like to think while watching a game. That is why fans boo; they do not want to think of a real insult.

The Arizona Diamondbacks, for instance, have a nickname that takes effort. Sure, it is clever (Diamondbacks), but how many of you out there did not see the connection until just now. A thousand students just collectively slapped their foreheads.

Now, I will admit that simplicity is not the only way a nickname can qualify as good. Quality names can also have a story behind them.

There is no jazz in Utah, period. The name, however, came from New Orleans, where the franchise (and the music) originated.

The Los Angeles Dodgers started in Brooklyn. In New York city, pedestrians had to always be aware of oncoming trolleys. When one approached, they were forced to "dodge" them.

Vincennes Lincoln High School is nicknamed the Alices. There is a story all in itself. Imagine the football team trying to intimidate opponents with "Alices" tattooed across its jersies. Actually, the name stems from a 1901 novel, "Alice of Old Vincennes."

Now, lets talk about bad nicknames.

Bad nicknames take a variety of forms. Expansion teams, Major League Soccer teams and WNBA franchises can account for most poor team names.

The recent trend in names is to avoid the use of an "s" at the end.

It may work for the Jazz, but the style does not fly for MLS's D.C. United or the Los Angeles Galaxy. The WNBA's Utah Starzz take this style to the extreme. Instead of using one "s" management seemed to think it was a good idea to go with the "double-z." My only guess is that they were trying to tell fans that they could get plenty of sleep during the games.

Other bad nicknames just make no sense. Take the Toronto Raptors for instance. Toronto was awarded an NBA franchise in 1993, the same year "Jurassic Park" was released in theaters. The team was not named until after "Jurassic Park," featuring the scary Velociraptor debuted and broke all sorts of box office records. Is it possible that the Canadian team was trying to draw off of the movie's immense popularity? I think so.

What's in a name? More than you might think.