When news leaked out that the New Orleans Hornets would be changing their name to the Pelicans, each person online seemed to have an opinion. We at Deadspin endorsed it. Yahoo Answers did not. But everyone trying to think through the symbolism of the team's new name missed a more essential concern: What would the team…

We've been on board the Pelicans bandwagon from the very beginning, but the team made it official this afternoon. Starting next season, the Hornets are no more (unless the Bobcats become the Hornets. Even then the Pelicans will keep the Hornets' pre-2002 history. It's all very confusing.)

So it looks like the New Orleans Hornets are going to change their name to become the Pelicans. You look around, and there are a bunch of smartasses making fun of this new name. Oh, a pelican, that's intimidating, they sneer. Well, here's what's up. These people don't know anything about good team names, and they sure…

Marc J. Spears says it, so it must be so: The New Orleans Hornets will soon become the New Orleans Pelicans. It's a nice little name, and it's battle-tested—the New Orleans baseball Pelicans existed most every season from 1887 until 1959—so it won't soon reek of turn-of-the-century-futurespeak like "Heat," "Thunder,"…