This feature originally ran in The Standard-Times on Jan. 7, 2005.

By Nick Tavares

Common sense — It's taken for granted every day.

But in the world of professional sports, it has a knack for disappearing faster than the St. Louis Rams in the playoffs.

Teams have a special flair for making decisions that a) don't make any sense whatsoever and b) directly insult the intelligence of the viewing public.

There are more than enough examples of this the New Orleans Jazz moving to Utah and keeping the name "Jazz," the Denver Broncos' current uniforms, every time Mike Martz goes for the end zone on fourth down when he only needs a field goal, the Chicago Bears trying to rename themselves "BankOne Presents Chicago Bears Football" ...

I could go on forever, of course.

But this week, they may have all been trumped by Southern California's baseball team.

The team formally known as the Los Angeles Angels, California Angels and Anaheim Angels will now be known as the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

Suffering from an inferiority complex, new team owner Arte Moreno wanted to change the name to Los Angeles outright, but because of lease issues with the city he had to include "Anaheim" in the name.

He's such a clever chap.

The obvious idiocy of such a name change actually doesn't bother me that much. What really bothers me is Moreno's obviously low opinion of his fans and his area.

The official press release notes that "this name change will strengthen the Angels' long-term economic health by enhancing the marketability through (the Los Angeles) metropolitan area and beyond."

So, without actually moving, the Angels get to cash in on the city and surrounding counties of Los Angeles. Not bad!

Just don't tell that to the city of Anaheim. They don't exactly appreciate becoming the afterthought in the team's name. Which is understandable, when you consider that Los Angeles is 30 miles from Angels Stadium in Anaheim.

Anaheim hasn't wasted a moment and has filed papers to try to block the name change.

"It's geographically confusing and absurd," city representative John Nicoletti told The Associated Press.

At least I'm not the only one who thought so.

The city of Los Angeles, too, is not happy about the change. They're not too thrilled with the idea of the Angels capitalizing on their city without actually contributing to their economy.

This whole incident really is a shame, though, because, before this episode, Moreno had built up a lot of good karma in Anaheim and the baseball world. He lowered ticket and concession prices and brought in free agents Vladimir Guerrero and Bartolo Colon to bolster a team that had fallen from World Championship-level to third place in the American League West.

But with one deft swoop of the brush, he's changed not only the name, but the culture surrounding the Angels.

They're no longer Orange County, Rally Monkeys and halos -- they're Hollywood, bright lights and plastic surgery.

They're the Los Angeles Angels of the Bottom Line.

Nick Tavares is a columnist for The Standard-Times. E-mail him at ntavares@s-t.com.

This story appeared on Page C1 of The Standard-Times on January 7, 2005.