Three related sports grammar questions:

1. Are irregular team names singular or plural?

Most mascot names end in 's' and are (presumptively) plural, so we all say "the Sparks are doing well." But what about names like the Shock and Liberty -- do you say "the Liberty are doing well" or "the Liberty is doing well"?

It seems to me that newspapers do not have a consistent practice on this.

2. May presumptively plural team names ever be singular?

When you refer to "the Sparks," you could usually be speaking of either the team (as a singular entity) or the players (collectively as a plural). Because it ends in 's', it always sounds more natural to treat it as a plural.

But there are times when the team name can only refer to the entity, such as in a court case where the team entity is a party. In such a case, do you really treat it as singular?

3. May geographic designations ever be plural?

My habit is to treat all team names (even irregulars) as plurals, and all geographic designations as singulars. So: "the Liberty are doing well", but "New York is doing well."

Steve has a different practice ("Phoenix are 8-3...").

My grammar books, which normally solve everything, are no help on these questions.