Pelicans, regional name suggestions and mysterious sewer clouds

The New Orleans Hornets  decision to reportedly change their team name to ‘Pelicans’ has caused quite the wave of reactions. So capitalizing on that, Amos Barshad of ESPN’s Grantland decided to rename several teams with nicknames better connected to their local surroundings. Here was his Detroit suggestion:

"The Detroit Inexplicable Giant Plumes of Sewer Steams"

Hey, considering how mean national media sometimes are to the city of Detroit, that’s not too bad. And I honestly don’t know why all of the sewers in Detroit steam either. Perhaps someone in the comments can enlighten the ignorant slugs like me out there?