While reading the Bell Curve part of the Philadelphia Citypaper a while back, I discovered that Philadelphia will be getting a Major League Soccer team. Unfortunately, a bit more research told me that they won’t be starting until 2010 – a year after visit. I then found a more detailed article about the naming of the team – which will be done by the fans.
Is that safe to do in Philadelphia?
After all, this is the place that nicknamed an arena the FU Center.
That got me interested in finding out the names of the current teams in the MLS, so I decided to do a bit of research.
I like these:
Columbus Crew
Chicago Fire
Kansas City Wizards
Los Angeles Galaxy
San Jose Earthquakes
Some have taken on names with European roots and I have mixed feelings about them:
I think like this one:
DC United
These two don’t really make sense:
Toronto FC
FC Dallas
FC = Football Club, but it’s called Soccer in the US and Canada
This one is just awful:
Real Salt Lake
From Wikipedia:
“chose Real Salt Lake for the team’s name because they desired to associate the team with a successful soccer club, Real Madrid, as well as to develop a brand that was clearly associated with soccer.”
They chose the name because they WANTED to be associated with a successful soccer team, not because they WERE! How pretentious is that!
The New York Red Bulls name is just plain wrong. Not only is the team named after their sponsor, their eventually to be finished stadium will be too.
Club Deportivo Chivas USA also caught my eye as being pretentious at first until I read more about it. According to Wikipedia, “The team shares the same colors of red, white, blue, and gold as its parent Club Deportivo Guadalajara, one of the most widely-supported teams”
What a great idea! Mexicans love soccer and this team has explored a market that had remained untapped. I imagine that they have a big following now. So, I like them. Interestingly enough, their website is completely in Spanish.
I’m undecided about these names:
Houston Dynamo
New England Revolution (I think I like it)
Colorado Rapids
Now that I’m a soccer fan, I do hope I can see a game when I’m in the US next year.
Posted by: J
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