Major League Soccer

30 years ago you were a newborn baby, you were probably looking askance at lots of things due to lack of ocular control

^^t-bomb

I mostly just hung out on this awesome baby-blue blanket upon which was stitched "Magic Cunningham."

do u see
http://www.prosportsmemorabilia.com/Images/Product/33-70/33-70457-F.jpg

Ideally I like sports team names that have something to do with their locale or its people -- the Dodgers, the old NASL team the (Washington DC) Diplomats, the Seattle Sounders -- or old trade-derived names like the Steelers, the Packers, (the) Arsenal, the Cleveland Stokers, and so on.

With new teams always being created, though, and other teams being moved across the country by new owners, I guess it doesn't pay to have a team to attached to its roots, huh? So much for fan base.

I feel like we should be having this discussion on BigSoccer.com.

Clubs names like Liverpool, AC Milan, Inter, Barcelona, Madrid... they're basically just brand names now. Like, I bet not one person on ILX who even tangentially follows the international game would think I was talking about Internacional of Porto Alegre, Brazil instead of Milan, or Atletico Madrid instead of Real Madrid. Their history and marketing power have overtaken the need for any other identification of what they are. Smaller teams in Europe do have the nickname/city or city/nickname combo, like Wisla Krakow, Locomotiv Moscow, etc.

Some MLS team names are good, some are terrible. "The Columbus Crew" makes me laugh almost every time. I'm honestly glad for Dallas that they're not called "Burn" any more, even if it does mean the Brimstone Cup (the supporter's trophy for the winner of the regular season series with the Fire) doesn't really mean quite as much any more.

xpost to Laurel: Yeah, I mean, speaking of Utah Jazz, it's always been this massive joke that the team kept the nickname upon their relocation from New Orleans to one of the states least evocative of jazz in the nation.

Also, quite frankly, the wide variety of club names, city identities, nicknames both complimentary and un-, and all other identifying characteristics of teams and their fans just add to the rich tapestry of sport. And to the various ILX rolling threads, most of which I can't make heads of tails of without googling the history of half a dozen Londontown clubs.

All I'm saying is I like the American formula of LOCATION-NICKNAME. None of this "FC" bullshit -- half the teams emphasize the FC (or SV, AC, etc.) in their official logos, the other half don't. Half of them put it at the front of the team name, half put it at the end. Some are known by their city ("Liverpool FC"), others by their nickname ("Rangers FC"), still others use both (Japan's "Kashima Antlers").

I don't care how stupid "Dallas Burn" sounds, it obeys the rule of LOCATION-NICKNAME. Thirty years ago, I might've looked askance at "Burn" as a singular collective noun, but the Utah Jazz (and later the Orlando Magic and Miami Heat) made that OK.

― Bianca Jagger (jaymc), Monday, April 20, 2009 4:45 PM (37 minutes ago) Bookmark

are you fucking joking

like srsly dude we're pals but i couldn't disagree with you more on this issue

laurel OTM

i'm all in favor of MLS teams just being NAME OF CITY and they can put FC (or SC) or whatever anymore. let the people pick the nickname instead of a committee

actually, mostly i just have a problem with the NEW YORK RED BULLS and REAL SALT LAKE like are you joking, let's make the american game even more laughable

NYRB is a special, sad case. Nobody wanted that except Red Bull and whatever entity was selling the team.

I mean, I hate DC, NY, Columbus, and the rest but the league is too fragile and small for what harms one team not to harm others.

Ironically, though, while Liverpool may be called Liverpool F.C. officially, to most people they're the Reds or 'Pool or just 'damn scousers'

Real Salt Lake, otoh, just befuddles me. The Royal Football Club of SLC?! Really?!

I can't talk about RB, it's too complicated and long and annoying. But if you think the battle for the team name isn't still fought every day by supporters on message boards, go back to college and earn one fucking clue credit.

Also, sometime check out these wikipedia entries to learn a bit more about the actions of, and reactions to, the soccer marketing ploys of Red Bull

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FC_Red_Bull_Salzburg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SV_Austria_Salzburg

Ironically, though, while Liverpool may be called Liverpool F.C. officially, to most people they're the Reds or 'Pool or just 'damn scousers'

this is sorta what i mean, tho! i mean, i guess america doesn't have a tradition of "athletic clubs" like everywhere else, but i still think it'd be better (in the MLS) to just name the team after the town and let the nickname get chosen by popular opinion. does anyone know: is this how it happened with baseball? like, were the yankees the yankees from the outset, or what?

xp whoah fucking chillout, lady, geez

also don't get me started on the fact that the Crew have a supporters group with the word "Hooligans" IN THE NAME

http://www.kumb.com/gallery/news/hsh.jpg

good luck usa

still bummed that MPLS will never have a MLS team :(

let the people pick the nickname instead of a committee

Lots of times the people do pick the nickname, though. When the Seattle MLS franchise was to be named, the owners initially put forth three names for the public to vote on, none of which were the Sounders, but the public demanded that the Sounders be included and they ended up winning.

gbx, the extra heat was for "Don't get me started on sponsorship" which, like, don't get ANYONE started on it, okay? Especially not anyone who cares about the NY/NJ team in the first place.

It just isn't going to happen the way it once did, though, gbx. You can call baseball an 'exhibition' until you're blue in the face, it won't chnage the fact that these are all more or less big businesses and with our modern penchant for commdifying everything and squeezing ever cent out of the value of a team and its name, the furure will undoubtedly contain more teams named after sports drinks or stadia named after airlines, etc... Ironically, all those 'organically' determined nicknames in England are for teams that run around adorned in corporate logos many of whome play in a stadium named after a famous sponsor. If anything, it can be argued that w/o the stupid sponsor names and deals, the MLS might have gone the way of prior U.S. soccer leagues.

There are plenty of people who don't like the Sounders name, either, and think it should have been left to history and a new name chosen. That was a rare case, though -- I don't think public opinion has been counted for a single other MLS team ever.

i need to start following CHI ball more closely. no cable and no soccer-friendly bars make things difficult

also fwiw i think the chicago fire name + logo is one of the best in the business....wish you could still get that chicago flag style jersey

i'm just going to make up my own nicknames for all the teams:
the ny bounders
the chicago special cats
the princeton collegiates
the santa fe davy crocketts
the cleveland soccers
n.c. f.c.
the washington bullets

also someone should shoot the person/people responsible for the revolution's logo. like, srsly???

xp nick u dummy i do not think davy crockett ever set foot in santa fe

LISTEN I AM MAKING UP THE NICKNAMES HERE

If anything, it can be argued that w/o the stupid sponsor names and deals, the MLS might have gone the way of prior U.S. soccer leagues.

on this note:

The sins of the NASL and how we're still paying for them

That was a rare case, though -- I don't think public opinion has been counted for a single other MLS team ever.

Maybe not for MLS -- I don't follow it -- but this is pretty standard for expansion franchises in other American sports leagues.

where was that thread with all the awesome old team names and logos?

and yeah gbx one of the best things about the Fire is the consistency in kit design, badge, and team philosophy as long as the club has been in existence

sorta surprised you know this much about expansion sports franchises, tbh! (not a zing!)

Hahahahaha! Nick, not only do I like all of those, but that's basically what the NASL did, as far as I can tell? See here.

xp see my link!

best NASL team logo

lol nasl

to be fair, the badge is kinda unfuckwithable

what's the portland team gonna be called? the stumps?

That opens up all kinds of opportunities for supporters' group logos, doesn't it.

"washington diplomats" is so awesome

If you really get into it, you realize quickly that MLS is totally unlike basically every other top-level national league in the world. It's single entity, so the players have a contract with the league, not individual teams. This takes away a lot of the bargaining power that players have overseas. Also, not unique to American sports but very unique on the world soccer scene is the salary cap. It goes on and on, like the league not honoring FIFA international dates, no promotion or relegation, etc. It's basically set up not to fail a la NASL, which is the point of the article I posted a minute ago.

xps Portland Timbers, they're just taking the USL-1 franchise and leveling up

gbx, here is a good overview of how baseball franchise nicknames developed.

Also, I think maybe to understand my point of view re standardization you have to realize that I am approaching this in part as the copy editor of an almanac.

I think we get that ;)

I am approaching this in part as the copy editor of an almanac.

― Bianca Jagger (jaymc), Monday, April 20, 2009 5:52 PM (44 minutes ago) Bookmark

wait what, yr brain??? i actually did not that you worked for an almanac!!

attn gbx

http://dunord.blogspot.com/2009/04/are-you-twin-citian-who-would-like-to.html

he dives, he bitches and moans, he's old and slow... but damn it I love this man sometimes

http://www.kenn.com/images/blanco_pizza.jpg

oh man that sounds awesome, dan, but i bet i can't make it

aw, too bad, it's shaping up to be a good couple of days

did you see the sidebar, at least?

In the Twin Cities, all your football watching should be done at:
The Sweetwater
At the Kelly Inn
I-94 & Marion
St Paul
651-224-6373

!!! good to know

Every bar called The Sweetwater is awesome, I think it's some kinda natural law.

I don't know about bars, but it's the name of a stellar donut mill in Kalamazoo.

This Sunday, Crazy Baldhead and the Empire Soul Club present the GOLASSO! Tailgate party, before and after Metro v DC Scum. 1PM-7PM, food provided by the fine Chef Leon for $5 a head. Music provided by Two-Dishes, Johnny Metro, Agent Jay, and someone I don't know named Hagler. See you there, ya slackers.

I heard about your loss, Laurel, I'm sorry :(

Here is me in Cbus with a few friends of mine

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v280/tooth_brush_cb/3474686727_3cc8cb9ba0.jpg