Major League Soccer

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

I haven't seen jergs around lately, but his team is coming to town this evening. Here's hoping for an RROD!

lol, already

http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k82/nowak10/FILTHADEPHIA.jpg

haha the steam coming off the poo makes it

haha. wow. oh wait a minute. it's a joke. i thought this was supposed to be a real logo.

no, a dude I know shopped that one up

here's the real one

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_G_7IWmsaRmY/SgLx_Yb0ymI/AAAAAAAAAAw/ofQYgtOxYzw/s400/Philadelphia+Union.jpg

With that "Union of the Snake" logo I hope their stadium anthem is the Duran Duran song.

wait is that like a gadsden flag thing????

MLS needs more pandas, bushbabies and koalas.

well, portland is joining the league, so...

lol @ infographic

http://www.underconsideration.com/brandnew/archives/philly_union_narrative.jpg

also lol @ vampire-looking fan

http://d.yimg.com/a/p/ap/20090511/capt.f8c36a8bbb0241acb85fcd70efe8ba21.mls_philadelphia_union_soccer_px103.jpg

may as well bump all the American futbol threads today, for more lolz

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3403/3592746054_ee35d772e6_o.jpg

(he's got a video interview up on the MLS homepage that I can't get a link to)

I'm driving 6+ hours on a bus on Sunday to watch us (probably) lose in the (probably) rain. Huzzah!

good times, sounds like my trip to columbus late last year

i took my mom to a sounders game on saturday and whoa there were some bad vibes in my section. everybody was so drunk, people threw beer and the cops showed and three groups of people got kicked out. "so, this is what you like to do on the weekends, huh honey?"

Um. Jergs, what section were you sitting in? And were there a bunch of West Ham or ex-pat-seeming types near you?

I almost got in a fight with a guy who was throwing shit on the field last Sunday. I told him not to disrespect our home and that if he wanted to throw things he should go to Columbus (they're getting kind of notorious for this). He responded by getting in my face and calling me "pinche guero" and some other shit before leaving 15 minutes early. Quite the "supporter" there.