Seattle's new Major League Soccer club may be taking a very intelligent approach to building their roster, but if the rumors spreading around the web are true, this club may end up taking on one of the dumbest team names in sports history.According to Kenn Tomasch, who is regarded as a reliable source on American soccer matters, the new Seattle club is planning to call itself ... wait for it ... the Emerald City Greens.
Yes, that's just what MLS needs -- a team whose name sounds like a golf course. Or a regional brand of spinach. Maybe Popeye will be the official team mascot. Plus, there's no way anyone would mistake Emerald City Greens for any sort of recreational substance. Of course not. Pay no attention to that innuendo behind the curtain.
Hey, maybe they can work out a Red Bull-style sponsorship deal with General Mills and call themselves the Green Giants! That couldn't be any worse than this, could it?
Let's hope this story doesn't turn out to be true. If it does, it will have soccer fans all over Seattle scratching their heads and saying, "Jeez, what was so bad about calling them the Sounders?"
(H/T: The Offside)
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Reader Comments ( Page 1 of 1)
1. Might as well call themselves the Coffee Beans or the Grunge Rockers or Rain. At least those have something to do with Seattle, however stereotypical.
Posted at 2:19PM on Jan 11th 2008 by Freddie Footballer
2. I think the name is a very smart name. There is a huge push in society to Go Green. Cars, lightbulbs, recycling of plastic paper and glass, recycling of everything else for that matter and the use of the recycled materials, alternative fuels and on and on and on. They might become the most sought after team for this reason as society becomes more and more conscious of the demands we place on each other as a people.
Heck I even pitched a show about converting houses to GREEN houses for flipping, needy families, or other for the cause of converting to green houses or whatever other reason.
Posted at 2:25PM on Jan 11th 2008 by Todd Watson
3. Todd,
In your post you use the term in the singular (Green) while the proposed names is in the plural (Greens). That's a subtle, yet important, difference. In the plural, the word most commonly refers to green leafy vegetables, like pictured above. As such, it does seem rather silly.
Posted at 9:11PM on Jan 11th 2008 by Justin
4. Yah right! If they had any interest in "going green" why play in a stadium that has a plastic turf on its pitch instead of building a soccer specific stadium with real natural grass? Oh yeah, that's right! Because Paul Allen threw a whole bunch of his own type of green at Don Garber and MLS to overlook the league's own guidelines for landing a franchise.
Oh well, you get what you pay for. I hope this is the moronic title Seattle uses for its new team. It'll serve Garber right for ignoring his own principles.
Posted at 1:29PM on Jan 12th 2008 by RedRover
5. Toronto, Houston, New England, and New York play on FieldTurf. There may have been a slight bending of the rules for not having a soccer specific stadium, but like Kraft in New England, owning an NFL stadium free and clear helps ease those concerns.
Posted at 3:44PM on Jan 12th 2008 by Irishoutsider
6. A lot of cities wanting to join MLS had been told in advance that you need a soccer specific stadium in order to obtain a team. Even those that have teams, like Houston, New York, even New England, are trying to get new SSSs. San Jose lost its original team for those reasons.
Seattle should have been no different. But appearantly, because of Paul Allen's money and influence, it is. Don Garber needs to hang his head in shame for his "slight bending of the rules".
Posted at 1:42PM on Jan 13th 2008 by RedRover
7. So, Liverpool being the "reds" is dumb? Chelsea "blues ??
Ummmmm .... Not sure what the problem is here.
Posted at 3:44PM on Jan 15th 2008 by Scalz1
8. A name as lame as their fans. Nice job Drew Carey. Will the fans be tossing salads before the game? Both meanings?
Other names in consideration
Suicide
Maine of the West
Heroin
Silence
Qwesters
Posted at 9:15AM on Jan 16th 2008 by Everyone Else
9. 'pool and Chelski's "reds" and "blues" aren't official names, just added by the fans. I don't think the "Greens" need to be added. "Emerald City" works fine by itself. If we do add a name I still think it should be Sounders.
I just hope we don't end up named after some product or lift a word out of another language (Real, Atletico, etc.)
Posted at 3:06PM on Jan 17th 2008 by Seattle Fan
10. Apparently none of you are from the Jet City, as you should know that this a marijuana reference due to the bountiful green found all over this beautiful city. You know, the weed? You know, the pot? How about the herb, the buddha, the funk, the dope, the bomb, the bud, the... this could go on forever
Posted at 9:21PM on Feb 27th 2008 by joemama
11. Greens......that's horrible. Welcome to Seattle we're so lame we named our team after food/dope. Classic, will we have a female mascot too? Maybe they can use an image of dixie lee ray all greened up, that'd be like the jolly green governer!
Posted at 12:57PM on Mar 5th 2008 by blake