Since news has been kind of slow around here lately, here is a good cause you can support. Rumor has it that Seattle will be the next entrant into the league after San Jose. As of now it is undetermined as to what the team will be called. I have heard rumors that the Sounder brand would be continued, I have heard there will be a name the team contest, and current Seattle Sounder owner Adrian Hanauer had told me in an e-mail back in August that it has not been decided. Many Sounder fans of course want to continue a tradition that dates back to 1974, the same year the San Jose Earthquakes entered the NASL. The current Sounder connection to their past is even greater than San Jose's is to the Earthquakes. They have retained the Sounder blue and green colors and still use the original NASL era Sounder logo. Owner Adrian Hanauer was a big fan of the NASL Sounders as a kid. Current coach Brian Schmetzer played for the NASL Sounders. No professional soccer team operating in the US at this time has carried a name longer than the Sounders. Sounder fans have started a website where you can sign an online petition in support of the Sounder tradition. I know that these types of petitions don't carry any weight, but, a good response can inspire Sounder fans to continue their efforts. http://www.saveoursounders.com/ The current Sounder franchise supplied the Earthquakes with players such as Brian Ching and Craig Waibel, to name a couple. Help keep soccer tradition in this country alive by supporting the Seattle Sounders brand.
I love the idea of Seattle in the league and if they were, I'd hope they were the Sounders...but weren't they more of a turquoise and green in the NASL days? That's what I remember seeing. Maybe it was a very light blue. Not to be a contrarian but the most buzz I have heard about the next entrant into MLS has leaned heavily toward St. Louis...primarily geared toward keeping the West and East Conferences balanced.
The San Jose Earthquakes will be the 14th team in MLS and will likely be the league's only 2008 entrant. Seattle is expected to be one of two MLS entrants in 2009. Along with either St. Louis or Philadelphia (the two leading candidates along with Seattle for the two 2009 expansion slots), that would keep the Conference balance intact... Seattle in the West and St. Louis/Philadelphia in the East. And Seattle's MLS team most definitely should be named the Seattle Sounders! GO SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES!!! -G
Yes, Seattle was more of a turquoise blue in their NASL days. In their early days the home kit was white jersey with blue shorts. Away was green. In later years the home kit was white jersey white shorts, away was blue jersey white shorts. In 1983, the blue became navy blue. The USL-1 incarnation has used various shades of blue, and one year, 2002, they went with red. The latest rumors has Seattle pegged as the 15th team. Even MLSnet.com recently ran a story on the rumor. That was strange. Last week, Billionaire Paul Allen was confirmed as part of the ownership group that is the frontrunner to bringing Seattle into the league.
Had the San Jose Earthquakes not gone into hiatus following the 2005 season, it would've still been tied alongside the Seattle Sounders as the longest currently used name in American professional soccer. GO SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES!!! -G
Being an old NASL lover and supporter of these names being revived or kept alive, I wonder if the Philadelphia franchise has any chance of being called the Fury after their NASL predecessor? I used to collect the old NASL jerseys when I was in high school, then got rid of them when I got out of college.....stupid kid!! Damn, I wish I still had those now (although, admittedly, I wouldn't be able to wear them...he said humbly and somewhat chagrined.) My collection also included the Tampa Bay Rowdies white kits with the green/gold striped sleeves and the Sounders' kit that had the white body with the big, turquoise panels down both sides and the Sounder logo on the left upper chest...and a collar! In fact, all of those old kits seemed to have collars. The only other ones I really wanted but never got were the Quakes, of course, and the Vancouver Whitecaps. Remember the old Philly kits? Yellow jersey with sort of burgundy stripes around the top of the sleeves, outlined with white. An old friend of mine, Dan Salvemini of Daly City and Cal, played for them at one time. Later, he joined the Earthquakes after the NASL died away but the Quakes lived on (I believe it was something like the Western Soccer League or something like that.) If memory serves, I think Sir Elton John was one of the owners of Philly, too. Sorry, Sounder fans...didn't mean to steer the thread to another franchise but I suspect you will share in pleasant memories of the good ol' days.
Or the Atoms, for that matter, although I think Fury is a better name, too. Hoops! Horizontal stripes aka 'hoops'. Actually I think the Rowdies official colors were white, green, and yellow. None of this 'gold' nonsense! I still have my Rowdies replica jersey (white with the green and yellow hooped sleeves, same as yours) plus Rowdies and Earthquakes t-shirts from that era (ie, back when the Quakes were a red team). None of them, alas, fit me anymore. Yes, cool name, cool kit. Also, IIRC, the reverse with burgundy jersey and yellow stripes around the top of the sleeves. Not sure which was the home kit. I'm not so sure about that. Wiki only lists Rick Wakeman, Peter Frampton and Paul Simon as owners. I do remember Frampton as being one of the owners, maybe you got him mixed up with Elton John? Elton John was/is on the board of the English club, Watford. I wouldn't apologize; all of us die hard crusty old NASL types need to stick together. With San Jose Earthquakes back in MLS, and Seattle Sounders (hopefully, knock on wood) coming to MLS, we have momentum on our side for the revival of other old NASL names, some of which already exist in USL (Portland Timbers, Vancouver Whitecaps) others of which some of us are still holding out hopes for a similar revival (Cosmos, Rowdies, Strikers, Fury, etc).
Ah, Rowdies4Ever, I figured the jersey reference would prompt a response from you!!...didn't think you'd let that pass. Wow, you give me so many things to think about here: 1) Atoms...yes, that would be okay, too, though I agree that I prefer Fury. 2) Glad to hear that someone had the good sense to hang on to their old NASL gear. Tampa Bay's kits were always among my favorite because it was unique and clearly identifiable--the very quality I wish so much for our modern day Quakes. To this day, I can't think of another club anywhere in the world that has the "striped sleeve" look the Rowdies had...and THAT'S what is so special about it. You would know, at first sight, that you were watching the Rowdies when you saw that look. 3) Fury ownership--I'm sure you're right. Perhaps, I am getting my facts confused. I thought Elton John was involved in one of the NASL clubs somehow but I could certainly be wrong about that. (Rick Wakeman! Haven't heard that name in years. Great stuff!) 4) Other NASL name revivals that may be a few decades off yet: Tulsa Roughnecks, Las Vegas Quicksilvers, Connecticut Bicentennials (may be our Tricentennial by the time that one gets done,) Calgary Boomers (though more Canadian franchises wouldn't be such a bad thing.) One name that I fear is gone forever but I still consider a classic is the Chicago Sting. Two other names that were amusing but I doubt their modern day clubs would ever adopt again are Colorado Caribous and New England Tea Men...perhaps, best to just leave those buried in the past.