hey all, WC fever has started to die down and i wanted to bring up discussions about other possible places for MLS regarding team name, team colors, stadiums and places to locate, USSF d-2 games, college games, youth games, whatever. Since BOSS covers the whole south, this will be the thread for Alabama talk. Team Name Ideas? -Alabama Hearts (Heart of Dixie) -Birmingham Brigade -Alabama Legion -Alabama Regiment -Alabama Yellowhammers -Alabama Muskogeans -Alabama Choctaw -Alabama Chickasaw -Alabama Airmen -Alabama Cavalry Places? -obviously Birmingham -what about Montgomery? Huntsville? Mobile?
I don't live in Alabama but I did for 5 years going to Auburn and to me the only city close to being an option is Birmingham. The rest aren't really big enough, but if I were to pick a second city I guess I would say Hunstville but not for any really big reason. Montgomery is dying so they don't make sense.
Montgomery isnt dying. The city is actually seeing a resurgance. Downtown has seen a major revitalization start to take place. I do however agree with you in the fact that it isnt big enough. Bham is the only option for Bama. O and by the way, from a University of Alabama grad to a cow college grad, ROLL TIDE!
Wow an actual graduate from bammer, that is a rarity. Usually the people who try to give me crap about my degree from the best university in the state are the check out people at Wal-Mart or the waitress at a restaurant. Dying might have been a bit strong of a word for Montgomery but they certainly aren't growing by leaps and bounds and couldn't support much more then minor league like they do with the Biscuits.
Agreed. Naw man I'm not trying to give you any crap. We let our championships do the talking for that. Anyway I'm glad you are in the Bama chapter on this board. I really do believe, despite what many people think, that there are a lot of soccer fans here in Alabama.
Your "championships" in an arbitrary system that means nothing hardly gives any of us fits at night. Its the constant jabbering from rednecks who never set foot on the campus in Tuscaloosa (and probably couldn't locate it on a map) who are the problem as westau said. That being said yes there are plenty of soccer fans in alabama and I have been surprised recently to see a few MLS jerseys around campus here in Auburn. I have seen FC Dallas and Chicago Fire, those along with many of the top Euro teams as well as some national team jerseys. I even saw some cars painted up durring the WC supporting our Nats. EDIT: Oh and I forgot about seeing a DC United t-shirt some girl had on but that was a year or so ago now.
I know BOSS is about getting 1st Division soccer to the south, but I wanted to let you all know that there are lower division clubs looking for support and at least two of them are in Alabama. Both Pumas FC of Birmingham and Rocket City United (Huntsville) play in the National Premier Soccer League. The NPSL is generally considered to be on par with the USL's PDL. Unfortunately, the regular season just ended. But I thought you guys may be interested to know that RCU is actually hosting the NPSL championships in two weeks in Madison, AL from July 28-31. Neither of the Alabama teams qualified for the NPSL Final Four, but the Chattanooga team did, and they just had over 5000 fans watch them beat RCU in their season finale. They'll be traveling down the road to support their team, and it should be a great soccer weekend. Come join us for the fun, or you can follow the action on my blog. I'll be doing the TV and possibly radio coverage. More info over on the NPSL boards, here at bigsoccer.
This just goes to show what a shambles our lower divisions are in. Why do we have two similar leagues in the NPSL and PDL? US Soccer really needs to get on the ball in organizing the lower divisions. It will help with the growth of our national team and the sport here in general if we actually have a structure that makes some sort of sense.
Well obviously living in Atlanta I would prefer we get a team, but a team anywhere in the region would be great to be able to support and Birmingham is close enough to make weekend games an option and I do have some ties to the state having lived there for 5 years.
I think that we should not pick a mascot or team name but instead just be called Birmingham FC and let the support groups develop some tradition that will then become part of the team name. Just like the University of Alabama got the Crimson Tide name and the elephant association. The only things that we can use from our city's history are: Steel Industry Vulcan Statue "Magic" City name given back in early 1900's. Things we are known for that we just can't use.... Civil War Civil Rights Movement
Calling the team Birmingham FC just shows a lack of imagination and reeks of being a sell out. Alabama and Birmingham deserve better. don't worry about anyone else. just in about 10 minutes i came up with these names...all better than Birmingham FC Alabama Hammers Birmingham Bammers Alabama Black Warriors Alabama Hearts Alabama Smokies (might be more of TN and NC...TN Thunderheads) Birmingham/AL Highlanders (this would work though) Alabama Good Ole Boys Alabama Muskogeans Alabama Choctaw Alabama Locomotives Birmingham/AL Southerners Birmingham/AL Tornado Birmingham/ALYellowhammers Birmingham/AL Legion Birmingham/AL Centurions/Legionnaires Birmingham Bankers Birmingham Vulcan Birmingham Reds Birmingham Iron Birmingham Miners Birmingham Blacksmiths Birmingham Magic Birmingham Heritage (named after festival but can be for whatever) Mobile Thunderstorms Huntsvile/AL Arsenal Huntsville/AL Redstone Huntsville/AL Astronauts
Screw calling ourselves anything with FC in the damned name. This is America, football is the pointy brown ball where around which once every year the state is divided and we hate each others guts. Soccer is the game we are talking about in here so if it must be unimaginative at least make it SC which is automatically different than the other lame team names out there and actually speaks to the sport we are talking about.
Hey, there's plenty of room for everybody. The NPSL is a league originally made up of teams who broke away from the PDL. At that level, there's room for more leagues than that, if it's done regionally. Heck, if I had the $$$$, I'd have a team in the NPSL right now.
Officially licensed Rocket City United (Huntsville/Madison, Alabama) scarves are on sale for pre-order here: http://www.stitchinvasion.com/. Only 50 will be made and 40 sold, so they may run out quickly. The scarves should be ready to ship in about 4 or 5 weeks...
FC,AFC,AF,company names ,etc have been used in our nation since day one in soccer/football, its not a modern thing.The name soccer itself is British in origin. And adopting idiotic stupid nicknames instead is lame. Id rather have a nickname that sounds good, whether its FC,SC,Legion etc, over some laughable name like Spit-tunes or Hillbillies just to avoid FC etc. Here's a few names I could go for. FC,SC or AFC(Associated Football Club) Legion Knights Forge Highlanders Steel Rackers(racking horse the state horse)
I would add... Things we are known for that we just can't use.... Civil War Civil Rights Movement Native American MLS will steer away from names that refer to Native Americans.
How about Birmingham Steel FC? Also I heard the Wizards name was available now, it could work well with the whole 'Magic' theme.
