Enough with the "Cleveland Steamer" references [Mobile]

ClevelandMark

28 Feb 2006, 11:24 AM

On Cleveland Steamers:

I sort of agree. Not sure what the Steamer reference means . . .

If it is a "steamboat" reference, that is better served for riverboat towns like Cincinnati, St Louis, Memphis and New Orleans. Cleveland's shipping industry has been more freight and barge.

If it is a "number two" reference, our other sports teams play like that already. I do love the Browns, Indians and Cavs. Maybe we just need to acknowledge that the future Cleveland soccer club will play like a load of "steamer" and frustrate the fan base for years to come. Maybe calling our team a "steamer" up front will break the Cleveland sports curse.

The only teams I remember for Soccer ever being in Cleveland are:

Force - most Cleveland History in soccer
Cobras - decent choice
Crunch - horrible name

Other teams names:

Barons - defunct NHL and soon to be defunct AHL team (Hockey sacred)
Bulldogs - Canton sacred football name
Rockers - WNBA - is that still around?
Spiders - Very old baseball team name

Euro-file names SC or FC in front of or behind:

Cleveland
Cuyahoga Team will play in Summit County
Summit Too non-descript like "Golden State Warriors" That is Oakland, people.
Akron Northern Summit County has a stronger allegiance to Cleveland than its own county seat.
Erie (The lake due north and the city in Erie 90 miles East) Bad choice
Great Lakes (One of five large plus two smaller lakes in the region) Bad choice
Crooked River (our river is more famous for other things ;) ) which leads us to . . .
Burning River - Cleveland Burn. Do the jokes ever stop?
1796 (Year Cleveland founded. Bad Houston 1836 reference. Plus Philadelphia baseball team is the 1776ers or 76ers -- How many Sixers can this nation stand?) Bad choice
Forest City - Cleveland nickname because of the vast park system in greater Cleveland. No one really call us that anymore. Which leads us to . .
Plum City - Bad 1980's marketing gimmic. If New York is the Big Apple, Cleveland is a plum bad marketing town. Which leads us to . . .
Rock City - Cleveland Rockers. Been there. Done that. No thanks.

Let's Really Mess with the Euros:

Call the team the Cleveland Rugbies. First, you drive on the wrong side of the road . . . Now, you Yanks have American football similar to rugby and football is soccer, now soccer is rugby. Bloody foolish.

My choice:
Cleveland Force -- let's just keep it simple. In the words of former mayor Mike White on losing the Browns, at least we get to keep our team, our colors and our history.