If these are their ideas and MAJOR announcements to keep interest up in the offseason, then a lot of the rumors about this FO are probably true. According to the Silverback's own press release. http://www.atlantasilverbacks.com/pro/news/Fans-Elect-to-Keep-Silverbacks-Name I can only imagine this was covered by every news station, paper, and media outlet in Atlanta. All of Georgia shut down and waited with bated breath whether a minor league soccer team would be named after a large male ape or an outdated racist caricature. I can't imagine the only media there being a 19 year old with an ipad. Nope.
Kinda reminds me of the Sounders thing too. Lots of hype for no ultimate reason. It's basically a minor league team making a minor league decision to keep a minor league name. At least we can rest assured that we still have the most dignified name in world soccer. (Que circus music...)
who really cares what the actually vote was? it isn't like the FO was beholden to the actual vote, KPMG wasn't looking over their shoulders. they should have just taken this as a chance to rebrand to Chiefs (or Atlanta Legion as we here on BS decided years ago) or something else with better possibilities. how in a heavily african american city you'd want your mascot to be a gorilla is beyond me ... seems pretty clueless. at least Chiefs would have some history with the baseball team being called the braves and the name going back to the original soccer team. at least they are ditching that amateur logo (probably) ... only FC Edmonton's logo is a bigger joke. but a modernized version of the Chiefs logo would have been totally kick ass ... a wasted opportunity.
Again: Willie B. But, hey, ******** anyone who thinks caricaturish Indian imagery is offensive, there's history there!
the old cheifs logo isn't caracturish at all ... it is simply a silhouette ... and actually pretty classy, with a modernization it could have been even better. it wasn't anything like the old cleveland indians logo at all. plus let's be honest. if your are going to potentially offend part of your potential fan base better it is less than 1% than nearly 33%.
What are you implying? I guess it depends on how you look at things, I thought the name came from a well known Atlanta zoo animal or something like that.
i know there is a perfectly non racist origin story, and i know the name isn't meant to be racist. the problem is the optics ... at a glance it is easy to get the wrong idea and in most cases if something throws up questionable optics it is simply easier to come up with something else.
It's just a crappy image. It's forgettable. There's nothing about it that catches the eye. Middle school art students could do better. Hopefully, some will.
Reading comprehension not your strong suit? He said I he said the problem is the visual logo. If you think that the Silverbacks logo is racist, then there is no hope for you. It is a freaking gorilla, not a racist archetype. Blackface. Amos and Andy. Little Black Sambo. Song of the South. All problematic in their depiction of African Americans, their culture, and their history. Willie B? It's a freaking gorilla!
It may in fact need an upgrade. It isn't horrible by any means, off the top of my head it is better than logos of the Columbus Crew, Houston Dynamo, NE Revs, RedBulls, RSL, and the SJ Earthquakes in my book. If I had to guess, the new badge will incorporate their new 'atl' design they rolled out early this year along with a more menacing Willie B. Animal sports logos seem to be angry as of late.
you need to learn how to read. i specifically said the name silverbacks and the logo ARE NOT racist. there is an origin story that has to do with a zoo and a gorilla. the OPTICS ... by which i mean the perception that people might initially or superficially have, those who don't know and won't take the time to find out the origin story ... of a gorilla mascot in a town that is 33% black is just problematic ... unnecessarily so, when you can simply have a different name/logo which has not optics problems. this is a separate argument form the fact that Silverbacks is just a stupid name outside of the bad optics and that the logo is utter shite and looks like a high school student designed it.
I need to learn to read? I am sorry that I can't guess what you mean when you misuse words. I am a great reader. Mind reader, not so much. Now that you have defined what you mean by 'optics', which is completely different then the actual definition, we can debate. I see where you are coming from and I reject your reasoning as simplistic and ridiculous. Don't worry, you are in good company with plenty of other folks in our modern society. Just because some knuckle dragging racist has tried to insult African Americans by calling them monkeys or gorillas, doesn't make the gorilla a racist symbol. It is like these stupid high schools who are changing their name from Cougars, because they don't want to be confused with hot middle aged chicks. Morons. Every last one of them. And since you know the backstory of the name, please tell me how Silverbacks is a stupid name? It has a nice, local connection. It isn't being used by a bunch of other teams in the country. It is worlds better than Atlanta FC or Atlanta Chiefs. Apollos would have been unique for sure, but Silverbacks is a fine name. Let's critique the rest of the names in the league: Rowdies - Everyone would think it was a dumb name if it wasn't a retro name Strikers - Decent. It has been used before, but never as succesful as in Ft Lauderdale Stars - Really? Not very original at all. Yes it has a local pedigree, but come on, it has been done before in all sorts of places. Islanders - Well, they ARE on an Island. It works. But you share it with the NHL and the USL Scorpions - I reckon there are plenty of them in Texas. The logo is about as generic as it comes. Edmonton FC - So original that dozens of teams are currently using it. Yawn. Railhawks - A made up name. Kind of dumb, but once again, a local story. Not my cup of tea, but oh well. Cosmos - Unique. Famous. Hope they can live up to it. So there you go, by comparison, Atlanta Silverbacks has a nice ring to it. It has history. It has local connection. It isn't racist.
obviously your reading level is quite low: http://www.macmillandictionary.com/buzzword/entries/optics.html it is a common use of the term "optics" in modern society. and comparing your team's dumb nickname to other team's dumb nicknames doesn't make it any less stupid ... it just happens to be in good company in D2.
So the "El Paso Chihuahuas" with a picture of the Taco Bell dog would be a bad idea for a team name, the optics could offend many of my fellow Mexican-Americans?
yes, i'd think that would be a bad idea ... especially given it would be pretty easy to come up with a dozen other team names that did not even slightly hint at such bad optics. again, everybody who has actually researched or knows even a modest amount about the team knows that the silverbacks and their use of a gorilla mascot/logo IS NOT RACIST or intended to be. but the problem is the optics of such a logo/mascot to the peripheral viewer ... to the barely paying attention mass audience in the market ... who do not have such detailed knowledge and could very well see the team name and logo/mascot and think .... "hmm, well that hardly seems an appropriate mascot for 33% black Atlanta, pretty insensitive if you ask me" enough people say that to themselves, much less think it outright racist, no matter how wrong they would be ... you've opened yourself up to needless negative connotations with your brand that could easily have been avoided by picking one of a dozen other team names.
I think that looks pretty decent! Even got a small reference to the Chiefs on the bottom of the crest
I am a big man. Guess I need to update my dictionary. You are in fact correct sir. I have never heard the word used that way. Now that I have had my vocabulary lesson, please clarify how you can stand on both sides of the fence? You are saying it isn't a racist name, but it appears racist? You lost me on that one. It isn't racist, but it is. Whatever. Whether it is dumb or not is personal taste. But the Silverbacks name/logo is not racist.