Vote for your Atlanta WPS Team Name

My picks are (in this order):

1. Stingrays (voted for it)
2. Storm
3. Fury

I almost gagged when they named the WUSA team the Beat, and I still think it sucks. I hated Attack too (indoor; I was so glad when KC took back the Comets name). The rest of them are even worse.

 

Well, I like Stingrays. It fits in that we have the aquarium now, and it's about time a women's team get a decent name in pro sports. I think there could be some better names, but I would be proud to cheer on some STINGRAYS.

 

Blazers or Blaze. It all good. It represents the heat of playing soccer in the South's summer. On Fire! The town is called Hotlanta.

Everything else is generic, unimaginative, or not timeless. If it is Stingrays and this league is around in 10 years, Atlanta's club will be kicking themselves for coming up with something so lame.

Attack, Fury, Rush: Non-descriptive of who Atlanta WPS represents. Generic names showing no hint of representation. Boring.

Stingrays, Storm: Unless I'm missing something, these don't describe the city, fans, surrounding area, or the culture. I don't think "Atlanta" when I read these names.

Beat has history but not much else. I'm not a fan but I'd understand why someone might like it...

 

Blaze is just as bad as the Beat. Stingrays would be the perfect backlash to the crappy, trendy names that MLS and the WUSA came up with. Not lame at all.

 

I agree. Blaze works better as a costumed mascot name than an actual team name.

 

Beat, Attack, and Storm all have history in Atlanta. Of course there's the Beat. The Atlanta Attack was a fairly popular indoor soccer team...anyone remember Caleb Suri? The Stone Mountain Storm used to be a very good youth club for which one team, Josh Wolfe's, even made it to USYSA Nationals...they may have won it.

My opinion is that all the options are lame, but as this is for a women's league, I have no problem with them taking a different route to naming conventions.

 

The Beat must go on!

 

Nah. Nothing is forever

 

Eh, so Blaze ain't popular. But it does have precedence in American pro sports. The NBA Portland Trail Blazers are ubiquitously known as the Blazers. In my mind, a fire based nickname such as that works well for a city famous for its heat.

Is there a reason Stingrays is an option?... It feels like a name that some might like at the moment but years from now would feel campy.

 

I saw on the WPS Atlanta website that they had an event at the Aquarium. I am wondering if they might have some tie-in deal with the GA and maybe that's were the name comes from.

 

If that's true, it sounds like naming a team Silverbacks because the zoo got a new monkey. Now Silverbacks is a decent name, but its origin leaves a little to be desired. However I don't live in Atlanta so I might think otherwise if I did.

 

The Silverbacks were named after Willie B., a silverback gorilla who was a main attraction at Zoo Atlanta until his death. I think he was featured in either a Samsonite or American Tourister commercial, throwing a suitcase around his cage (long before the zoo had its makeover).

 

True. But Willie B was an Atlanta icon (the gorilla that David mentioned) much like the St. Louis Arch. I remember when he died they all but held a state funeral.

I can see why the aquarium would bring a potential team name, it is the biggest thing we have right now in this city. Unfortunately Atlanta does not have an "it" identity. We've had such a change in our population base that it's hard to come up with something that is truly Atlanta.

 

Oh, I know the origin of the Silverback name. That's why I said it left a little to be desired. I could relate better if I was in Atlanta more often.

If that analogy is truly accurate, then a new StL team should be called the St. Louis Archers.

 

That actually would be a good name...

 

Since the aquarium is behind the Stingrays, why not the Atlanta Sharks? I think the aquarium is the only one in the world with whale sharks. The problem I have with Stingrays is too many teams coming up with names that deal with rays (and then the weenies in Tampa getting rid of the devil).

 

Atlanta Anything but Stingrays

If atlanta had a coast, it would be relevant, but if your new Aquarium is the most distinguishable character of your city, give up. Seriously, the city must have something that conjures up something more nostalgic than a 4th grade field trip. Chicago has the Red Stars, evoking the greatest moments in the city's history, Sky Blue is arguably the most influential soccer organization in it's state, and FC Gold Pride hits so many possible chords it might as well be a PowerBallad.

Are you going to settle for the equivalent of St. Louis choosing Breakers?
Pick something Atlanta, pick something Georgia, pick something as inspiring as the game. To put it simply...TRY.

Here's one
Atlanta Resurgens

 

Good Lord, no! That's just as bad as the Beat.

 

Why, thank you. i agree. Now go to the StL forum and tell them Archers is a good name.

 

Just a heads-up, even if you didn't mean this like it read. The Portand Trailblazers' name is linked with the Lewis and Clark Expedition. If you already knew that, no problem.

As a resident of the South, I'll point out that it's the humidity around here that makes summer almost unbearable, not so much the heat.

 

Good call. I just meant "Blaze" by itself implying heat or fire.

 

You got that right.

 

The Atlanta Humidifiers! No? Okay.

 

How 'bout ATLANTA STEAM as a Write-In for Atlanta's team?
It would reference the humidity and the railroad history of Atlanta.