Lots of interesting opinions regarding the new kits. But I really think SJ needs to hold up, start over and do this correctly - use the kits to give the club and league the look of legitimacy. Really that's what the league has being trying to gain, (of course not just a look of legitimacy but the actual thing) from both within the states and abroad. But up to this point it's been doing so in a split personality style of trying to "sell" the sport to non-soccer folks with poorly designed logos, and team names that could be transposed on any other team in any other American team sport - while at the same time relying on the passion of the pre-existing soccer fans in this country. I'm a huge soccer fan. I really want the MLS to grow and expand into a strong league. I want to be able to really support SJ with the same passion and interest supports in other countries show for their clubs. But I really feel that by trying to appeal and lure fans who are new to the sport by trying to "fit in" so speak with our the clubs look and names is the wrong approach. To lure new fans is crucial, but going about it the same way you would an expansion baseball/basketball/football team I don't believe helps. What the league and SJ needs is to try to be an extension of the legacy of the sport. Soccer is of course is over 100 years old, that has the respect and love the world over. Our club can be an extension of that history in the most basic way of name and appearance. And in doing so at least give the air of legitimacy and respect, which the sport deserves. Back to the kits... up to this point I still have never boughten one because of that damn logo. It really does look like something from action cartoon series. That or borrowed from an indoor soccer club. No offense to indoor fans but, that's a hybrid game where there are no ties anything established or to any tradition. Anyway here's my quick fix: 1) Dump the name and replace it with FC San Jose or San Jose FC (the "Earthquakes" or "Quakes" can be an affectionate nickname). 2) Have a logo/crest made that looks like it's been around for the past 80 years, and not look like it was made in Photoshop. 3) Pen an inspiring phrase to be embedded in our crest. (People really do take Liverpool's mantra to heart.) 4) If the club wishes to include the community in creating the identity, let people submit shirt/kit designs. If there's nothing good steal River Plate's design. I know there's the view that the league should do things in the tradition of other American sports. And that this approach is the only chance for the league to be successful. However, I've noticed in recent years more and more that the league can't avoid being seen under the umbrella of world soccer. The league and our club is apart of that larger community, and just wish we could at look like we belong. That's piece...
The problem is that all of these things would be fake, and clearly so. You can't manufacture tradition. And unless FC means Franchise of Corporation, the San Jose team is not and never will be a FC.
Spejic is right. History is created by letting history happen, not by being posers imitating other cultures. There is no currently-used name in American professional soccer that has a longer history than "San Jose Earthquakes," and you want to dump it in the name of creating tradition? We could make a new logo with a chicken on it or something to make it look like an old English club, or we could keep the current one which was based on an already-existing symbol associated with the city of San Jose. The logo isn't the greatest, but there's nothing particularly wrong with it. It has sun rays, which as far as I can tell have nothing to do with indoor soccer. Liverpool FC existed for 75 years or so before "You'll Never Walk Alone" became its anthem. It happened because it grew naturally from the culture of their fans. That's why people take it to heart, not because their management decided "We need an inspiring phrase to put on our logo." As for the uniforms, they aren't very good this year, but they are a direct ripoff of Manchester United. I wonder if that will inspire the passion of the pre-existing soccer fans in this country.
What i cant stand is this idea that all soccer club names should look like EPL club names. if you knew anything about international soccer, you would know that each country has diffrent traditions, and diffrent way of naming thier teams. Mexican club names dont sound like English clubs. German Clubs dont sound like Italian Clubs. and african and middle eastern and asian clubs each have their own traditions and club names. lets not try to be EPL because there is only one EPL and we will look stupid that way. do you think the english will respect us more if our teams are san jose fc and colorado arsenal? no, they would think of us as posers. lets build an american soccer league and build american soccer traditions and american club names.
Good post Noah! I really think that the least of our worries is the kit. I mean, I think it's ugly. But I really don't care THAT much. I'm more worried about what's going on on the pitch than what the team is wearing. However, I just hope the team doesn't decide to make too many changes to the name or logo. Been there, done that. To establish traditions and create an identity, you have to have some stability. Not changes in logos and names every few years.
how about this we name each MLS club for a team from the country with the highest number of immigrants in the city. that way we can trick them into thinking its a team from their country and gain fans that way. plus it will give the league an international flavor and we can have traditional names like so many of you are asking for.
      Very well said, ax319!       Although those 1996 MLS kits (except for D.C. United's) went too far toward the other extreme.       GO EARTHQUAKES!!! -G
You can't manufacture a tradition. Why should we copy Europe? We are not European. We're American. We should have American names. How stupid would it be if non-European countries changed the names of thir clubs to sound more European? Would people in Japan prefer to have teams named FC Kyoto and Sporting Nagoya instead of Kyoto Purple Sanga and Nagoya Grampus Eight? Would Koreans want to change Pohang Steelers to Pohang United? Would Ghanaians favor changing Hearts of Oak to Accra City? Why should we sacrifice our own culture and copy someone else's? Why should American soccer teams have European names? European basketball teams don't have American names. JDA Dijon, Virtus Roma, Lukoil Academic, Efes, BS Weert, and Thames Valley are all professional basketball teams in Europe. Do their names sound like the names of NBA teams?
Like they said. You can't manufacture tradition-- you have to create your own. Nothing worse than being poser and trying to sound European.
Although I do believe that MLS needs to establish its own tradition, I dont agree with the statement that history isnt a result of imitation. History doesnt just occur in a vacuum. It is often highly influenced by parallel cultures. To borrow European soccer culture would only be a crime if it wasnt molded into something our own and uniquely American. Speaking of which... I agree that it makes absolutely no sense to name a club "So and So FC." We already have football clubs in the US and they play in the NFL. We play soccer. So if anything, a club is going to be called, "So and So SC."
> We play soccer. So if anything, a club is going to > be called, "So and So SC." But the team is not a club. A club is a specific sort of social organization - one where the primary motive is not profit, but one of shared interest. That is how most English teams started - a bunch of guys got together to play soccer with each other and against other clubs. To call the team San Jose FC or SC would be another way of creating a fake history, although probably one most people wouldn't understand.
I think you are getting bogged down by the semantics of it. I know that I have referred to the team that I play for my club and many others do likewise. On the other hand, very few American's I know say they are going out to play football unless they are tossing around the pigskin.
regardless of if MLS teams are truly FC's or SC's, F.C. is not a nickname. if San Jose got rid of Earthquakes and went with San Jose FC it would have no nickname and would probably be refered to simply as San Jose. every team in europe is a FC. an example would be Manchester United, no one calls them Manchester United FC. do Juventues fans obsesively call their team Juventus F.C.? of course not! because F.C. isnt part of the name, its like L.L.C. for companys or Inc. i dont understand some peoples obsession with it on these boards.
Heh, that's quite not true, my friend ... There is AC Milan (stands for Atletic Club, or whatever is Italian spelling for these words), for example. And there are quite a few SCs (Sport Clubs?) too.
Talking about history... Next year marks the 30th anniversary of the name San Jose Earthquakes. I know they've been called other things (some unrepeatable) and have been in different leagues, but we're getting up there for a US team... Mike
Thanks for the responses. I do like and appreciate others opinions about this. I certainly understand and take the point that each country has their own traditions that they bring to their league, while the game it's self remains consistent from league to league. I realize my opinion sounded like manufacturing tradition/history before it's actually begun. That's not really where I was coming from. I don't think MLS needs to exactly mirror the EPL or any other league. And let me say there are a lot of bad looking kits out there in other leagues. I simply wish we had a name that sounded like it could only be of a soccer club. And yes their are other clubs, great ones, that go by another name other than their city. But what bothers me is that the reason we have the Earthquakes as our name is to "fit in" with the rest of American team sport leagues. Perhaps 50 years down the line there will be a nostalgic pride swelled feeling when supporters say "Earthquakes". But no one can argue the fact that typography and logo look corny as hell. And my point is that, when you're first starting out, and looking to become and established club, presentation matters more. I guess I'm thinking it would similar to a young talented, but unknown jazz musician. He or she shouldn't shouldn't show up at gigs decked out in Fubu gear. Until he or she has attained the respect of a top entertainment draw where it doesn't matter how they dress, they need to come correct in a suit or some nice attire. In other words, look the part, even if the audience or potential audience aren't heavy jazz heads. By the way, point taken about San Jose FC not being feasible, but then again the city isn't called St. Joseph either. I would love San Jose SC. I also do realize there's little chance the club will make any changes in this direction. At least there's no mascot in a cracked globe suit.
Not to attack you or anything, but that's your problem you see. You want to fit in with the example others have created. We are not European. We're American. We have to create our own traditions. It's not about fitting in with the rest of the world. It's about fitting in with our country and marketing the sport and the team to Americans.