NY/NJ question

-- You can feel safe calling them the "New York/New Jersey MetroStars." Just earlier today in USA Today, the paper referred to the team as "New York/New Jersey." You can take that as journalistic precedent.

Stupidest name in the history of pro-sports, no? Sure just rolls off the tongue, doesn't it?

Are they New York? Are they New Jersey? No, they're BOTH!! They represent 28 million people and still can't get more than 2000 fans in the seats at the start of a double-header. Write that in your article.

And be sure to mention that the Cosmos, the team that formerly played in this stadium back when soccer wasn't very popular in this country, averaged 47,856 fans per game in 1978.

 

It originally got started when the World League of American Football (Now called NFL europe) had a summer football side called the NY/NJ Knights. So when the NFL cancelled the league after it's first two to three years and decides to re-start the league. They decided to keep it in Europe.

So when MLS came into the fold after the 1994 World Cup they decided to use the NY/NJ monicer to the MetroStars.

There you are sir.

 

Screw journalistic precedent - they got rid of NY/NJ in 1997.

 

You will not find a single reference to "NY/NJ" in the league's website or in any press releases, so I think it's safe to assume that the team is called "MetroStars."

And wandering soccerdog, you're living in the past. It's 2004, not 1977.

 

Also, just last week the GM called the team "the regions soccer team".

The only people that call them NY/NJ are idiot reporters who can't be bothered to fact check.

As for the Cosmos, does anyone really think that it's all the name? That if we had a team called the Cosmos that didn't win a title in 9 years either that 47k people would be coming out to watch Metro? That's such a joke. The Cosmos became popular because they had Pele, Beckenbauer, Chinaglia, etc. We don't have 3 or 4 of the best players on the planet as those teams did, so the front running chumps have to settle for showing up to watch the game.

The Cosmos are name recognition, but only to people over the age of 30. Name recognition alone doesn't mean ticket sales, and it doesn't mean titles.

 

The team should be called METRO.. no new york new jersey, not metros, not metro stars.... Just METRO

 

The team's name is "MetroStars." It used to be the New York/New Jersey MetroStars, but now it's just, the MetroStars.

It's still "NY/NJ" because that's where the huge fan base is located. I'm guessing the only reason why they use NY/NJ is because every team in this country uses a city or state before their name.

 

While it is incorrect to refer to the team as "NY/NJ MetroStars", it's hard to fault anyone who does. How many teams change their names without any kind of announcement? I guess they don't want to offend anyone, so instead they let everyone live a lie.

As far as I know, the only people who get it consistently right is everyone's buddy at BigSoccer, ESPN.

Maybe it changes when the move to Harrison is done, failing that maybe an NYC MLS team.

 

They still use "NY-NJ" in articles about MLS in World Soccer magazine, but that's probably so their (mostly European) readership knows where the club is located.

 

But the funny thing is, guys like Wynalda when calling a game always refers to them as "New York".

 

So does inDemand on their Direct Kick schedule. I don't believe they did that last year (though I could be wrong).

 

Call them whatever the fucq...just build the fucqing stadium!

 

I haven't been able to dig up anything official yet but here are a few things that mention the name change:

"It used to be a lot clearer, when the mighty Metros were officially the New York/New Jersey Metrostars. That regional designation was lifted with pride from the short-lived New York/New Jersey Knights from the World League of American Football, the equally short-lived predecessor to NFL Europe. And like the Cosmos before them, the Metrostars decided to drop all ties to locality and just be."

http://www.ussoccerplayers.com/rno/city062003.html

"but we’re talking about places that are a long way from the city that named the team. I guess we already had that with LA playing in Pasadena, the MetroStars dropping NY/NJ from their name, New England named after a region because they’re not really in Boston, and the issues with the Miami team based in Fort Lauderdale."

http://ussoccerplayers.com/resource_center/soccer_business/354139.html

 

Don't forget CT too!

 

The fact that the team used to be called NY/NJ and the fact that there are two "Harrisons" in the NYC Metropolitan area, should cause a ripple of confusion when the team moves.

Harrison, NY in Westchester County. Harrison, NJ in Hudson County.

 

U r all a piece of Crap. I have not problem calling the team the NY/NJ Metrostars. I'm used to it, in fact it sounds sexy. This is why they call them the Metrosexual.

 

However, if you click on "shop" on the MLS website (and don't realize that it's taking you to a different company's website), you WILL find "NY/NJ Metro Stars" on the pull down selection menu for "shop by team".

 

so does John Harkes and he is from NJ

 

There are also two Charlestons (WV and SC), two Kansas Cities (KS and MO), and two Portlands (OR and ME). I think if the team was called Harrison people would figure it out. Besides, any story that mentions the move specifies the Harrison in NJ.

 

Fine with me. Soy de Metro. Dale Metro. We are Metro.
Been singing that for years.