I know from the name the team polls that rovers is one of the popular names, namely because it's a nice British style name. However, it just dawned on me (wonder if anyone else thought this way) that for Houston it could stand for Lunar Rovers! The team mascot could be an actual guy in a space suit, and with all the engineers in Houston, they could build a mock-up of the Rover that could pop a wheelie and do zero to sixty down the sideline when the Houston (lunar) Rovers score! How awesome would that be! NASA is making a proposal right now to go back to the moon within 15 years, so the timing is perfect. Obviously, the space program is what Houston is known for and proudest of, for good reason. The team could really play up the space link this way, but could also be adopting a genuine British style monicker.
That's actually really creative. colors could be silver, white, and black. alternately, if they picked the name apollos they could tie in the greek god
See I just like Rovers because then our mascot could be a dog. You know, Rover. Like a big friendly brown dog.
you are just now getting that? As the link above said, I posted it in May with that very connetation. And I have been telling people that it should be Houston Rovers for years when they said Houston MLS. I think even as far back as the old HoustonMLS webjump site that was around in 97 or 98. It's been a personal crusade of mine almost as long as 3rd Degree has been around. Partially because the name Dallas Burn was so dumb and Houston Rovers so perfect. The entire point of that name is the Moon Rover thing. Otherwise it's just a rehashed Euro name and that's no better than any other silly name with no meaning. It's very perfection is it's tri-fold effect. 1. Houston Space theme. 2. US plural mascot after a city. 3. Traditional soccer style. See? Perfect. Welcome aboard the greatness of the name Houston Rovers bandwagon. There's loads of room and any new blood is welcome to spread the word.
well shoot there goes my vote. not sure how they'd do the mascot effectively though - suits and things to ride on and complicated s--- like that can be a problem. Dallas had a guy (a knight?) on a horse for a while and I don't believe it went very well. buzz could probably give you details, but generally I think a heavy suit + humid texas summer heat = bad combination. another thought (probably already thought of but I feel lazy as far as going back through the pages of name ideas) - whatever name they pick needs to be cross marketable with the other teams in houston (even with seperate owners) - think of it, they could gain up and sell combo packs or something - Rockets, Astros, and <InsertSpaceNameHere> (the Texans can fend for themselves, I doubt the NFL needs our help making money).
Even the logo could use the rover vehicle, and the wheels and helmet are shaped like soccer balls, so a good ad firm could do something classy with the logo (and not make it cheesy like the old Minnesota Kicks logo). Dude, your idea wins, hands down. Now, we need to get it to come out number one in the name the team polls. Fantastic idea. By the way, I saw yesterday when I was flipping channels that some sports team had the guys with the rocket belts actually make a 20-second flight at a sporting event. I thought that was curtailed back in the 60's. If those guys are still around, man, what an opening that would make at the first game of the Houston (Lunar) Rovers! I'm an FCD fan, but we have needed an in-state rivalry to make things interesting. Best of luck!
Rovers is a great name. It should look like the Mars Rovers with the big solar panel and many wheels -- and the wheels can look like soccer balls. I'd love to see a badge incorporating a Mars rover for Houston. Great idea for a team name.
You can now even include a 4th reason it's a good name fit. 100 years ago in England teams called Rovers were called that because they had no home field. They were kinda like barnstorming baseball teams here in the US that traveled around and played other teams. The team moved to Houston from San Jose, and kinda Roved in a way... the name fits even more. ok maybe that one is a stretch. Hard to improve on perfection. Oh and by the way, I doubt it's "my idea" I am sure I stole it from someone else. I have been campaigning for it for a long time with Texas soccer people (when it came up, not like I was knocking down doors) So I can't really remember if I thought of it or if someone else did and I just got really excited about it. Point being, who cares where it came from, it's brilliant IMHO.
I like it too. Though I think the Rovers - dog connection could be a problem. On the other hand, "The Dog Pound" would certainly make for a great name for the supporter's group if the team ends up being called the Rovers.
Personlly i think you are stretching the name rovers. I mean come on no one even uses that word in American english. I think the name sucks, and the attempt to connect it to Houston, although thoughtful is still lame-o. Every true soccer fan will know you stole it from old english lore. No matter how hard you try to draw the line to the space program. Lets call Toronto the Toffees and Milwaukee the Tractorboys while we are at it.
'Rovers' is a terrific and perfect name that hits every spot -- soccer traditionalism as well as local relevance. MLS -- do one thing right in this whole sorry situation and use *that* name. Laurence
I'd imagine that Leiwecke and Luck will select a name that they believe will work in Spanish and that they believe would appeal to the Hispanic market here. If that's the case, then Rovers just doesn't seem like it would work well in Spanish. And I have to agree that most people won't first think of lunar or mars rovers - they would think of dogs. The team may be able to change that perception by launcing an effective marketing campaign and maybe also count on plenty of free media coverage when they announce the name, but I think most of us would still find ourselves having to explain to most of our co-workers and neighbors what Rovers means. Of course, I'm not sure that would be a bad thing - the more soccer conversations, the better.
Well given where you live you probably know nothing about what people in Texas think and what words they use. I can tell you that people in Houston and in Texas in general are very aware of what a rover is. And I dare say they care very little that someone from New Yorks thinks it's a English name. I would say you are stretching if you think you can tell people in Texas what they should and/or will think. Man do we hate Yankees that think they know us better than us. And in fact I would bet that Rovers in a NASA context is FAR better known in Texas than Rovers in a English Football context. You forget that here in Texas we consider ourselves Texans first and foremost, and that most of our families have been in the US far longer than people in NY. Which means Brittish culture, and Euro culture, and influence is VERY small down here.
I used to live in Denton,Texas smart ass. And no, i never recall anyone saying the word rover....not even when drunk on Fry Street. Sorry you feel personaly attacked by this, but Rovers is not a well known term unless your name is Richard and you work at Mission Control. Its even worse as a nickname for other reason. If Houston names them Rovers, well fine, i will think its dumb but i won't start any "Rovers worst name ever?" threads. I think there are much better alternatives being thrown around that warrent more conversation.
Well pay more attention then. Or read the damn newspaper. *Yawn* Yeah. I am taking this personaly. You think it's dumb. I tried to explain why it's not. You still think it's dumb. who cares. Move on. I guess you missed the Mars Rover thing that got so many hits it shut NASA's website down. IIRC set a bunch of internet records. check the vote totals. That alone tells you that you are wrong AGAIN. cause clearly by being the biggest vote getter there are NOT better alternatives. Simple math my man.