Hence, why I said it should have been a suggestion thread... instead of a poll it's also not beyond belief that the owners of the steamers might be the best bet in trying to get an MLS franchise owner... to create a joint team indoor/outdoor... You must be the jackass who neg repped my post... you'll be recieving one too for both the horrific decision to neg rep a post and the bs uncalled for attacks you made here... hopefully you can appreciate the irony of the one who said "what's the harm in getting potential fans together to discuss the possibilities?" also telling one to "quit trolling and get out."
MOD NOTE: Break it up. Sport Billy, this is St. Louis's forum but is not restricted just to locals. Lotharis commented on the expansive list of suggestions in the poll.
I grew up in U City, and went to a couple St. Louis Stars games back in the day. It's a great name. St. Louis River , St. Louis Hearts, St. Louis Huckleberrys, St. Louis Champions, St. Louis Riverboat Gamblers - love them all. Love the ethnic names like Shamrock, etc, but they will never pick that.
I don't consider myself pro or anti Europe. I think if people see a "euro" name they pretty much can figure it out or they will look into it and see why the team has that name. My suggestion for a name would be Standard St Louis(incorporate the city flag design with the Arch or fleur de lis or the statue of Louis IX
Excuse my ignorance of St Louis history but in times gone by did the railroad finish there? If so, the St Louis Locos ?
St. Louis FC, as you can see from my name, remains my favorite. I also like AC St. Louis and St. Louis Select. Someone may have already mentioned this, but what I like about Euro-style names is that instead of a mascot or nickname chosen by a small group of people (or a flawed online poll), the names eventually evolve out of the fans themselves, and therefore the fans feel much more connected to the team--see the Red Devils, the Blues, the Royals, etc. in the EPL, or the Black-and-Red in MLS. With a nickname imposed on the fans, the potential for such connection is gone. And seriously, some of these names just sound ridiculous. I realize most of the good nicknames have been taken by the other big pro leagues, but once you get down to "St. Louis Riverboats" or "St. Louis Expedition", it's time to stop. And honestly, if you're worried about alienating potential fans with Euro-style names, do you really think the "St. Louis Riverhawks" is going to do much better? Most of these names just scream "worthless minor league team", a la River City Rage and others. People will get used to European names just as they have in six or seven (depending on whether or not you count Houston) other MLS cities.
Does FC Dallas have a nickname yet? Is "Hoops" what they are going with? Not so bad I guess. But does RSL? Will Toronto be the Reds? I don't know, I guess this is how most baseball team names started way back when. You are right. I don't like either of those. Although, I bet the Steamers sounded dumb when it started, and now it is still recognized throughout STL even though they don't even exist. I guess I have reservations about whatever name the fans picking actually sticking. But, I have stated before, we need to do better than the Arena League. Worst names ever. If I had to choose, I would go with AC or SC. If we named our team FC this is how the conversation would go with a casual fan. "What's the team name? St. Louis FC. FC? What's that stand for? Football club. Football? Whatever." I don't know, maybe I'm being to0 pessimistic.
People from St. Louis, I can't believe you haven't thought of St. Louis Archers. Yes, it's cliche, but it is definitely something everyone would get and is an Americanized name, if people have problems with Euro names. I mean, St. Louis FC works fine, or how 'bout Sporting St. Louis? But I think if you want simple and effective, St. Louis Archers works pretty well.
If I'm recalling correctly from a thread like two years ago, about the third post was by someone not from St. Louis suggesting Archers. Then, posts like 4 through 20 were people just berating the suggestion. So GeoffreyVS, if has definitely been thought of and subsequently beaten so far into the ground that I have no idea how you found it. If must have been its time to bubble back to the surface again. But anyway, you didn't know.
I would like to add my distaste for the Archers. Nothing against people who like the name, in theory it would work. Except I think most St. Louisans laugh at the name. And....Archers are those who perform in Archery. St. Louis Bowlers would work as well. In fact, change my vote to the St. Louis Bowlers!
It appears that the Euro names and Knights (I'm assuming most people were voting for Knights and not Crusaders based on the other thread) are the clear leaders. It seems like we've reached the point were we need a new poll thread to narrow down the most popular Euro name. I would also keep Knights and "other" as options for people who are against Euro names or don't like Knights. What do you guys think of this idea? Also, St. Louis United Soccer Club with Knights as an unofficial nickname is my favorite.
Why not? I remember being very surprised to find the Bowling Hall of Fame was in St. Louis. And yeah, the Archers idea is kind of silly, I guess. I just thought if you wanted to go classic American-style name, it works nicely. On the flipside, I guess it is a little minor league in style.
Here's a question, who owns the original St. Louis Stars name? I was just thinking about it while playing FIFA 07, and i created a team and it's crest was a circle with black and blue stripes with a white star in the middle and i thought it looked awesome. So have we discussed that at all? Possibly A.C. St. Louis with stars as official nickname if people are against the knights?
I don't know who owns the naming rights...but doesn't the MLS want to keep their distance from anything NASL? I doubt the MLS even allows old names, otherwise I'm sure NY would have been the Cosmos. It's probably still the most recognized soccer team name in the US, so I imagine (just guessing) that the MLS nixed that idea before they even started. Anyone have any concrete information on the NASL and MLS and team names?
Pepe Pepine owns the Cosmos name - have to pay him some "fee" (supposedly a million) to get that name. Someone probably own the St. Louis Stars name, but the fee would be minimal in comparison to the Cosmos. Stars is a good name, slightly generic but with some history.
The San Jose Earthquakes were a NASL team from 1974-1982. Here's a link to NASL team logos. http://home.att.net/~nasl/logos.htm
(blurp!) I'm sorry, I think I just threw-up in my mouth. There were some ridiculous designs in the NASL. But I noticed a couple of things. First, not just the Earthquakes, but a few USL team names have been kept. The longer this expansion takes, the more I care less about a specific name and more about getting a team at all. But the Stars isn't a bad name, my dad always talks about the old Stars. I might just give a gander to the team jersey thread and see some of the Stars designs.