It's Houston Dynamo...

[harperdc]

the Houston Republic would've sounded stupid anyways because it's a singluar noun being used where typically in American sports a plural noun is used as the team nickname. Compare the Stanford Cardinal, Houston Republic, even the old Tampa Bay Mutiny (all singular) to...well...Tigers, Bears, Lions, Jets, etc. The way we say team names in the US (as in the phrase "I support the New York Jets/the Jets") means that singluar team names just sound stupid.

compare this to England - when they refer to American sports teams, they drop the "the" that we usually insert. So instead of "the Jets playing the Patriots" its "Jets playing Patriots"...why? Because almost all of the major European (including English) soccer teams singular and named after a section of a city (the only Premier League team not named after a city or a district within a city is Arsenal; just a quick mental survey of other leagues furthers this). So semantically you're saying the name as singular, which is easily explained by the fact that European soccer teams (especially) do not have two-part nicknames in the same vein as American teams. It's not the Manchester United Red Devils; it's Manchester United, or the Red Devils as an unofficial nickname.

Houston Dynamos is an alright alteration of a traditional European soccer team name. As a soccer fan I would like it to be Dynamo Houston as that sounds more correct to my attuned ear, but if it helps them in the push to not alienate American fans (while also paying homage to the European game) then I'm all for it. Again, it's not as bad as some of the other nicknames in MLS (I'm all for FC Dallas over the Burn), including the great chance they had with the Salt Lake team - which should have been the Salt Lake Wanderers instead of Real Salt Lake (it would have worked SO MUCH better on SO many different levels).

[gosioux76]

the Houston Republic would've sounded stupid anyways because it's a singluar noun being used where typically in American sports a plural noun is used as the team nickname. Compare the Stanford Cardinal, Houston Republic, even the old Tampa Bay Mutiny (all singular) to...well...Tigers, Bears, Lions, Jets, etc. The way we say team names in the US (as in the phrase "I support the New York Jets/the Jets") means that singluar team names just sound stupid.

The new name of the team, though isn't Houston Dynamos. It's Houston Dyanamo -- a singular noun.

[slapshot]

You don't hear people of British ancestory agahst at the Philly 76ers, do you? How is this not the same thing?

I have to believe that the major difference is that Philadelphia isn't home to a city population of which 27% of the residents identify themselves as "British" or "English".

By contrast, nearly 528,000 of Houston's 1,953,631 residents identify themselves as "Mexican".

Sort of the equivalent of putting a team in Harlem called the "Rebels", eh?

[harperdc]

the Houston Republic would've sounded stupid anyways because it's a singluar noun being used where typically in American sports a plural noun is used as the team nickname. Compare the Stanford Cardinal, Houston Republic, even the old Tampa Bay Mutiny (all singular) to...well...Tigers, Bears, Lions, Jets, etc. The way we say team names in the US (as in the phrase "I support the New York Jets/the Jets") means that singluar team names just sound stupid.

The new name of the team, though isn't Houston Dynamos. It's Houston Dyanamo -- a singular noun.

ah! caught in my own logic trap! damn, how'd I space on it being a plural name...

at least it's got the heritage from the European game! [/grasping at straws]

[gordie_delini]

i agree with you dougie about the real salt lake - the wanderers WOULD be WAY better

[harperdc]

i agree with you dougie about the real salt lake - the wanderers WOULD be WAY better

I remember laughing about the name Real Salt Lake "trying to draw on the heritage of Latino people in Utah" (or something close to that)...whereas Wanderers A) draws on heritage that's actually there and B) doesn't sound dumb and wouldn't have stuck them with very awkward-looking Spanish national knock-off uniforms.

[Bleujayone]

i agree with you dougie about the real salt lake - the wanderers WOULD be WAY better

I thought the Rovers would have sounded better.

Bristol Rovers F.C.

[LMU]

In all honestly, Houston Dynamo works perfectly. It fits into the whole European tribute scheme, as well as the connection to the Houston energy sector.

Also, the Texans fits into the whole Houston/commie thing, seeing as how it's essentially nationalist.

[ColeJ]

i agree with you dougie about the real salt lake - the wanderers WOULD be WAY better

I thought the Rovers would have sounded better.

Bristol Rovers F.C.

of all the "Rovers" to choose, you picked bristol?

i'm offended.

[RichardWitham]

i have no beef with houston as a MLS team, i just wish it was an expansion team instead of taking san jose's team from us. and yes, we're all bitter. browns fans, we know how you feel, except that you got your team back. we most likely will not. even though garber says he wants a team back here, he's saying that just to appease us. MLS sadly is dead in northern california. and who is to blame? AEG! they never wanted us here.

anyhoo,, back to your normally scheduled thread.

[gordie_delini]

i have no beef with houston as a MLS team, i just wish it was an expansion team instead of taking san jose's team from us. and yes, we're all bitter. browns fans, we know how you feel, except that you got your team back. we most likely will not. even though garber says he wants a team back here, he's saying that just to appease us. MLS sadly is dead in northern california. and who is to blame? AEG! they never wanted us here.

anyhoo,, back to your normally scheduled thread.

actually, you DO know exactly how the browns feel -- MLS announced that while everyone from the San Jose franchise is now in Houston, when MLS expands in 2007, San Jose will get the Earthquakes back....which is really stupid, but hey, whatever. Should have kept the Earthquakes and then expanded to Houston in '07. So, recap: San Jose moves to Houston for one season, then gets the same team back with different players and personnel the season after. Oh, and Toronto gets a team then, too.

[Gothamite]

MLS announced that while everyone from the San Jose franchise is now in Houston, when MLS expands in 2007, San Jose will get the Earthquakes back

Confirmed?

[RichardWitham]

i have no beef with houston as a MLS team, i just wish it was an expansion team instead of taking san jose's team from us. and yes, we're all bitter. browns fans, we know how you feel, except that you got your team back. we most likely will not. even though garber says he wants a team back here, he's saying that just to appease us. MLS sadly is dead in northern california. and who is to blame? AEG! they never wanted us here.

anyhoo,, back to your normally scheduled thread.

actually, you DO know exactly how the browns feel -- MLS announced that while everyone from the San Jose franchise is now in Houston, when MLS expands in 2007, San Jose will get the Earthquakes back....which is really stupid, but hey, whatever. Should have kept the Earthquakes and then expanded to Houston in '07. So, recap: San Jose moves to Houston for one season, then gets the same team back with different players and personnel the season after. Oh, and Toronto gets a team then, too.

you have confirmation of this? if you dont, then i'll believe it when i see it..... MLS and AEG should dtill be ahsamed of themselves

[cyandlux]

St. Louis?!? The only reason we're even having a soccer discussion in the US is because the good people of StL kept soccer alive and kicking during the 40s-80s upto World Cup 1990. All those players were from StL. It was the hotbed of soccer for so long(...and still is?) why wouldnt you put a team there. There before F-ing Toronto!!!!!!

[Brian in Boston]

St. Louis... why wouldnt you put a team there.

Why wouldn't MLS put a team in St. Louis? Lack of a well-heeled owner/operator willing to pay the league's expansion fee, for one reason. Lack of a plan for financing the design, siting and construction of a soccer-specific stadium, for another.

THere before F-ing Toronto!!!!!!

As for "F-ing Toronto" landing a Major League Soccer team before St. Louis, Toronto has both the "owner/operator" (Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment) and "soccer-specific stadium plan" requirements covered.

If St. Louis had an owner/operator prepared to pay the MLS expansion fee and a soccer-specific stadium plan in the works, I'm sure that Don Garber would be more than happy to welcome the city into the MLS fold.

[gordie_delini]

yeah, if i'm not mistaken (which i very well could be) the san jose re-expansion was on both the mother site and at MLSnet.com. i do think i remember reading it directly at the MLS site

[Beantown77]

Much like the Cleveland Browns in 1995, The SJ Earthquakes retain their logo and colors for a future expansion team.

As of now, the only cetrain expansion team is Toronto in 2007.

Rumors have Cleveland being the other team to be added in 2007. MLS has said that they will add tems two at a time to maintain the divisions and scheduling.

[gosioux76]

You guys might be interested to see this thread over at BigSoccer.com.

http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?t=323478

They're voting on several Houston Dynamo concepts. Some are pretty nice.

[gordie_delini]

i have to say this new logo and name is growing on me fast...in those concepts, i really liked #1 for both the home and away...i hope that's what they look like on field

[rams80]

yeah, if i'm not mistaken (which i very well could be) the san jose re-expansion was on both the mother site and at MLSnet.com.  i do think i remember reading it directly at the MLS site

I heard failure to get a stadium plan killed the deal.

EDIT-http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/states/california/the_valley/13797517.htm