Cary, NC, USL-1 team to unveil name/logo tonight

[-kj]

source: Cary News

http://www.carynews.com/116/story/3827.html

Fans to learn name, colors of Cary's new soccer team

By ADAM LINKER AND ADAM ARNOLD, Staff Writers

On Wednesday night the wait will be over.

Officials will reveal the name and colors of Cary?s professional soccer team at SAS Soccer Park during halftime of the game between British soccer club Sheffield Wednesday and the United Soccer Leagues All-Star team.

The game at SAS Soccer Park starts at 8 p.m.

Jarrett Campbell, founder of Triangle Soccer Fanatics, said that the team will finally have an identity. ?It?s going to feel like we have a real team,? he said.

The new team in Cary will be part of the professional United Soccer Leagues First Division. Fans can get a preview of the league tonight as the best players were chosen ? including Brazilian stars Romario and Zinho ? to compete against the British club.

Sheffield played the Wilmington Hammerhead, a USL Second Division team, to a 1-1 draw this weekend.

Now Sheffield, or the Owls as they are nicknamed, and hundreds of their fans, come to the Triangle to play the USL All-Stars.

The USL team is in midseason form, while Sheffield?s season has not started.

Campbell reminds fans that some of the All-Star players could be moving to Cary once members of the local team are chosen.

[winters in buffalo]

! I knew there was somewhere I wanted to go today.

[Mac the Knife]

It's the Carolina Railhawks.

Don't have a pic of the logo, but it sucks almost as bad as the name.

I give the team 3-4 years before going belly up.

[HatManTC]

Local paper article

Local Soccer Fan site

[JaMike81]

Here is the new logo of the Carolina Railhawks FC: Cary News

[leggman01]

i like it - very unique name, look and color combo - the logo is solid

[winters in buffalo]

I like the colors. Not crazy about the bird, but the rest of the logo is halfway decent.

The name is, well... lazy. You can throw "hawks" at the end of pretty much any word and get a team name.

[gosioux76]

I'm not sure I care for the name either. But the colors are great and that logo will make a nice jersey crest.

[fonz]

I think it looks good. Very unique.

[RollWolfpack]

Carolina Railhawks??? It's okay. It'd be nice to have had the team name represent the city of Cary though, not just the state of North Carolina.

[Brian in Boston]

The hawk is the weakest component of the logo. It somehow looks unfinished. In addition, the soccer ball looks generic.

I also find it annoying that they specifically reference the Red Tail Hawk in the explanation of the team's name, but render the majority of the hawk's tail in the logo in orange. Yes, the team palette would have been a bit more staid, but if your mascot is inspired by the Red Tail Hawk, you should establish your colors as Blue, Red, Silver and White.

Finally, I find the name RailHawks to be a bit "forced".

Definitely a logo that is better than the sum of it's parts... though I'm not a fan of the hawk portion of the logo or the team's name.

[ArsenalGnnr]

A buddy of mine and I were at the game. Here's a break down of the unveiling ceremony:

[Crazy Train starts playing]

"Well I guess its going to be the Capital Express (name of the old PDL team) again, or maybe the Raleigh Express or something"

Announcer continues to explain the train as a symbol of North Carolina in his best "Whipsnap went his pointy tail, and the beast was done" voice.

Random Hawk noises played over the crazy train/announcer combo

"What the ****? Is that a hawk?"

"Yeah dude, I think it is"

"No way, there is no way. They're calling this team the HawkTrains or TrainHawks."

[Lady's and Gentlemen, Your Carolina RAILHAWKS!]

the entire stadium simply laughs and give a collective "What the hell is a RailHawk?"

Whatever, its minorleague Soccer, who cares.

Anyhow the running joke of the night became the fact that you can put anything in front of the word Hawk and make it sound like a team. (Dragon also works like this to some degree, some animals are not so fortunate, Ardvark for instance)

"Go get me a BeerHawk" "Here come the CheerHawks" "I need to take a S***Hawk" "Lets get some BurgerHawks"

Goodtimes.

[Cyclopsis Joe]

Another good joke with "Hawks" at the end.

The Atlanta Hawks.

Anyway, craptacular name, half-decent logo.

[ucnu112]

I just found this online:

"Not Frank Lampard (jonathan8) wrote,

@ 2006-07-20 10:51:00

Proud papa

Well, the soccer team finally has a name. And yours truly came up with it (in collaboration with wjarrettc).

It's the Carolina Railhawks.

The background on the name: We were sitting around one day, watching soccer (as we usually do) and coming up with possible names. I feel very strongly that a team name should reflect local color. Cary is a old rail town (the line went through, a station was built, and a hotel next to it, and the town grew up around it). The tracks run right by (and I mean RIGHT BY) the stadium - you can hear trains go by two or three times a game.

The idea of Railwaymen (after "famous" English team Crewe Alexandra) was kicked about, but it was decided to be unwieldy. I felt there needed to be an animal involved in the name for mascot purposes, because the kiddies love the big anthropomorphic mascots. Where did "Hawks" come from? It was the first idea that popped in my head, and, upon reflection, I suspect it was subconsciously from dear old Mother Miami (the RedHawks).

From a marketing perspective, according to professional marketer wjarrettc, the name has a lot of potential (with the train and bird imagery and sounds). Also, it's completely made up. A Google search on "Railhawks" yields nothing (or at least, it did). The name, in short, had pretty much everything a new team is looking for.

Then it was a case of convincing the brain trust. Which, amazingly, we managed to do. We convinced my boss first, and let him talk to the big boss. Once everyone was on board, the logo was created by our awesome marketing company Kelly Marcom. The result is what you see above, and I think it looks sharp."

http://jonathan8.livejournal.com/63490.html

[WideRight]

This name, and the originator's description of how it came about, exemplifies one of my biggest peeves about sports branding today: The obsession with finding a name that is totally new.

Of course Railhawks is not used elsewhere, there is no such word. No bird is called that, and it is not even a slang term for railway workers (like Wildcatters in the oil business).

This is how we end up with IceBears, SoundTigers, RiverSharks, and a whole smorgasbord of mismatched words. Is it so wrong to want to associate yourself with the majesty of a Lion (not a ForestLion, just a lion) or the ferocity of Wolves (not SurfWolves)??

I would much rather have seen the Cary Cougars, Cary Eagles or Cary Kings than the Railhawks. The logo is fine, but it is just another original, but stupid name.

Now, if you will excuse me the MLL game between the California CanyonPenguins and the Dallas RanchPiranha is about to start, and it's gonna be a doozy.

[leopard88]

This is how we end up with IceBears, SoundTigers, RiverSharks, and a whole smorgasbord of mismatched words.  Is it so wrong to want to associate yourself with the majesty of a Lion (not a ForestLion, just a lion) or the ferocity of Wolves (not SurfWolves)??

I couldn't agree more. If no other hockey team ever names itself the "Ice[iNSERT NOUN HERE]s", that will be plenty fine with me.

[Mac the Knife]

A buddy of mine and I were at the game. Here's a break down of the unveiling ceremony:

[Crazy Train starts playing]

"Well I guess its going to be the Capital Express (name of the old PDL team) again, or maybe the Raleigh Express or something"

Announcer continues to explain the train as a symbol of North Carolina in his best "Whipsnap went his pointy tail, and the beast was done" voice.

Random Hawk noises played over the crazy train/announcer combo

"What the ****? Is that a hawk?"

"Yeah dude, I think it is"

"No way, there is no way. They're calling this team the HawkTrains or TrainHawks."

[Lady's and Gentlemen, Your Carolina RAILHAWKS!]

the entire stadium simply laughs and give a collective "What the hell is a RailHawk?"

Whatever, its minorleague Soccer, who cares.

Anyhow the running joke of the night became the fact that you can put anything in front of the word Hawk and make it sound like a team. (Dragon also works like this to some degree, some animals are not so fortunate, Ardvark for instance)

"Go get me a BeerHawk" "Here come the CheerHawks" "I need to take a S***Hawk" "Lets get some BurgerHawks"

Goodtimes.

I wasn't there, but as I was watching the game on FSC I kept thinking to myself, "they've got to be laughing at that name."

Apparently I was right.

[agentrygraphics]

Another good joke with "Hawks" at the end.

The Atlanta Hawks.

Anyway, craptacular name, half-decent logo.

[Tazz013]

Dump the "F_________________________C" and the lame ribbon effect and it's a little better.

http://users.ameritech.net/tazz013/CRH.jpg

[js °]

Dump the "F_________________________C" and the lame ribbon effect and it's a little better.

http://users.ameritech.net/tazz013/CRH.jpg

i agree completely .. the FC is forced.

I actually, unlike many people here, think the name is excellent. Its what a name should be, strong, capable of inspiration, able to spawn a following, and has a sense of character to me. With that said .. it was dependant on the logo to truly execute this idea and give it life, and this fails. The main concept behind the logo is right .. but the hawk is completely forced into position to try and give the whole thing a 'crest' feel. its awkward, weird and just makes the whole thing weak.