Mls metrostars

[slapshot]

I saw this on the other board, but maybe people here have more insight on this...

When did the NY/NJ MetroStars drop the "NY/NJ"? On the MLS and team website, there is no mention of NY/NJ anymore. The team is simply listed as "MetroStars", whereas every other team is listed by geographical name. I did a search on it on the team website, and the last mention appeared to be April 2002.

Someone said the team was named after MetroMedia, whose owner was one of the partners of the team (or the other way around). But some other company owns them, so the "Metro" part would only refer to the NYC metro area, and not the comany anymore.

I checked hqfl.dk to see if older logos had NY/NJ in them, but all logos there only had the team name alone or in the 2 crests (cityscape or shield-thing).

So is the team still officially the NY/NJ MetroStars, or just the MetroStars? And are there any other North American teams in recent memory that just went by the nickname with no city?

[JQK]

THey are just the Metrostars. It gets rid of the Bulky NY/NJ crap, and it identifies the team as being from the NY/NJ/CT Metro area.

[NJTank]

Soccer is weird

[Saintsfan]

Soccer is weird

Waaaahhhhhhhhhh? This coming from an American, whose game called 'football' only has two players who put there foot to the ball! Now that is weird!

[slapshot]

I don't think that the name implies the team is from the NY/NJ/CT metro area. The team could come from any large metropolitan area. In fact, this team name could work in any city where the team actually plays outside the city in question, but in the general metro area (Foxboro for the Revolution, Carson for the Galaxy, etc.)

[sc49erfan15]

Soccer is weird

Waaaahhhhhhhhhh? This coming from an American, whose game called 'football' only has two players who put there foot to the ball! Now that is weird!

Three.

Kordell Stewart.

[-kj]

I've noticed this phenomenon in Aussie Rules as well.  Note how the teams are listed in the fixture:

Round 1:

Friday 26th March

Richmond v Collingwood at MCG (night)

Saturday 27th March

Hawthorn v Melbourne at MCG

Fremantle v Carlton at Subiaco Oval

Brisbane Lions v Sydney at Gabba (night)

St Kilda v Geelong at Telstra Dome (night)

Sunday 28th March

Essendon v Port Adelaide at AAMI Stadium

Kangaroos v Adelaide at MCG

Western Bulldogs v West Coast at Telstra Dome

Most teams are listed by their club/location name.  A couple of teams are always referred to by their full names: "Western Bulldogs," "Brisbane Lions"--the Grand Final broadcast showed the teams on their small corner scoreboard as "COL" and "B.L."  Then you've got North Melbourne, referred to in the schedule as just "Kangaroos."

A few soccer clubs have this happen as well, though most soccer clubs in other countries tend not to use team nicknames for much of anything official.  It generally doesn't happen in North American sports.  It happens, in a way, with the sports that have multiple teams in a city, but usually just a combination of the city and team (LAL/LAC, NYR/NYI, etc).

[Saintsfan]

In European soccer, some team names really don't refer to a location at all, eg Arsenal, which is a reference to the founding of the club at the Woolwich Arsenal, although most soccer team names are related to some location. (Everton for instance is a part of Liverpool) Maybe the Metrostars wanted to go along that sort of line.

[Discrim]

Soccer is weird

Waaaahhhhhhhhhh? This coming from an American, whose game called 'football' only has two players who put there foot to the ball! Now that is weird!

not our fault the name stuck better than run-and-throw ball

[Primal]

I've noticed this phenomenon in Aussie Rules as well. Note how the teams are listed in the fixture:

Most teams are listed by their club/location name. A couple of teams are always referred to by their full names: "Western Bulldogs," "Brisbane Lions"--the Grand Final broadcast showed the teams on their small corner scoreboard as "COL" and "B.L." Then you've got North Melbourne, referred to in the schedule as just "Kangaroos."

In the AFL, these changes have generally come about from circumstances rather than a deliberate choice by the club.

Most clubs are officially the 'XYZ Football Club'. The nickname is just that, even if it is central to the club's image.

The Brisbane Lions are not actually the Brisbane Football Club. They are (as a result of a 1997 merger between the Brisbane Bears and Fitzroy Lions) now the Brisbane Bears-Fitzroy Football Club. They operate under the 'Brisbane Lions' moniker rather than just 'Brisbane' to keep the Fitzroy part of the deal visible (at the time, many saw it as a takeover rather than a merger).

'The Kangaroos' (North Melb FC) and 'Western Bulldogs' (Footscray FC) altered their on-field names as part of a financial assistance deal with the AFL some years ago - mainly (in theory) to give the clubs broader appeal to the public outside their traditional suburban territories. And both clubs would, given the choice, like their old names back I'm sure.

(technically, West Coast should read West Coast Eagles - we are actually the West Coast Eagles Football Club. This is because 'West Coast' isn't so much a place on a map as a state of mind :laugh: )

[Mac the Knife]

They operate under the 'Brisbane Lions' moniker rather than just 'Brisbane' to keep the Fitzroy part of the deal visible (at the time, many saw it as a takeover rather than a merger).

They also are a helluva bunch of nice guys.  I flew on a plane with them from Phoenix to Las Vegas back a few months ago during their recent U.S. tour.

It was a little difficult for me to understand some of what they were saying (I attribute this more to the aircraft noise levels than any accents), but I got some pictures with the guys (couldn't tell you any names) and got some ducats for their game against the local amateur club.