Team names

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XFLGUY
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Team names

Post by XFLGUY »

So it’s clear this topic has been a point of contention for almost all of us here. However, this particular topic is about those names we absolutely DONT want to see in general for the league or for our preferred team. What are some examples of team names that in your opinion sound sorta old XFL’ish, or bush league, or just second rate as compared to other names that we all might consider to have a more polished professional ring to them?
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LeoNY
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Re: Team names

Post by LeoNY »

Anything that sounds like a lesser version or a knock off of other teams in the local market.

I personally don’t want any Sea references with Seattle. No sea serpents or anything like that.

No Cowboy knockoffs with Dallas. No Ram like names for St. Louis. I don’t want any pirate associations with Tampa.

Establish your own identities.
greensoup
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Re: Team names

Post by greensoup »

my take is that the names really need to be local in order to stick. a name like "surge" or "force" is generic and can work anywhere - why should fans in a particular city be attracted to that? The most memorable team names all seem to stem from the geography of their host region. The Patriots are a Boston team, and that makes sense. The 49ers are in San Francisco, of course. The Panthers still feels generic to me.
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Firecop
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Re: Team names

Post by Firecop »

In the past, Seattle teams have been themed around several factors. 1) the sea, as in Seahawks, Mariners, Pilots, and Sounders 2) the weather, as in Reign and Storm 3) aeronautics, as in Bombers, Supersonics, and Pilots. A couple have been pretty cool such as Totems, Rainiesr and to a much lesser extent Metropolitans. Now Seattle is pretty much known for Microsoft, coffee,telecommunications, and grunge music. So, historically speaking there was the big Seattle fire, mudflats, lumber/timber, and shipping. I guess you could go with something like the Seattle Stevedores, that at least would be historical.
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XFLGUY
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Re: Team names

Post by XFLGUY »

Mmm, how about the Seattle Nirvanas lol..?
Seriously though I always thought the Seattle Steelheads was a pretty cool name.

I do get the reason and sentiment for local flair for names which is why I really like the idea of naming St. Louis the Stallions.
MGB01
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Re: Team names

Post by MGB01 »

Firecop wrote: Wed Aug 14, 2019 9:08 pm In the past, Seattle teams have been themed around several factors. 1) the sea, as in Seahawks, Mariners, Pilots, and Sounders 2) the weather, as in Reign and Storm 3) aeronautics, as in Bombers, Supersonics, and Pilots. A couple have been pretty cool such as Totems, Rainiesr and to a much lesser extent Metropolitans. Now Seattle is pretty much known for Microsoft, coffee,telecommunications, and grunge music. So, historically speaking there was the big Seattle fire, mudflats, lumber/timber, and shipping. I guess you could go with something like the Seattle Stevedores, that at least would be historical.
I always wondered how Seattle Timberwolves was supposed to get over: "Yeah it's still a fairly fresh wound, but let's bring an IFL team to Seattle, and after a year we'll change the branding of the team (originally the Kent Predators) to Seattle, and the name of another NBA team. BRILLIANT!"

On that note wonder if Seattle Kings (the would-be precursor to the Seahawks) would warrant another try. Sure, brings back memories of the quashed attempt to bring the NBA back, but also checks all the boxes in terms of local themes: named for College and Pro Football HOFer/UW star Hugh McIlhenny, CenturyLink is on the grounds of the Kingdome/King County Stadium. Also would be a nod to the former King Broadcast Co. I'd get a kick out of digging up that Sacto-turned-Seattle Kings logo that was making the rounds a few years back only themed for the XFL
XFLInSTL
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Re: Team names

Post by XFLInSTL »

LeoNY wrote: Wed Aug 14, 2019 6:10 pm Anything that sounds like a lesser version or a knock off of other teams in the local market.

I personally don’t want any Sea references with Seattle. No sea serpents or anything like that.

No Cowboy knockoffs with Dallas. No Ram like names for St. Louis. I don’t want any pirate associations with Tampa.

Establish your own identities.
Hard to establish your own identity in Tampa when there's a damn pirate ship in one of your endzones.
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Firecop
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Re: Team names

Post by Firecop »

I forgot about the Kings ownership group. They tried for both an NFL and later NBA team if I remember. Guess Kings would also work for King Salmon as well.
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jcestl
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Re: Team names

Post by jcestl »

XFLGUY wrote: Thu Aug 15, 2019 1:09 am Mmm, how about the Seattle Nirvanas lol..?
Seriously though I always thought the Seattle Steelheads was a pretty cool name.

I do get the reason and sentiment for local flair for names which is why I really like the idea of naming St. Louis the Stallions.
And again, what’s with the Stallions name?? I thought the idea was to be original and professional sounding with strong ties (if possible) to the region….historically or otherwise. Can someone please explain to me what Stallions has to do with St Louis in any way? Other than being the planned name for the failed NFL expansion team and the proposed name for the Patriots had they made the move to St Louis, I see absolutely NO connection at all. In the first place, why would anyone want to be reminded of the snub the NFL perpetrated on St Louis? I think (at least for now) there’s a lot of anti-NFL sentiment in St Louis. Secondly, talk about an overused mascot!! Why not be the Wildcats or something (no offense to Wildcat fans out there) but come on. Recycled doesn’t even begin to describe Stallions. If someone can explain to me what Stallions has to do with St Louis, I’m all ears. Did herds of stallions roam free through the wide open plains of St Louis in the past…..um….no. No plains around St Louis at any point in history. And don’t tell me it’s a reference the Clydesdales. I also very much dislike that name although I will admit it at least has some ties to St Louis through A-B. But co-opting a corporate symbol? I think they can do better than that. In case you didn’t know, the Clydesdales are geldings. I don’t know about you, but naming a football team after a castrated horse doesn’t sound like an effective marketing plan. So, by definition, the A-B Clydesdales are not stallions since a stallion by definition still has his junk. There’s alliteration. That’s about all Stallions has going for it. What it has going against it greatly outweighs that. And, it definitely sounds bush league to me. (my opinion). I’ve asked a bunch of people to explain to me how stallions relates to St Louis. All I’ve ever gotten was blank stares and…”it doesn’t”
Anyway….sorry about the rant…but come on!!
Names I’ve heard for St Louis that’d at least relate to the city somehow:
Guardians, Sentinels, Pioneers, Explorers, Crusaders (I know that’ll never fly in today’s PC world) there’s others.
I’ve always been partial to Ironclads. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City-class_ironclad
Armored warships that battled up and down the Mississippi (and elsewhere) during the Civil War. Many of them designed by James Eads (also the designer of the famous Eads Bridge – at the time of it’s construction, the longest in the world) and built at the Carondelet Marine Ways in St Louis.
Enough about St Louis.
I personally am not a fan of most singular names or abstract names. I prefer persons, places and things. Nouns, not so much verbs, adjectives etc. Fury, Rage etc ….meh.
I’m not really in a position to make informed decisions about other city’s team names, but I like LA Mammoths, I think Galleons is a cool idea for Tampa. Seattle Emeralds maybe. Dallas Drivers works for me. Houston (maybe we borrow from AAF here) and go with Apollos. New York….Liberties? I dunno. Washington (I’m gonna break my own rules here) and go with DC Power
But back to original idea of this thread. I prefer more old school name ideas. People, places and things. Not a fan of singular…Wild, Force, Fury etc.

Let’s all hope the XFL does a great job with these names. The best part of getting the names out is that we can stop the bickering amongst ourselves about what will make a good (or bad) name. But then again, I guess once the names finally do come out we can start complaining about the choices they made.
Oh well….let’s play some football!
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Firecop
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Re: Team names

Post by Firecop »

Just for clarification, isn't the correct word Drovers not Drivers???? Perhaps they are used interchangeably.
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