Emerald City Greens, Brought to you by Wacky Weedus

By: Laurie | January 10th, 2008

I know I already reported on this in the Daily Dose yesterday, but since the silence from official Seattle MLS sources has been deafening I figure it deserves its own post. (If only to show the mascot I would personally choose, a photo which I stole from the Emerald City Supporters forum.)

Yesterday Kenn Tomasch of kenn.com stealthily reported that he had heard (unofficially but from a trustworthy source) that the new name of the Seattle MLS team would be…brace yourselves, because this is awful… The Emerald City Greens.

Slightly better, but only slightly, is the name being reported by MLSRumors. (Which is as reliable as the name suggests.) And that name is: Emerald City Seattle FC. Well, at least it names the city. But what’s the deal with using FC in MLS names? Newsflash: It Doesn’t Freaking Stand for Anything in the US and is therefore stupid and pretentious.

And the nickname for this Emerald City Seattle FC would be? The Greens.

*Sigh*

Yes, there is international precendent for this kind of nickname. St. Etienne in France are also known as “The Greens,” and the France National Team are “The Bleus,” just to name a couple.

But “Emerald City Greens”? Can’t you just picture the Scarecrow and the Tin Man holding hands and skipping down the yellow brick road on their way to the games? This is exactly the kind of picture I want to put in people’s heads when we’re talking about a game that already has a wuss image in the US.

Ick. Just…ick.

But as the above photo shows, at least it gives us some interesting sponsorship options.

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Emeral City Supporter

If the rumors are true...I think the name of the club/franchise should be "Emerald City" or "Emerald City Football Club" (Emerald City F.C.). Throwing Seattle in there is far too redundant. If the owners really want Seattle to be in the club name, then the city name should stand alone or be with the nickname (in this case, "Greens" is a poor choice since its more of an official-unofficial nickname).

Why do we have to attach the nickname everytime we say or use the new club name? I don't know anyone who says The Chelsea "Blues", Liverpool "Reds" or Arsenal "Gunners".. those clubs are Chelsea ,Liverpool and Arsenal (adding F.C. is optional). We don't need a stupid mascot or nickname tied to the club name if we will be called Emerald City.
PocketKings

To everyone that thinks FC is bad:
I will expand on VictorM's comments... The entire world calls it Football (variations in spelling/pronounciation). I prefer the "futbol" version. But with all the bashing that we do to the American non-"soccer" fan about how this is the world's most popular game, and more people watch the world cup than the superbowl ... now you want to call it soccer??

It's futbol, ergo, its a football club. Soccer Team isn't a bad moniker, if you want to americanize it.

Rick... I agree with you about the city being the team name to some extend. Remember it's AC Milan, Inter Milan, Sevilla FC. But what about Arsenal? Olympic Lyon?

I would go with
Seattle FC (SFC)
Seattle SC (SSC)
Seattle ST (SST) soccer team
CD Seattle (CDS) *Club Deportes (sports)
Seattle 2009 (S09) (like the German clubs Shalke 08...)
or what ever year Seattle Sounders was started. Too bad they aren't starting this year, because S08 has a better ring to it!

Keep all the Emerald/wiz of Oz monikers for the fan clubs.
Lucas

@ Laurie - I would have commented on the levek post but I couldn't stop throwing up. I actually had to boil my monitor to get the taint off.
VictorM

Of course "FC" makes sense... it's a tradition that clearly identifies the team around the world as one that plays the world's sport. FC Dallas, Toronto FC... there is no question what sports those teams play. And if we want to connect with a large number of football (or futbol) fans in this country that have so far ignored MLS, adding the "FC" to the name will help.

In the US the sport is called soccer but the "FC" is to brand the team for world wide consumption. Obvoulsy, MLS is thinking beyond the US borders, and rightly so. Besides, there isn't a serious soccer fan that doesn't use terms like footballer (for soccer player), or "the team is playing great footbal".

Emerald City Greens sounds nice. Seattle FC (nicknamed "the greens") would also work for me. But no matter what name they choose we'll hear from the people who don't like it.
Rick

ok, if fc is no good, what about ac? that just means athletic club, right? Personally, I wish teams were just city's name soccer club rather than the nicknames. most teams are just cities names. milan, sevilla, lyon, how much better is columbus crew better than columbus fc/sc/st whatever?
Melissa

I always thought the FC was a bit out of place too. I'm actually quite relieved I'm not alone in this one.
Abby

That's why I suggested ST, Ian. Sounds better than SF, but still works for what most Americans will call it- a soccer team.

And Brad, the Emerald City name is because it's an existing Seattle nickname. Love it our hate it, it's what we've got.
Ian

'FC' doesn't make much sense for two reasons:

1. It's called soccer in the US, so swap the F for an S
and
2. It's not technically a club, it's a franchise, so change that C and put an F

Problem is, it wouldn't sound very good: SF Dallas, Toronto SF, Emerald City Greens SF...
Blue Devil Brad

What is with the MLS fascination with the Wizard of Oz? Didn't they learn from the Wiz?

While of course the league should try to avoid the financial model of the NASL, I think we should keep embracing those names because love it or hate it, that's our nation's soccer history. Seattle Sounders. And later, NY Cosmos.

And while we're at it, I know it'd confuse the gridiron fans from the other side of the state, but I'd love to see the Philly group somehow recognize Bethlehem Steel - the winningest team in US Open Cup history.
Laurie

Lucas, I was absolutely amazed that you didn't comment on my Roger Levesque post over the weekend. Your "Cleats up on Levesque" song was running through my head the entire time I was writing it.
Lucas

They're flat
They're round
They flop on the ground.

Seattle Flounders
Nolan

It's not like it's anything new for an MLS team to have a horrible name. I can't hear Real Salt Lake without cringing. Red Bull NY is only slightly tolerable because NY/NJ MetroStars was bad enough. The problem, and it hurts the credibility of MLS, is that the league suffers from a severe identity crisis, with some teams pretending to be European, some trying to stick to the good old American tradition of having a themed name (although usually a poorly thought up one), other try something in between with mixed results...the best are probably the least offensive ones like DC United or Houston Dynamo, but it's such a fine line.

I don't particularly like Seattle Sounders either, it's more relevant and better Emerald City Greens, but there is something about it the rubs me the wrong way.
Abby

USE are a local treasure- I love chanting along to that song whenever I see them play. If this is the name, and they haven't been contacted, it's a travesty.
fred

In response to PocketKing above - I generally think that teams like Manchester United use the term United because they were formed by the combination of two or more other teams. Although, the idea of fans "united" behind you does at least give another somewhat acceptable reason for DC United's name (the other that I've bought into is uniting two states - Maryland and Virginia - behind a common team.
jason

I 100% agree with the comment about using FC in the name. I understand and support trying to make soccer names sound more international. I mean we are simply running out of traditional American nicknames like the Giants and Bears requiring teams to be a bit more creative. But why do teams insist on using foreign words as opposed to translating them into English? FC stands for Football Club in Europe. Since we call it soccer, it should be SC Dallas or Emerald City SC. While there is absolutely no connection to monarchies in Salt Lake City, I wish they would've at least called their team Royal Salt Lake rather than the ridiculous Real Salt Lake (which is hard to explain to non-soccer fans, sounds stupid and is frankly more difficult to pronounce). Since the beginning of MLS, I have been absolutely flabbergasted by how bad the choice of names and logos have been. I can't stand the now 2 decade old tradition of concept names (Dallas Burn, Detroit Drive, Chicago Rush, etc. that seemed to originate with 2nd or 3rd tier sports like Arena football which seems to imply that MLS is 2nd or 3rd tier). Though I will confess to liking it in rare instances where the concept truly is a reflection of the city/geographic area (ie., Chicago Fire, New England Revolution). Anyway, the Columbus Crew have to lose that ridiculous logo and Kansas City needs to be rebranded fast. Or how long will it be until the Wizard makes his way back to the Emerald City????
Laurie

Okay, I just found it on YouTube. I can hear Drew Carey's marching band playing it. :-)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...
Laurie

Emerald City Greens! It's a golf course! It's a soccer team! It's a recreational substance! What more could the people of Seattle want?

Abby, I'm going to have to research the song, because nothing's coming to mind for me except the song from "Wicked."
Jeff Bull

Laurie, bless you for pointing out the silliness of "FC" - that's one of those axes I liked to grind (before collapsing in an exhausted heap when the usage continues).

As for the name, Christ. That's bad enough that I'm tempted to reconsider the whole "new home/old home" support plan I have in the hopper (the Pacific Northwest for "new home" and Ohio for "old home." I grew up in Ohio. And monogamy isn't part of my fandom. What a bunch of dudes do on a field doesn't engage intense emotions in my world.) What would have been better? Name it.
Jon

I shot an 87 at Emerald City Greens last week. Even birdied the 13th.

Fore!!!
Abby

See? It could be a lot worse. We could have a name like the (C)Rapids. Or we could *be* the Rapids. ;)

Emerald City Seattle ST? For "Soccer Team", since that's what it is over here. I like initials and ST would make it more ours, rather than more British.

Btw, Laurie, since you're from around here, do you know the USE song "Emerald City"? I want more confirmation that it's perfect for this purpose, if indeed this is what the team will be...
Laurie

Abby, this is too funny. I live in Seattle and have parents in Colorado as well.

And the worst part about the Colorado Rapids? It abbreviates to "Crapids." (I should never have mentioned this in front of my son before the Sounders-Rapids Open Cup game.) :-)

PocketKings, yes, in theory FC stands for "Football Club." But seriously, what does that mean in the US? Seahawks? Pointy ball? It's just silly. If we're going for nonsensical abbreviations, let's come up with something fun rather than pretend we're British.
Abby

Emerald City FC is pretty good. Emerald City Seattle FC is kind of lame, but better than a lot of MLS teams (my parents, for example, live in a state where the team is called the Rapids). Emerald City Greens is just silly, for all the reasons said above. But I approve of any name that puts an easily-chantable song in my head. Really, it could be a lot worse...it could have Real in it.
PocketKings

Seattle FC = Seattle Football Club
CD Chivas USA = Club Deportivo (which is spanish for Sports Club) Chivas USA

It gets really interesting if your city starts with a K, such as: #1 Football Club Kaiserslautern (where their badge reads 1FCK

Don't forget that "United" just means that the city is united behind their club. Like Manchester United (although Manchester City pretty much spoiled that)!

There is also the SC, such as Lisbon Sporting Club.

And there are club names that don't associate with the name of their city, but with something else... such as Arsenal (from the arabic word for munitions, I believe)!

I totally agree with you about the Emerald City Greens cr*p. Let that be the name of the supporters group.
(It's just as bad as naming yourself after a violent police action, with racial undertones, that occurred in Los Angeles). But hey, who am I to judge!