There is a major event going down next Wednesday from 5:30 to 8:00 down at the Power and Light District in KC. The Wizards are the creators of the event and currently have a website set up, bignewsforkc.com, which currently redirects you to the Facebook event for the event. There will be a major announcement for KC soccer and then a pub crawl. The safe money would seem to be this being some sort of announcement on the seemingly inevitable rebranding of the Wizards. It will be interesting to see what the announcement really is, and how the crowd reaction will be. I've noticed lots more negative responses to the idea of being called Sporting KC, the negative reaction has started to appear from time to time on the team's Facebook page as well now.
Really the rebranding makes the most sense, although it could be something else. But the only thing that makes sense to me to call "a major Kansas City soccer announcement" other than rebranding would be the announcement of the Gold Cup coming to KC. Because if it wasn't one of those, why would they avoid mentioning the team's name in the announcement?
For those of you that are against the name change (or are for rebranding but against being called Sporting KC) here are some potential chants for you other than just booing the new name, if this is in fact the announcement. I personally like the "It's so shitty it's unbelievable" one.
I agree -- it can only be
ReplyDelete(1) re-branding, or
(2) announcement of a USMNT game in KC (or another major friendly match (like the Manchester United game) to open the stadium or to be played there sometime next year).
A distant, distant 3rd could be that the USA World Cup bid were narrowing its list of cities and KC is still on the smaller list -- I haven't heard anything about this happening, so I doubt it.
Or it could possibly be stadium namig rights?
ReplyDeletebut yeh, most likey changing to the name to the ridiculous sporting KC.
Did I just read you correctly? Are you really encouraging profanity like the Timbers Army? Wow...just wow. Sorry to say Mike, but you just lost my respect.
ReplyDeleteI would think the only "big" announcement would be rebranding. Have an event to announce a game doesn't seem that big a deal to me (USMNT or otherwise), but I could be wrong.
ReplyDeleteTo be honest, if it is rebranding and the new name is, heaven forbid, Sporting K.C., I hope the reaction isn't like the Timbers. I prefer the Timbers previous (or current) logo, but the new one isn't that big of an abomination. For the record, I don't want our team to be Sporting Lisbon . . . I mean Sporting K.C., but I do want our supporters to show a little more class. Booing and swearing makes us sound like idiots. You want people to get the point that it's not a good name, give them dead silence. At least we won't sound completely stupid.
Seriously though, please don't call the team Sporting K.C. I'll get used to it eventually and love the Wizards either way, but don't make me "get used to" a stupid name.
Just my opinion, that's all.
You seem to forget anon that Mike DOES stand in the Cauldron and does let out a curse every now and then. If you lost respect for him because he's upset enough about the name change to let the team know about it, then you're an idiot.
ReplyDeleteI don't agree one bit about stooping to the level of how Timbers Army reacted. Its the sport we love. It'll still be soccer in Kansas City. If we were the Goddamn Pink Prancing Unicorns, I'd still show up to the games and cheer for the the Goddamn Pink Prancing Unicorns.
ReplyDeleteI'm not going to blow my shit, because deep down its still KC soccer. A lot of the same players will be there in a beautiful new stadium next year. I'm not a fan because of their name. I'm a fan because I love this sport and I love this city. KC sports till I die.
I know my opinion isn't popular, but I'm willing to see what the name is and see how the city (not just us) reacts to it. (almost attempted to go as Anon here, but dammit, I'm too stubborn to hide)
The Portland Timbers crest DOES blow white hot chunks of suckness.
ReplyDeleteIf the Wizards unveil something that sucky in an area where alcohol is served - well, they deserve what they get.
I might not yell profanity, but I wouldn't be able to fake it either.
As a Timbers fan I must say the first thing to mind was "It's so shitty it's unbelievable," which is a take on an unfortunate chant of ours, even though I was watching the USA game in a DC bar at the time and missed the unveiling completely.
ReplyDeleteHowever the logo announcement had been a long drawn-out process. Our expectations were very high, especially because most TA liked the old logo as it had "historical significance" because it was or was based on old NASL logos. A number of the Army went to those games, so it's not like we're being all faux-historical. The owner also said, "we will not get this wrong." Then he did.
Point aside, it's asinine to just blandly accept the new name. I mean, teams change their names all the time, in the US and elsewhere (Hrvatski Dragovoljac changed their name from NK Novi Zagreb to honor the members of their club who died in the war, for instance).
Still, what the hell is a "Sporting Kansas City"? Is Dick's Sporting Goods buying a majority stake in the team? Are you just going to let the ownership change the name of the club to get a friendly with Sporting Lisbon? While MLS is evolving incredibly quickly, you shouldn't have to accept crap.
(That obviously implies the name Wizards isn't crap, which is just an opinion - I do like the way it ties into Kansas with the whole Wizard of Oz thing, that's at least unique, so I don't think it's crap. Sporting Kansas City is crap and that is being objective.)
Good luck.
I think that it would be incredibly poor taste to boo the name change. I have never liked the Wizards name and yet I proudly support the team always. I also don't like the name Sporting. I however do like the fact that I still have a team in my home town to follow and a brand new beautiful stadium. Thank you OnGoal. If you don't like the potential name don't go to the event. Don't bite the hand that feeds you.
ReplyDeleteI agree with all of those who think that chanting profanities is incredibly un-classy. I hope that the KC crowd will have far more tact and class when it comes time to reveal the admittedly euro-poser name, and bland logo. There are better ways to show displeasure.
ReplyDeleteIf Dick's Sporting Goods bought a majority stake in the team, then the new shirt sponsorship could just say "Dick's". It would be a sucky shirt sponsor for a sucky team name. I wouldn't blame KC fans one bit for shouting obscenities at the top of their lungs if this is what the rebranding will be. I'm not from KC, but I'm pretty sure the Portuguese population there much less than significant.
ReplyDeleteAs a matter of fact, I think RSL should rebrand as the Salt Lake Royals. It's the same name, it just doesn't sound like a poser. How many Spaniards live in Salt Lake? Anyone? That's what I thought.
Sporting KC = atrocious