QCS wrote:

Stickman wrote:

MyTeamIsDr.Pepper wrote:

 
Honestly, me personally, I vote for traditional names, I don't frankly care about how Links connects to LA, I don't think it's the best name either way. It's too out there and not sports enough if you know what I mean. There's a balance between traditional sports names such as Tigers and Bulldogs and those far out ones like Links and such.

Yeah, I'm with Dr. Pepper on this topic.  I tend to vote for more traditional names that could realistically be used in real sports leagues.  I know this is a fictional league and we're free to make up whatever we want (hence the LA Titans having a rotating field to share with 4 other leagues, even though that will never happen in real life), but I do like some sense of realism myself, at least for the team identities.   

Links, to me, just doesn't work quite as well for a sports team name, especially when you consider how many other really good names each of these teams have for us to vote from.  I think that's another thing you should keep in mind, we're chosing from a list of 15-25 names per team, there's a lot of competition there!  So it's not like you not winning means your selections stink or anything, it's just a sign of how great this community is at coming up with usable sports team identities to where no matter what wins, we're getting really cool teams out of this.  At least you got Emperors in though!  It may have been an easy pick, but it works great for a sports team!

I understand and Links was just the example I could think of off the top of my head. It's a general theme for me, with names that aren't immediately obvious, like Milwaukee Schooners or Charlotte Firebirds. I think when we have the opportunity to create teams completely from scratch we have the rare chance to create something completely local every time and by going with things like "Tigers" or "Bulldogs" we're kind of wasting our chance. It's not me thinking my names are bad (of course I have a favorable opinion of my own ideas) but I think my strategy for coming up with unique names doesn't work as well in this format where the names are presented without context. 

Right now, we tend to lean on generalizations and surface-level research for cities, and this isn't just related to Charlotte. Birmingham Vulcans was a team that already existed, Carolina Reapers means nothing to someone from Charlotte (as well as already used for an AltHL minor league team), Chicago Cyclones is a "Windy City" name, Dallas Bandits is a stereotypical "Western" theme, Kentucky Stallions is a Kentucky Derby-style name, New York Emperors is a basic Empire State name, Arizona Scorpions is a basic desert name, most of the suggestions for San Diego are military-themed, San Antonio (including myself) fell victim to Western-style names, obviously the names haven't been decided but I think overall it leans on stereotypes and names that are obvious at first glance. While there's something to be said for those kinds of names, I think it would be nice if at least some of them were names that really mean something to those communities. 

Please don't interpret this as an attack on anyone or their names. I more want to analyze how we tend to nominate and vote, and I think it's worth thinking about what the names mean and if the connection is more than surface-level. I believe this occurs because everyone here is from all over the country (and the world), and so we each really only have a grasp on what our own community is like and we simply can't make those connections for other places. I'm not saying I should be the be all, end all of team names nor am I saying I'm some expert on every part of the world, I'm only saying what I believe to be true and what I've seen from this process as well as the AltHL's. I can say with certainty I'm not really interested in the Reapers because of their name and I'd imagine at least a couple other participants here feel the same way about their local community that got a name they dislike. All I'm saying is it pays off to do your research and I think when a local talks about their community it's worth listening. I'm not the only one that's discussed this at length. JamHeronArk discussed at length Minnesota's culture, Thehealthiestscratch talked about Arizona and Phoenix, and newcomer Osgiliath Guard spoke about Toronto. My point is that it seems like consistently locals have expressed their opinions about how the city/state should represented and it seems like the community as a whole tends to go for more surface-level names and themes. Again, don't think of this as trying to be insulting or derogatory, but I do think that we could do with a little more listening to locals and a little less stereotyping and "easy" names.

EDIT: I started typing this up before Gritty posted the final names. My point stands.

Thank you for your thoughts. I think we are going to officially put a moratorium on this topic of conversation though.  I think it was an important conversation to have, especially on this site, to talk about the philosophy of naming teams.  I think to a certain extent everyone is correct.  When real ownership groups have to sit down to name a team they essentially are playing with a plinko board.  Their team bounces from consideration to consideration until they arrive down at their one true identity.  One consideration is local cultural significance.  Of course a team wants to name their team that their potential fans can identify with.  But within that consideration there is a spectrum between niche and being identifiable.  This conversation has been about where you fall along that spectrum.  Other considerations include how it sounds on TV, how many stuffed animals you can sell, etc. Time, effort, and research had to go into each submission and I thank everyone for their work.  The goal of a team name is to appeal to the largest number of people and through the vote our winners did just that.  

With that said, we are officially ending this conversation as it has stopped being positive and necessary because our names are set and we are entering the LOGO ROUND.  

As we enter the 'LOGO' round I would love to help people who have killer ideas.  I am working on my own but would love to lend a hand.  Just PM me your idea.  Remember we are doing the SOUTH first.

Last edited by Gritty (5/09/2020 3:36 pm)

Not to be a big nitpick, but the bomber is actually the B2 Spirit, but if designers want to go with a plane, the F4 Phantom fits perfectly (I live in the Air Capital, we learn a few things about airplanes, also explains why I nominated the San Diego Hornets).

Last edited by ProsecutorMilesEdgeworth (5/09/2020 3:53 pm)

Wow! Thanks for all the votes, I'm glad y'all liked my names! That's five for me now.

As per QCS' request...

Birmingham Vulcans
Dallas Bandits - DrPepper
Orlando Galactics - Edgeworth
Miami Hammerheads - DrPepper
Tennessee Copperheads - Stickman
San Antonio Phantoms - DireBear

Buffalo Bolts - Burmy
Boston Nightriders - Steelman
New York Emperors - QCS
Philadelphia Brawlers - Edgeworth
Carolina Reapers - Sportsfan7
Toronto Beavers - Burmy

Chicago Cyclones - DireBear
Milwaukee Mallards - Wallflower
Minnesota Voyageurs - DireBear
Kansas City Scarecrows - Dan O'Mac
St. Louis Explorers - DrPepper
Kentucky Stallions - Wallflower

LA Sabercats - Gritty
Portland Grizzlies - Stickman
Seattle Steelheads - DrPepper
San Diego Destroyers - DrPepper
Utah Raptors - NeoPrankster
Arizona Scorpions - Dan O'Mac

Last edited by Gritty (5/09/2020 10:08 pm)

MyTeamIsDr.Pepper wrote:

Just realized we have Hammerheads, Copperheads and Steelheads. Are there any more "head" names we could've gotten?

I mean if you wanted to go silly with Boston "Chowdaheads" or Blockheads if you wanna go all Charlie Brown.

I was also the one with the Vulcans, right Gritty?

Last edited by Darknes (5/09/2020 8:59 pm)