houston?

[eebs]

so how come houston's got an mls franchise? i know it's probably good for a close awayday rivalry and all. do all the players of the old team have to play for the new franchise now?

[James]

i suppose houston got a MLS franchise because 1) they are the fourth largest city in the USA, although that didn't help them hold on to the Oilers, and 2) they have a large Mexican population, who would care about it. Plus, it's more affordable than the big four, so family outings are far more feasable. And there are a lot of families in and out of that toilet bowl of a city.

If it works anything like other sports in the US, when a new franchise comes to be, the other team gets so many "protected" players on their roster, and the new franchise has its own special draft to take the players they want from the unprotected lot.

[roach]

the city san jose would not help build a soccer specific stadium, they were renting some college stadium for the past 10 years. they didn't get any of the extras like parking and concessions revenue. Houston has been in talks about being an expansion team for a few years.

the whole team/front office made the move. Houston is getting the team that had the best regular season record last year, that's good for them.

[James]

the city san jose would not help build a soccer specific stadium, they were renting some college stadium for the past 10 years. they didn't get any of the extras like parking and concessions revenue. Houston has been in talks about being an expansion team for a few years.

the whole team/front office made the move. Houston is getting the team that had the best regular season record last year, that's good for them.

Oh, so it's relocation then? There ya go.

[aquaphase]

I just hope they rename the poor team. The only thing worse than the Houston Earthquakes might be the Utah Jazz.

(or maybe the L.A. Lakers)

[roach]

yup, it was relocation. houston had been in rumors of expansion and an affiliation with club america from mexico city. That never materialized.

the rumored team name from the poll they conducted is Houston 1836.

ro"rumors rumors"ach

[aquaphase]

1836?!?!?!?!?! Damn that's a terrible name.

[NerfHerder]

1836 is the worst possible name.

At least there is jazz in Salt Lake City. At least most people in LA know what a lake is.

But 1836? From what I read up on the other possible choices, several others stood out.

Primarily, the Houston Gatos has a nice ring to it, eh?

Well maybe not, but here's the list of the other names as provided by some random blog:

Americans, Apollos, Buffaloes, Bulls, Eagles, Gatos (Spanish for Cats), Generals, Lonestars, Mustangs, Stallions, Stars and Toros (Spanish for Bulls).

Every single one of those is better than Houston 1836.

I hope the naming body isn't as dumb as the thousands of people who voted for 1836.

[roach]

the europhile USA soccer fans make me want to puke up on them. there were even suggestions of calling it lokomotive Houston, or however that moscow club spells it. the "we got to europeanize our soccer or noone will watch" mentality is jacked. so jacked we have a real salt lake and an fc dallas.

[aquaphase]

The name I saw was Houston Republic FC 1836. Yeah, that'll fit handily on a damn shirt.

It also sound suspiciously like FC Dallas 1996

[mere1975]

They should be the Houston Lift-offs.

Or the Houston Launch Codes.

- Mere "or the Houston Killer Humidity Indices" 1975

[eebs]

Houston.... we have a problem......

[eebs]

fc dallas.

'forkers central' dallas. it all becomes clear now....

[eebs]

they should have a proper english team name like maldon bacon factory, beaconsfield SYCOB or molevalley predators....

http://www.molevalleypredatorsfc.co.uk/ ... expag.html

[roach]

it was on mls' page, hidden and junk. the houston fans seem to dig it. if football can have the 49ers and minor league baseball has the 89ers then soccer gets its 36ers. if it ended in a 9, like 39ers, it would sound better.