During the week, the AFL revealed the nickname, jersey design and team song of the brand new Gold Coast-based team that will enter the league next year. According to
Gold Coast Football Club (GCFC) chairman John Witheriff, the club bowed to pressure from their members and elect to have a nickname. After many hours throwing around possible monikers, the staff at GCFC came up with a nickname that “reflects our values and is symbolic of our home” and “was just so damn obvious” - the Gold Coast Suns.
Gold Coast Football Club (GCFC) chairman John Witheriff, the club bowed to pressure from their members and elect to have a nickname. After many hours throwing around possible monikers, the staff at GCFC came up with a nickname that “reflects our values and is symbolic of our home” and “was just so damn obvious” - the Gold Coast Suns.
While it is true that many people come to visit or even move to the Gold Coast for the warm temperatures, the beaches and the surf I couldn’t help to think about the Suns that I’ve known since my existence - the NBA’s Phoenix Suns. Couldn’t the GCFC have came up with an equally representative name of the Gold Coast that was also original, or at least, a name that was not already attached to a well-known sporting team? Like the Gold Coast Tourists or the Gold Coast Skin Cancers? Appealing to the younger market they could’ve gone with the Gold Coast Schoolies...
For me, the name also just doesn’t fell right when I say it - sorta gets stuck in your throat. In the past the Gold Coast have had the Titans, Chargers, Seagulls and Rollers which roll much better off the tongue. While some might say these names were not particularly original or even representative of the Gold Coast - the names seamed more appropriate when yelling them out at Carrara Stadium. Try shouting out C’MON SUNS!!! See, it just doesn’t feel right does it?
Gold Coast’s new nickname has got me thinking about some of the more recent bad nicknames in sport. For instance, the A-League has some of the worst nicknames going around. Perth Glory, North Queensland Fury, Central Coast Mariners and yes, my team of which I am a proud member, Brisbane Roar. The only decent and original nickname is the Wellington Phoenix. A team that was reborn from the collapse of the old New Zealand Knights franchise - similar to the mythology of a Phoenix. Oh, I almost forgot, the A-League’s newest team has a shocker of a name - the Melbourne Heart. What will happen if the A-League takes a team to Tasmania? The Tassie Testicles? I bet you that team would have very good ball skills...
A quick look overseas shows that bad sports teams nicknames are rampant. In the National Hockey League there are the Columbus Blue Jackets, Minnesota Wild, Toronto Maple Leafs, and St. Louis Blues (named after the style of music, not the colour). In the Indian Premier League they have the Royal Challengers Bangalore (named after their sponsor, Royal Challenge), Mumbai Indians and the Delhi Daredevils to just name a few (for the sake of not listing every team). In Major League Baseball, Houston’s franchise are currently named the Astros - after changing it in 1962 from the Houston Colt .45s! Imagine using that in a team chant!
Modern day sport is all about big business and making money. Team names of a bygone era were based upon things such as the location or icon where the club was based, the team colours of the club or a peculiar / eventful incident during the clubs formative years (e.g. English Premier League’s Newcastle United magpies). Now days, the marketing train has gone in to overdrive and team nicknames are subjected to focus groups and surveys to determine which name will attract the most consumers. Obviously, the name should fit in well with the colour scheme that the marketers also decree that will sell the most jerseys (that’s a blog for another day).
So in essence, a good team nickname should be representative of the team, representative of the area, original, marketable and, not sound so as if it we’re at a hippie World Cup (Heart v Glory anyone?) But I think the biggest and most important test of all of a great sports team nickname is the ability to to shout it out at the top of your lungs from the very back seat of the stadium when your team is down and you’ve got a mouthful of a Four’N Twenty after 10 or so XXXX Golds. The Greater Western Sydney AFL franchise - you have you work cut-out for you...
For me, the name also just doesn’t fell right when I say it - sorta gets stuck in your throat. In the past the Gold Coast have had the Titans, Chargers, Seagulls and Rollers which roll much better off the tongue. While some might say these names were not particularly original or even representative of the Gold Coast - the names seamed more appropriate when yelling them out at Carrara Stadium. Try shouting out C’MON SUNS!!! See, it just doesn’t feel right does it?
Gold Coast’s new nickname has got me thinking about some of the more recent bad nicknames in sport. For instance, the A-League has some of the worst nicknames going around. Perth Glory, North Queensland Fury, Central Coast Mariners and yes, my team of which I am a proud member, Brisbane Roar. The only decent and original nickname is the Wellington Phoenix. A team that was reborn from the collapse of the old New Zealand Knights franchise - similar to the mythology of a Phoenix. Oh, I almost forgot, the A-League’s newest team has a shocker of a name - the Melbourne Heart. What will happen if the A-League takes a team to Tasmania? The Tassie Testicles? I bet you that team would have very good ball skills...
A quick look overseas shows that bad sports teams nicknames are rampant. In the National Hockey League there are the Columbus Blue Jackets, Minnesota Wild, Toronto Maple Leafs, and St. Louis Blues (named after the style of music, not the colour). In the Indian Premier League they have the Royal Challengers Bangalore (named after their sponsor, Royal Challenge), Mumbai Indians and the Delhi Daredevils to just name a few (for the sake of not listing every team). In Major League Baseball, Houston’s franchise are currently named the Astros - after changing it in 1962 from the Houston Colt .45s! Imagine using that in a team chant!
Modern day sport is all about big business and making money. Team names of a bygone era were based upon things such as the location or icon where the club was based, the team colours of the club or a peculiar / eventful incident during the clubs formative years (e.g. English Premier League’s Newcastle United magpies). Now days, the marketing train has gone in to overdrive and team nicknames are subjected to focus groups and surveys to determine which name will attract the most consumers. Obviously, the name should fit in well with the colour scheme that the marketers also decree that will sell the most jerseys (that’s a blog for another day).
So in essence, a good team nickname should be representative of the team, representative of the area, original, marketable and, not sound so as if it we’re at a hippie World Cup (Heart v Glory anyone?) But I think the biggest and most important test of all of a great sports team nickname is the ability to to shout it out at the top of your lungs from the very back seat of the stadium when your team is down and you’ve got a mouthful of a Four’N Twenty after 10 or so XXXX Golds. The Greater Western Sydney AFL franchise - you have you work cut-out for you...
Nice work Benny.
ReplyDeleteWhat about the classic nicknames that dominate the English Football Leagues, particularly the lower divisions...Norwich City 'Canaries' for one..but plenty more where that came from.
Other suggestions for GC team that may be more appropriate than Suns: GC Drug Dealers; GC Murderers; GC Gang Bashers; GC Gamblers.
I'm looking forward to further installments of your blog.
Glenbo
The 36ers is still my (least) favourite.
ReplyDeleteMy personal favourite is the Japanese rugby team- the cherry blossoms. Doesn't really instill the same sort of fear as the haka...
ReplyDeleteAlso it brings us to the conflict that is the "socceroos"...
@Glen - Thanks mate! Yes, some of those lower-league teams have some classics. I do like your other suggestions for the Gold Coast - I was thinking very similarly to you!
ReplyDelete@Jeremy - I did a bit of research about the 36ers and how their name came about and it was a very similar historic reason to the Philadelphia 76ers... I don't think you'll see team nicknames with years in it anymore - very hard to have a mascot of a year...
@Dan - I'd forgotten about that one - but the cherry blossoms is a classic...
Yes, the Socceroos is a pretty terrible name in my opinion. At least it wasn't coined by some marketing guru but it did come through the media at a time when 'soccer' was perceived to be played only by "Sheilas, Wogs and Poofters" (word to Johnny Warren). Unfortunately Australia loves sporting nicknames and so it's here to stay...
They tried to call Sydney FC the 'Sky Blues' for a while. It was a nickname chosen by the members, which is even worse. Funny it didn't catch on then..
ReplyDelete(see Hoff! I TOTALLY know about sport!! Haha.)
ReplyDeleteHaha, thanks for the post Bec. I have heard the name used every now-and-then by various media sources but I wasn't aware that the members voted for a nickname. I've also heard them being called Bling FC but that's usually not by choice...
ReplyDelete