The Seattle MLS vote ..... Seattle Sounders?

[BulaJacket]

The message that is going around:

Help preserve the long, storied history of the franchise name!....

The vote link is at the bottom, but first....

The Seattle Sounders name has been around for multiple decades, since the time of the NY Cosmos, and is synonymous with the sport in the Puget Sound area. And while the franchise is basically being "promoted" (for the first time in MLS history) to MLS, the name has not been decided. As with the SJ Earthquakes (who reclaimed their original identity a few years ago, and are now back in the league this year), Seattle's historic name can be preserved....by a write in vote.....While the majority of fans have shown they want the name "Seattle Sounders" via the first name request poll, it was inexplicably not included on the final vote. But after initial uproar, they modified the poll to include a write in option.

It's history:
Seattle Sounders on wikipedia






GoalSeattle. com: "WRITE IN 'Seattle Sounders!' "
Write it down: Vote for Seattle Sounder
Seattle soccer: All right -- who wants "Sounders"? (including poll)
Readers still favor Sounders
SeattleSoccerTalk. com
BigSoccer. com: Seattle

So in the spirit of helping out fellow fans....

Vote here:
MLSinSeattle: Vote

And write in "Seattle Sounders"!

More:

It is a name that represents the people of that area (a Sounder is one from the Puget Sound (Seattle) area).

Yes, it is similar to some of the classic names that represent locals and local history in other sports (ie Steelers, Packers, etc in NFL, Yankees, Mets, etc in MLB, Celtics, etc in NBA; Canadians, Canucks, NY Islanders, etc in NHL). And we are in America after all; MLS can be a mix of foreign names and American names. Furthermore, there are already 2 generic FCs already; not every team has to be "CityName FC." How generic and unimaginative would that be? There's no need to wait for a nickname, when the fans clearly have one in mind.

Most importantly, not only that but it is a name represents soccer in Seattle....and has been there for a long time. Sounders=soccer in Seattle. It is one of the few good and time-tested names from the historic NASL (San Jose Earthquakes, Portland Timbers, Seattle Sounders, Vancouver Whitecaps, NY Cosmos, etc). And there have been multiple incarnations of good teams under that moniker (competetive in NASL, and 4 USL titles).

These are all arguments that the local soccer fans use. You don't have to like the name necessarily. You can root against them But respectfully, the local people are requesting help in preserving their name and history, maybe similar to the Cleveland Browns situation in a way.

So, as a Cleveland Browns fan, I sympathize immensely. Even if you are not a soccer fan, nor even really care for the name, I ask you help in supporting a dedicated sports fanbase.


I normally don't do things like this, but I understand the cause, and believe it to be important. How would you like to lose your team's name, history, colors, and traditions? Many of you may have.


It only takes a minute to vote.


Vote: MLS SEATTLE


Ends at midnight of the 31st.

[TestSubjekt]

It's telling me I have to register to vote. I really don't want to have to go through all that.

[BulaJacket]

Registration consists of inputing your a valid email, zip code, and a name.

They send you an email, and then you are given a link to the vote page.

You don't have to subscribe to anything, nor create a login.

It is just a measure to help ensure valid data (and coincide with IP data).

[BulaJacket]

http://www.thescoreboards.com/forums...-new-post.html

As this may touch the nerve of Cleveland Browns fans, I'll also post it here....

(And ironically Drew Carey is involved as a minority owner)

I'll also re-post my posts....

Originally Posted by BulaJacket

The message that is going around:

More:

So, as a Cleveland Browns fan, I sympathize immensely. Even if you are not a soccer fan, nor even really care for the name, I ask you help in supporting a dedicated sports fanbase.


I normally don't do things like this, but I understand the cause, and believe it to be important. How would you like to lose your team's name, history, colors, and traditions? Many of you may have.


It only takes a minute to vote.


Vote: MLS SEATTLE


Ends at midnight of the 31st.

Originally Posted by BulaJacket

Registration consists of inputing your a valid email, zip code, and a name.

They send you an email, and then you are given a link to the vote page.

You don't have to subscribe to anything, nor create a login.

It is just a measure to help ensure valid data (and coincide with IP data).

[BulaJacket]

Pitch Invasion » Lead Story » Seattle Speaks: The Case for the Sounders

Seattle Speaks: The Case for the Sounders
By Max J. Rosenthal • Mar 30th, 2008 • Category: Lead Story • one response


Last week, we reported that MLS had balked at the idea of offering the name Sounders as one of the choices in the online poll to pick the name of Seattle’s new MLS team. Fan pressure, though, seems to have contributed to a decision to allow a write-in choice, and a movement has started for Sounders as the choice.

A conversation with a Seattle soccer fan should be familiar to supporters worldwide. There is much use of terms like “tradition” and “history,” and most invoke the same vivid memories, dating back four decades in some cases, of ludicrous attachment and childhoods immersed in ticket stubs and team memorabilia. The sense of community, even between generations, is palpable, and it is all tied together with the Seattle Sounders name.

Even with the vagaries of American pro soccer, which have seen the Sounders history bounce between leagues, the continuity is clear in the minds of the fans. Younger First Division (USL-1) Sounders supporters like Clayton Hanson, who know the NASL only through websites and bar stories, still see those teams as their own.

According to him, “because of the name, the colors and the bits of institutional continuity, I could put myself in the shoes of some other anonymous schmo watching the NASL Sounders advance to the Soccer Bowl to face Pele and the Cosmos.”

This sense of history isn’t unique in American sports, but in American soccer it is nearly nonexistent and something to be prized on that basis alone. Sounders, as MLS would have it, is a name and (more importantly) brand with a fixed context.

But the clear message from Seattle fans is that, in the words of David Falk, operator of the Goal Seattle website, Sounders “is the only name that represents soccer in Seattle.” The community, history, and civic pride go along with the name in all of its uses, from the NASL days forward. In the words of lifelong Seattle soccer fan Jared Hooper, “If you take away our name, you are asking fans to archive decades of memories.”

Many fans also see the pro-Sounders effort as a campaign on behalf of fans across the league as well as in MLS. Sons of Ben president Bryan James has urged his members to vote for the name in solidarity, saying:

And Sean, one of the leaders of Seattle’s Emerald City Supporters, emphasized the importance of the fight for future markets entering the league:

Such are the reasons that Seattle fans have campaigned for MLS to bring the Sounders name along with the USL team’s owners and players. Particularly on fan sites like BigSoccer, Seattle fans have been urging locals and soccer fans across the country to cast write-in votes for Seattle Sounders. Sixteen hours into the voting, which started on Thursday morning, the poll had registered 6,300 votes from across the country.

There is no indication as to which name has the upper hand, though certainly the campaign has been noticed. During last night’s MLS First Kick broadcast, commissioner Don Garber acknowledged the support that Sounders had recieved and mentioned the write-in option on the team’s vote, almost a first among official statements on the poll.

Says David Falk of the vote: “This is a write-in vote for “Seattle Sounders,” but it would also send a loud message to Don Garber and MLS owners that fans matter, and that our country has a tradition in this sport before MLS that they need not avoid or ignore.” He is right, and Sounders is the correct choice for the city and the league.

[BulaJacket]

Pitch Invasion » American soccer » Seattle MLS: A Local Club or a Global Brand?

[TestSubjekt]

K. You got your vote for Sounders.

[House of Steel]

Voted write-in SEATTLE SOUNDERS!!! . I hope Seattle exempt me from spitting in my food since I am a Steelers Fan willing to help the cause for the fans of Seattle .

[slagonia]

Originally Posted by BulaJacket

Registration consists of inputing your a valid email, zip code, and a name.

They send you an email, and then you are given a link to the vote page.

You don't have to subscribe to anything, nor create a login.

It is just a measure to help ensure valid data (and coincide with IP data).

I'm not giving them that kind of information.

But I'll write-in vote here for the Squirels.

[BulaJacket]

Originally Posted by slagonia

I'm not giving them that kind of information.

But I'll write-in vote here for the Squirels.

Heck, probably the only thing that needs to be truly valid is the email.


Anyway, thanks to those who did help.

I am sure that echos the Sounder fans.

And as a Browns fan, who briefly had our history messed with, I can assure you it means alot.