Why atoms?
There has recently been a groundswell of support for an MLS franchise in Philadelphia. Dozens of committed soccer fans have expressed a desire to return professional Division One soccer to the City of Brotherly Love. These fans voices can be heard at such forums as BigSoccer.com, and support is such that a Philadelphia supporters group, featuring several frequent visitors and contributors to this site, is in the works, and will be debuting a web page soon.
Although there is an obvious agreement among all involved that Philadelphia should get a team, there is a fair amount of dispute over the name the club should get. While quite a number of supporters have expressed a desire to see the "Atoms" nickname resurrected, there is also a group of hard-core supporters who resist this, for a number of reasons.
Such differences in opinion are understandable. However, a compelling argument can be made to bring back the Atoms name. And what better place to make it than PhiladelphiaAtoms.com!
The primary complaint involving the Atoms name is that it is "old," and associated with the "failure" that was the North American Soccer League. These advocates would have the team christened with an edgier name, one with "attitude."
Alas, this approach has yielded some pretty ridiculous names in sports generally, and in professional soccer in particular. Personally, I can think of no one factor that has continually undermined soccer's bid for mainstream respectability than the ridiculous nicknames that teams have chosen for themselves. In theory, these names appeal to suburban mall rats, who will then go out and purchase truckloads of merchandise in order to look "cool." In reality, these same kids ignore the stupid names, and adults are instantly turned off. In short, there is nothing wrong with tradition.
Frankly, most Philadelphia soccer supporters agree with this concept. Many have cringed over the Philadelphia WUSA franchise's choice of nickname ("Charge") as being emblematic of the problem with trying to be hip and trendy.
These people still resist "Atoms," however, as being dated, and associated with the NASL's failure. It is respectfully submitted, however, that it is neither.
People can call the NASL a dismal failure. Ultimately, it was. But that does not mean that some wonderful memories weren't created along the way. In my not-so-humble opinion, MLS missed a great opportunity to jump-start its league by giving teams absolutely ridiculous nicknames like "Wiz," "Clash," "Mutiny," and "MetroStars."
This "reinventing the wheel" concept of team names is a recent phenomena. Until recently (say, the last 20 years) a lot of expansion in the major sports was back to cities that originally had, and then subsequently lost, franchises. Thus, in baseball, when the St. Louis Browns moved to Baltimore in 1954 or so, they named the team "Orioles," which was the name of the old National League and (original) American League teams. When the Seattle Pilots moved to Milwaukee, they took the name "Brewers" after the 1901 AL team which, as it turned out, became the Browns.
When baseball expanded in the 1960s, many of the expansion teams opted for names that had been in use in their cities for years. Thus, the Los Angeles (now Anaheim) AL franchise took the name Angels, after the old Pacific Coast League team. Similarly, the San Diego Padres are named for an old PCL team.
Other sports have followed the same track. In the NFL, the Indianapolis Colts were once the Baltimore Colts, which is well known. What is less known is that this Baltimore Colts named themselves after an "original" Colts team that folded years earlier.
In the NHL, the Ottawa Senators are the most recent example of owners choosing not to reinvent the wheel. In fact, the new team has eagerly embraced its past, unfurling Stanley Cup banners honoring the Senators champions of the 1930s on opening night.
Of course, the NFL's most recent expansion team immediately renamed themselves "Cleveland Browns." Also, for what it's worth, I guarantee you that the Baltimore Ravens would have taken the "Colts" name if Indianapolis hadn't taken it with them.
In Philadelphia, there are a lot of non-soccer fans who will have no idea what a "Philadelphia Charge" is. You can plug in just about any other "new" nickname and be faced with the same problem. However, many Philadelphia sports fans remember the Atoms, even though over a quarter century has passed since their championship season. It seems to me that a lot of your work is done if you have that kind of brand-name recognition right from jump.
Why soccer fans are resistant to this when other sports have long recognized it is a mystery. When professional box lacrosse returned to Philadelphia, the owners did not try to re-invent the wheel by giving the team a new name. Instead, the team was named "Wings," after the team from the 1970s. Voila…instant recognition!
Indeed, dozens of professional soccer teams have begun recognizing this. Following is a sample listing of current professional soccer teams who have named themselves after the NASL teams from their respective cities' pasts:
San Jose Earthquakes (MLS)
Portland
Timbers (A-League (expansion-2001))
Seattle Sounders (A-League)
Vancouver
Whitecaps (A-League)*
Houston Hurricanes (D3)
Chicago Stingers
(D3)(a deliberate play on the NASL "Sting"
name)
It should be noted that this list does not include a number of indoor soccer franchises (Baltimore Blast, St. Louis Steamers, San Diego Sockers) that are also drawing on names from the past.
* - The Whitecaps, besides providing the most recent example, also provide one of the most compelling. On October 23, 2000, the Vancouver 86ers announced that they were changing their name to Whitecaps, the NASL team that played from 1974-1984. This might not be surprising, if the 86ers were a new team. However, the 86ers began play immediately after the NASL's demise, and have played for 15 years as the 86ers. Along the way, they have won several Canadian Soccer League titles, and have been a force in the A-League for about ten years. In spite of all this, however, "86ers" never came to mean "soccer" in Vancouver--"Whitecaps" did! Thus, a full 15 years after the NASL club's demise, and in spite of all the 86ers success, the Vancouver team decided to once again draw on the name recognition of the Whitecaps.
What do these guys know that those who do not support the return of the Atoms name don't?
As anyone who has visited this page can see, the Atoms--in their brief existence--had quite an impact upon soccer generally, and Philadelphia sports in particular. Let's not ignore this great legacy. Let's BRING BACK THE ATOMS!!
Where do you weigh in on this issue? Feel free to e-mail Steve Holroyd with your comments, good, bad or otherwise. The best responses will be posted at a later date.