Nine seasons in, Major League Soccer is still finding its feet.
While it has surprised nay-sayers by sticking around this long, the United States' top professional soccer league has had its share of growing pains since its mid-1990s origin.
One of the league's first mistakes back in 1996 was giving the teams goofy names. Including my beloved Columbus Crew, MLS has concocted some of the most regrettable team names in the history of sports: the Dallas Burn, the Miami Fusion, the Tampa Bay Mutiny, the Los Angeles Galaxy -and don't forget the Kansas City Wiz! Thankfully, in 1997 the Wiz became the Wizards, putting an end to the classic Wiz-Burn matchups.
So it comes as no surprise that the league's latest expansion team has a ridiculous moniker. But nobody could have expected the monstrosity that emerged from the new Utah franchise: Real Salt Lake.
Go back and read it again.
The name is sure to be a laughingstock. No one in the press will pronounce the name right-it's Ray-AL Salt Lake
a reference to Spanish powerhouse Real Madrid and numerous other teams that use the word, Spanish for royal. Speaking of which, what in the world does Salt Lake City, Utah, have to do with royalty?
By giving the new team a traditional soccer name, the league hopes to inspire its core fan base, the American soccer fan, rather than courting the average U.S. sports fan.
That may or may not be a good strategy. One can't really fault MLS for giving the Dallas Burn a new name, FC Dallas, and christening its second Los Angeles team CD Chivas USA after its owners' Mexican club, Chivas of Guadalajara.
But those names exhibit some grasp of cultural understanding. Chivas' owners are openly courting the league's Hispanic fan base, so it makes sense for them to identify the team with its Mexican counterpart. FC Dallas is a surprisingly sleek name that could work in any market in the country.
This Salt Lake situation is entirely different. There is a bewildering cognitive dissonance inherent in using a Spanish name in a city best exemplified by Ken Jennings.
An article on the MLS Web site (www.mlsnet.com) sheds a little light on the situation. Salt Lake owner-operator Dave Checketts apparently plans some kind of association with Real Madrid.
According to the story, at the press conference Saturday to introduce the team's name, colors and logo, While Checketts did not delve into the details of what RSL's relationship with Real Madrid will be he said the Spanish club is 'going to be important in the future of Real Salt Lake.'
Whatever that means, surely the Salt Lake team could be associated with Real Madrid without using Real as part of its name.
If MLS wants to be taken seriously, both domestically and globally, it has to stop employing ridiculous gimmicks. They will only steal attention from the players and the game, the quality of which has been constantly improving since the league's inception. If only the same could be said about the front office.
-DeVille is The Post's culture editor. Send him an e-mail at christopher.deville@ohiou.edu.
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