The KC Wizards are preparing to re-brand. A "Major Kansas City Soccer Announcement" page on Facebook has been set-up to promote the event, which will take place November 17.
The rumour is Sporting Kansas, which is cringe-inducing horrible. Not Real Salt Lake bad, but up there.
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The Wizards owners (and I'll tell you right now I'm just going to keep calling them the Wizards) apparently feels that they need a fresh start before making the move into their shiny new stadium. Apparently that means, if the rumours are true, re-naming the team in the same way that you name house league teams -- after someone more famous. The very first hockey team I played for was called the Kings. We played in a four team league on Wednesday nights against the Leafs, Canadiens and Bruins - no, I'm not sure why the Kings were included in that mix either. That's what Real Salt Lake and Sporting Kansas seem like to me.
As I've written before I might have cancelled my tickets if TFC had ended up being named Inter Toronto FC as was rumoured. No, really.
I've also written a defence of North American nicknames like the Wizards. Yes, they are a little cheeseball, but they are cheeseball names that have been attached to teams for a significant amount of time. Is Whitecaps really much better than Wizards? No, but I would lose my mind if Vancouver tried to re-brand the 'Caps and I'm not even a 'Caps fan. Why? Simple -- because Whitecaps is just what they are and always should be.
And so it is with KC. The Wiz forever!
(Although Kansas City City would be fun)
- Duane