I thought Houston 1836 was a stupid name for the newly moved MLS team in Houston (from San Jose) even before the Mexican-American complaints (more about that a little later). I know MLS is in a phase where they like team names that refer to European team names and I like it better than the first phase they went through – hip sounding names that didn’t end in ‘S.’ So we got team names like Mutiny, Fusion, Clash, and Wiz; a few are still around like the Fire and Revolution. Oddly enough, DC United fits in with both phases.
Why is Houston 1836 so stupid? It’s because with the European teams that have a year in their name (FC Schalke 04, Hannover 96) the year refers to the year in which the team was founded and not the year the city was founded as with Houston 1836. So if MLS wants to do it right they should call the team Houston 2006 or Houston 06. Houston 1836 just may be changed to Houston 2006 after-all because a lot of Mexican-Americans are upset that the year also refers to the year that Mexico lost Texas. Why didn’t MLS research something like that?
If MLS is going to change the name of Houston 1836 I suggest they use Houston Rovers or Houston Wanderers. Both names have roots in England (Blackburn Rovers, Bolton Wanderers) and refer to the team moving from San Jose to Houston.
Posted by Michael Sautter 