From 1836 to Dynamo

So the Houston team has finally changed its name from the 1836 to the ... get ready for it ... the Houston Dynamo. I quite unfairly groaned out loud when I read that, because the name just sounds so ... ugh, what's the word ... I guess it just clangs in my mind's ear. It kinda sounds like a name you'd give for a Little League soccer team. It also puts me in mind of Dynamutt, from the old Hanna-Barbera cartoons, but that's me just being childish.

I've always had a thing about names, they just have to sound right. I once had a rule that stated if a guy had a name that sounded strange when it was being called out in a fit of passion, it just wasn't going to work out. Well, wouldn't you know I got over such things, so I'm trying to let the name Dyanmo (see, I can't even spell it. And when I try to say it I say Dymano. Dynamo. Say it with me, Dy-na-mo. Sheesh) grow on me. After all, I didn't like Fire, I didn't like Burn -- but hey, they changed that for me -- but after awhile I got used to Fire and now it seems like the right name for the team. I still loathe Real Salt Lake, but I suppose it could be considered appropriate, and at least that city takes care of its team.

The article on MLS.net does a fair job explaining the roots of that particular name and its links to Houston. Houston is an energy town -- most of the energy-related jobs from Oklahoma have migrated south to Houston -- and it has a skewed link to the former Houston Dynamos. So as much as the name just goes over for me like a lead balloon, I expect I'll get used to it. It at least has a cheer-friendlier feel than 1836 did.