ST. LOUIS — It's been a pretty depressing last few months on the St. Louis sports scene. Well, let's make it the sports scene in general.
The COVID-19 pandemic has touched just about every nook and cranny of sports around the country this season, including here in St. Louis.
One of the biggest blows came as MLS4TheLou announced the city's expansion franchise would have to wait an extra year before hitting the pitch.
So we won't see any MLS games at the new downtown stadium for three years, but there is some fun news on the horizon.
On Aug. 13, we're finally going to know what to call our new team, and what they'll look like. MLS4TheLou's name, colors and crest announcement is just a couple of weeks away, and the excitement is starting to build.
So, what are you hoping to hear on August 13? Here are some things on my wish list for St. Louis' newest franchise.
5: Get the city fired up
At the very least, I'm hoping this event gets people excited.
Given the fact that the team already sold out of its allotment of cardboard cutouts of fans to place "in person" at the announcement, I think people are pretty pumped. That's a good sign. Keep it going.
We could use any chance for something new and exciting right now, and a name unveiling is a perfect opportunity.
Everything the group has done so far has been executed so well, I'm betting they'll stick this landing, too.
Just get St. Louis hyped.
4: The colors red, blue and yellow sure do look sharp...
In a lot of its promotional material so far, without and announced name or colors, MLS4TheLou has been partial to the red, dark blue and yellow look. Now I dig it, too.
I've seen them use these three same colors so much, it seems like they have to be priming us for their use in the final product.
And maybe I'm reading too much into all of it, but the latest teases with the bright yellow lettering have me thinking I'm right.
The colors look clean and will fit into the second item on my wish list...
3: Don't opt for "FC" or "SC"
This is a big one.
Now I'm not going to sit here and claim to be a soccer expert or master critic. Do I watch during the Olympics and World Cup? Yes. Do I wake up early to watch Premier League games? No.
However, I'm pretty adamant about this one.
I know it's the European style and lots of MLS teams have opted for the "football club" moniker, but come on. We can think of something better than that.
The MLS is full of great names. The Seattle Sounders, Portland Timbers, San Jose Earthquakes, Vancouver Whitecaps and the Houston Dynamo are a few. Isn't that infinitely more interesting than the standard "FC"?
Let's have some fun and get creative here.
2: Incorporate the St. Louis flag in some form
Following up on number 4 here... this would be a slam dunk.
The flag for the City of St. Louis looks like it was created to be used as part of a soccer branding. It's perfect. It screams soccer.
It uses those red, blue and yellow colors, has the fleur-de-lis which would be great on a crest and MLS4TheLou has been pretty big on working the flag into the branding they've done so far.
1: Pick a name with a St. Louis flair
Our teams give us something to be proud of. While I already touched on my distaste for a name that's simply "FC" or "SC", I think it's crucial to pick something for everyone to rally around.
In my opinion, regional nicknames always connect better.
Take the Blues for example. The branding is unique in every way. The name and logo have become synonymous with St. Louis, and is one of the sharpest looks in sports. The team is able to draw some inspiration from the name as well in other branding and a long history of great Blues songs associated with the franchise.
I'm not going to say I have any perfect suggestions, but from ideas I've heard names like "Confluence", "Expedition", "Spirits" and "Legacy" have me interested.
I'll even break my own "no FC" rule and endorse "Gateway FC" because that does sound kind of neat.
Just make it original and make it ours.
I wonder if the team would reconsider their stance on the "Ravioli Boyz"?
I'm confident this group will come up with something great. They've been nearly perfect so far.
