It's wise to call new MLS team the Sounders

There's an old Chinese proverb that states: "The beginning of wisdom is to call things by their right names."

If that's the case, then the leaders of Seattle's newest pro sports franchise will be sages soon enough.

They have decided to call their Major League Soccer team the Seattle Sounders FC, a wink at history with two funky initials attached to represent the new. FC? It stands for football club. It's so soccer trendy.

Even better, this name didn't come from any marketing masterminds. It came from listening to the fans.

After much debate over whether to honor the past or commence with the future, the decision-makers left it up to online voting. The fans had four choices: Seattle FC, Seattle Alliance, Seattle Republic or write-in. During a four-day election, about 14,500 people voted, half of them choosing to create their own name. In all, about 82 percent of the voters preferred some tag that included either Sounders or FC.

Joe Roth, the majority owner, considered the vote "a democracy of sports."

Said general manager Adrian Hanauer: "This has always been the fans' team, and it will continue to be the fans' team."

Hanauer can go back to 1974, when the Sounders first staked their identity. At that time, Hanauer was a child, and his mother was taking him to watch the Sounders in the North American Soccer League. Currently, the Sounders play in the United Soccer Leagues' First Division.

Next year, the Sounders — or at least the name — are going to the MLS. It's fitting for a community prone to nostalgia. Seattle embraces its history like few cities. Once you become a part of this place, it never lets you stray.

Unless a bunch of Oklahoma businessmen buy your NBA team and commence carpetbagging.

Before Monday, the liveliest name debate involved the Sonics. Fortunately, Clay Bennett is willing to leave the team name in Seattle if he's allowed to bolt. It's merely a concession, but it's interesting to see how rabid a fan base can be over a nickname.

It's so important to have the right name and the right colors (this franchise will don blue, green and dark gray). And once they are acquired, they brand a city. Lose them, and you lose your identity.

This new MLS team in Seattle may be entering a fresh league as an expansion team, but it now carries with it a Sounders tradition that includes championships and the expectation of exciting soccer.

"It's going to be built on a tradition of winning," Hanauer said. "The bar has been set high by the NASL Sounders and the USL Sounders.

"We want to deliver on the traditions that have come in the past and connect upon the foundation which has been built."

On Sunday, a day before the announcement, Tod Leiweke was enjoying breakfast at a cafe in petite Index, Wash., (pop. 157) when two men started arguing about soccer. Leiweke, a sports executive who stays mostly in the background, was able to listen as the men rambled on, oblivious that a key decision-maker was sitting behind them.

He heard the men debate the viability of a MLS franchise in Seattle. Then they went back and forth on what the team's new nickname should be. "Keep the Sounders," they opined.

Leiweke grinned and finished his meal.

"We spend all this money on focus groups," Leiweke said. "This is better than a focus group. My back was to them. They said whatever they wanted. I'm sitting there with two other guys, and suddenly, I stopped talking. They wondered what was going on. I said, 'I'm listening.' "

A day later, at an elegant event inside the Space Needle, those arguing men got their wish.

Seattle Sounders FC.

After you get used to the FC, you find it is as fitting as it is compromising.

"We thought there was a passion for the name," Leiweke said. "When we decided to include write-in votes, I almost knew it was going to be Sounders.

"We're going to stay true to the name. Because we can."

Because fans have spoken.

"I prefer to say the fans are speaking," Roth said.

He's alluding to forecasts of a wonderful future. Nearly 14,000 fans have purchased season tickets for the team's 2009 debut. Those grandiose plans to build a model franchise are becoming more realistic every week.

They're not starting totally from scratch. They're the Sounders (FC). In Seattle, that's already a brand name.

Jerry Brewer: 206-464-2277 or jbrewer@seattletimes.com. For his Extra Points blog, visit seattletimes.com/sports