Code Battle Analysis
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Team names Tribal psychology can often be used to explain the origin of team monikers. When humanity lived in tribes, animals were adopted as totems in order to solidify all the individuals around the commonly appreciated strengths that the animal represented. When humanity created sporting clubs, they likewise chose monikers to achieve similar purposes. The monikers they chose revealed a lot about their cultural thinking. Just as individual clubs have been attracted by specific monikers, so too have different kinds of sports. Around the world, soccer clubs have shown a fondness for abstract concepts or emotions like United, Galaxy and Cosmos. In Australia, the same pattern has been seen with clubs named after things like Glory, Victory, Roar and even FC. AFL supporters seem to like things that can fly. Specifically, birds like Swans, Hawks, Eagles, Magpies, and Crows. They also like felines like Lions, Tigers and Cats. Oddly for an Australian game, the AFL only has one uniquely Australian animal as a moniker, the endagered Kangaroos. It has two slightly abstract names in Power and Dockers. Traditionally, rugby league clubs didn't even use monikers. This was perhaps a reflection upon the stoic working classes that played the game. When names did come in use, names of foreign animals such as Rabbits, Bears, Roosters, and Bulldogs, and Tigers were favoured. When the league started expanding nationwide, American names like Raiders, Cowboys, Steelers, Mariners, Titans, Chargers, and Broncos were favoured. Rugby union clubs often like to associate themselves with an Australian image. The national team is the Wallabies, the NSW team is Waratahs, and the ACT team is Brumbies. The two remaining states, Western Australia and Queensland, use the abstract monikers Force and Reds respectively. Cricket has traditionally lacked monikers. Although the national team has never had a moniker, there have been some informal references to them as Emus by Australian players, and convicts by English cricket fans. In the 90s, state teams were given monikers in order to foster a tribal ethic that could counter the threat of baseball. Queensland became the Bulls. South Australia became the Redbacks (spiders). Victoria became the Bushrangers. Tasmania became the Tigers (an extinct marsupial dog) and Western Australia became the Warriors. Overall, most sports have steered clear of Australian animals for their monikers. This can be partly explained due to a cultural cringe, and also because the Australian animals don't usually have intimidating sounding names. Animals like Wombats seem to conjure images of fat plodders wobbling along. Likewise, Quokkas sound like some kind of bizarre religious cult. Women's sporting teams in Australia sometimes go for masculine names like Rangers, or Boomers. They also like names such as Fire, Phoenix, Firebirds and Flames. In addition to the firey names, they also seem to like inclement weather, such as Thunderbirds, and Lightening. While ladies have sometimes been reluctant to embrace feminine names, in the past some male teams have happily embraced feminine images by naming themselves after flowers. The Demons were once the Fuscias. The Hawks were once the Mayblooms. The Waratahs are still the Waratahs. In recent years, there have also been some examples of clubs trying to change their name in order to heighten their appeal. The North Melbourne Kangaroos club dropped Nth Melbourne from their name to become the Kangaroos, then changed back to the Nth Melbourne Kangaroos a few years later. The Footscray Bulldogs changed Footscray to Western but kept the letters FFC on their jumper. The Balmain Tigers changed from Balmain to Sydney, reverted to Balmain, then merged with another club to become the Wests Tigers. While the recent trend has been to drop the regional identification, the past trend has been to change the moniker. The Mayblooms toughened themselves up by becoming the Hawks. The Shinboners widened their appeal by becoming the Kangaroos. The Gorillas escaped monkey jokes by becoming the Lions and the Bloods metasexualised themselves by becoming the Swans. In a clear case of identity crisis, the Gold Coast Giants changed their name to Seagulls, then Gladiators, then Chargers and then went extinct. One team, the Melbourne Demons, has recently embraced the traditional culture of cricket by dropping the moniker to become just Melbourne. The need to change names has come about because the original names just haven't been emotive enough, resonated with enough people, or to a lesser extent, appealed to sponsors. In the future, more team names will come into existence as the various sports try to expand into new markets. In the next few years, the Australian football will establish two new teams, Australian soccer will establish up to four new teams, and cricket may establish up to 12 new teams in a possible creation of a national 20/20 league. The choices they make will reveal a great deal about the culture of the sport's administration, as well as the fans that identify with it. Whether they choose good names will have a big influence upon whether they can grow and prospher. Possible names that might come into existence include:
Image strengths - The canines of the marine world Seals are the canines of the marine world, and anyone who likes Dogs generally likes Seals. They have a strong social instinct, like to play and are endowed with courage and agility. So fond are people of Seals that they are favoured attractions at marine amusement parks. Likewise, so much does the American Navy admire their qualities that the elite forces have adopted Seals as their moniker. Headlines - Sealing the deal A lot of a club's image is built through the headlines which almost everyone reads, even if they don't read the underlying article. One of the great strengths of Seals is that it lends itself to clever headlines such as:
Image strengths - A true-blue Aussie battler When threatened, a Funnelweb spider rocks back on its hind legs and lets venom drip down its fangs. A dog raises its hackles, growls and bears its teeth. As for the Blue-Tongue lizard, its defence is to show that it has a big blue tongue. To reinforce the threat, the lizard stands its ground, hissing and drawing as much attention to the tongue as possible. Confronted with such an odd sight, one can't help but think that there is something to fear about tongues afterall. Around Australian gardens, the Blue-Tongue is a popular sight where it wanders along hunting snails, spiders and other pests. But at times they have a bit of cheek about them, as they are famous for stealing dog food. Blue-Tongues grow to 60cm in length. They don't have well defined teeth but when they bite humans, they have a tenacious habit of not letting go, contributing considerably to the pain. As well as being unique individuals, the Blue-Tongue is a suitable name as it associated with the colour blue, which from a psychological perspective, is seen to represent loyalty and trust. It is also regionally associated with Australian sayings saying as 'True Blue.' Headlines - Getting tongues wagging Lots of puns based on blue or tongues such as:
Image strengths - larrikin blue bloods Some sporting teams have found that a Pirate moniker has been good for community solidarity. Some teams have found solidarity with monikers such as Raiders, Bushrangers, Barbarians, Buccaneers, Devils, Demons and Rebels. Oddly, few Australian teams have added Convicts to this deviant category of team names. The lack of Convicts is surprising considering that when Australian marketers looked at the history of the target city, Convicts would have been the first thing that they came across. With the exception of Adelaide, every state capital was built with Convict labour. In total, Convicts were sent to the colonies for 80 years, or the founding third of Australia's urban existence. Of course Australians aren't the biggest history scholars and so perhaps marketers could be forgiven for not being book worms. However, any marketer with an interest in sport should still have known about Convicts as the Poms have a habit of reminding Australians every time the two countries clash at cricket. In fact, the word 'Pom' even seems to be Convict inspired. Depending on who is asked, Pom is a table-turning acronym for Prisoner of Mother England, or a diminuative of Convict inspired rhyming slang for immigrant. Headlines - Convicts make compelling case A team called Convicts would no doubt keep journalists happy as they imagine all the possible puns they could make with it. Such headlines include:
Image - The Bravehearts letting the horse have its head The word 'Highlanders' would probably evoke images of Mel Gibson leading the Bravehearts to freedom. Although the kilts, wee laddies, Loch Ness Monsters and dwelling swordplay of ye Old Scotland are quite cool, cultural mimicry is never a desirable behaviour. Differentiation could be achieved by a picture of the most famous scene from Australian's most famous poem - the time when the Man from Snowy River let the pony have its head. To associate the image with a particular sport, a football could be drawn under his arm, or a cricket bat in his hand.
Headlines - even the headliners must take a pull
Other names Bush - A great place Bushmen - Getting in there, high on every man's agenda Woomeras - Adding a bit of thrust Boomerangs - Coming back for more Cockatoos - Who's a cheeky boy Kookaburras - Just for laughs Goannas - Lizards of Oz Dragons (Water) - Enough myths. Real Australian variety Carradhy - In the footsteps of the Bidjigal warrior, the clever, or hitman, that every team needs Diggers - Miners or soldiers. Either way, anchored in heritage Dingos - One for the babies Emus - A partner for the Kangaroos Swaggies - Gone walkabout Yobbos - At home on the piss or cheering in the stands, either way, the ideal fans Yabbies - Tenacious little fighters Stockmen - When cowboys become men Furnace - In love with a sunburnt country Scorchers - Streuth, it's a hot one! Burning - Forgot to slip, slop, slap Larrikins - Breaking some rules Serpents - Will there ever be a rainbow? Wattle - Gold in the maiden's hair Eucalypts - Strong and sturdy Bogones - The working man's butterfly The Wombats -Aiming for a McDonalds' sponsorship Barramundi - On the hook Cod - One to let go King Browns - In need of some venom Hydros - Turning the rivers inland Turbines - Electric Platypuses - One for the ladies. Watery dream, but careful about the sting Water rats - Native cunning Bunyips - Making some myths Yowies - The missing link? Catch them with a banana
Australian names in use by professional teams Devils (Tas)- Footy Dockers - Footy Tigers (Tas)- Cricket Bushrangers - Cricket Redbacks - Cricket Kangaroos - Footy, league Wallabies - Union Waratahs - Union Brumbies - Union Boomers - Basketball Taipans - Basketball Opals - Basketball
Multi-region names Eels - League Sharks - League Magpies - Footy Crows - Footy Eagles - Footy, League Crocodiles - Basketball
Odd names in use Perth Glory (Soccer) - Glory holes in a gay club? Sydney FC (Soccer)- Might have been an attempt to copy the web address of a footy club, or perhaps creating a moniker was beyond them Queensland Roar (Soccer) - At least the two year olds can have fun making noises Melbourne Victory (Soccer) - Perhaps they didn't want fans to think they aspired to be Melbourne Losers or Melbourne nil-all draw Western Force (Union) - Going to the dark side Parramatta Eels - One for the bottom feeders Melbourne Storm (League) - Dreary name that hasn't taken Melbourne by storm Sydney Swans (Footy) - One for the ballerinas Saint Kilda Saints (Footy) - About as much imagination as Sydney FC The Allies (Footy) - Gearing up for the Axis of evil The Big V (Footy) - For some, a big letter compensates for being a small state Adelaide 36s (Basketball) - Since they wanted to name themselves after a number, 69s might have held more emotional appeal Extinct Canberra Cosmos (Soccer) - One from outer space Northern Spirit (Soccer) - A spirit that just wasn't shared South East Melbourne Magic (Basketball) - Not even Merlin could save this one Geelong Supercats (Basketball) - If Supercats had been good, then Superdupercats would have been even better Sydney Storm (Baseball) - A name that did not take Sydney by storm. Gold Coast Rollers (Basketball) - Rolled over and died Illawarra Steelers (Rugby league) Swallowed by a dragon South Queensland Crushers (Rugby league) - Crushed under the weight of a merger Cultural cringes Perth Wildcats (Basketball) - Feral cats have lost their appeal Nth Queensland Cowboys (League) - Australian names such as Stockmen or Jackaroos just don't seem to match it with that Texan strut Brisbane Broncos - (League) Could have gone for Brumbies, but the American word seemed more impressive
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