by Keith Hickey


It has come to my attention that the usually superb The Shin Guardian has been running a series of articles asking fans to nominate and vote on what the nickname for the USMNT should be, and whether it should remain "The Yanks". Now, anyone who has read my prattle before knows I'm a sucker for a needless tangent, and the first to entertain any type of useless debate. But this, dear readers, is where I draw the line. We are not the "Rattlesnakes," the "Bison," or even the "Sons of Liberty/Liberty Boys". We are the YANKS.


Our current moniker is so brilliant in so many ways. It's organic. It's a branding executive's wet dream. It's short, memorable, irreverent. It's a name with a Punk ethos and the defiant spirit that typifies American soccer culture. We are not overbearingly pompous nationalism (Here's looking at you, "Super Eagles" of Nigeria and "Three Lions" of England) or forced machismo (Spain's La Furia Roja, Germany's Maschine Mannschaft), we are The Yanks. Everyone in the World knows who we are, and that recognition alone should be enough. This is an insult, a dismissal, a mockery of our nationhood itself turned on its ear, boldly reclaimed and proudly proclaimed as our identity in the world's game. This is a name born out of Paul Revere and Paul Caligiuri, of Benjamin Franklin and Benny Feilhaber, won on the fields of Bunker Hill, Normandy, and Belo Horizonte. "The Yanks" embodies everything great about American soccer, and we'd be idiots to change that.


With all due respect to the excellent people at The Shin Guardian, you wouldn't change the colors of the flag, you wouldn't change the name of the country, and you sure as hell aren't changing the name of our soccer team. This is our country, our game, and our team's name, and we are The Yanks. Now get over there and vote for The Yanks!