WNBA: The Bay Area's new team name is....

[cdubbz]

Golden State Valkyries! Thoughts?



Personally It's not the coolest name and doesn't roll off the tongue. Also can't shorten the name (Like Cavs & Mavs) without it sounding goofy - 'The Valks'.

Didn't think they would go with Sacramento Kings purple though which is odd to me. I thought going with the Warriors colors or a version of it would have been cooler and have more people wanting to wear it.

[bicycle]

They could shorten it to the Kyries instead

[TB]

Overall I like it a lot. The color seems to be a lighter shade than what the Kings use, so I have a feeling the jerseys will be easily distinguishable.

Excited to get some merch and go to games next year.

[Old_Blue]

A really questionable choice, for any time, let alone the present. Richard Wagner was an anti-Semite and his Ride of the Valkyrie was essentially the anthem of the Third Reich. Odd that these associations wouldn't be red flagged during the vetting process.

Personally, I thought Riveters would have been a nice name, one with strong associations to the Bay Area's WW2 contributions.

[Senchu]

Isn’t that cultural appropriation?

[CS707]

I'm good with the name but I'm surprised they didn't tie the branding in with the men's team more. The colors are Sacramento vibes and the logo looks more like the Santa Cruz Warriors than the NBA team.

[HiRez]

I'm good with the name but I'm surprised they didn't tie the branding in with the men's team more. The colors are Sacramento vibes and the logo looks more like the Santa Cruz Warriors than the NBA team.

Yeah, gold is the natural color for Valkyries, it's a strange choice. And the logo looks quite amateurish to me, like a local 80s metal band. They could do better.

[whatisacenter]

Golden State Valkyries! Thoughts?

Spoiler:

Personally It's not the coolest name and doesn't roll off the tongue. Also can't shorten the name (Like Cavs & Mavs) without it sounding goofy - 'The Valks'.

Didn't think they would go with Sacramento Kings purple though which is odd to me. I thought going with the Warriors colors or a version of it would have been cooler and have more people wanting to wear it.

I think 'Valks' is kind of cool.

[BayAreaDub]

I don't mind it but they should've name the team "San Francisco ____"

[floppymoose]

A really questionable choice, for any time, let alone the present. Richard Wagner was an anti-Semite and his Ride of the Valkyrie was essentially the anthem of the Third Reich. Odd that these associations wouldn't be red flagged during the vetting process.

Valkyrie predates Wagner by like, forever. If you are going to eliminate a name because someone did something bad with it at sometime, you are going to eliminate all of them.

I just like that the Valkyries carry the deceased Warriors off to Valhalla. That seems fitting given the age of the team.

[Old_Blue]

If you are going to eliminate a name because someone did something bad with it at sometime, you are going to eliminate all of them.

The same could be said about the swastika symbol. It has ancient Hindu and Buddhist associations. Appropriated by the Nazis, no team in their right mind would now self identify with the symbol. Which is to say that even the oldest names and symbols can take on entirely new and seemingly permanent meanings once linked to particularly traumatizing events or persons. That said, I think the Valkyrie name will probably fly under the radar unless and until either the team or someone associated with the team makes the unfortunate mistake of linking the team name to the song, Ride of the Valkyries. You only get to name a new team once though. Tempting an unforced error, rather than choosing any of a thousand other less provocative names, still seems puzzling.

https://apnews.com/article/religion-germany-race-and-ethnicity-europe-2c28b5892381cd4148dfde5bc4fbb004

[KevinMcreynolds]

I don't mind it but they should've name the team "San Francisco ____"

San Francisco Smugs

[floppymoose]

If you are going to eliminate a name because someone did something bad with it at sometime, you are going to eliminate all of them.

The same could be said about the swastika symbol.

It comes down to how the audience perceives it. I’m betting there will be no Wagner at the games, or Nazi film rolls. If despite that, a big chunk of audience perceives it as pro-nazi, then its an issue. If they are thinking of norse mythology instead, then not so much.

[Old_Blue]

If you are going to eliminate a name because someone did something bad with it at sometime, you are going to eliminate all of them.

The same could be said about the swastika symbol.

It comes down to how the audience perceives it. I’m betting there will be no Wagner at the games, or Nazi film rolls. If despite that, a big chunk of audience perceives it as pro-nazi, then its an issue. If they are thinking of norse mythology instead, then not so much.

So, what you're really saying is that the team needs a Viking horned helmet promotion!

[floppymoose]

The Vikings have their own moral baggage, if we really want to go there.

But i doubt the audience will perceive that as a message from the team. But then again, i’m a different generation than a lot of the audience.

[CDM_Stats]

A really questionable choice, for any time, let alone the present. Richard Wagner was an anti-Semite and his Ride of the Valkyrie was essentially the anthem of the Third Reich. Odd that these associations wouldn't be red flagged during the vetting process.

Personally, I thought Riveters would have been a nice name, one with strong associations to the Bay Area's WW2 contributions.

Riveters woulda been a cool one.. I like the Valkyrie name but had no idea of any Nazi association. It seems loose, more like a weird historical fact. Think it should play fine.. not too worried until a team is the Gestapo or Fightin’ Aryans

[Coxy]

I like it, Viking stuff is cool.

[wco81]

A really questionable choice, for any time, let alone the present. Richard Wagner was an anti-Semite and his Ride of the Valkyrie was essentially the anthem of the Third Reich. Odd that these associations wouldn't be red flagged during the vetting process.

Personally, I thought Riveters would have been a nice name, one with strong associations to the Bay Area's WW2 contributions.

It's also some figure out of Norse mythology.

And it has nothing to do with the Bay Area.

As for the colors, some other WNBA team already has blue and gold as team colors. Lot of the uniforms were clearly modeled on NBA team uniforms.

In any event, I wish them and all WNBA luck, but not really interested in watching.

[Old_Blue]

As much as I hate saying it, the team colors probably should have been red and white. The Dubs' blue and gold plays off Cal's blue and gold. The women's squad could have played off Stanford's colors. Yuck. I feel like a traitor even suggesting it. Roll me up.

[donkeylips]

i like the name, as for the colors, ill wait for the jerseys