This week's collection of whimsical and curious stories will be dedicated to football (which is obviously the only proper way to refer to a game played predominantly with feet in contrast to the egg-chasing pursuit our US-American friends call "football"). The Germans think of football as the most important triviality in the world and this week's newsletter will show that the Germans have also been able to put a generous load of whimsy and curiosity into it.
Pleasing (almost) everybody - As a European living in North America, I have always been fascinated with team names in sports. In my home town of Toronto, we are pleasing a truly diverse crowd: the Palaeontologists (with the "Raptors"), the Ornithologists (with the "Blue Jays"), and the casual Canadian patriots (with the "Maple Leafs"). Across the US, we celebrate the lawlessness of the high seas (the "Tampa Bay Buccaneers"), lawlessness on land (the "Oakland Raiders")*, and even the zeitgeist catching up with some less fortunate names (the "Washington Football Team").
Industrious naming conventions - Despite the greatness of North American team names, there is one nation that has found even better ways to name their sports team - the German Democratic Republic (or more commonly known as East Germany). You see, in the planned economy of East Germany, major industries were concentrated around particular cities and towns. Living in a city that mainly manufactured tractors apparently instilled a certain pride in its population that was, amongst others, also reflected in their local football team's name. Thanks to this naming convention, the following teams have competed in the East German leagues (translation provided by yours truly):
"Railway Workers' Sports Club Locomotive National Railway Repair Works" Cottbus (Eisenbahnersportverein Lokomotive Reichsbahnausbesserungswerk Cottbus)
"Tractor Ultra-Furniture" Sachsenbrunn (Traktor Ultra-Möbel Sachsenbrunn)
"Motor Miner's Lamp" Zwickau (Motor Grubenlampe Zwickau)
"Decorative Porcelain" Lichte (Zierporzelan Lichte)
"Motor Transformers and X-Ray Plants" Dresden Übigau (Motortransformatoren und Röntgengeräte Dresden Übigau)
Given some US sports teams are still looking for names (again, looking at the Washington Football Team), perhaps this could serve as some inspiration.
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*Don't believe those conspiracy theories about Las Vegas
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