MLU Team Names

With one year of the AUDL experiment completed, MLU had their chance to improve (& control) one area - team names. Team names (and logos) offer "curb appeal" for an emerging sport. Here are the 10 8 Major League Ultimate teams for 2013...

Eastern Conference
Philadelphia Spinners
The Spinners are the only MLU team to join the league with an existing name. The fanbase they built during their first season assured that the team's name would carry over into 2013. We also like the reference to the famous R&B album credited with starting the Philadelphia Sound.
Boston Whitecaps Bootleggers
Bootleggers are the pirates of prohibition and Boston boasted their fair share. The fact that a few famous bootleggers made good in the end is an even better association for a city likely to compete at the top of the league.
NY Rumble
This name is part Madison Square Garden and part West Side Story, but more importantly it represents the fight in the big apple. New York is a city that refuses to give up. It is a city fully prepared to throw down, to mix it up, to rumble.
DC Current
The center of current events is cut through by the ever flowing current of the Potomac. The reference to electricity is also far from accidental as we see it representing the excitement of the games to be played in our nation's capital.
[Disinvited in 2013] New Jersey Founders
Ultimate was born in the Garden State and that contribution deserves recognition. Without Maplewood, NJ and the first collegiate game between Rutgers and Princeton, the MLU might not exist. Here's to the Founders.

Western Conference
Vancouver Nighthawks
There is something about a nocturnal, predatory bird that's hard not to like. Common to British Columbia, Nighthawks have an acrobatic, if erratic, flight pattern used to catch their quick, agile prey. They are also famous for the loud booming sound they are able to produce with their wings. It'll be a surprise if we don’t hear some booming in the Vancouver stands next year.
Seattle Rainmakers
The Space Needle, Mt. Rainier, Pike's Market. All of these are iconic features of Seattle, but none is as intimately associated with the city as its famous drizzle. This team has embraced the elements and is ready to drop the boom on all opponents. Make it rain.
Portland Stags
An unabashed reference to Portland's White Stag Building and its iconic neon sign, this team name also accepts the mythological tone of its totem. The white stag is the ever elusive, adventure inspiring symbol of Arthurian Lore. It is a sign of great deeds to be done, and we expect nothing less from this team.
San Francisco Dogfish
The dogfish is a shark species common in the San Francisco Bay area. While not the largest shark in the water, it is a speedy, undiscerning hunter. The dogfish earned its name from its tendency to hunt in packs, and we thought teamwork like that was a great qualification for a team name.
[Disinvited in 2013] San Jose Black Hats
The reference to the modern-day tech bad guys in an area renowned for technological development proved impossible to resist. The image of a driven, intelligent individual that can undermine your defenses seems a direct nod to the attack of a well-coached Ultimate team. If they also happen to be just a little unsavory and shrouded in shadow, we can work with that.

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Here are some other suggestions for the teams:
Philadelphia Spinners (no change necessary)
Boston Baked
New York Exchange
New Jersey Tolls
DC Rats (PLS!!!)

Vancouver Nighthawks (no change; agreed)
Seattle Amps
Portland Mane (a nod to the east coast Portland)
San Francisco Gold
San Jose Black Cats (what "Black Hats" sounds like when said quickly)