Name Houston's new soccer team

Many are the times Houstonist has laid awake at night wishing we had the chance to name a professional sports team — no, really. Where would we turn to find the right name? Ferocious animals? Space-related words? Military titles? Important historical dates? Ah, it's nice to see all of the above represented in the naming contest for Houston's new soccer team, formerly the San Jose Earthquakes.

To help choose the team's name, visit the MLS "Name the Team Sweepstakes" page and pick your favorite of 13 potential monikers. Alas, there's no room for a write-in. The choices: Americans, Apollos, Bulls, Buffalos (more on that later), Eagles, Gatos, Generals, Houston 1836, Lonestars, Mustangs, Stallions, Stars and Toros. Our thoughts on why the team can't be called any of the following:

Americans: Yes, Houstonist is as patriotic as the next guy, but do we really want a football team called the Texans and a soccer team called the Americans? Still, it's better than the "Houstonians."

Bulls/Toros: Blame the Texans again — the football team's logo is a bull and its mascot is named Toro. Too many bull mascots in one city could lead to all sorts of unfortunate jokes.

Gatos: A nice Spanish reference, but it looks a lot like "Gators."

Houston 1836: It's historically significant — as you know, 1836 was the year Houston was founded — but it doesn't make a bit of sense as a name for a soccer team.

Stars: Isn't there a hockey team in Dallas called the Stars? No offense to our friends in the Big D, but we don't like the idea of naming one of our teams the same thing Dallas did. By extension, we must also oppose Lonestars — plus, making "lone star" one word really freaks us out.

One name we like, but have a beef with, is Buffalos. Houstonist didn't major in spelling, but we always thought the plural of "buffalo" was "buffaloes" (as in the University of Colorado Buffaloes) or just plain "buffalo" (as in, "Oh, give me a home where the buffalo roam and the deer and the antelope play"). As it turns out, "buffalos" is an acceptable plural form, but it really looks odd to us, and we're afraid everyone would think Houston couldn't spell if the team name was missing that E.

Be sure to cast your vote by 4 p.m. Friday, Jan. 6 (and share your choice with Houstonist if you want — we'd like to know what you think). If you enter the contest, you could win two season tickets to the 2006 MLS season in Houston or a soccer ball or jersey autographed by members of the Houston Whatevers.

(By the way, missing from the list of choices is Houston Republic FC, a rumored name from last week.)