this is amusing

[calimac]

It seems that the professional women's basketball league, experiencing an upsurge in popularity, is starting new teams, and the one here is to be called the Valkyries.

Good name for a women's sports team, I thought, especially one in a game that requires a lot of bounding around; but the result has been a flood of queries to Google as to what "valkyries" might mean.

Oy. Haven't they ever heard this?

Comments

[voidampersand]

The better name for the team would have been the Amazons.

[calimac]

How better? It's an equally appropriate name, but it has the disadvantage of being applied to too many other unrelated things.

[voidampersand]

I was talking with some women about this, weeks ago, and they strongly preferred Amazons. The mythical Amazons were a free people and fought only for themselves. The mythical Valkyries were "choosers of the dead" on the battlefield. Wagner making them daughters of Wotan was even less empowering. At least the theme music will be thrilling. Just don't think about the plot.

It is unfortunate that the Warriors would have had to swing a deal with Jeff Bezos for the better name. Valkyries being a more convenient name doesn't make it a better name.

[calimac]

It's still a good name. I have a woman right here in this comment section who says "I think it's an excellent name." "Don't think too hard" is useful advice about more things than plots.

[voidampersand]

I didn't say it was bad. Only that "Amazons" was better. Except that it was already taken ... by a giant tech corporation. You have to either laugh or cry, so might as well laugh.

[calimac]

"Except that it was already taken ... by a giant tech corporation." Which is just what I said, in the words, "it has the disadvantage of being applied to too many other unrelated things." (such as a large river, in addition to a giant tech corporation)

[voidampersand]

Yes, I know. Weeks ago, some women friends were talking excitedly about the new team, which was not named yet, saying they should be the Amazons. I said they're probably going to be the Valkyries. The interesting thing is not why the team owner made the safer choice. That was obvious. It is what names mean to people, as enduring myths and part of our culture. When I heard a friend who is a serious opera fan and a sports fan say here's why Amazons is a better name, I didn't just dismiss it.

[athenais]

I think it's an excellent name for the team and the logo is so much cooler than almost all the other WNBA team logos. I'm fond of the Minnesota Lynx, though. I look forward to going to those games.

[wild_patience]

I'll bet too many of them aren't sure how to pronounce it, either. (I'll never forget having to repeatedly tell my supervisor at work how to pronounce Hermione when she was reading Harry Potter to her kids. Thank you, Hermione Gingold, whose movies I enjoyed as a teen.)

[sturgeonslawyer]

I'm afraid they're more likely to be familiar with this