Don't Get Your Hoops Up

Over the weekend I went with Jacob and his girls soccer team to watch the semi-pro FC Tampa Bay take on the Ft. Lauderdale Strykers. I always kinda sorta knew that Tampa had a semi-pro soccer team, but I never really thought about going to see them. We had a good time and Tampa won the game 2-0. It was fun to go and see another sporting event taking place in our own backyard. However, there is one thing I need to address and that is concerning the mascot of FC Tampa Bay. They officially have the WORST mascot I have ever seen. Behold!




Oh, dear. It's giant tube sock named Hoops. Because that makes perfect sense, right? On the one hand, I get it; FC Tampa Bay doesn't have any sort of mascot name even in its title. They aren't called the Storm, or the Lions or anything that even remotely gives us something to work with. We're flying blind. But a sock?! Named "Hoops"? Really? And you know what is even worse? This picture is one I got off the Internet and probably right after the sock got back from the mascot dry cleaning store. The sock I saw in person was not this clean. In fact, it was disgusting. The top of the sock was folding over, the toe part was starting to get almost black from all the dirt. I mean, if they were going for authentic, then yes, they nailed it. It looked like a nasty soccer sock from after a tough game. But really it just looked sad. So Jacob, please use your Marketing degree and come up with something better than this. Here's a hint: ANYTHING will work.