Women's soccer team narrows list of names

A second name has been eliminated in the contest to name the Chicago Women's Professional Soccer team slated to open in 2009.

Officials for the Chicago WPS franchise said they have dropped "Chicago Towers" from the list of potential names. Last week the "Chicago Progress" was cut.

The team will eliminate one name each of the next five Mondays and the votes will be used to influence, but not make the decision for the name of the team, according to team officials.

Fans can vote on line at chicagoprowomenssoccer.com through May 16.

The team nominated 10 names that have direct historical connections to Chicago. Here is the historical connection of the remaining eight names:

• 1871, the year of the Great Chicago Fire.

• Blues, in honor of the city's blues music and the proposed jersey color.

• Massacre, in honor of the Fort Dearborn Massacre, which is memorialized with the first red star on the city's flag.

• Red Stars, in honor of the four red stars on the city's flag, which represent the city's four greatest events - the Great Fire, the Massacre and the 1893 and 1933 World's Fairs.

• Riot, in honor of famous civil unrests that led to many changes and improvements.

• Stinking Onions, because the city's name is the Potawatami word for stinking onions - Checagou.

• Union in honor of the Union Stockyards, Union Station, support of the Union Army in the Civil War, and strong history of labor unions.

• Wind, in honor of Windy City nickname.

One winner will be chosen at random to receive more than $2,500 in cash and prizes including inaugural season tickets and suite tickets to its inaugural game at Toyota Park. Ten runners up will get two tickets to the team's inaugural home game.