Checketts vows no double-Zs

For those of you who had the Salt Lake Brine Shrimp in your name-the-Utah-MLS-team office pool, you lose.

Ditto for any name ending in double-Zs. In the name of all that's Utah, that's a name-brand tradition one can credit to (blame on?) the Jazz, Starzz, Buzz and Blitzz.

So, no Cricketzz.

That's according to Dave Checketts (not Checketzz), who on Thursday spent some time at the annual meeting of the Economic Development Corp. of Utah doing some name-dropping. He used the EDCU as a focus group to get some feedback on a few possible monikers for his new team, which will take the field next year.

The winning name will be announced "in just a few weeks," he said. The right choice of nomenclature is important for several reasons. Namely, it can mean big bucks for the team if it catches the fancy of the sports-garb-wearing crowd.

Heading into Thursday, team officials already had shot down a rumor that the name would be Boom. Checketts added a few more names to the ain't-gonna-happen list.

"It's not going to be the Crickets, nor the Seagulls, nor the Pioneers, nor the Brine Shrimp. It's not going to be any of them," he said during the lighthearted presentation.

If Thursday's applause levels are any indication, the franchise may want to keep the name real rather than Real. Among the name options discussed Thursday, Real Salt Lake — patterned after European soccer power Real Madrid — drew the least-enthusiastic response. It prompted nothing but quizzical murmurs when Checketts first tossed it into the name mix.

"Nobody will pronounce it properly," he said, explaining that "real" means "royalty" in Spanish. "That might be part of the appeal, don't you think?"

So, unless a better appellation springs up soon, that leaves — drum roll, please — these other name-calling options:

• The Salt Lake Glory. "People are shaking their heads," Checketts observed after trying that one out. "Can't you see the headlines: 'Glory, Glory, Hallelujah!' You don't like that?"

• The Salt Lake Alliance. Chalk that one up to an attempt to sound soccer-like, although one audience member said it is too business-like. She didn't tell her name.