RailHawks newest Triangle moniker

CARY -- The sports world has seen Seahawks and Skyhawks and lots of plain old Hawks.

Now here come the RailHawks, the nickname of the Triangle expansion team that will compete in the United States Soccer League next season.

That was revealed, along with a blue and gray logo featuring a hawk flying on a railroad track, during halftime of Wednesday's game between the USL All-Stars and Sheffield Wednesday of England.

There were fireworks galore and some glitter in the game at SAS Stadium, but no goals. Zero-zero after ninety minutes of running, kicking, heading and sweating.

In the end, the nickname was the celebrity of the game.

Suspense reached a crescendo at intermission, when in an elaborate presentation that included the sound of a train, the "RailHawks" were announced, ending the Carolina team's brief identity crisis.

This strange bird/train is the brainchild of Cary's Jarrett Campbell, who was among the more-than 1,000 who entered the name-game contest and won two season tickets for life.

The name derived from North Carolina's rail system history and the Hawk, a "cunning and masterful bird of prey," according to Triangle Professional Soccer.

"I think it's creative with a little history in there; it's good," said Amie Barefoot, who was among the 5,193 fans at SAS Stadium.

David Villani's first reaction was "it's OK." Later, after pondering RailHawks, he said: "It's growing on me. It's different."

Tom Crichton, director of sports and events marketing for Kellymarcom, said this is believed to be the first team anywhere to be called RailHawks.

It pleased Carolina's managing partner, Chris Economides, who figures it could be a hot merchandise item for his team.

"It's very unique; it's a fictitious character, but that makes it fun," said Economides, who joined several league and local officials at the halftime ceremony.

With the name in place, Economides is interested in putting the RailHawks on a fast track competitively. He hopes to have a coach by "mid- to late" September and has already talked to several candidates, including American John Harkes, a former World Cup and Sheffield Wednesday player.

Economidies, who helped produce four championship teams at Rochester, is a title-minded leader.

"I have pretty good contacts in the soccer world," he said. "And the ACC has a great talent pool."

USL founder and president Francisco Marcos expects the Carolina franchise to succeed overall, saying it was a "no-brainer" to place a team here.

"I'm extremely confident [Carolina] will propel the league ... and be used as a model for many others,'' Marcos said.

As for Wednesday night's game, The USL stars and Sheffield Wednesday might have needed to play until today to score a goal. USL took six shots and Sheffield fired 11 times.

Then down the track came this bird of a different feather -- the RailHawks.