What's in a name?

When I was in school, "calling someone out of their name" as the practice was termed, was considered a really personal insult. People identify strongly with what they prefer to go by.

I first asked Herculez Gomez about his name back in 2005, though a lot of what I wrote then got cut for the espn.com article that eventually ran.

--Herculean Start
To begin with, he nearly wasn’t Herculez at all.

“My dad fought with my mom and the nurses to name me Herculez,” explained Gomez. “He really liked the name. He wanted to give me something strong - something that would stand out.”

"Mom’s objections were that it was very out of the ordinary. But I was the first born son, and my dad wanted the name. She’d get to name the next two girls.”

Gomez admitted his mother’s concerns were partly justified.“I was definitely getting teased a lot as a kid, but that’s part of growing up. As I got older and as I stood out a little more, people started telling me they liked the name. I learned to like it.”--

Having his first name on his jersey is something that Herculez had done for years, so I was surprised to get a general media email from Herc's agent, David Kim, that Herculez wasn't going to be allowed by the league to do that any longer.

I decided to call Herculez about the situation. After he picked up, I realized - well, he told me, actually, that some Rapids players were at his place, where they were all watching the Champions League games. According to his former Galaxy roommates, Herculez is a mean cook, by the way. In Colorado, he'd made carne asada for the get-together. Anyway, as we're talking, Chelsea scores, and Herculez gloats to all his visitors that he called that Chelsea would strike.

"Never bet against a guy from Vegas," he said.

I felt badly about interupting, so I asked him to call me later.

When he did, he told me that he hadn't understood what I was talking about at first because he didn't know his agent was going to send an email about the situation.

Herculez then admitted that the league's denial hurt partly because he felt that the organization was telling him he didn't merit any consideration, when players such as DC United's Fred, who haven't been in the league before, got exceptions.

It used to be that teams would individually set policy - and the Rapids had no problem with Herculez being Herculez. They supported him completely in that.

The thing is, Herculez going by his first name actually helped MLS fans differentiate a bit, because another famous Gomez, Christian, in the league. So people could say, "Didn't Herculez have a great game?" without the confusion that might ensue if they used his last name.

So far, by the way, Fred, who was somehow considered more deserving than Herculez, has 0 goals, while Herculez has one goal against Fred's team.

The league clamping down on this seems to be a reaction to the idea that more eyes will be on the league this year. They want to be taken seriously, apparently, and are willing to snuff out both individuality and team autonomy to do so. It's a shame.