Analysis of VHLW South Team Name: Melbourne

[Will3 415]

   The city of Melbourne is in many ways the second city in Australia. The capital of the state of Victoria has a population over 5 million "Melburnians", making it the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. It was settled in 1835 and was named after the British Prime Minister at the time.between 1851 and the late 1860s, A gold rush led to an influx of population growth and financial capital for Melbourne, which lead to the nickname "Marvellous Melbourne". It later served as the interim seat of government of the newly formed Australian government until Canberra became the permanent capital. It is a transportation hub with Australia's second busiest Airport, the nation's busiest seaport, and the largest urban tram network in the world. More importantly to ice hockey fans like

us are the Melbourne Ice, the Melbourne Mustangs, and the AIHL headquarters. To continue the legacy of ice hockey in this city, I would add the Melbourne Serpents to the VHLW. If the name doesn't sound complete, there is reason for that. Similarly to the University of Hawaii, I am dropping the term "Rainbow" from the team names for obvious reasons. I do love mythological creatures as namesakes, and the Rainbow Serpent of Australian Aboriginal folklore fits right in. There are many different stories of the Rainbow Serpent scattered across the Outback but most have it as a progenitor diety association with life-giving water and rain. When the rainbow is seen in the sky, it is said to be the Rainbow Serpent moving from one waterhole to another. Despite being considered a healer, thunder and lightning are said to stem from the Rainbow Serpent when angry,and it can even cause powerful storms if significantly angered. The deity also have no clear gender with some stories describing the diety as male; in others, female; in yet others, the gender is ambiguous. The Rainbow Serpent has appeared as a character in comic books such as Hellblazer, and under the name Yurlungur, has featured as a demon or persona in several titles of the Megami Tensei/Persona series video games. More interesting is the Rainbow Serpent Festival, an annual festival of music, arts and culture held about 160 kilometres (99 mi) west of Melbourne. Given the association with water, blue and indigo are likely the primary colors. The other rainbow colors would be used in alternative jerseys. Despite having to drop part of the name, I think this name represents Australia very well.

Edited November 17, 2021 by Will3