Getting names right

One of the most important parts of preparing for a broadcast is researching how to pronounce everybody's name. Not just the starters; you have to know subs, reserves, coaches, trainers, and officials. I can't tell you how much time goes into trying to get names right ahead of time. Announcers read game notes, talk directly to club communications representatives, sound names out with each other, and try to make sure they're on the same page. Inevitably, however, we miss some, and it's one of the most embarrassing things that can happen when you realize the mistake.

I was calling the Disney Pro Soccer Classic this year, and we urged fans to interact with us via Twitter with comments, suggestions, and questions. Well, somebody corrected my pronunciation of Ashton Morgan, and I'm forever indebted to that gentleman!

One of the toughest parts of pronunciations is allowing for individual choices. English and American accents, for example, treat some names differently, and this crops up a lot with Hispanic names (Pérez, Martínez, etc.) Other players have become so Anglicized that they don't pronounce their names as their native compatriots would. For example, Jean Alexandre chose to go by "Gene Alexander," even though the French/Haitian pronunciation would be much different. Now that he's gone to "Jean-Marc," I'm hoping he's back to Haitian pronunciation, but I'm not sure.

The best device I've yet seen for this came last year, when Vancouver's communications department had an audio file of each player saying his own name. Can't get much clearer than that, right? Unfortunately, it still was confusing. In French, when a word begins with a vowel sound, the last consonant of the previous word is elided. So saying "Eric Hassli" in French makes the word "Hassli" sound different than when it's said alone, as it often is during a telecast. Still, hearing it from the players themselves was extremely helpful.

My favorite pronunciation story comes from Houston defender Andre Hainault. Try to follow this: When he arrived in 2009, players and coaches were calling him Andrew, but Canadian rosters listed his name as André. So we asked him, and he said his (English-speaking) mother calls him Andrew, so it was OK for him, too. Everybody pronounced his (French-speaking) father's last name HAY-nalt (not the French pronounciation), so we went with the Anglicized version. Seven months later, during an interview before a playoff game, he introduced himself as Andrew HAY-no, dropping the "lt" from the end of his last name. Apparently, that was the real pronounciation. I gave him a hard time and made the change for 2010.

Yet another year later, after the 2011 media guide had already gone to print, he informed me that he wanted to go by Andre instead of Andrew (but I could still call him Andrew.) To make things more confusing, he said there is no accent on the "e" in Andre on his birth certificate, so he spells it Andre rather than André. I've lost track of what FIFA, Canada, MLS, Elias, and Opta call him - probably a different name for each one!

Below you will find a list of MLS player names I have heard mispronounced on-air or (on only a few occasions, I think) have mispronounced myself. At the bottom are some I still don't know. Let me know if I've got one wrong or chime in with your own uncertain pronunciation!

Tm.	Player	Name	CORRECT	Incorrect
CLB	Bernardo Añor	Añor	ah-NYOR	AH-nor
MTL	Davy Arnaud	Arnaud	AR-no	AR-nawd
VAN	Etienne Barbara	Barbara	bar-BARR-uh	Barbara
HOU	Will Bruin	Bruin	BREW-in	broon
KC	Julio Cesar	Julio	JOOL-ee-oh	HOOL-ee-oh
COL	Steward Céus	Céus	SAY-oose	Soose
VAN	Davide Chiumiento	Davide	DAH-vee-day	David
NY	Wilman Conde	Conde	CON-day	CON-dee
KC	Bobby Convey	Convey	CON-vee	CON-vay
VAN	Jun Marques Davidson	Marques	Marcus	Marquez
DC	Nick DeLeon	DeLeon	DAY-lay-ohn	duh-LAY-onn
DC	Dwayne De Rosario	De Rosario	dee roh-ZAIR-ee-oh	day roh-ZAR-ee-oh
NE	Benny Feilhaber	Feilhaber	FAIL-hah-ber	FAIL-hay-ber
CLB	Kevan George	Kevan	KEE-vonn	Kevin / kuh-VONN
SEA	Michael Gspurning	Gspurning	guh-SHPOOR-ning	Spurning
HOU	Andre Hainault	Hainault	Hay-no	HAY-nalt
VAN	Eric Hassli	Hassli	OSS-lee	HASS-lee
TFC	Doneil Henry	Doneil	duh-NEAL	don-YELL
SEA	Patrick Ianni	Ianni	ee-AHN-ee	eye-AHN-ee
FCD	Ugo Ihemelu	Ugo	OO-go	YOU-go
CHV	Ante Jazic	Jazic	JAZZ-ick	JAH-zich
SEA	Adam Johansson	Johansson	yo-HAHN-sun	jo-HAHN-sun
TFC	Milos Kocic	Kocic	KOH-sich	KOH-sick
SEA	Roger Levesque	Levesque	luh-VECK	lev-es-cue
TFC	Keith Makubuya	Makubuya	muh-KOO-bee-uh	MACK-uh-BOO-yuh
PHI	Josué Martinez	Josué	hoh-soo-WAY	Jose
PHI	Josué Martinez	Martinez	mar-TEEN-ez	MARTIN-ez
COL	Pablo Mastroeni	Mastroeni	mass-tro-ENN-ee	MASS-tree-ahn-ee
TFC	Ashtone Morgan	Ashtone	Ashton	ASH-toan
PHI	Danny Mwanga	Mwanga	muh-WONG-uh	muh-WANG-uh
MTL/NE	Sanna/Sainey Nyassi	Nyassi	nye-AH-see	nee-AH-see
HOU	Oscar Recio	Recio	REH-see-oh	reh-SEE-oh
POR	Lovel Palmer	Lovel	LUH-vell	luh-VELL / LUV-ull
FCD	Blas Pérez	Pérez	PEAR-ezz	puh-REZ
TFC	Joao Plata	Joao	JO-ow	rhymes w. wow
NE	Tyler Polak	Polak	pole-ock	Pollock
COL	Martín Rivero	Martín	mar-TEEN	MAR-tin
VAN	Alain Rochat	Rochat	roe-SHOT	roe-SHAY
KC	Seth Sinovic	Sinovic	si-NOH-vick	si-NOH-vich / SIN-oh-vick
RSL	Álvaro Saborío	Saborío	sah-boh-REE-oh	suh-BOOR-ee-oh
SEA	Christian Sivebaek	Sivebaek	SEE-veh-beck	SIVE-bye-eck
NY	Teemu Tainio	Tainio	TAIN-ee-oh	tye-EE-nee-oh
VAN	Russell Teibert	Teibert	TYE-bert	Tee-bert
RSL	Sebastian Velasquez	Velasquez	vuh-LASS-qwez	vuh-LASS-kez
FCD	Ricardo Villar	Villar	VEE-lar	vee-YAR
PHI	Sheanon Williams	Sheanon	SHANE-in	Shannon
SJ	Chris Wondolowski	Wondolowski	WAN-duh-LAO-skee	WAN-duh-LOFF-skee

Finally, here are some I often wonder about but haven't settled.

Tm.	Player	Name	Options
TFC	Eric Avila	Avila	AH-vee-luh or ah-VEE-luh? depends on A vs. Á
SJ	Jean-Marc Alexandre	Jean-Marc	Jhawn (French) or Gene?
SJ	Jean-Marc Alexandre	Alexandre	aleg-ZAHn-druh or Alexander?
FCD	Jair Benitez	Jair	JYE-eer or HI-eer? (also applies to Jair Marrufo)
POR	Diego Chara	Chara	char-AH? or CHAR-uh? depends on a vs. á
KC	Aurelien Collin	Aurelien	oh-reh-lee-ENN (French) or aw-REE-lee-in?
KC	Aurelien Collin	Collin	coh-LAN (French) or Colin?
TFC	Danny Koevermans	Koevermans	KOO or KOE at beginning and mins or mans at the end?
POR	James Marcelin	Marcelin	mar-suh-LAN (French) or mar-suh-lee-in?
POR	Hanyer Mosquera	Hanyer	HAHN-yerr or hahn-YAIR?
CHI	Patrick Nyarko	Nyarko	nee-AH-ko confirmed; still hard not to say nee-ARK-oh
MTL	Sinisa Ubiparipovic	Ubiparipovic	ich or ick?
MTL	Zarek Valentin	Zarek	ZAIR-ik or ZARR-ek?
MTL	Zarek Valentin	Valentin	Valentin or Valenteen? is there an accent on the i?