The Analog Universe

OK, I have to ask this. One of the leading British football/soccer teams is called Arsenal. (This was the team of which the main character was a fanatic supporter in Nick Hornby's book "Fever Pitch", and the 1997 movie closely based on it, though not, of course, in the 2005 U.S. remake.) Now, I think I can still keep this blog rated PG as I ask: given what "arse" means in British English, doesn't this set the team up for a lot of mockery? Or maybe it never occurs to anyone. (Or maybe anyone to whom it does occur is too afraid of being beaten to a pulp by hooliganish fans of the team.) After all, though I'm not much of a follower of sports news and talk, I've never heard anyone make the equivalent joke about the Houston Astros.

And the coach of Arsenal is a Frenchman named Arsene. Did they hire him just for that?