"... moving away from a moniker that has long been criticized as racist, three people familiar with the decision said Sunday.
The move follows a decision by the Washington Football Team of the N.F.L. in July to stop using a name long considered a racial slur, and is part of a larger national conversation about race that magnified this year amid protests of systemic racism and police violence.... One option that the team is considering, two of the people said, is moving forward without a replacement name — similar to how the Washington Football Team proceeded — then coming up with a new name in consultation with the public."... Other professional sports teams, including the Atlanta Braves, the Kansas City Chiefs and the Chicago Blackhawks, have said in recent months that they have no plans to change their names... The [Indians] club has said that the name was originally intended to honor a former player, Louis Sockalexis, who played for the Cleveland Spiders, a major league club, in the 19th century and was a member of the Penobscot Nation. Some have suggested that Cleveland adopt the name Spiders as a replacement."
Trump tweeted" "Oh no! What is going on? This is not good news, even for 'Indians.' Cancel culture at work!"
Personally, I think all baseball teams should be named after a type of animal, preferably one that you can picture holding a baseball bat or attempting to play baseball in a silly fanciful manner. But the only team that meets my standard is the Cubs. Maybe the Tigers. The best trend actually represented by the existing name is birds — Cardinals, Orioles, Blue Jays. So I recommend another bird. Maybe Crows — for the alliteration and because there are crows in Ohio. But Spiders is perfectly good. It's got some Cleveland tradition, it might scare the opposition, and it's an animal. It's a type of animal not currently represented among
the major league team names, but it would provide company for the Diamondbacks, which are currently the only team that's named after a type of animal that isn't represented by any other team. Anyway, don't name a team after a type of human being. That was never a good idea. And don't name a team after items of clothing. That's just stupid.
Posts
234 comments:
1 – 200 of 234 Newer› Newest»How about...
the Erie Spiders
Name teams after kinds of dysfunctional women.
We name teams after things that remind us of strength and power.
So why would "Indian" be bad?
I think we should name teams after soiled diapers.
I applaud this move. Why should any loser Indian culture be honored. Just like the confederacy. All statues, streets, parks, lakes, rivers should have their names changed. They lost, get over it.
I think mammals might be smart enough to be offended. Invertabrates only: slugs, grey worms...
Well, I don't want to get into the kerfuffle that was stirred up over an animal team name at a local high school... team mascot was a Raccoon and that was shortened. Many of the students attended games with coon skin caps. Because Daniel Boone. And Davey Crockett.
The Cleveland Virtue Signalers.
The Cleveland Wokes
a moniker that has long been criticized as racist
Now do the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Indian Health Service, the Bureau of Indian Education and Indiana.
That's funny. I thought the majority of Native Americans that had been polled were solidly in support of keeping the name. The NYT wouldn't sh*t us, now would they?
I think all baseball teams should be named after a type of animal, preferably one that you can picture holding a baseball bat or attempting to play baseball in a silly fanciful manner. But the only team that meets my standard is the Cubs. Maybe the Tigers.
It's my understanding that tigers and cubs lack opposible thumbs so grasping a baseball bat may be impractical. May I suggest squid? Their tenticles could certainly grasp a bat, and cephalopods are known for their high intelligence.
The Portland cry babies
The Bay City boo boos
The Philadelphia pedophiles
The Philadelphia Pig socks
The Philadelphia vote stuffers
All half time entertainment should degrade the police and the wretched deplorables. Sort of like a Hunger Games theme. Then the hollwyood assholes can enrapture us as they parade over the half-time stage and lecture us on our deplorable phobias.
I recommend 'Cleveland Baseball Club' or 'The Cuyahoga Fire.'
How in the hell is 'Indians' racist?
You could make an argument about the logo, but not the name.
And they've already phased out the logo...
Nehru is unavailable for comment.
well we'll always have major league, until we don't,
The move follows a decision by the Washington Football Team of the N.F.L. in July to stop using a name long considered a racial slur,
Can enlightened SJWs explain to me why a team would name themselves after a racial slur?
The fact that there are so many Native American names of sports teams reflects the romantic notion that Indians were brave warriors.
Oops! three verboten names. They will soon call on Cleveland, Golden State and Atlanta to change their racial slur names.
I think we need to nationalize our sports.
We should start this off by taking the current crop of billionaire owners and parading them in the stadiums in front of the fans and allowing the fans to throw things at them.
Then we can implement a Green Bay Packers ownership regime for all sports teams giving the ownership to the season ticket owners.
If the season ticket owners want to sell the team to another location rules for this could be created.
Someone else suggested "The Cleveland Steamers"... which if you don't already know what that refers to... please don't look it up.
They NEVER actually talk to the majority of the aggrieved, just the woke Karens.
The Cleveland North American River Otters has a nice ring to it and sounds patriotic and international at the same time.
The former institutions of our respective youths should be set aside.
They are finished and are neither useful nor entertaining.
I am enjoying the suicide of universities, pro sports, Hollywood, and more.
Conservatives must stand ready to fill the voids that are evolving.
I think Fighting Irish will last a while. Wonder about Crusaders.
Indian is a bad word now?? What's next?? White?? Red?? So change the White Sox name and the Red Sox name,....and you better get rid of those damn YANKEES!!! Bunch of stupid bullshit when we should be worried about China taking over with the help of the Biden family....
And don't name a team after items of clothing. That's just stupid.
Makes it kind of hard to suspend disbelief when they do that.
I live near a high school with the moniker the Cottonpickers. Lots of cotton growing in this area and they are very proud of it, although every so often some yankee or recent college grad tries to stir up that idea that the people who live in the community and are just fine with it are wrong, wrong, wrong.
I went to "Save the Indians Day" as a seven year old in 1964. My first major league game, I can still remember walking through the tunnel into the bright sunshine and all that green grass.
Lean Wagner playing left. Vic Davalillo in center. Max Alvis at third. "Sudden" Sam McDowell and Luis Tiant.
They're the Indians. Deal with it.
Chief Wahoo forever!
wendybar said...
Indian is a bad word now?? What's next?? White?? Red?? So change the White Sox name and the Red Sox name,....and you better get rid of those damn YANKEES!!! Bunch of stupid bullshit when we should be worried about China taking over with the help of the Biden family....
Mostly it is just the embarrassment over the original discovery of the continent being off by a few thousand miles in it's description...
Either the Cleveland Wokes, or just go with NFL Team #001563442. But since math is racist, I suppose you cannot use numbers either.
Maybe tell the woke folks, who don't watch football, to just go pee up a slack rope and keep the name. No, that would be insensitive and racist.
Disband the team, give all money held by the team to appropriate woke folk, and commit ritual suicide in public to atone for their 'crimes'. Too dark?
Cleveland’s basketball team is named after a type of human that owned slaves.
Anyway, don't name a team after a type of human being. That was never a good idea.
Minnesota Vikings
Pittsburgh Steelers
Green Bay Packers
New England Patriots
Dallas Cowboys
Las Vegas Raiders
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
New York Yankees
San Diego Padres
Pittsburgh Pirates
Texas Rangers
Wow. Who knew so many team names are bad ideas.
In honor of their woke status, how about the Cleveland Alarm Clocks? Maybe the Washington football team could call themselves the Washington Bolsheviks and then everyone could shorten the name to the Washington Reds and everyone would leave the stadium happy....Some basketball team with five Black starting players could call themselves the Whites to honor the fighting spirit and grit of whites. It worked out well for the Yankees......My lofty spirit is not engaged in this debate. I just don't see how what you call a sports team will affect my life in one way or another. Call them what you want....It's not a matter of supreme indifference thogh. It's a matter of moderate indifference. There's some entertainment value in watching people get their noses out of joint over an issue like this.
The Cleveland Doctors of Education (Ed.D.)
After years of protests from fans and Native American groups,
Bull. There have been no protests from either group.
a moniker that has long been criticized as racist
By people who make their living crying "racist!"
is part of a larger national conversation about race
There has been no conversation. There has been a small group of people shouting and bullying and an equally small (but sadly influential) group of people shamelessly kowtowing to that small group of bullies.
Pro Sports is really trying to kill itself.
I think if you really want to future-proof a name for a profesional sports team the safest bet might be nonsense. For example "Cleveland Blippoty Bloops" or the "Washington Bananashoes"
If referring to Indians is itself a racial slur, then I DEMAND that Chicago, Milwaukee, Detroit, and Seattle---for starters---all change their names to that of cute furry animals.
Ditto states like Massachusetts, Connecticut, Kentucky and the like. They could be renamed as
sectors, Mass. becoming, for example, "Sector M", Kentucky "Sector K" and so on.
Insanity stalks the land...
It's weird how quickly these things can happen when they happen. After decades of fighting the protestors, the Redskins, one day, out of the blue, said "we're dropping the name." And that's that. It's done.
In Cleveland, there's been murmurs for decades, but no real movement, no discussion, not much of anything, and then suddenly, with no specific catalyst, boom. The names gone. It's done.
Now do the Cleveland Browns. The name is insulting to brown people everywhere.
wholelottasplainin' said...
If referring to Indians is itself a racial slur, then I DEMAND that Chicago, Milwaukee, Detroit, and Seattle---for starters---all change their names to that of cute furry animals.
Ditto states like Massachusetts, Connecticut, Kentucky and the like. They could be renamed as
sectors, Mass. becoming, for example, "Sector M", Kentucky "Sector K" and so on.
Indeed. Let's wipe Native Americans from the history books. Out of respect.
"I think we need to nationalize our sports."
Start by taking away MLB's antitrust exemption...
Fuck the owners...they're just a bunch of racist, white billionaires.
"And don't name a team after items of clothing. That's just stupid."
Red Sox, White Sox, and Cincinnati Red Stockings.
Isn't Meade a fan of the latter?
The Cleveland Bloodthirsty Murderous Savages.
Nonapod:
Banabashoes would be a cool name! And the logo would be even better!
Cleaning in prep for an upcoming house sale/move and came across a Chief Wahoo bobble-head that I have had since the mid 1960s.
The only animal I recall associated with Cleveland is the Buzzard. Annual return of the Buzzards to Hinkley OH. WMMS is the home of the buzzard. Or was.
So, more ignominious than when the Cuyahoga burned? I wish Randy Newman would write a caustic catchy tune about it, about these Cleveland Pussies. Whatever their fans call the team, that's what I'm inclined to call their leadership. A handful of noisy brats who probably don't even like baseball made this happen, while baseball fans and native Americans, at least according to opinion surveys, didn't support this. It's not quite as bad as the way the NBA and the NFL pissed on their fans, but it's getting there.
"Now do the Cleveland Browns. The name is insulting to brown people everywhere."
Named after the owner, Paul Brown. Very white.
"Anyway, don't name a team after a type of human being. That was never a good idea."
No "Saints" then? No "Buccaneers"? No "Rangers"? No "Patriots," even?
Also, Ajax Amsterdam fans would beg to differ. But then, Ajax was not a "type." Or was he?
The Cleveland Crows?!? Oh, Ann... Don't you know that the Crow are a Native American people? Are you unaware that crows, like those in Disney classic Dumbo - Fats, Deacon, Dopey, Specks, and JIM CROW - have long been seen as problematic racist symbols? No, no, no! This will not do! You're proposing to dump the Cleveland Baseball Team out of the frying pan and straight into the fire!
The Cleveland Vaginas. And they can wear pink pussy hats. Should be real popular with the woke crowd- you know, the ones who don't follow sports.
Casual sports fan [like Althouse] and non-sports fans weigh in on the names of teams they DGAF about. How about we sports fans tell you to kindly butt out?
I'm Full of Soup said...
Casual sports fan [like Althouse] and non-sports fans weigh in on the names of teams they DGAF about. How about we sports fans tell you to kindly butt out?
No.
The idea of throwing "tomatoes" at billionaire owners is growing on me.
The last Cleveland Spiders team went 20-134 and then disbanded. They played 85 of their last 93 games on the road because Clevelanders wisely stayed away from the games. It could work out, because Cleveland fans are eternally optimistic and don't dwell on past failures.
"Anyway, don't name a team after a type of human being. That was never a good idea."
Packers? Brewers?
PADRES???????
Fernandinande said...
"a moniker that has long been criticized as racist
Now do [...]Indiana."
BREAKING from NYT:
After years of protests from Native American groups, hicks from the 19th state to join the Union have decided to change the name of their state, moving away from one that has long been criticized as racist, an irredeemably deplorable hillbilly familiar with the decision said Sunday.
The move follows decisions by professional sports teams to stop using names long considered to be racial or ethnic slurs, and is part of a larger national conversation about race that magnified this year amid mostly peaceful protests of systemic racism, police violence and Trump voters.
The state — geographically situated between Ohio and Illinois and formerly known by its racist name "Indiana" — could announce its plans as soon as this week, according to the dumb hayseed who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter — as if anyone outside of hoosierland could understand his pathetic drawl even if he were authorized.
It is not immediately clear what the deplorable bumpkins' exact next steps will be beyond dropping their racist name. Ignoramus's.
Ann never makes a spelling mistake. Yes, it is the Toronto Blue Jays, but it is the Creighton Bluejays. And Toronto is suing Creighton over our "new" logo.
Tonight, the Bluejays will defeat the Marquette Warriors. Marquette will always be the Warriors to me.
Funny how you never hear of Scandinavians complaining about teams called "Vikings." (Disclosure: My High School's teams were -- and are -- called "Vikings.")
In the past, I might've cared. But after the way MLB shit all over itself last season, I'll never watch another pitch.
You want to appease leftwing bullies and assholes who've never watched in the first place? Go for it.
Dave Begley said...
Marquette will always be the Warriors to me.
They still are, only now are the Social Justice Warriors.
I know Native American people (the old school ones who call themselves American Indians) who actually like the Chief Wahoo cartoon logo.
The effect of this liberal progressive leftist campaign of virtue smoke signals is that Native Americans will be wiped from visibility in American popular culture. To the left, it's not really about equity, it's about power--their own. And they don't care who gets hurt.
The Cleveland Trumps
Meade said:
It is not immediately clear what the deplorable bumpkins' exact next steps will be beyond dropping their racist name. Ignoramus's.
Indianapolis, Indiana n/k/a Ignoramopolis, Ignorama.
You know how sports fans sometimes paint themselves in their team colors? If an Indians fan paints himself in red, is he doing redface? Is that offensive? It would be funny if the spunky youngsters came en masse in Cleveland red face and body paint next year.
Blogger Aggie said...
That's funny. I thought the majority of Native Americans that had been polled were solidly in support of keeping the name. The NYT wouldn't sh*t us, now would they?
What do they count for? The three leftists SJWs who complained are much more important than some scruffy Indian who thinks being a "Brave" is a compliment.
There was a high school in Pekin, IL who's team name was the Chinks until 1980!
They tried to change the name in the 1970's but the student body voted 1,234 to 182 to continue being the Chinks. The school board responded with a resolution to keep the nickname for one more year, and then passed a second resolution in 1975 to retain the nickname permanently.
Achilles:
If they keep us their Woke shit, they won't be billionaires for long.
"Up" not us.
In twenty years they'll be saying that the lack of minority mascots in professional sports is a sign of institutional racism.
I vote for The Fightin' Honkeys. You can just hear the sportscasters now "..and it's a touchdown for the Honkeys! The Honkeys are now in the lead 15 to 12!"
My high school used the 'Indians' as our athletics mascot.
Ironic as the once 95% white student body is now probably half Indian (dot).
They changed it a long time ago (I think they changed it twice).
It is now some sort of generic bird logo. I couldn't find the name.
I vote for Cleveland Cowards. Alliterative and accurate.
Cleveland Dingleberries
Cleveland Confused
Cleveland Befuddled
Cleveland Polecats
Cleveland Skidmarks
Cleveland Lake Mistakes
Cleveland Retards probably wont offend anyone.
"One of the people said Cleveland planned to keep the Indians name and uniforms for the 2021 season while working to shift as early as 2022."
The name is racist but they're going to keep it for another year?
"Engines"
...the Cleveland Engines.
There! Everyone happy?
Hell-- we named our adopted Nigerian boy "Enward" w/no blowback
Call them the Cleveland Happiness. Or "the 'pinesses" for short.
"Anyway, don't name a team after a type of human being. That was never a good idea. And don't name a team after items of clothing. That's just stupid."
Columbus broke both these Althouse don'ts, their hockey team is the Blue Jackets which is honoring Ohio's Civil War soldiers as well as an item of clothing.
"... moving away from a moniker that has long been criticized as racist..
By only a few activists but when the word 'racist' is used we must not only jump but ask, 'How far?'. We are a sick society today.
How about the Cleveland Cunts?
"And don't name a team after items of clothing. That's just stupid."
New York Knicks (Knickerbockers)
It’s not the “Indian” is considered a slur. It is not. The problem is taking a type of human being and making them into a mascot. Like they are your pet. I know there are many teams named after a type of occupation — notably the Brewers. But that’s not a racial or ethnic group. But I’d avoid all the human categories and go with animals. I know I’m referring to many many teams. Not saying they should all change... especially the Packers ought never to change... but going forward... PICK AN ANIMAL! For baseball, try to pick a bird. A fish is also kind of a baseball thing. Here in Madison, we have the Muskies.
Ann Althouse said...
Here in Madison, we have the Muskies.
Well that stinks.
I remember when the game used to be played on a field and not on Twitter. I renamed the game sportsball and then turned it off.
The Portland Antifa Nazis
Powerful - and fully supported by the press.
It’s not the “Indian” is considered a slur. It is not. The problem is taking a type of human being and making them into a mascot. Like they are your pet.
LA Kings??
The Edmonton Eskimos (Canadian Football League) are changing their name, and they have asked for online suggestions. I suggested "Pioneers" (human beings). I added a paragraph about how indigenous spokespeople might object, the pioneers did them harm, etc. So I said no doubt the situation and views of indigenous people should have been given more consideration, but the work of pioneers is still admirable.
I probably should have suggested Elk or Elks.
'The Fightin' Honkeys'
Oh so good.
after these SJW's have their way, and Animal Rights Nazis gain ascendancy
..then what?
We should encourage pro sports to die.
Do so by never tuning into any of the games.
College sports too.
Hollywood would die but it is now a Sino-centric industry.
Refuse to watch their products because they are garbage.
Meanwhile, conservatives must generate content worth filling the voids.
And it must be defiantly conservative and entertaining.
How about The Cleveland Retards in honor of our 46th president and all mentally challenged creatures?
There must be retarded animals right? So the nickname Retards would satisfy my suggestion and Althouse's.
I cannot wait for the NFL salary cap to go down.
The Chiefs are going to be in a particularly tough spot.
Soon not only will they have to change their name but half their salary cap will be pledged to one player for 10 years.
The Chicago Blackhawks were not named after an Indian tribe, but in honor of the U.S. 86th Infantry Division, which was nicknamed the "Blackhawk Division" after Black Hawk, a Native American chief of the Sauk. Several Wisconsin cities and a county carry the Sauk name.
The team's founder served in th86th and was proud of it.
The biggest issue is the logo, one of the most iconic in all of sports. The injuns are starting to make noise about it more and more. How do you say fuck off in Sauk?
Name 'em from the endless list of "personal pronouns".
"The problem is taking a type of human being and making them into a mascot. Like they are your pet."
1. Why is that a problem? 2. Is that how and why teams were in fact named? 3. Are the Braves the Braves because some people wanted to turn other people into "mascots," or because some people thought that certain other people represented virtues of valor and strength that they wanted to evoke? 4. Per the Althouse rule, no more prog use of blacks/Blacks, or women, or trannies, or any other convenient "type of human being," as "mascots--right?
To keep up with our culture changes we need to re-name the Indians as the Cleveland Dominions. No matter what the runs scored during their game, the score always comes out as a Cleveland win.
At least you don't live in a city where the better team's name is ancient derivation of the term "jerk-off" and the other team know by country slang for "fag".
The Cleveland Browns have demonstrated that color itself is safe. Unfortunately, the obvious backup to "Indians" (Reds) has already been taken by that baseball team across the state. So... the Cleveland Blacks!
Congratulations to all the Woke Scolds who are effectively minimizing my ancestors.
Your goal of removing all symbols of Native Americans while keeping us on reservations that do not allow private ownership of real property is an excellent example of what you intend for all Americans.
how 'bout the "Socialists"
...no team is allowed to score more points than the other,
regardless of effort
Ann Althouse said...It’s not the “Indian” is considered a slur. It is not. The problem is taking a type of human being and making them into a mascot. Like they are your pet.
That's a misunderstanding of what a team name is. Teams are named after things that represent a quality that the fans/owners/region admires. It's not about ownership or pets. It's about values. Positive values.
Not saying they should all change... especially the Packers ought never to change... but going forward...
Of course not, not YOUR team. But surely somebody else's team.
There is a good chance that Redskins owner Dan Snyder will permanently keep the team unnamed as a big middle FU finger to the world. He personally has zero desire to come up with another name. It was $$$ in the face of NFL totalitarianism that caused him to capitulate.
Here in Madison, we have the Muskies.
Named after the Secretary of State under Jimmy Carter, no doubt.
"Here in Madison, we have the Muskies."
Nope. Back to birds: Mallards. They call their field "The Duck Pond." Muskies ended in the 90's.
Funniest thing I read on the internet today:
Wait, so after giving us the name for all these years, they’re taking it back?
Cleveland Cockroaches
Appropriate for any major Rust Belt city.
"The problem is taking a type of human being and making them into a mascot. Like they are your pet."
************
Yeah. "Warriors" and "Braves" make fine pets. Very docile.
I asked the cardinal on the bird feeder outside my window if he felt that using his image on a baseball jersey was some form of appropriation. "Can you throw in some more sunflower seeds, fahchrissakes?" was his reply.
Priorities.
Neither "Commies" or "Bearded Clams" is taken.
Go Tribe!!
North Carolina Indian Chief Says Tribe Will Not Adhere to Governor’s Lockdown Demands
https://thejeffreylord.com/north-carolina-indian-chief-says-tribe-will-not-adhere-to-governors-lockdown-demands/
The best trend actually represented by the existing name is birds
Yes. Instead of the Cleveland Indians, change the name to honor a species of birds
The Cleveland Tits.
Years ago, although a paleface (my father claimed there was a smidgen of Amerindian blood on his side of the family tree; but the Old Man was known "to draw the long bow" on occasion), I attended a tribal convention or jamboree or whatever it was called of North Georgia Cherokees. At that time there was talk about the Atlanta Braves changing their name and dropping their mascot (that's what they called him), Chief Noc-a-homa, who used to rally the fans at Braves' games by doing a war dance and leading them in the "Tomahawk Chop." Not only did the "chief" and other Cherokees present NOT find all this offensive, but they were offended by the proposed name change and mascot dropping. Some seemed to think it another example of the White Eyes sticking it to Red Man.
"A fish is also kind of a baseball thing."
The Miami Marlins are the only "fish" baseball team I can think of. Oh, and the Tampa Bay Rays. I'm sure there are some minor league teams named after fish. Arguably the best player in baseball is Mike Trout.
Ann Althouse said...It’s not the “Indian” is considered a slur. It is not. The problem is taking a type of human being and making them into a mascot. Like they are your pet.
More evidence that Ann knows nothing about sports.
The Cleveland "Caprolites".
The USC Trojans were named after people unless, of course, they were named after condoms...
AA said:
"For baseball, try to pick a bird. A fish is also kind of a baseball thing."
Michael K said:
"More evidence that Ann knows nothing about sports."
Michael K wins by TKO.
Great opportunity for the team to show solidarity with the First Lady-Elect by getting every player a PhD from some diploma mill and then calling themselves the Cleveland Doctors.
Progressive Field could be called The Clinic.
You want an animal? How about the Cleveland Raccoons. That'll teach 'em.
"Not saying they should all change... especially the Packers ought never to change... but going forward..."
In some cities, 'Packers' would be considered a gay slur.
Calling the White Sox or Red Sox "item of clothing" teams is insulting to all people with Birkenstocks.
I think Cleveland should consider something in the clothing line, like "The Cleveland Codpieces."
"Personally, I think all baseball teams should be named after a type of animal, preferably one that you can picture holding a baseball bat...But the only team that meets my standard is the Cubs. Maybe the Tigers."
The Cubs first logo was just that, 1911. https://sportslogohistory.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/chicago_cubs_1911-1914.png
I can't think of another logo with that happening. Closest would be the Cardinals with two cardinals perched on a bat on their home unis. I think their logo is just one bird. I think you sometimes see the Orioles oriole swinging abt, but that's not really their logo.
Hockey has a Penquin (Pittsburgh) holding a stick and wearing skates playing hockey. They also have the Sharks biting a stick in half.
Curious George said...
"Now do the Cleveland Browns. The name is insulting to brown people everywhere."
Named after the owner, Paul Brown. Very white.
12/14/20, 1:01
White man??...RACIST!!! Change the name immediately!! He, being white, oppresses too many people....
"It’s not the “Indian” is considered a slur. It is not." The arbiter of all that is good, the NYTimes/WashingtonPost say that it is, so you are wrong.
Yep, Yankees has got to go!
"There is a good chance that Redskins owner Dan Snyder will permanently keep the team unnamed..."
Given the team's history in this century, I would suggest slight change to Washington Team Football. That "WTF" would make a perfect logo for team hats and gear.
Stanford University were the Indians until 1972. Now they are a color, Cardinal, and their mascot is a tree.
Best and brightest my ass.
Can't call a baseball team "Crows". The Crow tribe of Indians would object, not to mention the Black Lives Matter crowd. And the NFL already has the Ravens which might be a substitute for "Crows". And the name BlackSox is too close to Blackfeet. Can't go for a horsey name like Cayuse--there's a tribe in Washington State that would object. For that matter there's a Fox tribe--so Fox is out. And don't me started on any team called the Red Birds.
Blogger mockturtle said...
The USC Trojans were named after people unless, of course, they were named after condoms...
good one, Mock-- they really took a 'ribbing' for that moniker!
If they were smart, the owner(s) of the team should sell the franchise to an owner in another city and be done with it.
I have been an Indians fan for 62 years, but I cut them out of my life on Opening Day, 2020, when I saw they had stenciled "BLM" on the back of the pitcher's mound (it was thus in the camera's view for most of the broadcast). I won't miss 'em, and I'm betting a lot of diehards like myself won't either.
What wokeness hasn't contributed to professional sports' demise, the coronavirus surely has - and will. How much longer will a 35,000-seat baseball stadium make sense? A cost to be borne by the fans (and citizenry) that MLB thinks so little of that it reminds them how racist they are? Cleveland can do itself a favor and cut its losses by showing MLB the door. Jacobs Field/Progressive Field is reaching the age where the owner is soon going to (if has not already) come to the city to panhandle more cash for a shiny new playpen.
Tell MLB to go bother some other town, and Cleveland can do something more productive with the real estate. Spend some money on making the city safer. Clevelanders will find other stuff to do during the summer besides eat $8 hot dogs and swill $7 beers. Lake Erie provides a lot of summertime activity.
The city fathers might also suggest to the owners of the Cavaliers and the Browns that they think twice about trying to shake down the people of Cuyahoga County any time soon.
Cleveland’s American Museum of Natural History has a marvelous collection of fossils of human ancestors, including “Lucy,” the 40% complete skeleton of a representative of Australopithecus afarensis. In honor of this I propose the Cleveland team be called the Hominids.
Or call them the Sux, because, ya know, Cleveland, right.
"Personally, I think all baseball teams should be named after a type of animal..." I think all sports teams should be designated by arcane geometrical symbols like the one no longer being used by The-Artist-Formerly-Known-as-'Prince'.
Ann Althouse said...It’s not the “Indian” is considered a slur. It is not. The problem is taking a type of human being and making them into a mascot. Like they are your pet.
Good Lord, Ann. Are you serious?
Following your logic, the Norwegian side of my family should be offended at the Vikings although all of my Minnesota cousins are rabid fans.
The Scots side of me doesn't get offended. We used to wear skirts and face paint into battle when we were Warrior-Poets.
Do you get the drift?
All these complaints about team names are really pretty small potatoes when we find ourselves confronted year after year by the continuing horror of a team named the Utah Jazz.
a moniker that has long been criticized as racist
They can't explain why it's racist.
They don't detail who thinks it's racist.
They don't discuss what "long" means.
Nope, today's woke media doesn't get bogged down in facts.
I'm sol old I remember when the media proudly proclaimed: We report. You decide.
Michael K said...More evidence that Ann knows nothing about sports.
It's another one of her cute little affectations that we all love so dearly, like "cruel neutrality".
If I recall correctly, she is a baseball fan.
Next up: MLB viewership is unexpectedly lower.
OK. That was a shitty suggestion.
Bird, huh?
The Cleveland Tits
Cleveland. Home of the Sap Suckers
Fish?
The Cleveland Carp
The Cleveland Stickle Backs
or The Cleveland Burbots
Not technically a fish. The Cleveland Clams
1. That once-funny-now-insulting Chief Wahoo image started the trouble.
2. I support an overdue honorific: the Cleveland Grovers.
@IngaChucks,
Blogger mockturtle said...
The USC Trojans were named after people unless, of course, they were named after condoms...
good one, Mock-- they really took a 'ribbing' for that moniker!
But, I thought the Trojans were ribbed --- for Her!
My Red Sox disagree, theirs is a much better name than the (former) cross town rival Braves.
Crows would be racist, don't you remember the ones in "Dumbo"?
Has the Washington Football Team announced its new name, or is that it?
The Cleveland Baseball Team should run a naming contest among their fans. Now that would be entertaining. See: Boaty McBoatface.
Francisco D asks our hostess: Do you get the drift?
No, she probably doesn't. She doesn't really get Trump, either.
Cleveland Crackers, anyone?
They could go all womyn's basketball, womyn's soccer and come up with one of those aspirational, singular names like: the Cleveland Concern, or the Cleveland Diversity, or the Cleveland Climate Earnestness.
Rusty said...
OK. That was a shitty suggestion.
Bird, huh?
The Cleveland Tits
Cleveland. Home of the Sap Suckers
Fish?
The Cleveland Carp
The Cleveland Stickle Backs
or The Cleveland Burbots
Not technically a fish. The Cleveland Clams
12/14/20, 2:35 PM
Your forgot the Cleveland Swallows!
Political correctness claims another scalp.
I like the Redskin Theatre in Oklahoma. http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/12196
In 1947 - take a guess at demographics... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anadarko,_Oklahoma
The Cleveland Fellers.
It's like the Indians were Nazis or something.
Move the team to Indianapolis.
Cleveland Rainbows? Exclusive of black, brown, and featuring the shredded remains of white.
Cleveland Progressives? Featuring kneeling, diversity, social justice, and the profitable parts of babies.... Fetal-Americans.
"... to stop using a name long considered a racial slur...".
Oh, yeah. I remember, back in my racially insensitive childhood, playing Cowboys and I*****s. God, were we benighted!
"It’s not the “Indian” is considered a slur. It is not."
Althouse, are you disagreeing with the Paper Of Record?
Show me on the doll where the existence of a cartoon mascot hurt you.
JFC.
Spartans, Vikings, and Trojans seem like pretty good names in opposition to the no people rule.
Cleveland Sikhs?
More Bird names....
Cleveland Red-Footed Boobies
Cleveland Imperial Shags
Cleveland Red Billed Oxpeckers
Cleveland Dickcissels
Cleveland Southern Screamers
Cleveland Game Cocks
I've been wondering what is going to happen to all the Vikings here in the midwest.
"Spartans, Vikings, and Trojans seem like pretty good names in opposition to the no people rule."
But Trojans can be ribbed (for her pleasure®) and people are ribbed, so no go.
After much deliberation, team management has decided to change the offensive name. Henceforth the team will be known as the "Ohio Indians".
The Cleveland Chickens. As in coming home to roost.
When baseball fans return to Seattle's T-Mobil Field, they'll have to run gauntlets of homeless tents with associate piles of sh*t, boarded up brewpubs (Pyramid Brew pub, across the street from T-Mobile closed), and demonstrations of antifa/blm domestic terrorists. Plus the fact, that petty theft will no longer be considered a crime if the thief is poor. The attendance had already fallen to about 1/2 of the heady, sell-out days of c 2000. Now it'll be truly pathetic, approaching Cleveland Indian territory.
I'm just glad that none of the Puritans among us find anything objectionable in the Cavaliers' name. Those roundheads have outgrown their petty prejudices and root for the team and its players and not the name of the team. We can all learn something from the tolerance and forbearance of our Puritans. Let bygones be bygones.
Good call, Freeman. Indian is too general a label. Perhaps the Cleveland Eriechronons or Iroquois is appropriate.
I kinda favor The Cleveland Grover Clevelands. It would probably be the only team name in major league sports that incorporates the city name a second time. It's also got a certain symmetry that seems especially appropriate for 2020, when Trump hinted he'd run again in 2024.
The Cleveland Spiders?
Was that really offered as a serious choice?
How about the Cleveland
--- Toads
--- Warthogs
--- Pigs
"I kinda favor The Cleveland Grover Clevelands."
*************
The team could adopt new uniforms and call themselves "The Full Clevelands".
Just sayin'
They could still use the name Indians by retiring Chief Wahoo,
and substituting a new logo,
https://spectatorau.imgix.net/content/uploads/2018/04/a.png?auto=compress,enhance,format&w=820&h=542
Curious George said...
Stanford University were the Indians until 1972. Now they are a color, Cardinal, and their mascot is a tree.
Best and brightest my ass.
I thought they were a direction.
That would be better than a stupid bird.
You won't be hearing any of this nonsense between Florida State University and the Seminole tribe. Money changes hands.
I’m guessing the “Cleveland Steamers” won’t fly. It totally should.
The Cleveland Firewater?
Blogger Achilles said...
Curious George said...
Stanford University were the Indians until 1972. Now they are a color, Cardinal, and their mascot is a tree.
Best and brightest my ass.
I thought they were a direction.
That would be better than a stupid bird.
Dartmouth is even worse, a tree. They were also the "Indians" and had a much better reason as the school was founded in 1755 to educate the children of the Indians.
Let's just accept where this is really going: The Cleveland Baseball Team.
Only time I've ever seen the need for team names/mascots is when, e.g., there are a number of little league teams -- baseball, soccer -- from the same town. Need something to distinguish one from the other. For college and pro teams, just stick with the school or city name and be done with it.
Noone names their team something racist--that would be stupid. Any teams named the "something city N-word"? No. "Indians" (and "Braves") was used out of admiration, not racism.
Incidentally, people are now claiming that "chief" as in "chief operations officer" is racist but the word chief was around before it was applied to the head of an indian tribe. The CIO, CEO or similar job was never named that with reference to indians. So many words are racist or sexist now that one cannot speak anymore.
the Cleveland Desi's??
( "Desi", meaning the people, cultures, and products of the Indian subcontinent and their diaspora.)
>The Cleveland Terminals
(named after the landmark Terminal Tower in downtown Cleveland, and also the natural state of Cleveland sports fans- terminal).
>The Cleveland Rock & Rollers
(home of the R&R Hall of Fame)
>The Cleveland Get Outta Here's
(named for the guy yelling that at me in a bar in Cleveland years ago.)
Freeman Hunt gets no vote in these things.
Freeman Hunt already gave the go-ahead to destroy things.
Statues.
The language.
The Republic.
Matt Sablan said...
Let's just accept where this is really going: The Cleveland Baseball Team.
No.
This is really going to a country with no common experiences among the people except subservience to the aristocracy.
And no we will not just accept it. We all have a choice.
Lions not Sheep.
R C Belaire said...
Only time I've ever seen the need for team names/mascots is when, e.g., there are a number of little league teams -- baseball, soccer -- from the same town. Need something to distinguish one from the other. For college and pro teams, just stick with the school or city name and be done with it.
***************
Oh sure. I mean, everyone KNOWS that when you refer to "Alabama", you MUST be referring to their great football team, oddly named after that dreaded ocean algal bloom called "the crimson tide", and not their lackluster baseball team.
And when someone refers to "New York", you MUST be talking about football and mean The Giants and not the...oh wait...
The Cleveland Pierogis
How embarrassing, to say something was never a good idea when it very obviously was and still is.
Vipers. Cobras. Moccasins(probably racist).
Jesse Kelly
@JesseKellyDC
The only way we can properly honor American Indians is by completing eradicating any reference to their existence.
It’s not the “Indian” is considered a slur. It is not. The problem is taking a type of human being and making them into a mascot. Like they are your pet.
Ridiculous. Some names are like that, but most are to inspire the team to absorb and be inspired by the perceived virtues that come with the name.
Cleveland Cucks sounds good to me.
And don't name a team after items of clothing. That's just stupid.
Sox is dumb - that's not even how you spell socks. Knickerbockers is pretty cool, though.
Does "Blue Jackets" count as being named after clothing or named after people, since it's supposed to refer to the soldiers but sounds like it's just named after their uniform?
I like the Spiders. Are there any teams other than the Hornets that are named after insects?
I like spiders and if they had a cute jumping spider as a mascot, I might even buy some of their team merch. I won't promise to become a fan because I don't watch much team sports, but having the name "Spiders" might tempt me to watch a game if I have nothing else to do.
I’ve got a name for the team: The NewYork Times Cocksuckers.
I predict the 'Cleveland Rocks'
logo is a throwable size stone.
And the Cleveland baseball team can be the Plain Dealin’ Cocksuckers...
The Great Leap Forward continues unabated.
Xi so proud.
Utah Zazz??? The original misappropriation has to be the Los Angeles Lakers.
I really don't got the jokes, or why this is remotely funny.
Fuck me.
Nothing wrong with naming teams after articles of clothing. How about the Cleveland Shorts!
“After years of protests from professional grievance-mongers, the Cleveland Indians have decided to change their team name..."
There, Althouse, I fixed your post’s lede for you. In honor of their name change perhaps the team name could be the Geldings? Seems appropriate.
I’ll tell you this, no lefty mob is ever going to Astro-turf the Cincinnati MLB team to change their name.
Achilles said...
Matt Sablan said...
Let's just accept where this is really going: The Cleveland Baseball Team.
No.
This is really going to a country with no common experiences among the people except subservience to the aristocracy.
You hit it out of the park, man. The Cleveland Aristocrats
The Philadelphia Cheat-as?
The New York Knickerbockers are named after people, not clothing.
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