ADDED: Here are the graphics:Together, we are all... pic.twitter.com/R5FnT4kv1I
— Cleveland Indians (@Indians) July 23, 2021
A closer look at that logo:Introducing the Cleveland Guardians!
— MLB (@MLB) July 23, 2021
The name will go into effect after the 2021 season. pic.twitter.com/ggCFyIRD2y
I think the feathers are reminiscent of a Native American feathered headdress, but the Indians old "Chief Wahoo" logo was aimed the other way — with a face rather than a baseball — and wore a single feather. The new feathers could be associated with angel's wings, which fits with "Guardians" if you think of guardian angels.
But if the baseball seems like a head rather than an entire body, then the wings make us think of the winged helmets of various warriors and ancient gods. If so, the name "Guardians" feels one step away from "Warriors," one of the names that — I presume — the Indians considered. I know the Washington football team — transitioning from "Redskins" — rejected "Warriors" because it contained too much of a residue of Indians.
ALSO: As discussed in the comments, there's this:
TBH, The Guardians is much more authentically Cleveland than most jokesters on this website understand
— josh grubbs (@JoshuaGrubbsPhD) July 23, 2021
These four statues--The Guardians of Transportation--are absolute icons in the city and familiar to anyone who has any sort of roots in the area https://t.co/8u0fx9SKI0 pic.twitter.com/vlifF39JjQ
Posts
15 comments:
Temujin writes:
"Just awful. Just an insipid, uninspired, woke focus-group derived, meaningless brand name. This is an historic franchise, over 100 years old. It's been treated like a 'brand', not a franchise that runs through the heart of the people of that great city. It sounds so tempered and held back with the single goal of not giving offense to any group, even those they hadn't heard of yet. It is so nebulous, so without soul that it would be better representing Hollywood than Cleveland. Cleveland is a hard town, a beautiful, gritty town, a city full of pride and history.
"It's just been renamed by Marvel Comics. Ugh. "
Joe writes:
My long-suffering Cleveland fan brother will not be pleased.
The double-G with the baseball is very forced...
And just what are they guarding? Lake Erie? Has anyone asked that most basic of questions?
Guarding sounds like policing, and they should therefore be defunded.
I'll say:
Guarding sounds like something that's done in football.
I feel sorry for the Washington football team, because now it can't use Guardians, and for all of us, because that would have been more apt.
On the other had, to call a football team Guardians is to emphasize the defense half of the team which seems out of balance.
Jack writes:
"I checked Wikipedia and Tom Hanks was born in Concord, CA. and his bio does not show he lived in Cleveland. Why select a narrator to read the glories of people from Cleveland who is not from Cleveland? Couldn’t they find someone, anyone from Cleveland who could do a good job narrating the video? Undercuts the message. Very odd."
I'll say:
Hanks oozes sincerity, integrity, tradition, and progress. It seeps right into you as you watch that ad.
Wayne writes:
They showed in the announcement video one of the Cleveland bridges which has the “Guardians of Traffic” stone carvings. The new logo looks somewhat like the guardian carving.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hope_Memorial_Bridge
I grew up in Cleveland and we crossed that bridge regularly. I recall thinking at the time that it was Thor from the comic books that was represented by the carving.
At that Wikipedia page, it currently says: "On July 23, 2021, the professional baseball team in Cleveland announced that they will change their name to the Cleveland Guardians, at the end of the 2021 season, in honor of the Guardians of Traffic."
Some kind of joke?
The Wikipedia article has a footnote that links to an ESPN article with this text:
"Team owner Paul Dolan said last summer's social unrest, touched off by the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, spurred his intention to change the club's name.... 'Guardians' reflects those attributes that define us while drawing on the iconic Guardians of Traffic just outside the ballpark on the Hope Memorial Bridge. It brings to life the pride Clevelanders take in our city and the way we fight together for all who choose to be part of the Cleveland baseball family. While 'Indians' will always be a part of our history, our new name will help unify our fans and city as we are all Cleveland Guardians."
https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/31868331/cleveland-changing-name-indians-guardians
Tim writes:
"I've been an Indians fan since 1980, even though I have not lived in Cleveland since 1988. That's where I spent my formative years and it's always been my position on sports that a person should spend their lives rooting for whoever they rooted for when they were 8. But I've been away a long time and I'm raising my daughter to be a Blue Jays fan, so the ties have been weakening. But this? This ends it.
"I didn't want the name change as the outrage is too manufactured, too fake. Nobody, literally nobody, is upset that the Cleveland baseball team called itself the Indians. But I could have lived with the Spiders or some other name with a connection to the city and its history. The Guardians? Generic, empty, unconnected, uninspiring. No, I can't imagine feeling any sort of loyalty to The Guardians. I can't imagine caring about them."
Washington Blogger writes:
"This name won't last. Today it is "respecting the indigenous people groups", but tomorrow it will be "we can't name anything after any people group." So Vikings will fall, and Vandals and Pirates, etc. Will Packers and Brewers be tumbling dominoes? Follow the logic and then we can't have names that evoke privilege or aggression. That will take out Guardians. My spouse thinks that animals will eventually have to go too. Either as a result of disrespecting the animal or disrespecting the totems of the indigenous people (cultural appropriation the right play there?) This might sound like a slippery slope fallacy, but it's not always a fallacy. The left must have a war to fight, so these are just the next islands to hop on the way to utopia."
Caroline writes:
"The first thing the logo made me think of was a modified Golden Snitch from Harry Potter."
To me they will henceforth be the Cleveland Panty Liners.
Mike Smyth writes:
"The “Guardians” name is awful. It’s so generic as many have said. The Wikipedia page for Cleveland lists the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as one of Cleveland’s cultural intuitions. The Cleveland Baseball team should have chose “The Rock and Rollers” as their team name. It’s a little long, but it’s very Cleveland. Just as Seattle’s baseball clubs were/are the Pilots and the Mariners. Those reflect the heritage of Seattle and are not some generic entity."
Temujin writes:
The logo reminds me of the fictional logo from the Anne Tyler bestseller that was made into a great movie, "The Accidental Tourist". In it, the main character writes travel guides for business people with a moniker of "The Accidental Tourist". He hates traveling, but does well writing about it. His logo is a winged armchair. His philosophy: "while armchair travelers dream of going places, travelling armchairs dream of staying put". He advises his readers on how to best feel like you've never left home, while traveling.
The Cleveland logo has the same look. Remove the 'G' and insert a club chair and you've got...the Cleveland Tourists. Or the Cleveland Accidents. Either of which would at least make some people smile.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LhqhFs-O9c4
Hugh writes:
"There is already a team named the Tourists—the Asheville Tourists in minor league baseball (and per Wikipedia, Asheville teams have carried the name since 1897).
"And guarding works in basketball, not so much in football, where defenders cover receivers and the O-line protects the quarterback (even the Guards!)."
I'll add:
This is more than I want to know about football, but my understanding was that there were some players called "guards." But I guess they are on the field when the team is on the offensive.
From fka tdocer:
"Renaming the Cleveland MLB team the Guardians in honor of the Guardians of Transportation carvings on the Lorain-Carnegie Bridge is inside baseball indeed.
"Best regards,
Very rare commenter fka tdocer
(also former NEO resident and 47 year Tribe fan)"
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