Anyone remember the "Cleveland Indians"?

[Benjamin Grimm]

It's like dominoes!



https://sports.yahoo.com/cleveland-indians-prepared-to-discuss-changing-team-name-004530262.htmlhttps://sports.yahoo.com/cleveland-indians-prepared-to-discuss-changing-team-name-004530262.html



If they change the name of the team, I very much hope they call them the Cleveland Spiders.

[ashie62]

Likely Redskins and Indians will have new names soon



Nike pulled the plug on the Redskins

[LWFS]

It HAS to be the Spiders. Even leaving aside the history-- can you imagine how sick those uniforms will look?



No. Try now (courtesy of UniWatch contributor Tom Juettner:



https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49998452608_c4851e12d5_b.jpg>



https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49998975061_25bb851579_b.jpg>

[MFS62]

The "Burning Lakes"?

Later

[Edgy MD]

I'd previously thought that the way forward was a more authentic and thoughtful tribute to the Native Americans. But I sure can get behind Spiders.



I've tried to look at nickname reforms in a more nuanced way, but it'd be hard for the Redskins and Indians to fold and the Braves to stay in the game.

[Benjamin Grimm]

I agree. The Braves are probably in the on deck circle, along with the Kansas City Chiefs.

[whippoorwill]

We've got a treasure trove of Cleveland Indians stuff around my house. I better hang on to it



Kinda like the Uncle Bens rice we had to open last night. We were considering keeping it for posterity

[stevejrogers]

FWIW, the first Clevelander that spent the majority of his tenures with the team while wearing the Chief Wahoo logo on his cap to enter Cooperstown has the team's then (when he played) alternate "C Logo" cap on his plaque:

https://www.tradingcarddb.com/Images/Cards/Baseball/10180/10180-10900609Fr.jpg>



While its more apropos of the franchise cleansing itself of said logo, it should be noted that I don't think team names have ever been used in the "Franchises played/worked for" listings on the HOF plaques. So in a way they've been ahead of that curve going all the way back to Napoleon Lajoie, Tris Speaker and Cy Young among the first couple of HOF classes!

[whippoorwill]

Ah Jim Thome. A coobyhouse favorite

[Edgy MD]

I didn't feel a particular imperative for the Braves to give up their nickname, or even the screaming face in their logo, but my wife reminded me that without the name, and the logo, we wouldn't have the stupid, stupid, tomahawk chop.



Right as usual, Dear.

[LWFS]

Edgy MD wrote: I didn't feel a particular imperative for the Braves to give up their nickname, or even the screaming face in their logo, but my wife reminded me that without the name, and the logo, we wouldn't have the stupid, stupid, tomahawk chop. Right as usual, Dear.

What came first-- the Tomahawk Chop or the Seminole War Chant? Pretty sure the Braves just ripped off the collegiates on this.

[MFS62]

Edgy MD wrote: I didn't feel a particular imperative for the Braves to give up their nickname, or ever the screaming face in their logo, but my wife reminded me that without the name, and the logo, we wouldn't have the stupid, stupid, tomahawk chop. Right as usual, Dear. What came first-- the Tomahawk Chop or the Seminole War Chant? Pretty sure the Braves just ripped off the collegiates on this.

The Native Americans were here first. Anything that followed is just copyright infringement by unwanted immigrants.

Later

[Frayed Knot]

Edgy MD wrote: I didn't feel a particular imperative for the Braves to give up their nickname, or even the screaming face in their logo, but my wife reminded me that without the name, and the logo, we wouldn't have the stupid, stupid, tomahawk chop. Right as usual, Dear. What came first-- the Tomahawk Chop or the Seminole War Chant? Pretty sure the Braves just ripped off the collegiates on this.

That's the way I heard it too.

One story has it that it was some teammates/frat brothers of Deion Sanders who took the FSU chant to a Braves game during the time he was baseballin' in Atlanta and the FSU pantomime of throwing a spear

into the ground, which an actual horse riding "Indian" does on the field prior to Seminole games, wound up morphing into the 'chop'.

[Benjamin Grimm]

Cleveland Scene wrote: Cleveland already owns the rights to the Cleveland Naps, Cleveland Bronchos and Cleveland Blues. (These were all registered in 2010 for merchandise reasons and renewed in 2020.) The team also has two trademarks on "Tribe," which makes it unlikely the government would grant the "Cleveland Tribe" trademark to anyone else.

Full article: https://www.clevescene.com/scene-and-heard/archives/2020/10/05/spiders-speculation-and-trademarks-whats-next-in-the-cleveland-indians-search-for-a-new-franchise-name>Spiders, Speculation and Trademarks — What's Next in the Cleveland Indians' Search for a New Franchise Name



While they were trademarking "Naps" and "Blues" they certainly should have locked down "Spiders".



And "Broncho" with an H? It makes me think of a respiratory disease. Not a good connotation, especially these days.

[whippoorwill]

I think my son would like something to do with the RandR HOF, like Rockers

[Benjamin Grimm]

If they change their name to "Naps" their logo can be someone taking a siesta in a giant sombrero. They might as well spend the next hundred years offending a different segment of the population.



https://i.pinimg.com/originals/74/5e/05/745e05df316ac871730f19945ca62f26.gif>

[Chad ochoseis]

"Spiders" seems to be the favorite among people I know around here. Spiders don't get easily offended.



"Rocks" and "Rockers" feel a little corny.



"Guardians" is getting some traction, since the ballpark is located at the foot of a bridge whose pillars have four embedded gargoyles known collectively as the "Guardians of Transportation". But I wouldn't want to have to keep explaining that to out-of-towners.



I like "Tribe", but that still has similar connotations to "Indians".

[Edgy MD]

Nicknaming to underscore your locality's most lucrative tourist attraction is a really minor league practice.

[Frayed Knot]

Edgy MD wrote: Nicknaming to underscore your locality's most lucrative tourist attraction is a really minor league practice.

We object to that implication -- the Binghamton Rumble Ponies

[Edgy MD]

The Cleveland Slavs.

The Cleveland Fellers.

The Cleveland Marketeers.

The Cleveland Chapmans.



Yeah, Spiders is looking better and better.

[Frayed Knot]

Or they could go full-on minor league and adopt one of those double names that seem to be almost required in today's lower levels

-- the Erie Polluters

-- the River Fires

-- the Lake Mistakes

-- the Drew Careys

-- the Rust Belters

[MFS62]

What about doing the State thingie - the Cleveland Ohioans?

It would piss off the Reds, but they consider themselves part of Kentucky anyhow.

Later

[metsmarathon]

[attachment=0]wahoo spider.png[/attachment]

fixed it. totally not racist anymore.

[ashie62]

Cleveland Red Staters

[nymr83]

=metsmarathon post_id=48148 time=1602081152 user_id=83]
wahoo spider.png



fixed it. totally not racist anymore.

[batmagadanleadoff]

Cleveland's Baseball Team Will Drop Its Indians Team Name



Excerpt:

Following years of protests from fans and Native American groups, the Cleveland Indians have decided to change their team name, 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. Cleveland could announce its plans as soon as this week, according to the three people, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter. It is not immediately clear what Cleveland's exact steps will be beyond dropping the Indians name. The transition to a new name

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/13/sports/baseball/cleveland-indians-baseball-name-change.htmlhttps://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/13/sports/baseball/cleveland-indians-baseball-name-change.html

[nymr83]

Please don't be the idiots in Washington. Pick a new name before stepping on the field.

[Lefty Specialist]

Really, this isn't that hard. Have a fan poll and then pick the name you want anyway. But get it done early so that the marketing and apparel people can get to work.



The Washington screwup was predictable because Dan Snyder is a dipstick.



Next up, the Braves and that repulsive Tomahawk Chop.

[Frayed Knot]

The Braves aren't nearly in the same situation.

- the word 'Braves' can at least be seen as complimentary, or at least not as generically insensitive

- they don't have an embarrassingly cartoonish caricature as a logo

- they do have an ongoing dialog with native representation in their region on the name and related topics

- and while it's tough to stop fans intent on doing the chop, the team is no longer actively encouraging it during games

[Benjamin Grimm]

I agree with the above.



But if the Atlanta Baseball Team does opt to change its name, I nominate the "Atlanta Bees". It would go back to a name that the franchise had for a while when it played in Boston.