Breaking News - Cleveland Indians

[cannonballsun]

I think this was mainly a company (owner's of the Cleveland Indians), deciding to do something that they thought would be good for their business. There had been no outcry recently about the name, it wasn't anything anybody had been talking about recently. It was just something the owners decided to do. Perhaps they felt it would be good public relations.
Of course we love sports, and we also love card collecting, but we often make it out to be something more important than it really is. Teams used to change names very often. It didn't used to be a big thing.
As Bob Dylan famously said "the times they are a changing".
My favorite saying is that "the only thing that never changes is that everything changes".
So, was I surprised to hear the name changed ? Yes. Is it a big deal to me ? No. I'm not an Cleveland Indian fan. If I were, I guess I would feel different.

[Tabe]

The owners have decided to get rid of the offensive portion of their name. Their new name will now be:

Ohio Indians


*rimshot*

My local minor league team is the Spokane Indians. They have partnered with the actual Spokane tribe ("The Spokane Tribe of Indians" being the official name) and seek to honor the tribe with the team name, logos, and the stadium. The logo has "Spokane" written in Salish, for example. That's the right way to do things.

I think the problem with Cleveland is that they have a loooooooong history of, well, being racist with their team name, logos, and mascots. Yes, they dropped Chief Wahoo but the legacy of all the garbage is still there.

Personally, I think it's a wise decision of them to change. I don't consider this a sign of the apocalypse or even "bad" in any way. As baseball fans, we should all know that nearly every team has had a ton of nicknames through the years. What's one more?

A suggested name I heard from someone else: Cleveland Admirals, in honor of Cleveland native Admiral Isaac Kidd, who was killed at Pearl Harbor and awarded the Medal of Honor.

[BillyCoxDodgers3B]

How about the "Cuyahoga Fire"?

[tedzan]

Seriously, my advice to the owners is....re-name the team the Cleveland LAKERS....since the Stadium is situated next to Lake Erie.

Then, we can watch (and laugh) how the "politically correct" crowd struggles to change the name Lakers.....for they will try, as they
have no respect for anything traditional.
.

[earlywynnfan]

Originally Posted by tedzan

Seriously, my advice to the owners is....re-name the team the Cleveland LAKERS....since the Stadium is situated next to Lake Erie.

Then, we can watch (and laugh) how the "politically correct" crowd struggles to change the name Lakers.....for they will try, as they
have no respect for anything traditional.
.

Except the stadium hasn't been next to Lake Erie for 25 years...

[egri]

Originally Posted by Tabe

A suggested name I heard from someone else: Cleveland Admirals, in honor of Cleveland native Admiral Isaac Kidd, who was killed at Pearl Harbor and awarded the Medal of Honor.

Under his watch, USS Arizona's crew improperly stowed several thousand pounds of black powder outside of the magazine that detonated during the attack. Had Kidd lived, he likely would have been court-martialed.

[keithsky]

All the sports teams should be named after animals. At least they don't complain. Not yet anyway

[packs]

The only two teams to change their names were the Redskins and the Indians, two teams who have been at the center of controversy over their names for decades. I don't really see this knee jerk reaction to change everything and anything that you guys are talking about.

[Throttlesteer]

Maybe its been around for so many decades because there wasn't much controversy. But in 2020, its time to make a difference. Forget the people getting sick and hospitals running out of beds. We should worry about 100-year old baseball team names and pancake syrup. I dont think the perspective is necessarily wrong, but the timing is suspect.

[timzcardz]

Originally Posted by packs

The only two teams to change their names were the Redskins and the Indians, two teams who have been at the center of controversy over their names for decades. I don't really see this knee jerk reaction to change everything and anything that you guys are talking about.

Way to try and kill a passionate argument!

[packs]

Originally Posted by Throttlesteer

Maybe its been around for so many decades because there wasn't much controversy. But in 2020, its time to make a difference. Forget the people getting sick and hospitals running out of beds. We should worry about 100-year old baseball team names and pancake syrup. I dont think the perspective is necessarily wrong, but the timing is suspect.

But what is sacrificed in changing the name? None of those grander things were affected by it.

[Malibu39]

Originally Posted by keithsky

All the sports teams should be named after animals. At least they don't complain. Not yet anyway

That is what PETA is for!

[Fred]

Cleveland BBC (Baseball Club)

San Diego BBC

Kansas City FBC

That makes it pretty generic. Nothing to bitch about with those titles.

[Throttlesteer]

Originally Posted by Fred

Cleveland BBC (Baseball Club)

San Diego BBC

Kansas City FBC

That makes it pretty generic. Nothing to bitch about with those titles.

San Diego is named for a saint. That's religious and I'm offended. We should change it to South Los Angeles. Wait, that means angels!!! No, we need to fix that too.

[drcy]

I am a left-leaning moderate, so fall in the middle of the debates. I see both sides to the argument.

Though I can say the illiberal, ultra-woke, cancel culture far left is as obnoxious to me, and to many people I know left to me, as it is to anyone on the right. I am against it as much as anyone else. The right should know that they annoy most people on the left too. And, in fact, illiberal by definition is not liberal. Cancel culture and trying to stop freedom of expression is not liberalism.

My argument is it's up to the Indians, but that means it's really up to the Indians not some small vocal group of activists. As someone else said, I don't think the issue is political but about respect-- with respect being both a liberal and a conservative value.

[honus94566]

Tradition?

It was traditional to enslave black people for centuries. To subjugate women and minorities. To deny basic rights to groups that differ from the mainstream.

Just because it's a tradition doesn't mean it's OK and shouldn't be changed. Just because it's a tradition doesn't mean it isn't harmful to others, even if it's a tradition you are particularly fond of, and personally benefit from.

"America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It's been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt, and erased again. But baseball has marked the time."

Looking forward to seeing what the change will be.

Onward to a better future!

[Tabe]

Originally Posted by egri

Under his watch, USS Arizona's crew improperly stowed several thousand pounds of black powder outside of the magazine that detonated during the attack. Had Kidd lived, he likely would have been court-martialed.

Eh, don't let facts get in the way of a good story