Naming Names

Call them whatever you want

This week I had the opportunity to engage with a prominent non sports blogger at a meet and greet for a political candidate hosted by a mutual friend. As subject matter experts are wont to do when they have an audience, this gentleman held forth and held forth and held forth some more. When he got into the mechanics and logistics of running an active blog community he began to quantify the time commitment over and above the rest of our lives, like most bloggers writing on a given subject is not his primary source of income.

He described a two to three hour daily commitment to monitor events, crank out content and screen comments. This was the point, over an hour into our discussion, that I chose to mention by way of common experience that I too was a blogger with an active outlet, writing about the Redskins, that I had been at it nearly three years and was about to hit one th-

When he turned to me and interrupted, I don't like the name, I wish they would change it and then he walked away. Later he would come back and we would resume our discussion, perhaps a bit more formally, it was clear to me that he felt the name was racist and while I do not believe he thought me to be racist per se I do believe I ran afoul of his liberal sensibilities.

The tussle over the NFL's Washington franchise name is decades old and spurs debate in all quarters, and the story never seems to go away; a week ago yesterday a federal appeals court ruled in favor of the Redskins in the nearly 20 year case brought by American Indians to force the team to pick another name, whether based on racism or discrimination or based on economic forces by nullifying the team's trademarks thereby reducing the inherent and marketable value of the brand to zero.

This latest ruling does not touch on the nature of the brand, the name, logos and imagery, nor does it speak to whether the law considers the brand racist. Rather, this case upholds a lower court ruling that a case against the trademark was filed too late and as such the plaintiffs have no standing to pursue a case. There is no doubt this case will continue in some form.

And so it goes, I have developed a position on the name after years of exposure to arguments both sincere and non, just wait until the next time the Redskins lay a beatdown on that AFC team that guy you work with roots for, he will tell you at least my team name is not racist, I have been on all sides of the argument in my lifetime as a Redskins fan and for some people it is a great passion; just this week Tony Brown of Hog Heaven writing at Bleacher Report posted up an impassioned piece on why Redskins is important to him: the history, the colors, the fight song, the names, the Redskins are in the heart of Washington and of Redskins fans and he cannot imagine giving that up; it is penance through allegiance, forgive us if it offends your eye, it is our love and we will not compromise, because we cannot.

I have a much different opinion on the matter and it can be summarized thusly:

I DO NOT CARE WHAT YOU CALL THEM THEY ARE MY FOOTBALL TEAM

Call them whatever you want, rename them the Washington Insiders and make the logo a stylized version of the Incredibles logo. Call them the Metropolitans and make the logo a map of old DC. Potomac Thunder. Washington Monuments. It does not matter, the NFL team that plays here will be my team.

Seriously, do Ravens fans hold it against the team that they are really the Browns? Maybe a few old Colts fans but not enough to make a dent in the season ticket list. And how about those Browns, does anyone in the City of Suck hold it against the current Browns team that they are a do over franchise? Down in Houston they lost the Oilers then got the Texans, seems like that town is ok with it.

If the Redskins change their name, logo and colors it is not the end of the world. It will not happen because you think it is a racist name, they are a business and are invested in those trademarks they will defend them. If you can convince them legally or otherwise to change it then good on you. Yes I think the name should probably change. But I am fine if it does not. It does not matter, this is my team.



Redskins logo from here, surely Chris Creamer's Sports Logos is one of the best resources on the internet for dead enders like me.