Changing Names?

The various protests around our country have now entered sports with the continuous effort to get the Washington Redskins and now the Cleveland Indians to change their team nicknames.

The Indians shuffled Chief Wahoo off in 2018, in what essentially was a trade to land the 2019 All-Star game, and although Wahoo merchandise is still available (MLB which hates the idea of Wahoo, yet likes the dollars that he still brings in), as the team claims if they don't sell at least some merchandise with his likeness the image will eventually move into the public domain, but they don't use the logo around the stadium, on broadcasts, etc.
Supposedly, the team was unofficially told that they didn't have to deal with the name of the team should the jettisoning of Wahoo occur.

Two years later, the team is "exploring a thorough review of the team's name", which basically means one of the following two choices.
1: The decision has been made to change the name and they need to move through the facade of compiling the facts.
2: The team doesn't want to change the name and they are hoping to see some of the current moods in the country slow down a bit and buy some time.
I suspect number one is the choice as the team announced this without being the focus of the protests.
The Washington Redskins are the main target currently, but the team has to know that should the Redskins be taken down successfully the Indians would be next in their sights.
Cleveland likely thinks that this is inevitable now and perhaps the PR would be better should they volunteer to change rather than being forced into changing.

I wrote two years ago that I would miss Wahoo, but I understood why the time had come.
I'm not as understanding this time, especially considering the Atlanta Braves haven't really been touched yet for a team that plays a war chant and sells Tomahawks to their fans, but honestly, I'm just tired of hearing it.

I know that giving in and giving protesters what they want is like giving the toddler throwing a tantrum their toy, but now inevitability has set in.
The name is going to be changed, it is now a matter of time and what name will be chosen as the new nickname.
I'm OK with Spiders, the original team name and some have offered Buckeyes for the Cleveland entry in the Negro Leagues, but I wonder if Ohio State might have something to say about that one.
Many people, usually from outside the area, keep saying Rockers, but that was the name of the failed WNBA team and I just don't think that it fits.
I haven't anything I really love yet, but I'm sure they'll be picking something awful!

I'm sure that I'll have more to say about this as the situation continues.

Weighing in on Wahoo

The Cleveland Indians won't be wearing Chief Wahoo on their uniforms or hats after the 2018 season.
This felt like an inevitable outcome for years and for whatever I felt about Bud Selig, from the day that Rob Manfred took over the commissioner's duties, one of the targets in the sights of Manfred was Wahoo and no matter how much the Indians tried to fight it off ( and I do believe that the team gamely tried to do so as long as possible), as long as Manfred was running MLB and that appears to be the case for a long time, this was going to happen sooner or later.

It appears (no matter how much each side denies this) that MLB (and Manfred) finally was able to strongarm the Indians with the 2019 All-Star Game-as in this "we wouldn't want to have any reason to have to take that game somewhere else. Not that we would be doing it for any particular reason, mind you".
Hopefully, the compromise can be the return of the 1970's "crooked" C, which brings the Indians name more to mind than the bland and seemingly overwhelmingly disliked on social media current "Block C".

Here is where MLB smacks of hypocrisy, (I blame MLB because I truly believe that the team was forced to do this and did not want to make this move), the team and MLB will still sell Chief Wahoo hats and shirts, so if you prefer Wahoo, you can still wear his items, it's just that the Indians won't be after 2018.
The argument from baseball is that they have to sell items or the trademark on Wahoo will expire and others can claim and "use it in ways that MLB won't be able to control".
How noble.
It wouldn't have anything to do with being able to continue to rake in dollars from the more popular logo while being able to look politically correct and appearing to take the moral high road, now, could it??
Nah...

As for me, personally, I have mixed feelings.
I always liked Chief Wahoo and considered him the face of the franchise, which might be why so many people were bothered by him now that I think about it, and my generation's Wahoo isn't nearly as bad as the original Wahoo, which even I have to admit is pretty offensive to almost anyone that even has a hint of an open mind.

Wahoo was a part of my childhood and on that summer day in 1979 when my dad pulled up to Cleveland Municipal Stadium and saw the huge Chief Wahoo sign on top of the Stadium leaning on his back foot, getting ready to pull a fastball into Lake Erie, it was one of the great thrills of my childhood.
Wahoo has also meant Cleveland baseball in other ways.
When I was a kid and only was able to see the Tribe when I visited Ashland for games on WUAB (Lorain Cleveland of course) along with their games against the Orioles back in the days when the televised games meant the Orioles TV games were only the road games, I have two Wahoo memories.

One was from the local TV guide when the Orioles were on the road and the TV guide would have an ad for that night game it would have the Oriole bird fighting in some manner in a cartoon against that night's opponent and I remember quite a few times seeing Wahoo leaping off the point of the Oriole bird's bat in the TV guide!

The other was from those summer trips to Banning Avenue in Ashland for those few cherished Tribe games with my grandfather.
I didn't always get lucky because we had to come out on a weekend when the Indians were on the road in order for those games to be on television in those days before regional sports network days that televised all the home games.
There were the WUAB commercials with the catchy "Indian Fever" jingle that the Indians would take over for themselves down the road with a few changes and the intro as well with the always present smiling Wahoo with those Indians teams that were a .500 team that finished in 6th in the brutal A.L. East in a good year and dead last with close to 100 losses in a bad one.
However, there was always Wahoo in good times or bad, whether he's on the cap and jersey or not, those memories don't go away.
I wish he would stay, but I understand the wave against him.
Things could be far worse- he could have been the laughing Brave...

I'm not Catholic,but...

This was such a great idea that I had to have it for myself.
What was it?
My go to Buckeye Football site is the terrific Eleven Warriors and being a member of their site,I was scanning their daily articles and stumbled upon their yearly feature "Confessionals",
where their writers "confess" to various "sins" against Ohio State athletics.
It is a funny column and it also breaks the myth of fans being a 100 % homer,so after I was finished-I was stealing that for myself and spinning it.
I plan on a sports feature and a non-sports version to come "clean" on a few things.
Let me know what you think...

1: I really don't like the Ohio State gimmick uniforms being worn even though I like how some of them have looked.
I liked the black helmets with red buckeyes and the chrome helmets were sharp,which would be OK with the current uniforms,but I like the regular uniforms and hate them being messed with.
OSU colors are scarlet and gray and I don't recall black being either scarlet or gray.

2: I like Chief Wahoo on the Indians hats,but if the team is to going to continue to shrink his size,just move on already!
I hate the Block C caps and wish that the team would compromise and go to the 70's Crooked C.

3: I know this seems bad,but the Giants have caught the Pirates.
Not because of anything that changed my mind,but I just see so many more Giants games (even though they are surprisingly just brutally bad this season) and I like both teams pretty much the same.

4: I don't buy Cleveland Browns items very often-not because they stink,but because I can't stand their uniforms and I figure they will change back as soon as they can in a few years.
Actually,if it isn't a throwback item with Brownie the Elf,I stick to buying older stuff of the Browns.

5: I'm not saying I'd never go to a Cavaliers game (Never have been to one in Cleveland),but the noise from the surrounding from the team just seems so over the top.
Watching all that on TV makes me think I'd be less than tolerant.

6: I hate the Pittsburgh Steelers,but I still root for the Ohio State players that play there.
I root for all of our players,no matter what NFL team they have moved onto.
My feeling on that is this-Players pick the college that they play for,they have no choice in what NFL team picks them...

7:I've never been a Texas Longhorn football fan,but I must confess that I'm rooting for them a little now that Tom Herman is the head coach there.
I'm a big Herman fan and I cannot help but to root for his teams...

8: I hate to admit it,but Tom Brady's resume' gives him the nod as the greatest QB of all-time.
But I still pick John Elway as my QB,if you need to win one game to save the earth.

9: I'm as unenthused for my fantasy football season as I've ever been.
I think this is because my NFL interest is dropping.
I usually watch the Browns and a 4 PM Sunday (usually Rams,Chargers or Raiders) game not on the national network and last year I rarely watched the Thursday,Sunday or Monday night games.
I still have huge interest in the NFL draft though and I think that is because A) I love draft talk and B)
I can watch college football from the noon kickoff throughout the late games from the West Coast.

10: I know that so many fans,writers etc gush over downtown stadiums,but give me a suburban one with easy highway access any day of the week.
What most call "Buzz and Excitement",I call "Noise and lack of personal space".,.

Hope you enjoy some confessions.I'll have a non-sports version soon!

Q and A

I had asked for questions for a Q and A and got a few even though a few came through conversation, so they won't be named...

The first question comes from Battlin' Bob.
Bob wants to know who has impressed me most in the first week of the minor league season.

Well, that is an easy one- Hagerstown's Juan Soto is going to be a prospect that everyone is going to be talking about soon and he's just 18.
The ball jumps off his bat and he's going to hit for power.
Soto isn't a fast runner and I wonder about him defensively, but the bat is going to play.
Washington knows that their window is starting to close at the big league level and might be forced to make a mid-season splash-If the Nationals have to decide which of their top two position prospects have to go between Soto and Victor Robles, it's going to be a very difficult choice to make.

The next question comes from Bill Cover from the ballpark about the Cavaliers and their chances in the playoffs.
Bill is a long time Cavalier fan and has some concerns about the playoffs.

I'm a little concerned, but not overly so.
I look at the other rosters in the Eastern Conference and I don't think that any team including the top-seeded Celtics that observers could say that a series win over Cleveland would not be an upset.
The Cavaliers have the conference's most talented team and when push comes to shove, I think that they will be able to put it together to win the East.
In other words- I don't see any team that is going to beat a LeBron James-led team four times out of seven.
Now in the finals, that could be a different story, but I'll at least say that a return to the finals is likely...

Next, we have an easy one- What's up with the podcast?

I'm hoping to have a new free server when my deal with Podbean expires.
I want to keep it alive, but not at the current cost-If there is any of the archived material that you want to listen to or download for yourself-I'd get on that soon!
I do have some guests scheduled, so look for those soon as well...

Next up-this question from Twitter-What's my stance on Chief Wahoo?

I love Chief Wahoo and I've loved him since childhood, but I can see where he could be found offensive to Native Americans.
Terry Pluto thinks a re-design is in order and maybe so.
I do HATE the current blah Block C that the Indians currently favor, so let's float this idea out there.
I'd trade the Chief, but in return, the block C is scrapped in favor of the "Crooked" C from the '70s.
The crooked C pays homage to the name Indians more than the bland current version, yet takes away what offends.
Under those circumstances, I'd make that trade.

Jason Christensen asks about autographing with this-Are there certain affiliates that seem to be easier than others to get signatures from?

Well, this does tend to ebb and flow according to prospects, but it does seem to be the middle-level teams (at a particular time) that are better than others.
Teams that have been bad at the big league level can sometimes be tough because everyone wants high draft picks, but the traditionally popular teams like Yankees, Red Sox, Mets, Giants, etc can be difficult too.
Currently, the Rockies (minus the Brendan Rodgers experience in 2015), Rangers, Orioles, and Pirates are teams that I had good luck with.
Seems like the good teams change from year to year and the bad ones generally stay the same.
Another thing that helps is if the manager likes to sign.
If the manager (or team player that's a leader) likes to sign, the team follows, and conversely, if they hate it-it's always a grind.

Finally, we have Fred Landucci with a boxing question-Fred wants to know why big fights like the unification fight between Ricky Burns and Julius Indongo aren't shown on American television and how not having it anywhere but online (unless you have AWE tv) doesn't help to grow the sport.

Fred's right that it doesn't help, but apparently no network other than AWE wants to buy the fight.
Some of these small networks would do well (in my opinion) to pay a small rights fee and use the transmission from the other country's main network feed to keep costs down.
I've always thought about the small cost that HBO and Showtime should invest in these types of bouts.
HBO has a show on HBO Latino that could have shown Burns-Indongo on tape (at little cost) to use it to build interest in the winner vs Terence Crawford since Crawford is an HBO fighter and it's the same division.
It's really a Catch 22-they aren't shown because " no one knows them and the interest isn't there", but how do you know them and want to see them, if the exposure never arrives?
It's a hard situation for boxing to be and until we as fans get lucky enough to have a boxing guy run a network, no matter how small, fights like Burns-Indongo will be unavailable on television...

I always enjoy these, so I'll try to do another one soon!!