Cleveland Guardians

[OldPhiKap]

I'm old enough to remember when burning sewage on the Cuyahoga River defined Cleveland. Not sure how to turn that into a useable nickname, however.

Back to your regular programming.

“Cleveland, city of light, city of magic
Cleveland, city of light, you're calling me
Cleveland, even now I can remember
'Cause the Cuyahoga River
Goes smokin' through my dreams

Burn on, big river, burn on
Burn on, big river, burn on

Now the Lord can make you tumble
And the Lord can make you turn
And the Lord can make you overflow
But the Lord can't make you burn

Burn on, big river, burn on
Burn on, big river, burn on”

— Randy Newman

[CameronDuke]

Surprisingly, St. John’s University has some history with derogatory mascots.

The Queens, New York-based college began calling its sports teams the Redmen in the early 1920s and adopted the Chief Blackjack mascot in 1928 when two students found a statue of him outside a cigar store.

The school used a variant of the logo up until 1987, finally ditching the Redmen name in 1994 after pressure from Native-American groups. The school's teams are now of course known as the Red Storm.

Syracuse has had its own run in with this issue, too. Before the private university looked to Otto the Orange for a boost of school spirit, Syracuse University's mascot was Big Chief Bill Orange, the Saltine Warrior.

A statue of the Saltine Warrior was erected on the campus in 1951 and still stands today. In 1978, students in the Syracuse community and members of a Native-American organization protested the use of this mascot.

Eventually the Saltine Warrior was retired along with the costume worn by the mascot.

A third New York university had its own unique issue with this topic.
The St. Bonaventure University Brown Squaws. It might not sound inherently offensive, but the phrase "brown squaw" is actually Senecan (a native American language) for "vagina," according to Jose Barreiro's book, "America is Indian Country."

In the book, Barreiro quotes a former school athlete as saying that the school was made aware of the name's meaning by a Seneca chief in 1975, and immediately stopped using it.

Eastern Washington University changed its name from the Savages to the Eagles in 1973 after a vote by the student body ruled that the mascot for the prior 52 years was no longer acceptable.

Before becoming the Redhawks in 1997, Miami University of Ohio were known as the Redskins. The change was advocated by Dr. Myrtis Powell, who consulted the Oklahoma-based Miami tribe.

[mkirsh]

“Cleveland, city of light, city of magic
Cleveland, city of light, you're calling me
Cleveland, even now I can remember
'Cause the Cuyahoga River
Goes smokin' through my dreams

Burn on, big river, burn on
Burn on, big river, burn on

Now the Lord can make you tumble
And the Lord can make you turn
And the Lord can make you overflow
But the Lord can't make you burn

Burn on, big river, burn on
Burn on, big river, burn on”

— Randy Newman

This is still a classic

[weezie]

Just my opinion but I think Guardians is lame. They should have paid homage to the original Cleveland baseball name which was the Spiders...

It's very lame. Spiders much cooler.
Look out cle Tigers coming up behind you in the raaaannnkings...

[Acymetric]

This one is still a classic

The first one is the best one, but the follow up was almost as good:

Edit: Huh, embedding is disabled for that one. Well here's the link at least: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZzgAjjuqZM

[mkirsh]

The first one is the best one, but the follow up was almost as good:

Edit: Huh, embedding is disabled for that one. Well here's the link at least: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZzgAjjuqZM

After I posted I actually edited my post to switch to the second video as I agree it is much better

[Acymetric]

After I posted I actually edited my post to switch to the second video as I agree it is much better

Haha, well then here's the first one...I encourage people to check out both!

[cspan37421]

I suspect the Braves will be next...

And when they do change their name, I hope they become the Atlanta Hammers in honor of Hank. As an added bonus, you could still do something like the Tomahawk Chop except you'd be mimicking the motion of someone hammering.

Just be ready for some gentle ribbing in lean years. When someone makes a foolish baserunning mistake, they might be described as "Dumber than a bag of hammers."

[budwom]

They could be the Full Clevelands and wear white all the time.

[Acymetric]

Just be ready for some gentle ribbing in lean years. When someone makes a foolish baserunning mistake, they might be described as "Dumber than a bag of hammers."

It's too bad Dr. Horrible's Sing-along Blog isn't more widely known...hammer jokes for days.

[flyingdutchdevil]

I would suspect, of course, that ‘Indians’ and ‘Red Skins’ is extremely offensive to Native Americans and Native Americans want those to be changed.

But with regards to a tribe, like ‘Seminoles’, do members of those tribes find it offensive? I assume there is a bunch of literature on this, but wanted to take the easy route and ask here

[sagegrouse]

I would suspect, of course, that ‘Indians’ and ‘Red Skins’ is extremely offensive to Native Americans and Native Americans want those to be changed.

But with regards to a tribe, like ‘Seminoles’, do members of those tribes find it offensive? I assume there is a bunch of literature on this, but wanted to take the easy route and ask here

Apparently an OK relationship between FSU and tribal leaders -- with some serious cash changing hands, I believe.

[jimsumner]

Apparently an OK relationship between FSU and tribal leaders -- with some serious cash changing hands, I believe.

And my understanding is that there are more members of the Seminole tribe in Oklahoma then there are in Florida and the Oklahoma branch of the Seminole nation is emphatically not on board.

[House P]

This isn't a name change. It's a first syllable change.

\IN-dē-əns\

\GÄR-dē-əns\

I am pretty sure that this isn’t a coincidence. That being said, they had other (better?) options if they were going to go with the ends-in-“dians” theme.

Cleveland Custodians (Cleveland prides itself as a blue collar town and it doesn’t get much more blue collar than this)
Cleveland Comedians (Bob Hope, Tim Conway, Arsenio Hall, Fred Willard, and Drew Carey were from Cleveland)
Cleveland Euclidians (Euclid Ave is one of the main streets in the city)
Cleveland Medians (Why not double down on the idea that Ohio is commonly used to represent “average America?”)
Cleveland Trajedians (Pretty much encapsulates the last 50+ years of Cleveland sports - outside of the 2016 Cavs)
Cleveland Proboscidians (Look it up)

[CameronBornAndBred]

Washington Football Team naming committee earlier today...

"Dammit! Alright, back to the drawing board, what was everyone's second pick?"

[dudog84]

How about the Cleveland Grovers?

Educational (history) and a ready-made lovable muppet mascot.

[CameronDuke]

How about the Cleveland Grovers?

Educational (history) and a ready-made lovable muppet mascot.

I like that.

Also, the Cleveland Steamers.

[CrazyNotCrazie]

Washington Football Team naming committee earlier today...

"Dammit! Alright, back to the drawing board, what was everyone's second pick?"

Washington could go with the Gordians, which is a good representation of their organization.

[OldPhiKap]

I would suspect, of course, that ‘Indians’ and ‘Red Skins’ is extremely offensive to Native Americans and Native Americans want those to be changed.

But with regards to a tribe, like ‘Seminoles’, do members of those tribes find it offensive? I assume there is a bunch of literature on this, but wanted to take the easy route and ask here

FSU has worked with the Seminole Nation for decades to make sure that what they do is copacetic.

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

FSU has worked with the Seminole Nation for decades to make sure that what they do is copacetic.

And yet, I'm certain that it is far from a universally accepted relationship. That mascot will absolutely be under scrutiny.