Mac-Coleman

17 October 2013 –

It’s All About The Name Of The Game                                                    

Let’s put aside crises of the day and consider an important question:  Should the Washington Redskins owner, Dan Snyder, change the name of his football team to something less offensive?

This is not breaking news.  The same issue was broached with the previous owner, Jack Kent Cooke, in the 1970s and 1980s.  Mr. Cooke’s answer was always “No.”  A month ago, USA TODAY reporters asked Mr. Snyder if he would abandon the name.  His response was equally blunt: “Never…it’s that simple.”  

It’s that simple if we believe that keeping an eighty-year-old name is the team owner’s constitutional right of property.  It’s that simple if we see those pressuring for a name-change as self-serving agitators.  Such simplicity, however, sets unavoidable battle lines, and agitators will most likely control the conflict’s tempo.  I suggest Mr. Snyder sidestep the acrimony and fist-pumping that infest such arguments.  I suggest he reverse his stance and base his actions on the concept of propriety.  Mr. Snyder should announce that it is respectful and decent to find a new name for a football team that actually spent its first season in Boston as the Braves.  Mr. Snyder should announce that it is appropriate and polite to change a name that lost its context when the team moved from Boston to Washington, D.C., in 1937, and no longer employed the part-Native American coach whom the Redskins originally meant to honor.  Mr. Snyder’s ultimately simple response should be that propriety, not political correctness, suggests a name change.  He would keep fans and defang enemies. 

I see two methods for Mr. Snyder to find a new team name.  The first is to invite Native American leaders to a conference in D.C. to discuss new names which should evoke virtues such as courage, steadfastness, and strength.  The leaders who refuse to attend should be ignored.  Those who attend the conference and agitate should be ignored.  Those who present and discuss new names should be praised and incorporated into the team’s public image.  These leaders also should be given box seats at every home game against the Dallas Cowboys for the next thirty years.  The new name, proper and embraced by all, could then continue the Native American theme that has been with the team since its inception.     

The second method is to pick a team name that identifies the team with the region.  The Houston Oilers, Minnesota Vikings, Washington Senators, Pittsburgh Steelers, and Dallas Cowboys are examples of sports teams’ regional ties—ethnic, historic, and economic.  Just as he might do with Native American leaders, Mr. Snyder could consult with regional leaders in selecting a new name.   

Mr. Snyder could even combine regionalism with a Native American name, but that is difficult because the tribes that lived in the D.C. region don’t have the familiar names or historical fame of the tribes of other regions. 

A specifically regional name also may not travel well if the franchise—heaven forbid—moves to another city.  In 1961, the Washington Senators moved to Minneapolis-St. Paul and became the Minnesota Twins.  An expansion club was formed in D.C. and took the name Washington Senators.  But these Senators moved to Dallas in 1971, left their name behind, and became the Texas Rangers.  

On the other hand, the Brooklyn Dodgers moved to Los Angeles before the 1958 season and were still the Dodgers.  Sports writers had invented the name in the early 1890s when Brooklyn fans were referred to as “Trolley Dodgers” because the ball park was hemmed in on two sides by trolley tracks.   Hmm… I wonder how the name would have fared if the team had moved to San Francisco instead.  By the late 1960s, writers could have referred to the S.F. team as “Draft Dodgers.”  The President just announced that immigration reform is his next big political issue.  Will some writer in Los Angeles now refer to its baseball team as the “ICE Dodgers?”  Just wonderin’.     

So, Mr. Snyder has at least two ways to change his team’s name for the better.   If he opts for a regional name, I suggest he focus on capturing the essence of the Washington D.C. culture and economy.  Something that fans will instantly recognize. 

How about the Washington Wafflers? 

What do you think?   If you want to help Mr. Snyder choose a new team name, please send your suggestions to the Atascocita Observer.