How to solve the whole Cleveland Indians controversy

[wildojinx]

There;s many schools of thought on Chief Wahoo (and lets leave it at that), but I figured a better way to fix this whole situation, simply retire the Indians name and rename the team Cleveland Rockers. Have Wahoo be replaced on the hats and everything else by a guitar (maybe in the same color scheme as an homage to the past). That way not only have you defused controversy, but you can also tie it into the Rock and Roll HOF.

["Evil Brood" Jackson Vanik]

You can just redesign it. Look at the FSU logo. It denotes strength instead of racial stereotypes. I personally oppose any use of Native American culture in sports by non-tribe members but this is at least palpable. Compare these two:
 and 

[sfvega]

Nov 10, 2016 16:55:40 GMT -5 "Evil Brood" Jackson Vanik said:

You can just redesign it. Look at the FSU logo. It denotes strength instead of racial stereotypes. I personally oppose any use of Native American culture in sports by non-tribe members but this is at least palpable. Compare these two:
 and 

One is definitely happier.

[OGBoardPoster2005]

New logo, for "Cleveland Rockers"

[The Kevstaaa]

Instead of the "Tribe", they would be the "Band."

[Sicho100]

Nov 10, 2016 19:07:41 GMT -5 The Kevstaaa said:

Instead of the "Tribe", they would be the "Band."

When they go into rebuilding mode, they are "Tuning Up the Band"

[Push R Truth]

I cast my vote for the Cleveland Steamers.

[MiLB Fan]

Only if they use Shawn & Marty's theme during the announcement of the team's starting lineup.

On a whim, I Googled "Cleveland Rockers." Turns out there was a WNBA team with that name.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cleveland_Rockers

[J]

Normally I would say to go back to one of the teams old names, it's not like they've always been the Indians. Unfortunately Bluebirds is too close to Blue Jays, and well they can't go with Broncos either. So I would suggest going with the name of Cleveland's old National League team, Spiders. Honeatly I think Cleveland Spiders has a nice ring to it.

[Deleted]

Can change the name to Cleveland Barons, a former NHL team in the mid-'70s. (Formerly the Oakland/California Golden Seals, a Charles O. Finley project. They "merged" with the Minnesota North Stars after 1978.)
You don't have to change the colors, as they are basically the same unless you want to; more scarlet than red and more black than blue.

As one poster mentioned, you don't have to erase the Chief from history; can bring him back on throwback days. He had his purpose. But, it's just time to move on. The team could use a rebrand anyway.

[Hit Girl]

Replace him with a picture of Gandhi

They can still then be called the Indians.

[arrogantmodel]

From what I've heard, the native american tribes don't have a problem with the names, it's the Indians logo and Braves tomahawk chop.

The names aren't offensive, it's the stereotyping. Now the Redskins? That just needs to go.

[bitteroldman]

Nov 11, 2016 5:15:00 GMT -5 J said:

Normally I would say to go back to one of the teams old names, it's not like they've always been the Indians. Unfortunately Bluebirds is too close to Blue Jays, and well they can't go with Broncos either. So I would suggest going with the name of Cleveland's old National League team, Spiders. Honeatly I think Cleveland Spiders has a nice ring to it.

Cleveland Spiders from Mars has a better ring to it.

[Surfer Sandman]

Nov 10, 2016 16:55:40 GMT -5 "Evil Brood" Jackson Vanik said:

You can just redesign it. Look at the FSU logo. It denotes strength instead of racial stereotypes. I personally oppose any use of Native American culture in sports by non-tribe members but this is at least palpable. Compare these two:
 and 

Or you know, people can stop naming teams after racial stereotypes. Seriously, I have met people who claimed that indian mascots weren't offensive. Of course, not, dummy! Your ancestors weren't natives. Mine were! No wonder you're not offended! 

[sfvega]

I like Chief Wahoo simply from an aesthetic point of view. But if they scrapped the whole deal, I wouldn't miss it. I'm always reminded of this photo.



"Ok, here's why you're wrong." -Guy who is actually wrong.

[Hugh Mungus]

Speaking of the Redskins name, why not change them to either the Washington Braves or the Washington Warriors? I think that only the Redskins name was offensive; they didn't have a problem with the logo itself.

Washington Braves: That would pay homage to the team's original name, the Boston Braves; also, "Hail to the Redskins" could become "Hail to the Braves". Finally, there's also "Home of the Braves".
Washington Warriors: This was Snyder's Plan B in the event he loses the trademark to the Redskins name; he filed for a trademark to "Washington Warriors" in 2002 for a potential Arena Football team.

Only thing I could see is that it can cause potential confusion with the Atlanta Braves or the Golden State Warriors, but then again, there's the New York Giants/San Francisco Giants, the St. Louis Cardinals/Arizona Cardinals, the New York Jets/Winnipeg Jets.

[Hit Girl]

"Washington Presidents"

Then the fans can wear masks of old presidents, like those guys in Point Break.

[Deleted]

Nov 12, 2016 10:57:02 GMT -5 sfvega said:

I like Chief Wahoo simply from an aesthetic point of view. But if they scrapped the whole deal, I wouldn't miss it. I'm always reminded of this photo.



"Ok, here's why you're wrong." -Guy who is actually wrong.

I met that guy on the right after a game in 1995. He was hustling for change. "Hey fellas, I'm a real Cleveland Indian!"
No shit. He's still there I see.

[Reflecto]

Nov 13, 2016 3:05:46 GMT -5 Hugh Mungus said:

Speaking of the Redskins name, why not change them to either the Washington Braves or the Washington Warriors? I think that only the Redskins name was offensive; they didn't have a problem with the logo itself.

Washington Braves: That would pay homage to the team's original name, the Boston Braves; also, "Hail to the Redskins" could become "Hail to the Braves". Finally, there's also "Home of the Braves".
Washington Warriors: This was Snyder's Plan B in the event he loses the trademark to the Redskins name; he filed for a trademark to "Washington Warriors" in 2002 for a potential Arena Football team.

Only thing I could see is that it can cause potential confusion with the Atlanta Braves or the Golden State Warriors, but then again, there's the New York Giants/San Francisco Giants, the St. Louis Cardinals/Arizona Cardinals, the New York Jets/Winnipeg Jets.

If you're going to do that, it'd be better to ignore any Native imagery and just go all out with it.

Name them the Washington Warthogs and you handle everything: It's a non-native image (so you don't have the problems there), and the "Hogs" name is a big thing for the team as it is, so you're basically just promoting one of the teams' nicknames to the main name (and thus getting away the "but the Redskins' name is a Washington tradition!" argument people use.)

[Cyno]

I still think it's strange that 500+ years after Christopher Columbus was a complete doofus about where he was geographically, we still call a group of people who have no ties to India "Indians."