Why the Redskins’ name should be left up to… the Redskins

UPDATE – June 18, 2014: ***[In light of the 50 Senate Democrats who recently sent a letter to the National Football League and demanded the Washington Redskins football team change its name, as well as the U.S. Patent Office having just cancelled the Washington Redskins’ trademark registration (by calling the team’s name “disparaging”), we’ve updated the post below accordingly…]***

The feelings that a sports team’s fans have about their team’s nickname/logo are incredibly strong, maybe more so today than even in years past. In the old days and in every sport, plenty of athletes would spend their entire careers with one team, whereas that’s incredibly rare now. So when we’re rooting for a team, it may consist of almost entirely new personnel from one year to the next.

THIS makes the team nickname one of the only consistent aspects with which to identify. We end up rooting for an icon and an image, whether it’s a Giant, a Viking, a Bruin, or a King.

And that’s why this brouhaha over the Washington Redskins’ nickname has folks so thoroughly steamed.

The best hockey commercials EVER, …and how we MIGHT be seeing more of ’em, sooner than we think

The commercials are at the bottom of this post. But if you’ll allow me just a moment, I’ll explain what got me thinking about ’em in the first place.

As a lifelong fan of all things hockey, I’m well aware that it’s the black sheep of the United States professional sports “family”, viewership-wise. To illustrate, the NBA’s playoffs ratings are destroying the NHL’s right now; it’s not even close. Even the NFL draft (the freakin’ draft?!?!?) crushed the Boston/Montreal Game 6 Semifinal in the ratings by a 5-to-1 margin.

And this has been the trend, unfortunately. Heck, the first two games of the 2012 Stanley Cup Finals (both nationally broadcast on NBC, by the way) got soundly thrashed by RERUNS of the following programs: ‘Dogs In The City’, ‘America’s Funniest Home Videos’, ‘Secret Millionaire’, ‘America’s Got Talent’, ‘Grimm’, ‘2 Broke Girls’, …and a rerun of the rerun of ‘America’s Got Talent’.

Yikes.

That’s the difference between getting beat …and getting a beat-down.

And yet, both the league and the sport are positioned for success, perhaps now more than ever before.

In honor of the #NFLPlayoffs: “Football vs Baseball” by George Carlin

One of my all-time favorite comedy routines.

This bit by George Carlin is a remarkably insightful and humorous take on the differences between our National Pastime (baseball) and the Country’s Greatest Sport (football).

But here’s a hint: football wins.

If you haven’t seen it before, this is classic Carlin. Of particular note is the lack of any “language warning”: there’s none necessary, I promise.

Which is just one more reason I love it.

An Open Letter to the #NFL: your officials are incompetent, corrupt, …or both

Dear NFL,

I think we need to stop seeing each other, and you deserve to know why.

It’s not as if we haven’t had some good times together, I’ll admit. We’ve shared joy and sorrow; anger and elation. You played, I watched; it worked out well. All in all, we’ve been pretty compatible.

But now, things are …different. You’re lying to me, and you’re lying to yourself. You have a problem, and until you deal with it honestly, we can’t go on this way.

The #Redskins are merely the latest target of the PC crowd, …but they won’t be the last.

The feelings that a sports team’s fans have about their team’s nickname/logo are incredibly strong, maybe more so today than even in years past. In the old days and in every sport, plenty of athletes would spend their entire careers with one team, whereas that’s incredibly rare now. So when we’re rooting for a team, it may consist of almost entirely new personnel from one year to the next.

THIS makes the team nickname one of the only consistent aspects with which to identify. We end up rooting for an icon and an image, whether it’s a Giant, a Viking, a Bruin, or a King.

And that’s why this brouhaha over the Washington Redskins’ nickname has folks so thoroughly steamed.

Carson and Woods: True Inspiration vs. Tarnished Image

What do these two men have in common?  After reading about them both recently, I’d have to say:  not too much.

Dr. Ben Carson, neurosurgeon

Tiger Woods, golf pro

—–

Like many of our readers, I became aware of Dr. Ben Carson of Johns Hopkins University when my brother posted his speech at the National Prayer Breakfast this past February. Soon after, I purchased his autobiography, Gifted Hands, for my e-reader. It’s a fast read and a fascinating story which I’ve been enjoying in the stolen moments I’ve had for reading this week.

[For an even briefer bio of this remarkable man, read here.]

It’s Frozen Four time, which means …I’m outta here!

I’ll be away for a few days, as one of my best friends and I make our annual hockey pilgrimage to the NCAA Frozen Four.

***It’ll be broadcast on ESPN2, just in case you’re interested.

So, I have enlisted some assistance to pick up my slack while I’m off having fun. The other head, GBL, will obviously be around (thanks, Sis!!), and our regular Guest Noggin’, PGH, will be back, too.

Obviously, Sports Logos mean more to us Fans than to the Owners

It’s not that I’m against change, but I don’t like changing stuff just for the sake of changing it.

And it’s official: the Miami Dolphins have changed their logo, which for my money was one of the most enduring, and endearing, left in sports today. They went from this:

…to THIS: