xe101 Posted September 7, 2004 Share Posted September 7, 2004 http://nfl.com/nflnetwork/story/7608850 By Gregg Easterbrook Special to NFL.com Hail to the Wohnata! (Aug. 24, 2004) -- Readers of this column know that TMQ calls the team of our nation's capital the Potomac Drainage Basin Indigenous Persons. Both ends of the official name bother me. As to the Washington part, the club practices in Virginia and performs in Maryland. And which of these, precisely, is Washington? But the real objection is, of course, to Redskins. And by tradition, each preseason TMQ makes new arguments against the use of Redskins as a sports team name. At this point, everyone accepts that the word itself is insulting. Redskin: "A disparaging term for Native Americans," according to the American Heritage Dictionary . Teams named Braves or Chiefs seem okay, as these are terms of respect. And teams named Indians fall into a gray area since, while the historical misnomer of people from North America being called Indian drives everyone crazy, most grammarians allow this term for proper use. Redskins, on the other hand -- not a lot of gray area there. Also, at this point everyone accepts that Redskins fans and the Redskins organization do not wish to disparage anyone. To the fans and the organization, Redskins is just a long-established name that evokes a storied team lore. Redskins fans and management don't want to give offense, only to maintain a tradition. And a popular tradition: Surely the Redskins have Native American fans who love the team and scream "Go Redskins!" at the top of their lungs when it's fourth-and-1. Yet the Redskins could still keep their colors and honor their storied lore if they simply adopted a new name -- and most people would admire them for doing so. Here are this year's two new arguments against the Washington Redskin name: My first argument is that more cool Indian name alternatives are becoming available. In the past, I've proposed that if the Redskins changed their name to some zoomy indigenous language word. This would both bring the franchise widespread praise and make for cool cutting-edge marketing. Past proposals included the Washington Cho Nee (Cho Nee means "large people" in Apache). Another was the Washington Dzeel (in Navajo, Dzeel is the kind of strength that comes from courage). Now Laura Redish, director of Native Languages of the Americas -- its web site provides an incredible wealth of detail on tribal languages, from the famous ones like Navajo to Oto-Manguean -- has polled her members to come up with more cool-sounding Native American alternative team names. Note before we proceed: Redish reports she is a huge Steelers fan. Cool names proposed by her members include: Washington Idini -- Apache for "like thunder" Washington Jepziwok -- Chippewa for "great athletes" Washington Matwesaso -- Nanticoke for "courageous," and a relevant choice because the Nanticokes were the dominant tribe of the Potomac region Washington Wohnata -- Lakota Sioux for "they are champions" Let's see, Washington Jepziwok and Washington Matwesaso are pretty hard to pronounce. Washington Idini sounds like a computer virus. But Washington Wohnata -- they are champions! That's a very cool team name and has wonderful inherent meaning. "Wohnata" would take a bit of getting used to, but is no harder off the tongue than commonly spoken team names like Knickerbocker. It even works in the fight song: Hail to the Wohnata Hail, victory! Braves on the warpath Fight for old DC! Here's my other 2004 argument. With so many NFL teams changing colors in order to get fans to buy all-new replica jerseys, just think Redskins, if you changed your name to the Washington Wohnata, fans would have to buy all-new everything. New replica jerseys, new hats, new stadium blankets -- the possibilities are endless! And you'd have a perfectly legitimate excuse for forcing the fans to buy all-new everything, namely the entirely admirable desire to respect America's indigenous heritage. So what do you say? Now TMQ's NFC preview. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
afkidd Posted September 7, 2004 Share Posted September 7, 2004 it would break my heart to have the skins change their name Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xe101 Posted September 7, 2004 Author Share Posted September 7, 2004 I would pick something other then that crap!!! This was an issue for St. John's University up in NYC a few years back and they went from the "REDMEN" to the "RED STORM" I don't know why this always come up.. maybe I do, but DAM why are people so sensitive??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sknzfan Posted September 7, 2004 Share Posted September 7, 2004 ME TOO !!!!!!!!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ancalagon the Black Posted September 7, 2004 Share Posted September 7, 2004 I was frightened that you were going to post the whole article. I don't have the finger muscles for that much scrolling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ancalagon the Black Posted September 7, 2004 Share Posted September 7, 2004 Originally posted by afkidd it would break my heart to have the skins change their name afkidd, are you related to afparent? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sknzfan Posted September 7, 2004 Share Posted September 7, 2004 I would choose................ WORLD CHAMPION WASHINGTON REDSKIN'S ....... Now that I like !!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PCS Posted September 7, 2004 Share Posted September 7, 2004 :yawnee: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sea Bass Posted September 7, 2004 Share Posted September 7, 2004 Washington Generals Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Makaveli Posted September 7, 2004 Share Posted September 7, 2004 Go "Washington Jepziwok" .... :insane: :doh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheDarb Posted September 7, 2004 Share Posted September 7, 2004 I generally enjoy Easterbrook's articles, although they are painfully lengthy. But I wish he would just STFU about the Redskins. If he wants to change the name, then he should raise a billion + dollars and buy the team. Until then, go away Gregg Easterbrook. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PCS Posted September 7, 2004 Share Posted September 7, 2004 And just to make sure we're all on the same page here. http://www.extremeskins.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=69849&highlight=Wohnata I repeat. :yawnee: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ax Posted September 7, 2004 Share Posted September 7, 2004 How bout for this thread, we change the words to our fight song. Sing with me, Fugg Gregg Easterbroooooooook! Fugg him to death. Talkin bout that douche baaaaaaaag, Is a waaaaste, of fuuuuggin breath! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
afkidd Posted September 7, 2004 Share Posted September 7, 2004 Originally posted by Ancalagon the Black afkidd, are you related to afparent? ya. he is my dad :-p Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrBoogerLips Posted September 7, 2004 Share Posted September 7, 2004 My money says it will end up being the Washington Warriors Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walking Deadman Posted September 7, 2004 Share Posted September 7, 2004 Hey while we're at it let's change their name to the SENATORS and when DC/VA gets the Expos we can also call them the SENATORS or even better the CONGRESSIONALS. Then we can have the two most stupid team names in the country. I read the Easterbrook article and just wonder why I wasted my precious time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thinker Posted September 7, 2004 Share Posted September 7, 2004 I truly and sincerely doubt that many Native Americans are losing sleep over the name of our team. And if they are, they should perhaps spend more energy on matters that could actually make a difference in their lives like poverty, lack of health care, lack of educational opportunities, substance abuse, unemployment etc. within their population. People in this country spend an insane amount of time and energy on symbolic things that really don't have an impact on anything. Precisely how would anyone's life ACTUALLY improve if we became the "Washington Sensitive Men Who Care Deeply About Remedying All Injustices From The Past?" The dorm I lived in college was named after John C. Calhoun. That is until an historian discovered that perhaps he had treated his slaves badly back in the day. They changed the name, but then the historian found that the new namesake also mistreated his slaves. Finally they had to change the name to a frenchman who didn't own slaves (I guess there was something in the nature of slavery that people at the time thought was appropriate treatment that 200-300 years later seems aberant, cruel, and inhuman). I suppose we should take Washington, Jefferson, Hamilton, and Franklin off our money because they all had slaves and probably didn't pay them minimum wage with full medical and dental benefits. Let me be very clear, slavery and our treatment of Native Americans are two of the most shameful and dispicable elements of our history. But we see that now with the advantage of hundreds of years of hindsight. We don't really address anything by erasing all reminders of a different time that had different values, standards, and ethics. I sincerely doubt that more than a very few find something patently perjorative about the name Redskins. When people around the country hear the weekend scores, do they actually envision Davy Crockett cutting off the scalps of Native Americans? Should the Colorado Avalanche change its name because a lot of people in Colorado lost their lives in avalanches? Is the name "Braves" offensive? What about "Indians?" After all Native Americans where only called indians because Columbus thought he had arrived in India - isn't that the ultimate insult? In the end, in our hyper-sensitive world today, someone generally takes offense at just about everything. Instead of throwing red paint on the statue of Columbus every Columbus day, why don't those people throw paint on a house in their community that is in disrepair. Instead of spending who knows how much money challengeing the copyright on the Redskins name, why don't they spend that money defending Native Americans who have been falsely accused of crimes but have no funds to present an effective defense. Enough with this - let's move on to something real like crime, healthcare, jobs, and terrorism. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manichispanic Posted September 7, 2004 Share Posted September 7, 2004 I vote for the Washington Wops, Washington Dagos, Washington Nincompoops, or any other racial slur not used since 1843 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pez Posted September 7, 2004 Share Posted September 7, 2004 This guy is not very good on giving us names that are easy on the tongue is he? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.