Hearne: It’s Time for the Chiefs to Take the High Road

Screen-Shot-2014-09-03-at-12.03.30-PM-650x363What big bucks corporation wouldn’t relish putting one over on the media?

That’s exactly what the Kansas City Chiefs accomplished by pulling the wool over the eyes of the Star’s Mary Sanchez and convincing her that they’d mostly eliminated the misuse of Native American symbolism. And that’s what Sanchez wrote in her column, “KC Chiefs have one clear victory: achieving mutual respect with Native American group.”

Chiefs management had “deftly” met with a Native American group this season in a “right and honorable” attempt to understand and get a handle on “the reasoning behind some of the issues,” Sanchez wrote.

The team had spoken to “television producers” about not zeroing in on goofy fans in indian headresses and war paint and the Chiefs had honored inductees into the American Indian Athletic Hall of Fame on game day.

Just one problem…

The elephant in the room that Sanchez ignored was the team’s insistence on promoting its controversial tomahawk chop by fans which many, if not most Native American groups find demeaning and offensive.

Over the past 20 years it’s become the cheer of choice for Chiefs fans who are encouraged to engage in it by the team when it plays the so called “war chant” music at Arrowhead.

Past controversies related to the chop have resulted in the Chiefs first defending, then dropping, and then re-instituting the cheer.

tedturnerPast Chiefs management argued that since the chop was not intended to offend, Native Americans were wrong to take offense.

“That argument has more holes in it than Swiss Cheese,” says one Chiefs season ticket holder who asked not to be named. “That’s so stupid, it’s not even laughable – and that’s laughable.”

The only time anybody at Arrowhead Stadium needs to be chopping is “when it’s first down and then the referee gets to chop,” he quips, “but that’s obviously quite different.”

tomahawk-first-choice1It’s not as if there’s a shortage of sports cheers to choose from.

Prior to the 1990s – when the Chiefs actually fielded some excellent teams – frenzied local football fans found plenty of other ways to make Arrowhead a foreboding destination for visiting teams. As is the case with most sports teams without ties to Native American imagery.

“Are the Chiefs afraid they’re going to lose season ticket holders if they stop chopping?” asks the ticket holder. “They should worry more about season ticket holders not coming back if they don’t start winning more.”

Back to Sanchez getting suckered…

It’s obvious that sports teams like the Atlanta Braves, Florida State and  the Chiefs can cozy up some random Native American group, toss ‘em some free tickets and ads, throw in a halftime show and – voila!– instant Native American buy in.

But keeping it real, it’s obvious that most American Indians frown on sports teams usurping their legacies with silly stuff like the tomahawk chop. There may be a small percentage of black folks who don’t find the use of the N Word offensive as long as  it’s not employed as a slur, but why split hairs when the solution is simple?

“They should stop playing the music that encourages the chop,” the ticket holder says. “They shouldn’t encourage that. The inescapable mistake they make every week is when they play that music – the old Hollywood music from when the indians were about to attack and kill all the white people. The movies played it when the indians were coming to take the white women away.

20080726_race1_25 copy“What I found strange was at one game they had some Native American group on the field being celebrated. So they’re trying to have it both ways, because the chop is obviously inappropriate. I mean, how stupid do the Chiefs think people are?”

And let’s get one thing straight; this is on the Chiefs not the fans.

“The fans aren’t trying to insult Native Americans,” the ticket holder says. “They’re just trying to have a good time. Just don’t play that music.”

As for the Star columnist Sanchez getting duped by the Chiefs, “You can blame Mary for being dumb, but it’s not marysanchez.com – it’s kansascity.com. Where were the editors?”

http://www.mb-kc.com/
This entry was posted in Hearne_Christopher and tagged , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

52 Responses to Hearne: It’s Time for the Chiefs to Take the High Road

  1. Kerouac says:

    With another $uccesful (9-7) non-post season ‘season’ in tow the staff & management of the Swiss Chiefs would like to thank you for your continuing patronage & gullibility, & in acknowledgment of said present a nice gold watch (imitation, as our football team and forked tongue doublespeak social conscience/political correctness same) …

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAuo3yzG6DE

  2. Jim a.k.a. BWH says:

    Two articles on how Sanchez got duped? Seriously?

    Me thinks someone has a tomahawk to grind with The Star.

    Moving on….

  3. hahhararley says:

    BIG DEAL! If this is all the indian tribes have to worry about then that’s great.
    However…they’ve dealt into many other things on their land that was not
    originally intended. Casinos (where you see no Indians)….lending….
    using their territories to usurp regular laws and ordinances.
    They are making big bucks off their sovereignty laws so maybe it’s time
    they realized they have the law on their side and take some action against
    teams like fsu/redskins/warriors/ chiefs…………then let the politicians
    crack down on what the Indians are up to!

    • admin says:

      Clearly this isn’t all they have to worry about. Just as blacks have more to worry about than the use of the NWord and other stereotypes. But they find it offensive, so why do it?
      And why pretend thAt the chiefs are sympathetic to their feelings when I’m fact, they are blatantly ignoring them?

      • "R""N""C" says:

        Its simple, admin. There is nothing that doesn’t offend someone. The continual propaganda that Americans of European descent need walk around with guilt offends me. That American’s of European descent should be ashamed for doing what they had to do. Will you stop propagating this nonsense? No. Honestly, I respect your right to do it. My skin isn’t that thin. Americans of European descent are continuously belittled and attacked in popular culture, with the exception of a few like Chuck, these Americans just ignore it.

        As an example. Try to post the “N” word on this comment blog, then try to post the “C” word (cracker), or the “R” word (redneck). See which gets filtered.

        • admin says:

          There are obvious, socially recognized levels of offending language in our society.

          And since white folks are not considered a race that was enslaved and discriminated against for centuries, most words like redneck are given a pass…unless you’re at a honky tonk and someone decides to bust a beer bottle on your noggin.

          American Indians and African Americans did not enjoy the same opportunities and advantages as white folks – in general – and as minorities that were discriminated against (and still are), you simply cannot publicly engage in the type of slurs and racial slights without suffering the consequences.

          You and I can maybe get away with it, but not public figures, officials, sports teams that suck at the public teat for tax subsidies.

          Not without paying a price.

          Like the Chiefs season ticket holder said, it’s not going to diminish the fan experience to do away with a single cheer that few teams use (right or wrong) and that has no underlying basis in history or reality.

          It’s just the right thing to do.

          Which is why the Chiefs banned it the first time until they decided they could maybe get away with it.

          • "R""N""C" says:

            In the 16th – 18th century, Africans enslaved 1.5 million White Europeans in the Barbary Slave Trade. African Muslims raided up the coastlines of Europe, particularly the British Isles but even as far as Iceland, kidnapping and enslaving White European Christians. The men were galley slaves, and the women were sex slaves. This was more brutal than working on a plantation or as a domestic servant.

            It wasn’t unit the United States of America fought the Barbary Wars (1801-1815) that the practice began to decline.

            Native Americansand Jews owned Black slaves too, but no one seems to assign a collective guilt to modern Native Americans and Jews for their slavery. In fact, Jews were the biggest slave-owners in America per capita.

            Whites were the first people to stop slavery in modern times, whereas slavery still continues in Africa to this day. (Barbary/Civil Wars) In Mauritania slavery was only made a punishable offense in 2007!

          • admin says:

            Look, we’re not living in the 16th or 18th century.

            We’re living in the 21st and the effects of discrimination caused by this country – not Europe or anywhere else – are still being felt.

            I don’t get it.

            You think it’s cool to disrespect another people’s sacred history? For what? So you can chop for crying out loud?

            Seriously?

  4. My Public Dollars says:

    What about my heritage? I cannot celebrate my culture? You can ignore it if you please, but we fought hard against a worthy opponent in the Natives to claim America. As such, we have named our gridiron warriors in their name. Should I be offended by the name “Patriots”. No, I take pride in it. To the victor goes the spoils. The Natives are welcome to face the same trials we did in taking the land, by trying to reclaim it.

    The victory over the Natives was a victory for this country. History isn’t always pretty. There are complainers, and then there are doer’s. America did a similar thing to Germany after WWI. The German’s complained, then came Hitler and the German Doer’s. Then we squashed them too. If the Native’s are so concerned about something so trivial, they should have won the first time around. But for heaven’s sake, stop complaining, they are welcome to become Doer’s.

  5. Rick Nichols says:

    Kerouac’s got it right: “White man (i.e., the Chiefs organization) speak with forked tongue.”

  6. The ghost of H. Roe Bartle says:

    It would be an insult both to me and to the Boy Scout society Tribe of Mic-O-Say (which I created) to do away with the tomahawk chop.

    • admin says:

      You may find that making jokes about something even the Chiefs consider a very serious issue amusing, but unfortunately it’s likely a sign that you’re an oldster who doesn’t like change and doesn’t get the direction society is moving in.

      Oldsters are always the last to get it.

      Remember our parents?

      • "R""N""C" says:

        For someone espousing equality and fair treatment, you sure throw around quite a few prejudicial comments, Admin. Age discrimination is a real issue. ‘Oldsters’ may not be indian, “[b]ut [if] they find it offensive, (..) why do it?”

        • admin says:

          Oldsters is not a oppressed people.

          Lazlo at the Buzz considers me an oldster. When I was lazlo’s age running the pitch, the guys 10 or 12 years younger than me considered me an oldster.

          When I was 18 people who are now oldsters cautioned not to trust anybody over 30.

          Lazlo of the buzz is an oldster compared to maybe most of his listeners.

          And your point is?

          • "R""N""C" says:

            I am just trying to point out, what I view as hypocrisy. Oldsters are in fact an oppressed people. Just ask MODOT how that mentality has worked out for them (source: The Pitch). Of course, maybe I am misconstruing the term “oldster”.

          • admin says:

            There’s a difference between “oppressed people” and special interest groups, RNC

          • The ghost of H. Roe Bartle says:

            Elder oppression is experienced as a consequence of ageism, sexism, ableism/disability, racism, heterosexism/homophobia, classism, and various intersecting types of oppression.*

            To claim otherwise is simply an act of these -isms. In your case, Hearne, I would guess a combination of ageism and classism.

            *Source: Elder abuse and oppression: voices of marginalized elders.

          • admin says:

            Have it your way, dogg…

            And your take on the tomahawk chop is?

  7. bizarro balbonis moleskine says:

    Complaining about chiefs and Indian issues a week after the season ends:

    literally the most irrelevant thing you can do.

    • admin says:

      It may be irrelevant to you, but that’s undoubtedly because you don’t get it in the first place.

      The Star column ran December 25th and 26th; the redskins controversy broke last summer in the off season.

      This is a 20 year-plus issue that cries out for attention.

      If it didn’t matter, you wouldn’t have the President of the Chiefs doing a tap dance for Mary Sanchez trying to spin some lame excuses (that Sanchez bought) and work around the actual controversy at hand.

      IMHO the time to put this to rest is the off season so fans and the team can move forward once the season restarts.

      Pretty simple, actually

      • bizarro balbonis moleskine says:

        I know far more about this than you will ever sniff.

        I am a proud alumni from a school that publicly abandoned the Indian despite being founded as an Indian school. While the t shirt fans wear the officially sanctioned milquetoast logo, any man worth his salt recognizes the Indian as the true mascot. Most men belong to at least one group where they swore an important and sacred oath to set a watch, lest the old traditions fail. What kind of a man can be trusted that cant be trusted to keep his word?

        The Indian mascot and its meaning will live forever, regardless of the Mary Sanchezes, Hearne Christophers or Dean Wormers of the world. And that is what really makes them mad.

        Tradition is tradition and you dont run away just because you hear your enemies’ war chants over the next hill. People dont revere, memorialize and idolize things they dislike.

        • admin says:

          Calling the tomahawk chop a tradition is a joke…

          It was a fad that sprang up in the wake of the Chiefs copycating the Atlanta Brave after watching Ted Turn and Jane Fonda do it during the Atlanta Braves playoff run.

          The team was co-opting something the Braves co-opted from Florida State.

          And rather than protecting a longtime “tradition,” the team was fighting off Native American protests for something that was maybe a single season old.

          • hahhararley says:

            wrong again hearne….fsu used it long before
            the braves…..did you see the football game
            against Oregon. FSU fans were doing the
            chop for half the game.
            give it up.
            If I was an indian….I’d join in.
            How about Haskell….do the idians ever
            clean up that place?
            and besides its moneythey want according
            to adelson. They got their casinos…they
            got their pay day loan companies all ov3er
            the country….they’re making big big money
            and they only want more.
            Maybe they should work on alcoholism/
            unemployment/lack of housing etc. instead
            of worrying about some florida redneck
            chanting their war hoops!

          • admin says:

            The Brave copied Florida, believe that’s what I said. Geez!

  8. "R""N""C" says:

    S C Gwynne, author of Empire Of The Summer Moon about the rise and fall of the Comanche, says simply: ‘No tribe in the history of the Spanish, French, Mexican, Texan, and American occupations of this land had ever caused so much havoc and death. None was even a close second.’

    He refers to the ‘demonic immorality’ of Comanche attacks on white settlers, the way in which torture, killings and gang-rapes were routine. ‘The logic of Comanche raids was straightforward,’ he explains.

    ‘All the men were killed, and any men who were captured alive were tortured; the captive women were gang raped. Babies were invariably killed.’

    Not that you would know this from the American history books. Native Americans are presented in the history books as saintly victims of a Old West where it is the white settlers — the men who built America — who represent nothing but exploitation, brutality, environmental destruction and genocide.

    But the Comanche never showed sympathy themselves. They were as imperialist and genocidal as the white settlers who eventually vanquished them. Settlers in Texas were utterly terrified of the Comanche, who would travel almost a thousand miles to slaughter a single white family.

    They were infamous for their inventive tortures, and women were usually in charge of the torture process.

    The Comanche roasted captive American and Mexican soldiers to death over open fires. Others were castrated and scalped while alive. The most agonising Comanche tortures included burying captives up to the chin and cutting off their eyelids so their eyes were seared by the burning sun before they starved to death.

    Contemporary accounts also describe them staking out male captives spread-eagled and naked over a red-ant bed. Sometimes this was done after excising the victim’s private parts, putting them in his mouth and then sewing his lips together.

    One band sewed up captives in untanned leather and left them out in the sun. The green rawhide would slowly shrink and squeeze the prisoner to death.

    Interestingly the weaker captives of the Comanche might be sold to Mexican traders as slaves, but more often were slaughtered.

    The Comanche always fought to the death, because they expected to be treated like their captives.

    During the Civil War, when the Rangers left to fight for the Confederacy, the Comanche rolled back the American frontier and white settlements by 100 miles.
    Even after the Rangers came back and the U.S. Army joined the campaigns against Comanche raiders, Texas lost an average of 200 settlers a year.
    The Texas Rangers often fared badly against their enemy until they learned how to fight like them.

    What would have had the American settlers do Mr. Hearne? And are these the people you claim suffered under the tyranny of European Americans?

    • "R""N""C" says:

      Source: dailymail

    • admin says:

      It’s Mr. Christopher, not Mr. Hearne, FYI…

      I’ll let your comment stand. It doesn’t change the realities that we face in society today, which Sanchez’s story largely complimented on the Chiefs for recognizing. She just wasn’t bright enough to recognize that they were being hypocritical.

  9. Hearney New Year says:

    The stupidest thing here is the extensive quoting of “Mr. Season Ticket Holder” who “doesn’t want to be identified”. Ooooohh.. is he afraid they’ll take his tickets away? lol It’s such a lazy journalistic device – you couldn’t even bother to invent a pseudonym. It’s about as sad as watching Clint Eastwood talk to a chair.

    • admin says:

      The fact that a high profile individual doesn’t want to take a high profile swipe, but does think it’s important enough to discuss it for half an hour doesn’t discount his opinion.

      An opinion that by the way is shared by many obviously – to an extent, even the Chiefs, who banned the chop at one point and say they don’t think television cameras should show fans in Indian getups.

      You obviously would rather quibble with minor details because you don’t like the message…a variation on killing the messenger.

      • bizarro balbonis moleskine says:

        You keep saying the chiefs banned the chop, which is a lie. As an STH I can assure you that the chop was never banned and doing the chop was never subject to ejection. For about half a season in the early 90s over 20 years ago they decided to not play the chop music.

        Fans didnt care and did the chop anyway which led them to bring back the dipardo accompaniment. When the people that actually pay the money speak, you listen. The world isnt govern by people who are professionally offended with signs in parking lots and around fountains.

        Wah hoo wah

        • admin says:

          Maybe banned was too strong a word, but they vowed to do away with it as Sanchez reported.

          All it took – and they knew it – was to stop playing that silly War Chant.

          However, they had second thoughts and started it up again after buying a full page ad in The Star to explain their rationale for doing it.

          • bizarro balbonis moleskine says:

            for what it’s worth, I like it the amount it is now. They were spamming the f out of the chop in the mid 90s at least now it is a once or twice a half thing.

          • admin says:

            Interesting…

            Why do you suppose the team is clinging to it though after all this time?

            I mean, they obviously are trying to buy some PC points from Native Americans but they won’t want to throw in the most obvious towel.

            The odd thing is that they also cling to the argument that H Roe Bartle was “the Chief” that they honored via the name, but then there’s Warpaint, the tom-toms, the goofy on the warpath cartoon indian logo.

            I remember as a small child going to the early games at Municipal and the programs all had cartoon indians scalping and what not the other team’s mascots.

            Maybe the solution is to have a big fat dude in a suit with a 1950s style Stetson as the mascot.

          • "R""N""C" says:

            I don’t believe they are clinging to it. I would even go so far as to say the organization doesn’t really care one way or the other. I doubt they are “clinging” to it on principle. They run a business. A large percentage of people probably don’t care one way or the other, some would rather have it than not, some want it passionately because it HAS become a tradition, and some (I would argue the smallest group of the 4) want it abolished. As a business, after seeing banners flown over the stadium because of Cassel, I don’t blame them for maintaining the status quo.

            (I obviously disagree with you on the issue, but I am trying to look at this objectively, and answer why I think they are “clinging” to it. For the record, I would like for them to keep it, but whatever. Stay or go, the Chiefs are still the KC team.)

          • admin says:

            Appreciate your being open to discussion, RNC…

            However, by playing that phony War Chant music that makes the fans want to chop, they’re totally clinging to it.

            Stop playing that music and the chopping will be history.

            Remember that bugle music they play, at the end of which the fans all yell, “Charge!”

            Same deal.

            Have you ever heard fans yell “Charge” spontaneously out of the clear blue sky.

            They’re programmed to yell “charge” at the end of the bugle deal just like they’re programmed to chop during the so-called War Chant.

            Simplest thing in the world to do for the Chiefs would be to just not play that music.

            Nobody’s going to walk out of the stadium or cancel their season tix cuz of that.

          • "R""N""C" says:

            It is easy to stand on principle using OPM (other people’s money) which is what I think you are doing, Mr. Christopher. I would rather the Chiefs take a stance one way or the other. Instead of sitting on the fence. But once again, that’s the safest business move. I mean they have a proven path to profitability, and getting rid of the “chop” probably wouldn’t change that. But why take the risk? You take the chance of going from a few dozen Native protesters to hundreds of formerly paying customers, flying banners over the stadium and starting online social media campaigns. Not to be too cliche, but you don’t bite the hand that feeds you.

          • admin says:

            Whatever you say, RNC…

            The point being though is that if they put a winning product on the field not playing the chop music won’t hurt them. There are dozens – 100s – of teams that don’t chop. Including the Chiefs for most of their history.

            On top of which, it’s not about fending off a few dozen protesters once or twice a year, it’s about doing the right thing and demonstrating that the are sympathetic to the will of the people they are supposedly honoring.

  10. Orphan of the Road says:

    It is amazing you have a wealth of information available to you but you do not even attempt to reach out for it. Haskell University is in your backyard and you don’t bother to contact anyone there for their take on the issue?

    The problem with stereotyping is not so much a racial problem as it is a problem of limited knowledge and perspective. Vine Deloria, Jr

  11. chuck says:

    “R””N””C” refutes your “Slavery” reference and you tell him we are not living in past centuries. Please mention that to Al Sharpton and his lackeys Messrs. Obama and Holder.

    The numbers would indicate that world wide, white folks are not in the majority. I bring this up only, because discussions concerning race seem to always emanate from an unspoken implication (IMO) that Caucasians are a majority in most countries. Caucasians are in fact only 12% of world population.

    According to the United Nations World Population Prospects document, the world population in the year 2000 was about 6.7 billion, with this geographic distribution: • Africa: 794,000,000
    • Asia: 3,672,000,000
    • Latin America and Caribbean: 519,000,000
    • Europe: 727,000,000
    • North America: 314,000,000
    • Oceania: 51,000,000
    If we calculate the corresponding percentages (and lump North America, Latin America, the Caribbean, and Oceania into the “western hemisphere” category), we get the following ratios for our population of 100:

    • Asians: 60
    • Europeans: 12
    • Western Hemisphereans: 15
    (9 Latin Americans/Caribbeans, 5 North Americans, 1 Oceanian)
    • Africans: 13

    52 would be female
    48 would be male

    I don’t think Hearne goes far enough. Change the names and change them now. There is no argument from ANY side that I have seen which would indicate that the names, Redskins, Chiefs, Seminoles, et al. were chosen to disrespect Native Americans. It is obvious that the names were chosen in honor of the courage, bravery and character that European Americans assigned to those tribes and peoples.

    If you google it, the polls seem to indicate that around 60 to 65 % of Native Americans find the names Racist. Me, I think it is finding insult in a bouquet of roses and is a non starter. But, again, this is an opportunity in my opinion to honor more worthy heroes of our Western Culture.

    “American Indians and African Americans did not enjoy the same opportunities and advantages as white folks – in general – and as minorities that were discriminated against (and still are), you simply cannot publicly engage in the type of slurs and racial slights without suffering the consequences.”

    Here are a few thousand things that folks do enjoy every day in this world, maybe we can find some new names for sports teams from this list of great folks who make the world a better place.

    http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2014/11/thank_a_white_male.html

    • admin says:

      I think you’re probably right that the team names were chosen (in a way) to honor the Indian names, Chuck.

      Even Redskins, in its own way.

      However, times have changed and Redskins in particular is a name few would defend in today’s society.

      And most Native Americans find practices like the tomahawk chop disrespectful to their sacred culture.

      Look, I get that people who grew up in this country going to movies, watching TV westerns and reading even history books don’t inherently get the full significance of many of these feelings. But why fight it?

      Society is changing and those who refuse to evolve will be left behind, one way or the other.

      Look, even the Chiefs acknowledge that these issues are important and need to be addressed.

      They’re just dragging their feet on one of the main ones because they know so many of their fans enjoy the ritual.

      However, it’s a ritual that will be long forgotten once it’s passed. Just like that child’s ditty, “Eeny, Meany, many, mo.”

      Let it go, dude. It’s not worth it.

  12. messi says:

    on and on, you take these absurd comments/articles/postings… isnt life just a little too short… every month i read your blog less and less… i used to love it… you are a pretty established insider… that is your true power… give me the great CONFIDENTIAL information you can obtain from your INSIDE and CONFIDENTIAL sources.. follow that with FACTS… maybe from many, named, American Indian sources… let me worry about my thoughts and reactions to that information. happy new year to you and to all.

    • admin says:

      Don’t worry, dude…

      I’ll have some more reporting for you coming right up.

      However, it’s not like this is a story crying out for on-the-record sources refuting the chop and other Native American symbolism used by sports teams. We’ve had 20 years of tribes and groups demonstrating against this.

      But since you ask, Suzan Shown Harjo, the lead petitioner in the original trademark case against the Washington Redskins, ridiculed the Chiefs stance on NOT addressing Native American concerns in a September USA Today story.

      A group called Eradicating Offensive Native Mascotry, organized by former KU student Kristy Blackhorse, planned a December protest at Arrowhead against the Chiefs.

      Blackhorse said this about protesting at a Chiefs/Washington game in KC 2005:

      “This protest opened my eyes as I witnessed the viciousness of fans that spewed hatred to protect their team.”

      Satisfied?

  13. Calico Jack Rackham says:

    AARGH! Where be ye complainin’ gainst yer Oakland Raiders?!?

    Me mateys be feelin’ orpressed….

  14. Old Man Kissel says:

    After this column, I think I’ll buy a Chiefs, Redskins, Blackhawks, Indians, Braves, Eskimos, Florida St, North Dakota, Central Michigan, Ottawa University,San Diego State Universityand Utah t-shirts.

    810 scoops 610 once again…

  15. mark smith says:

    Does this mean they will be changing the name of the much beloved Eskimo Pie?

  16. chuck says:

    How ’bout this?

    I got this e mail from a friend.

    “I agree with our Native American population.

    I am highly insulted by the racially charged name of the Washington Redskins.

    One might argue that to name a professional football team after Native Americans would exalt them as fine warriors, but nay, nay. We must be careful not to offend, and in the spirit of political correctness and courtesy, we must move forward.

    Let’s ditch the Kansas City Chiefs, the Atlanta Braves and the Cleveland Indians. If your shorts are in a wad because of the reference the name Redskins makes to skin color, then we need to get rid of the Cleveland Browns.

    The Carolina Panthers obviously were named to keep the memory of militant Blacks from the 60’s alive. Gone. It’s offensive to us white folk.

    The New York Yankees offend the Southern population. Do you see a team named for the Confederacy? No! There is no room for any reference to that tragic war that cost this country so many young men’s lives.

    I am also offended by the blatant references to the Catholic religion among our sports team names. Totally inappropriate to have the New Orleans Saints, the Los Angeles Angels or the San Diego Padres.

    Then there are the team names that glorify criminals who raped and pillaged. We are talking about the horrible Oakland Raiders, the Minnesota Vikings, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Pittsburgh Pirates!

    Now, let us address those teams that clearly send the wrong message to our children.

    The San Diego Chargers promote irresponsible fighting or even spending habits.

    Wrong message to our children.

    The New York Giants and the San Francisco Giants promote obesity, a growing childhood epidemic.

    Wrong message to our children.

    The Milwaukee Brewers. Well that goes without saying. Wrong message to our children.

    So, there you go. We need to support any legislation that comes out to rectify this travesty, because the government will likely become involved with this issue, as they should. Just the kind of thing the do-nothing Congress loves.

    As a diehard Oregon State fan, my wife and I, with all of this in mind, suggest it might also make some sense to change the name of the Oregon State women’s athletic teams to something other than “the Beavers (especially when they play Southern California. Do we really want the Trojans sticking it to the Beavers???)

    As for the Redskins name I would suggest they change the name to the “Foreskins” to better represent their community, paying tribute to the dick heads in Congress. “

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *