re: #29 Backwoods_Sleuth

I grew up in Cleveland, and I’ve been an Indians (soon-to-be Guardians) fan since 1972.

I saw Graig Nettles and Chris Chambliss play for them before they were disastrously traded to the Yankees for a bunch of stiffs.

While Cleveland is far and away a Browns town, the Indians are a big part of the city’s identity, so to see the Tribe retired at the end of this season will be sad.

But there’s also the question of their name. To me, “Indians” is not as offensive as Redskins, but it’s only slightly better. Plus the story of how they were named “Indians” is less then flattering.

Some have tried arguing that native Americans don’t mind the name “Indians,” “Redskins,” “Chiefs,” etc, but naming a team after indigenous peoples who were the target of genocide campaigns is pretty eff’d up.

So “Guardians” will take some getting used to, but as Tom Hanks said in the video officially announcing the name change, “It’s always been Cleveland that’s the best part of our name.”

They did the right thing. Finally.