"We'll never change the name. It's that simple. NEVER — you can use caps." -- Washington football team owner Dan "Little Danny" Snyder in 2013.
Today the Washington football team is announcing that it is ("you can use caps") "RETIRING" IT'S RACIST NAME AND LOGO, after years of resistance from current owner Dan "Little Danny" Snyder, one of the most disliked owners in sports. The team is expected to announce its new nickname later, the hold up due to apparent trademark issues (Warriors? Like Golden State?).
What changed Snyder's mind was the jingling of coin that sponsors like FedEx (which pays naming rights for their stadium), Nike, PepsiCo and others were going to withhold if the name weren't changed. Major retailers like Amazon, Walmart and Target announced last week that they were removing the team's gear from their online sites and stores.
Snyder didn't respond out of a sense of decency or civic duty, he responded after sponsor money was going to be withheld from his greedy mitts. He's still as unlikeable as he always was.
My alma mater, Miami University in Ohio, made the decision to retire the Miami Redskin team name years ago. They offered several options for current students and graduates alike to vote on. I won't say it was unchallenged or easy, but the side of good prevailed and they are now the Miami Redhawks.
ReplyDeleteIt happened years ago and I don't know what precipitated the change outside of the Miami Tribe of Ohio requesting that they did change. If it takes monetary pressure for an NFL team to change, then so be it.
Anytime Snyder's in the news, it always makes me think of this other story...
ReplyDeleteYears ago, the Pittsburgh Steelers had a legendary radio broadcaster named Myron Cope. He was a little guy with a voice that could peel paint, but he was smart, funny, and quite a character. Burghers loved him.
Anyway, I was listening to a Steelers/Washington game over the internet, which was quite a new thing for me at the time. (Now I just go to a sports bar when my game isn't on.) Myron had a pet name for just about every team... the Cleve Brownies, the Bungles, the Jax Jags, etc. And every time he mentioned Washington, he called them the "Redfaces." (Their record was horrible.)
After a while, Dan Snyder sends some flunky down to the broadcast booth to tell Myron to stop calling them the Redfaces. At which Myron goes nutso, protesting and sputtering, "If that Boy-Owner thinks he can tell me what to say, he can go stick his head in a bucket of paint!"
I almost fell out of my chair.
donnah -- For Snyder, it was all about money, or more specifically, the loss of it. Good on Miami U. of Ohio.
ReplyDeletebluzdude -- We have some Steelers fans as friends, and their stories about Myron Cope are endearing. I believe he popularized the "Terrible Towel" too. Little Danny Snyder is a greedy little man, and unworthy to shine Cope's shoes.
Well, now you have one more.
ReplyDeleteMyron Cope INVENTED the Terrible Towel. And remember, each towel you see being waved was purchased for around $6-7. They are not given out at the stadium. And Cope? He signed over the monetary rights decades ago, to a school for autistic kids. The man was a mensch, and quite a contrast to Dollar Sign Danny.