During these unprecedented times has there been a greater loss to our collective sense of community than the loss of Opening Day? Nothing says "Spring in Ohio" like 40,000 people drunk as shit downtown not paying attention to a baseball game while they shiver in the cold. The first sign of Spring is not the first tulip struggling to break the soil, but rather a drunk suburban Dad in facepaint and a homemade headdress talking shit to an American Indian protester. Seriously, who does that Native American think he is to suggest a smiling Sambo type cartoon negatively portrays his heritage? How selfish can one person be to complain about this when, goddammit, I grew up with that logo! My Dad and I went to games together and now you want to take that away? What next? You want to let women vote? This cancel culture has gone too far.
I will admit, I have enjoyed watching the Indians organization do their increasingly awkward dance at the start of each year when the "Is this clearly offensive team logo offensive?" conversation begins. Normally they could hide in their foxholes and issue a murky PR statement along the lines of "the Cleveland Indians organization is sensitive to all members of our community and will continue to endeavor to meet the sensibilities of all our fans as we commence the "Our Tribe" fan initiative focused on inclusion for all". Even the poor public relations mouthpiece sent out to make the statement would have no idea what it meant. Then the Indians Team Shop would open and business as usual would commence.
Alas, the times have changed and the team is going to be forced to abandon the Indians brand. The Suburban white guy argument of "the logo doesn't offend me, so what's the problem?" isn't going to hold any longer. It's amazing how passionate people become about keeping the logo. Really, what they are arguing for is maintaining tradition, as the Indians logo doesn't equate to the reality of Native Americans any more than Bugs Bunny means that all rabbits are talking wiseasses. When you see a logo long enough, it stands for whatever the product is that is being shilled. When I see Ronald McDonald I think of cheap burgers that pass through my digestive system like a freight train, not a creepy clown. What people forget is that ultimately this is business and not some sort of culture war. When the PR becomes bad enough to impact sales, then the business will change course. Whenever the Indians issued the statement on the name change is the moment when milquetoast Paul Dolan decided that the financial payoff of selling Indians gear didn't outweigh the cost of having to squirm in front of the TV cameras trying to explain why the logo/team name wasn't racist.
The problem now is that the team will have to choose a new logo on their own. If the Indians were an ice cream flavor, they would be vanilla. Not "French Vanilla", just plain old "vanilla". They have the feel of an organization that will be paralyzed by fear in making the "wrong choice" and therefore make what they see as the "safe choice", which will please no one. They will grind through focus groups, team meetings, surveys, and group think. Ultimately they will boil it down to "what name will offend the least amount of people?". Why does it feel like they will try to drum up forced enthusiasm for a team name a seven year old would choose. Horrifying bad options that are probably being knocked around are names like Defenders, Rockers, or Guardians. I can also see them coming up with something without any easy mascot or marketing anchor, like the Cleveland Pride or Cleveland Glory or something equally stupid. If there is anything with a flaming guitar on the logo, they should just shut that thing down. I can already envision promotions like "come on out and rock and roll with your Cleveland Rockers, and stay after the game for fireworks and rock and roll with Mike Love and the Beach Boys as they play all your favorites". Donnie Iris, Survivor, The Presidents of the United States, the exhumed body of Eddie Money, and Flock of Seagulls will all score nice little paychecks for gigs out there.
But there is a better way...
The key to a good name is to have a marketable logo, something which lends itself easily to merchandise and third party tie ins. Having anything to do with the town is almost beside the point. No one ever dodged a trolly in LA, complained about Cardinals flying around in St Louis, or fought off Pirates in Pittsburgh. That's why I think the team should be re-named the Cleveland Robots. Now stay with me here... This idea has legs.
Tear down that Bob Feller statue and put an enormous Robby the Robot from Lost In Space. Replace all "in game entertainment" on the Jumbotron with bad robot puns. The Robots load the bases and the video of "Warning! Warning Danger Will Robinson!" booms out. The team falls behind 4-1 in the third, and a Terminator clip comes on with the "I'll be back..." dialogue. R2D2 comes out of the bullpen with the closer. Tom Hamilton makes the radio call, saying things like "that slider short circuited the Tigers". Everyone gets excited for the seventh inning stretch where the fans all stand up to do The Robot dance. "Hey Robot fans! Show us YOUR best robot!" Kids build their own toy robot in the Play Skool Kids Village. Fans take to building their own robot costumes out of cardboard boxes and Reynolds Wrap foil in the Giant Eagle Fan Experience. Transformers nights fill up otherwise empty weekday games. Who likes robots? Everybody! Vendors walk the stands selling beer dressed in robot costumes. Get the fucking Tin Man from The Wizard of Oz out there. Robot races in between innings. Drones flying around the stadium after home runs. "Release the drones!" The tickets sell themselves! They won't be able to keep the gear stocked. What do you want? A Kansas City Royals cap or one with a robot on it? Goddamn right you want the Cleveland Robots one!
The problem is will the Dolans have this kind of vision? No. Of course not. But it doesn't mean we can't dream. There's only one more year for the Chief. Next year I pray I'm taking a train downtown to Opening Day, unable to drive my car in my bulky Robot costume. Let's play ball.
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