Stuff My Brain Says #85

Pander: (v) To provide gratification for others' desires (merriam-webster.com)

Placate: (v) To soothe or mollify, especially by concessions; to appease (merriam-webster.com)

At this year's Home Opener (July 24, 2020), the Cleveland Indians wore one of their road jerseys instead of the traditional white or red jerseys. It's a beautiful jersey, with CLEVELAND emblazoned across the front. They did this to make a statement: "We care."

The club has been in talks concerning renaming the team from the "Indians" to something "less offensive". (Last year was the first year their uniforms did not display the Chief Wahoo mascot.) Along with the Washington Redskins (who are also changing their name), the owners of the Indians are looking to do the "right thing".

I've written about the name change before in reference to the removal of Chief Wahoo. You can browse my blog (or simply search "Wahoo" and "My Humble But Accurate Opinion" in your favorite browser) to read in more detail how I feel about THAT.

Here's my point: Changing the name of the team, a name that has never been used to disparage, but to honor, does NOTHING to right a wrong. As the definitions above tell you, it is another example of placating; a simple gesture to hopefully show how in touch we are, and how sorry we are, for the bad things we white people have done, without actually doing anything of real value.

C'mon already. Who are you kidding? You want to do right? Forget renaming teams. GIVE THEM THEIR LAND BACK.

But hey, that would be going too far, won't it?

(This post was inspired by a tweet from @ScottJohnson: https://twitter.com/scottjohnson/status/1285803540309348352?s=19)

©Emittravel 2020

There Is No Joy In Mudville?

With a two-run walk-off home run, Indians’ catcher, Yan Gomes, secures the home opener series win against the Kansas City Royals. And talk about a celebration at home plate!

Photo: David Richard, USA TODAY Sports (2017)

To be honest, record aside, I’ve been a little worried about my home team. They just have not been playing up to the caliber of the team I’m used to seeing. The bats have not been very hot. And as good as the defense has been at keeping opposing teams from crossing home plate, it takes hot bats to win games.

But that’s not it.

The real reason for my worry is that, from the games I’ve been able to watch, I’ve not seen much joy. You know, like two-run walk-off home run to win a game kind of joy.

I’ll admit, I wouldn't want to be the guy standing in the outfield in 34-degree temperatures either. That kind of chill can . . . chill your attitude. But regardless, there is a joy that the team exudes that I think is the secret ingredient, the Emeril “BAM!” of baseball.

I’ve seen glimpses of it. There was one game where I caught Indian’s short stop Frankie Lindor with his arm around the shoulders of the opposing team’s second baseman - both with big smiles on their faces. THAT joy.

With the beginning of Cleveland Indians baseball, the subject of the removal of Chief Wahoo has been in the news. For those not in the know, the MLB and the Cleveland Indians ownership have come to an agreement to retire the beloved mascot at the beginning of the 2019 season. He will no longer be available on any MLB officially licensed merchandise and no longer diplayed on the players’ uniforms. However, he will still be available in the team shop and on non-official MLB merchandise, and fans can still display him proudly at games. This, as a matter of coincidence(?) lines up with Cleveland hosting the 2019 All-Star Game.

I bring up Chief Wahoo for a reason: In spite of his removal, it is my hope that the joy that the SMILING mascot displayed will not disappear from the club and the fans that support it.

So my desire is that, as the temperatures go up, so does the joy level. Because, regardless of the team’s record, this is NOT Mudville!

© Emittravel 2018

Guess You Can’t Call the MLB Racist

They finally did it. After many years of whining by a VERY tiny minority, Major League Baseball has finally put the kibosh on the Cleveland Indian’s mascot - Chief Wahoo.

Starting in 2019, the Cleveland Indians will no longer display Chief Wahoo on their uniforms. Not only that, but the MLB will no longer sell any merchandise with the Chief Wahoo logo. The Chief is still welcome in the stands and will be available at the team shop, but the MLB will no longer “officially” recognize the long-loved mascot.

My feelings concerning Chief Wahoo have been expressed previously. If you want to read about some history and my reasonings why we should KEEP Chief Wahoo, please take a few moments to read it (or, hopefully, REread it!)

As far as the why, I think that is pretty self-evident: Cleveland has been granted the privilege of being home to the All-Star Game in 2019. Coincidence? I think not. I think that the only way Cleveland was granted the honor was IF they allowed for the “retirement” of the mascot.

Now, there are people who like the block “C” logo, and people who don’t. Not to sound like an advertisement - which this is NOT - but there IS a very tasteful alternative. GV Art & Design has come up with a design that removes the Chief, without removing the heart:

Classy, tasteful, and very Cleveland!

If you want to read more, check out this brief article from a local Cleveland station: http://m.cleveland19.com/story/37376116/should-this-cleveland-indians-logo-replace-chief-wahoo

I could go into a tirade over the fact that the minority voice is calling the shots in our society, regardless of what the majority thinks. I could talk about the fact that there is a generation (or two) with VERY thin skin out there. I could mention that trying to rewrite history does not make it better. I could even mention the 1st Inning of the Ken Burns’ documentary “Baseball” that proved how the racism of a MINORITY of white players kept black players from being a part of the MLB for YEARS.

But I won’t. I’ve got too much class (NOT!)

But I will say that I’m sure the MLB will be very happy with the loss of revenue from Chief Wahoo merchandise sales (sarcasm font). Because, the MLB is NOT racist. And neither am I. And if you think that because I’m wearing Chief Wahoo that I am? You are wrong.

And an idiot.

© Emittravel 2018

You Really Don’t Want a Democracy

After the 2016 Presidential Election, many were upset that even though Hillary Clinton won the popular vote, Donald Trump took the presidency by winning the Electoral College vote. Cries of “unfair”, and “he’s not my President” rang out; along with a push to eliminate the Electoral College because, after all, we are a Democracy.

Actually, no. We are not a Democracy. We are a Republic. Thus the Electoral College.

I bring this up because we have a current movement that is trying to rewrite history and remove anything deemed offensive from the public eye. Included are statues, flags, and even baseball team mascots.

As a Cleveland Indians fan, I’ve been pummeled by the anti-Wahoo folks for years. Even a recent article I read lumped the mascot with statues of Robert E. Lee as being equally racist. Hogwash!

First off, the Supreme Court has determined that trademarks cannot be considered “hate speech”. So as far as the law is concerned, Chief Wahoo is not hate speech.

Nevertheless, those few are screaming the loudest in hopes to bully a decision in their favor. Even the MLB Commissioner is pressuring the Cleveland Indians owners to remove the mascot.

Dear MLB Commissioner: IF you bow down to the pressure of a few and remove Chief Wahoo from the Cleveland Indians, we the fans will NOT go quietly into the night. Third-party vendors will start making a killing selling Chief Wahoo merchandise - which means the MLB gets none of that sweet, sweet cash.

I for one am getting a bit tired of a few hypocrites calling the shots.

Hypocrites? Yep. Hypocrites.

Go back and reread the first paragraph of this post.

The same folks calling us a democracy don’t really WANT a democracy. Why? Because the majority of people don’t want the mascots removed, or history to be rewritten. And IF we WERE a democracy, you crybabies would have to go away.

It’s called the First Amendment. If you like the idea of freedom of speech, then you have to accept that you will be exposed to speech you disagree with. That gives you a choice: You can either move to a country that does not respect the freedom of speech - which would eliminate you hearing anything that might offend you, or you can go ahead and get thicker skin.

As far as whether or not to remove statues, flags, mascots, or whatever, I direct you to Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations: “Don’t ever take a fence down until you know the reason why it was put up.” (ascribed to Chesterton by John F. Kennedy).

Do you honestly believe that the people who erected a statue (that includes designing, creating, paying for, and authorizing it) did it BECAUSE they were racist?

"Let's put up a statue to show the world how racist we are. Good idea, huh? All in favor?"

"Aye!"

That’s hard to believe. Just because you are offended by CHANGING the original intention, does NOT give you the right to force the majority to accept your cries as truth.

So, before you “like” a tweet or Facebook post that encourages the removal of this or that, do a little research to find out WHY this or that was erected in the first place.

And if you don’t agree, go ahead, move to North Korea, and shout that statues of their dear leader are racist and hate speech. I’m sure they’ll praise your bravery.

(Idiots.)

© Emittravel 2017

You're Offended? I'M Offended!!

As I write this, the Cleveland Indians are in the midst of the World Series with the Chicago Cubs. It's an exciting time in baseball for both clubs.

Me? I'm very excited. I love baseball. I'm not much for playing the game; I enjoy watching it. To be honest, I'm not much of a “gamer" in any sense of the word. I once was asked to join a company softball league. I declined by telling them, “Softball is seven innings long. My attention span is an inning and a half.” But to watch the game? Nothing like it. My motto is that football (or basketball) is what you watch when there is no baseball. And baby, we got baseball!

Of course, along with the excitement come the haters. Now, one topic of hatred is the official mascot of the Cleveland Indians: Chief Wahoo. Usually, the only time you hear the gripes are at the beginning of the season, and at the end (and only IF Cleveland is doing well). This year is no exception. And with Cleveland playing in the post-game season, the whiners are in full whine.

I saw one article that said it's okay to root for Cleveland, but if you are an Indians fan, you are racist. Why? Because Chief Wahoo is a racist mascot. I'm not sure if the writer was an American Indian (or a Native American, or of the Indigenous People – whatever they are being called today), but regardless, he, like the rest of the haters, is an idiot.

(Note: For the rest of this article, I'm going to use the descriptor “Indian" when referring to said “Indigenous People".)

Let's start out by stating that the city of Cleveland sits on Lake Erie (lovingly known as the “North Coast"). Erie is named for the Erie Indian tribe and it means “wildcat".

The city also has a river that divides the east side from the west side, called the Cuyahoga River. Many of you may recognize it as the river that caught fire. True. But with our Cavaliers basketball team, and Indians baseball team, the city itself is truly “on fire". (As of this writing, the Browns have a perfect record in football; just happens to be a no-win perfect record . . . )

Another important aspect of the Cuyahoga River is its name. Cuyahoga is an Indian word meaning “winding stream". Cuyahoga is also the name of the county the city of Cleveland (and my home town, for that matter) resides.

Here are a few other Ohio counties:

Ashtabula – “Fish River" in the local Indian dialect
Auglaize – “Fallen timbers" in Shawnee
Coshocton – “Black bear town" – an anglicized version of “Goschaching" or “Goschachgunk"
Cuyahoga – (previously mentioned)
Delaware – named for the Delaware Indians
Erie – (previously mentioned)
Geauga – “Raccoon"
Hocking – “A bottle" – the Hocking River was once claimed by the Wyandot Indians
Huron – the name was given to the Wyandot Indian tribe who lived there by the French
Mahoning – “Lick" or “At the lick" from the Indian words “Mahoni" or “Mahonink"
Miami – for the Miami Indians
Muskingum – “A town by the river" – a Delaware Indian word
Ottawa – “Trader" – from the Ottawa Indian tribe
Pickaway – a misspelling of the Piqua (Shawnee) Indians
Portage – from the old Indian portage path between Cuyahoga and Tuscarawas rivers
Sandusky – “Cold water" – in Wyandot and Huron languages it means “water within water pools"
Scioto – “Deer"
Seneca – for the Seneca Indians
Tuscarawas – “Open mouth"
Wyandot – for the Wyandot Indians

For those counting, that is 20 out of the 88 counties in Ohio. (The above list came from www.livingplaces.com – interesting site.)

Even the name of the state, “Ohio", meaning “great river" is a name originated from the Iroquois.

Let's shift gears. The following comes with help from the Cleveland Historical Society. Please read the article by Cathy Priest and Jodi Rzeszotarski for more details.

Tehotiokwawakon, a.k.a. “Oghema Niagara”, a.k.a. “Chief Thunderwater", a.k.a. “Henry Palmer" was born to the Algonquin nation in 1865. Early in his life Cleveland became his home, where he lived a full and active life (again, see the details of the article) before passing away at the age of 85 (1950).

“In 1948, as the Cleveland tribesmen were about to face the Braves from Boston in baseball's World Series, Chief Thunderwater, in full regalia, offered his benediction: 'May the best warriors win, as long as they are Cleveland's.' And they did.”

Now, the origin of Chief Wahoo can be found as far back as 1932, as a cartoon by Fred George Reinhart in the Cleveland Plain Dealer newspaper. This was to represent the Cleveland Indians winning an important victory. Originally, Chief Wahoo was known as “The Little Indian". In 1947, Walter Goldbach, working as a draftsman, was tasked with creating a mascot that “would convey a spirit of pure joy and unbridled enthusiasm". The name “Chief Wahoo" was derived from sports writers of the time, though Goldbach stated that he wasn't a chief, but a brave – only having one feather.

The logo has gone through many style changes throughout the years. And regardless of the style, one thing has remained the same: the mascot was always displayed with pride and love. It is a mascot, like the baseball team it represents, that gives honor to those for whom much of our state is named.

So, before you go about trying to change Chief Wahoo and/or the Cleveland Indians, you might want to think twice. For to change the mascot would be the same as changing every Indian name of every county – and even the state – lest they be deemed racist.

And, as I watch my Cleveland Indians play in the 2016 World Series, I too am filled with “a spirit of pure joy and unbridled enthusiasm". Play ball!!

©Emittravel 2016