The push to make sports team nicknames proper began with emotion and conflict. Thus it followed a familiar pattern for such things. An idea whose "time has come" has an awkward start getting established. The idea makes sense, yes. But people feel disrupted by change.
Why should any of us really care about a sports team nickname? Why invest emotions in sports in the first place? It was rather like pulling teeth to see the University of North Dakota sports nickname get adjusted. I know of two residences in Morris which at present have signs that show the old logo. It's for the "Fighting Sioux" of course.
Several years ago I saw an attorney acquaintance of mine go through Willie's with a jacket that had a huge "Fighting Sioux" symbol on the back. I believe this was before the name change was actually enacted. I emailed a professional colleague of that person advising that this was hardly good PR.
One of the current residences is in town, the other out along the biking/walking trail, close to Skyview. These people are sending the message that "Fighting Sioux" is still close to their hearts. You might say they have a chip on their shoulder. Again, why is it so important to some people? They pine for tradition.
The old UND logo offended people over a very long period of time. Many people have chosen not to talk about it much. It's easier to go with the flow and not be confrontational, some might reason.
Gay rights enlightenment followed a similar path. Remember the times when local people might scorn our U of M-Morris because it had an elevated stance with the gay rights push? Do you even hear talk about that anymore? Probably not. That is because gay rights like the eradication of Indian logos for sports teams followed a standard pattern. Voices rise as some impropriety is noticed. This doesn't sit well with some people, either because of irrational emotions or just not wanting to disrupt the status quo. Sometimes the latter force is pretty powerful.
It seems that the gay-bashing forces have retreated significantly. The tone of discussion grew moderate and we all just chose to move on. Hey, the world didn't end. We did get a whole new church in Morris because of the initial resistance. It's just north of town. IMHO that whole effort was dubious.
The mainstream Christian churches of Morris appear challenged. Why would anyone want to be skeptical about them? To be specific: First Lutheran, Faith Lutheran and Federated. Federated is affiliated with the Methodists who, when I last checked, were still in conflict over gay rights. Give them time. I still consider Federated mainstream.
The Morris area has the Apostolics along with the very conservative churches where I have the impression that politics has a big role, i.e. supporting Trump and the GOPers.
I don't understand the gay lifestyle very much but it's not an impediment to my life. And heavens, acceptance of a new sports team nickname ought to be the easiest thing in the world. It seems hard enough to just stay interested in big-time sports these days.
As we survey the local high school sports, let's mention Benson High School. Surprisingly, I have heard few if any ripples about the "Braves" nickname. The logo even includes a feather. On Sunday I posted about this Benson problem on my companion blog, "Morris of Course." I invite you to read with this permalink:
I remember when the late Skip Sherstad and yours truly were "shooting the bull" at the UMM P.E. Center concourse during a hoops tournament. Just for fun, we made up a school that took the Native American symbolism to extremes, to parody. It was merely in the spirit of fun. The fact we viewed it as parody just demonstrated how enlightened we were. We realized of course we'd have some explaining to do.
Parody and irony are the kind of things that go over the head of lots of people. Oh, there I go being prejudiced against stupid people. Am I being prejudiced against Benson people? Maybe a little bit. The "Benson Braves" are a long-time rival of the Tigers.
I have come to feel irritated by high school sports rivalries. They seem rather Neanderthal as time passes. I point my finger at wrestling based on past experience. High school boys have the serious misfortune of being drawn to football (where serious injuries are more than a mild risk) and wrestling (where pressure to lose weight is an unreasonable element). Boys can have their health affected permanently by these sports.
Wrestling also has the negative of humiliating the losers of bouts who are on their backs, totally supine. Sometimes fans will yell "show him the lights!" Who needs this?
I never participated in football or wrestling. There was a wrestling unit in phy ed that I hated. If I were a kid today, there are certain units in P.E. that I would just refuse to do. Go ahead and flunk me. I couldn't care less if I got expelled, except that maybe my life would have turned out better.
Girls have a much better, healthier experience in high school sports than do boys today.
So now we come to the subject of the Cleveland major league baseball team. It is in the news for scrapping its long-time nickname of "Indians." Their logo was "Chief Wahoo." Now they'll be the "Guardians." For sure fans will handle the transition just like at University of North Dakota.
The local residents with the "Fighting Sioux" signs should be ashamed. Get in the year 2021, please.
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| Meet the Cleveland MLB team of today! |
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
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