What’s In A Name?

The Washington Football Team (fka Redskins) have a new name. I am sure if you are interested (or even not so interested) that you know it by now. It’s the Washington Commanders.

My first reactions: Boo. Boring. Generic. Dumb.

I spent the better part of yesterday and even woke up at 3am today thinking about it. My second, third, and fourth reactions are not much better, but I have given it a lot of thought. Enough so that I’m writing a new blog entry over 2 years after my last entry.

The Reveal

Only a Dan Snyder owned team could screw this up. When the Cleveland Indians changed their name to the Guardians, they didn’t leave the fan base in limbo for nearly two years with a temporary name. They changed the name in the middle of the season, put out a press release, and released a pretty cool video narrated by Tom Hanks.

What does Washington do? Announce that 2.2.22 will be the big reveal on the nationally televised NBC Today show. I do not have a problem with setting an actual date, but the choice of venue makes no sense. Where is the pomp and circumstance? This is supposed to be a HUGE deal. Instead, we get Craig Melvin interviewing team President Jason Wright, legend and Super Bowl winning QB Doug Williams, and the best player on the team Jonathan Allen in the frigid cold on the grass at FedEx Field.

Credit to Craig Melvin for asking about the sexual harrassment allegations and the Brian Flores lawsuit. This Today show appearance was clearly not well thought out by the team. When it was time to announce the name, I was expecting Jason Wright to say something like “roll the video” or to have players wearing jerseys bursting from the tunnel. Nope. Instead Jason says, “Doug, go ahead and tell them.” And Doug Williams says, “We are the Commanders.” That’s it. So underwhelming.

When Craig Melvin asked about a mascot and a fight song, Mr. Wright said they are still working on it. They have had nearly two years to think about this!

There actually is a video that was released and it is good and inspiring, but that should have been the brand introduction. Not that sad display on the Today show.

The Name

The team allowed fans to submit names. Supposedly, they got 40K entries. From that they “whittled” them down to a list of real candidates. I put whittled in quotes because if you get 40K entries, chances are the ones the team already had in mind would be included. They said they held focus groups. With who? A focus group would rate Commanders highly?

Why I don’t like Commanders

Here are all the reasons I don’t like Commanders:

1. It is too long. It is 3 syllables and 10 letters. It’s kind of a mouthful.
2. It is boring
3. It is generic
4. It is the name of the now defunct AAF San Antonio football team
5. It does not lend itself to a good nickname. Like Pats for Patriots or Bucs for Buccaneers. As Tony Kornheiser hilariously declared on PTI that the only possible nickname is “The Commies” — for the team representing capital of the USA!

My Preference

The early fan favorites were Red Tails and Red Wolves. I actually would have been happy with either. However, I really wanted the team to be the Washington Justice. That name was not in the list of 10 that they released.

Of the list of 10, there were only two that I liked:

1. Hogs or Red Hogs because of the obvious association with the team (when they actually won Super Bowls)
2. Brigade if I had to choose a military themed name, which was obviously the direction the team wanted to go.

Brigade Would Have Been Great

What do all NFL teams have in common? They are all plural nouns and end with an “s”.

A commander is a person that leads. Have you heard the expression, “Too many cooks in the kitchen”? With many commanders, I picture everyone trying to be a leader. That is not how a team operates effectively.

Brigade is different. It is a singular noun, but it conjures images of a fighting force. I can picture 11 men on the field all with the same goal: To fight together as one to defeat the opponent. What a fantastic image!

When they used the temporary Washington Football Team name, it was unique and many fans wanted that to be the permanent name. The cool thing is that it was unique and different. I feel like Washington Brigade would have had the same impact. Definitely a missed opportunity.

The Uniforms

Thank goodness they decided early on in the rebranding process to keep the burgundy and gold color scheme. They would not be my team without those colors.

The best part about the uniform is the burgundy helmet with the very cool W logo. I love the matte finish on the helmets.

The colors are good, but not what I was expecting. I was hoping they would deepen the shades like the awesome throwback uniforms that the team occasionally wears. It could be my imagination, but the burgundy actually looks a few shades lighter than the old uniforms.

Burgundy Uniforms

Love the color. Love the design of the numbers.

I hate the awkward looking “COMMANDERS” above the numbers.

Black Uniforms?!?

Black uniforms?!? This is totally unnecessary and feels like a Dan Snyder demand to me. Ironically, the black uniform is my favorite. Let me rephrase that. The design of the black uniform is my favorite. I like the DC flag on the sleeve. I like the placement of the Commanders above and to the left of the numbers. I love the Gold numbers with the Burgundy trim. All of the design elements from this uniform should be on the other uniforms.

I kind of even like the black helmet — except that it’s shiny black. Why not matte black? Matte black would have looked amazing. The W on the crest of the helmet is an interesting choice and I’m ok with that. I’m just having trouble understanding why the helmet has a shiny finish.

White Uniforms

Umm…was there a mistake? The white uniforms look like they were made for a different team. The only gold I saw on the uniform was the Nike swoosh on the sleeve. They are effectively Red and Black. Was this design a hold over from the Jim Zorn era? Even the design of the numbers don’t match the Burgundy and Black uniforms. I read a Washington Post article that explained all of the design choices. The numbers have lines to remind you of military stripes. No lines on the numbers on the white uniforms and it has a distracting gradient that the other two uniforms do not have. This is embarrassing.

No Gold Pants

This is the worst choice of all. Maybe they have them, but didn’t display them. In general, I like the pants. Solid color is better than some awful stripes or other design elements. No complaints except no Gold pants!!

The Crest

Something unique to the branding is a circular crest. It’s a circle that around the top says Washington Football and around the bottom lists all of the years we won championships. They include pre-Super Bowl championships which kind of feels like a cheat, but whatever. In the middle, the circle is divided into quadrants that include the year the team was founded, the W logo, and 3 stars to represent the DC flag. No complaints here. It is admittedly cool.

Conclusion

They are the Washington Commanders now. Are they still my team? Yes. Will I still root for them? Yes. Do I like the name? No. Will it grow on me? Maybe. I rarely think of the Bullets when the Washington Wizards are mentioned. Maybe the same thing will eventually happen with Commanders.

Most importantly for Dan Snyder. Will I buy gear? Most likely. My son who was absolutely livid about the name has already asked if I could buy him a shirt.

What am I hoping for? A winning team that will rejuvenate the fan base. Then the name will not matter.

What am I really hoping for? I hope Dan Snyder is forced to sell the team and the new owner hates the name and we go through another rebrand. Imagine if Jeff Bezos bought the team. We could be the Washington Prime.

---

And now a haiku:

Generic and bland
Non-offensive was the goal
Where are the Gold pants?

---

I basically composed this in my head lying awake in bed at 3am. I am tired. I want to go back and add links to relevant content, but I am feeling kind of lazy and just want to be done thinking about this.

Dynasty Intact

I was rooting for the Rams because I really like Sean McVay. I wish he were coaching the Redskins, but I do not think he could be successful with DC. I do not think any coach can be successful in DC under Snyder/Allen.

While I’m not a Patriots fan, you cannot deny their greatness. Six Super Bowls in the Brady/Belichick era. Even if you are not a fan, you have to appreciate the significance of that accomplishment.

---

And now a haiku:

Super Bowl Sunday
Not much offense to be had
Dyansty intact

Raiders vs. Redskins

And now a haiku:

Prepared for a loss
Thompson, Doctson, and defense
Hail to the Redskins

What a Night!

Last night, my son may have had his best night of baseball ever. Overall, his team probably had their best night of hitting, too. Success is infectious! They won 10 – 7. Even though the score was close, my son’s team totally dominated their opponent.

Here are my son’s stats for the night:

4 plate appearances: 1 HBP, 1 BB, 1 3B, 1 2B (I didn’t pay attention to RBIs and Rs…oops)

2 innings pitched: 1H, 2K, 0BB, 0R

His hits were incredible. Until this year, he really never hit the ball that well.  He would usually either walk or strike out. Apparently, he currently has the 3rd best batting average on the team.

The triple he hit was a long fly ball, deep down the left field line. It was one of those shots that curved in the air and made you stand up and lean and use telekinesis to make sure it did not end up in foul territory. It landed fair and then rolled into the corner. It was thrilling and probably the best hit of his life so far. This was a honest-to-god triple. No defensive overthrows or Bad News Bears shenanigans. Just a crushing blow and my son sprinted around and slid into 3rd. Beautiful.

His double was a solid fly ball into left-center that safely dropped in. It got past the center fielder and my son ended up with a stand-up double.

I was so happy. My wife, on the other hand, was not. Unfortunately, she was not feeling well and could not make it to the game. I kept her updated via text and she could not believe she was missing the show.

To top it all off, my son was selected by his coach as one of the players to represent his team in the end-of-season all-star game. His coach told me that most kids think they are better than they really are, but my son does not realize how good he is. He said that when he figures out how good he is, he will be an incredible ball player.

---

And now a haiku:

Incredible night
A hot bat and a strong arm
Simply dominant

The Pop of the Glove

And now a haiku:

The pop of the glove
Throwing baseballs with the boy
The sound of pure joy

If I were Dan Snyder…

The controversy involving the Washington Redskins name has really been picking up steam the last few months. I have listened to both sides of the argument and agree with aspects of both sides. I was starting to fall in the ‘change the name’ camp and got to the point where I actually felt uncomfortable wearing my Redskins gear…until I read Rick Reilly’s article on the subject, which brought me back to reality.

Reilly’s article mentions a few high schools with predominantly Native American populations using the Redskins nickname (one even longer than the NFL team) and gives a compelling argument for not making an issue out of the name. After I read the article, I no longer have a problem wearing my Redskins gear. However, I still sympathize with people who oppose the name and think about the controversy whenever I don my Redskins hat.

As a lifelong Redskins fan, I am not one of those people who would be upset by a name change. I would be ok one way or the other (as long as the new name is cool and unique) and the team would still be ‘my’ team. What I am not ok with is the stance that Dan Snyder, the owner of the team, is taking. Earlier this year, he said,

“We’ll never change the name,” Snyder told USA Today. “It’s that simple. NEVER — you can use caps.”

That is a quote from a very stubborn, cold hearted man. Recently, he issued a letter to fans to try to soften his position on the issue. Basically, he used poll results and other facts to defend the team name. I just read it as a nicer way for him to say “NEVER”.

He would be forced to change the name, if:

1. The other NFL owners force him to change it
2. The Redskins trademark is revoked.

What would I do if I were Dan Snyder?

If I were Dan Snyder, my goal would be to keep the name. That much is obvious. However, besides the name being an issue, the people that oppose the name also object to the use of Native American symbolism. I would try to meet my critics halfway.

In my opinion, a redesign of the team’s uniforms and helmets is long overdue. Remove that dude’s head and the feathers from the helmet and replace it with a cool looking ‘R’. Remove all Native American symbolism from the franchise. The fight song, which has a Native American vibe because of the drum beat, should stay, but maybe rewrite the lyrics to remove the phrase “Braves on the warpath”. (Maybe “Men on the gridiron”. No, that’s just awful.)

Lastly, the struggles of today’s Native American population is well documented. As Dan Snyder, I would set up a charitable foundation to aid this country’s Native Americans using a fair portion of the Redskins revenue as well as taking donations from fans during games. Lastly, I would set up some kind of exhibit at FedEx Field honoring Native Americans.

To summarize:

• Keep the name
• Remove all Native American symbolism from the franchise (uniform, facilities, web site, etc.)
• Fix the fight song
• Establish a charitable foundation to aid Native Americans
• Create an exhibit at FedEx Field honoring Native Americans

It may not make everyone happy, but compromises never do. If you can somehow divorce the team name from its Native American roots, then I think the critics will not have nearly as much to complain about.

---

And now a haiku:

‘Redskins’ should not hurt
The people that you honor
Time for compromise

Not Appreciated

One of the things I miss the most about Maryland is the ability to follow my favorite sports teams, which I have certainly discussed on this blog before (feeling too lazy to link to relevant blog entries). When I heard that the Redskins were going to be holding training camp in Richmond, VA this year, I thought it would be fun to take the family and go. When I heard that Saturday, August 3rd was going to be Fan Appreciation Day, I decided that we were definitely going.

Mileage-wise Richmond is literally half way between my current home and my former home. If we were still living in Maryland, I do not think I would ever consider making the drive to Richmond for training camp. However, I am homesick for my Redskins, so I figured this was not far to go (and it is not like we would have to deal with driving through Northern Virginia to get there).

Since it was a Saturday, my wife and kids were not too keen about jumping out of bed to make the 2.5 hour trek to Richmond. I wanted to leave at 8:30am, but we did not actually get on the road until about 9:15am. We found parking pretty easily and had to walk about 3/4 mile to the facility. There was a steady stream of people walking back to their cars as we were making our way to the facility. Some people said things, like “Don’t bother” or “You should just turn around.” We nervously laughed and continued on.

The schedule in the Washington Post said that gates opened at 9 and there would be activities for kids and games where you could win prizes. I saw no such activities or games unless you count the enormous Virginia lottery kiosk. At noon, players would make themselves available for pictures and autographs. Practice would start at 1 and after practice, players would again be available for photos and autographs. The schedule was wrong.

The Redskins reported that 25,000 people attended Fan Appreciation Day. It was insane. Wall to wall people. It was very difficult to move around and when we did find ourselves moving, we had absolutely no idea where to go.

There was no way to get close to the field because people already laid claim to the good spots. If I stood on my tippy toes, I could see players practicing. Oh right. Practice was already happening when we walked in around noon.

It was so crowded and everyone (I mean everyone, including my family and me) was wearing burgundy and gold. I was so afraid I was going to get separated from my family and not be able to find them again. I felt like we were all burgundy and gold spotted cows and as were shuffling around, I was worried that Temple Grandin was going to appear and lead us humanely to the slaughter.

The experience was so bizarre that I could not even will myself to get angry. Within 5 minutes of getting there, my kids were ready to leave. We tried to get close to the action, but were not very successful. We would occasionally see a football in the air and then hear the people with good seats ‘oooh’ and ‘aaah’. It is possible that RG3 was on the field, but I would not know. I did see Pierre Garcon from a great distance. We did get within 30 yards of Kai Forbath and Sav Rocca (two guys with weird first names) as they were kicking balls through the upright, but we didn’t drive 2.5 hours to watch the kicker and the punter warm up. We left about 30 minutes after we walked in the gate.

I’m not sure why they called it Fan Appreciation Day. I saw absolutely no evidence that the fans were being appreciated. My wife kept saying that they should have had practice in a stadium where there would be plenty of seats and everyone would have a good view. Of course, the next day I see that that Ravens held practice at the Naval Academy stadium in Annapolis. I really should be a Ravens fan.

I can kind of understand why this woman got so upset when she did not get an autograph. I should have listened to her when she said, “Do not come to the Redskins Training Camp. I repeat, do not come to the Redskins Training Camp. It’s a waste of time.”

---

And now a haiku:

Wall-to-wall people
Burgundy and gold cattle
Ready for slaughter

And now another haiku:

What was I thinking?
RG3 would talk to me?
What was I thinking?

And now another haiku:

Excited for camp
Chick-fil-a for the ride home
Best part of the day

And now another haiku:

Ready for football
Thought training camp would be fun
Many lessons learned

The Home Stretch

My son’s baseball season is winding down. His last game of the regular season is tomorrow. He is still having success pitching and it is both stressful and exhilarating to watch. I think he has pitched 8 innings so far. He has only had one really bad inning where he walked a bunch of batters and allowed 5 runs, which is the maximum allowed per inning. All of his other innings have been fantastic. In his most recent inning, he gave up 1 run, no walks, and struck out 2.

His team started out 6 – 1, but are now sitting in 3rd place at 7 – 4. I think pitching is the main reason his team has struggled in the last few games. The coach has been trying to add more players into the pitching rotation for a couple of reasons:

1. Kids who have not pitched in a game want to pitch.
2. We need more pitchers because of the tournament schedule and the league rules on pitching.

The league rules state the following conditions on pitching:

1. A pitcher cannot pitch more than 2 innings per game
2. If a pitcher pitches more than 1 inning in a game, they must have 40 hours of rest before pitching again
3. A pitcher cannot pitch more than 6 innings a week

In the regular season, there was only one case where there were 2 games within a 40 hour period. For the tournament, depending on what place they finish in the regular season, they could have two games next Saturday, then the championship game on Sunday (if they make it that far). The coach says he need to use a 9 person pitching staff to be able to get to the championship game because of the league rules. There are only 12 kids on the team.

In our recent losses, the team gets in a big hole that is hard to get out of because the coach is using pitchers that have not pitched before and they are walking a lot of batters. Basically, if you walk more players than the other team, then 9 times out of 10 you will lose. Fortunately, all of the teams will be in this position in the tournament. I just hope that the 9 person pitching staff works out and that, when it is my son’s turn in the rotation, that he has a good day.

---

And now a haiku:

Everyone pitches
Brutal tournament schedule
Loosen up those arms

Pitching Progress

I had previously written about my son’s opportunity to pitch for his baseball team. Since I wrote the blog entry, he has pitched twice. Both outings went great! I am very excited for him. If they kept track of a pitcher’s record in this league, he would have gotten the win for his first outing.

I wish I could remember all of the details of the first game. I believe he allowed 5 runs total. I know in his first inning all 3 outs were Ks. He did walk a few kids, but, most importantly, he did not walk anyone when the bases were loaded. I think he struck out one or two kids in his 2nd inning.

His 2nd game, this past Saturday, was phenomenal. He, again, pitched 2 innings. He only allowed 1 run. Here’s how the first inning went:

• He walked the 1st batter
• 1st batter on first, steals second
• 1st batter, now on 2nd, gets picked off attempting to steal 3rd
• He strikes out the 2nd batter
• The 3rd batter hits a grounder to the pitcher’s mound. My son scoops it up and throws him out at 1st.
• Result:  3 up, 3 down

I do not remember the specifics of the 2nd inning although, my son was responsible for every out. He struck out two batters and the last out was similar to the last out of his first inning: batter hits a grounder to the pitcher’s mound. My son scoops it up and throws him out at 1st.

I am a very proud dad. I generally do not like to brag about my kids’ accomplishments, but I am just so excited about this.

---

And now a haiku:

Deep breath, anxious dad
My boy on the pitcher’s mound
Retiring batters

My Son, the Southpaw

My son’s favorite sport to play and the sport he is probably most skilled in is baseball. Being in a new town where the Little League organization works a bit differently takes some getting used to. Fortunately, we found a good organization that plays and practices very close to home. The past couple of years in Maryland, my son has been one of the better players on his team. Here is North Carolina, I would say that my son is average. Part of the reason for that is that his team is comprised of 9 and 10 year olds, so he is one of the younger kids on the team. Also, the coaches do not know him, so I do not think that he has been given an opportunity to show his skills yet.

I think that is about to change and it involves a new skill.

This is the first year that he’s been in ‘kid pitch’. The last two years he was in a league with a pitching machine. He expressed an interest in pitching, so we practice in the yard almost every day. The games are 6 innings and a pitcher is restricted to 2 innings per game and must have 40 hours rest. This week, they have two games less than 40 hours apart and there’s only 3 kids on the team that usually pitch. His assistant coach used to pitch for NC State, so he worked with my son the other day trying to find more pitchers. After practice, the assistant coach asked me if he had pitched before. I told him, “No”. Then, — and this blew me away — the assistant coach told me that my son has real potential and that it is great that he’s a lefty. They are definitely going to use him either tonight or on Saturday.

He is pretty consistent getting the ball over the plate when we work together. He probably throws an equal amount of balls and strikes. At this age, it’s all about getting the ball near the plate. The strike zone is pretty big, otherwise, there would be way too many walks. Also, it encourages kids to take more chances in the batter’s box.

I’m sure that if he does well, that he will pitch on a regular basis. My biggest problem is that I get very tense when my son is at bat, so I do not know how I will handle him pitching for one or two innings.

---

And now a haiku:

Wind up, here’s the pitch
My son, the next Whitey Ford
Striking out the side