Time to change Cleveland's team name

Not only is 'Indians' racist, it's stupid;
it's time to sacrifice money for dignity

I'm a lifelong Cleveland Indians fan. I had a big Chief Wahoo flag hanging on the front of my house for their run in the playoffs. I wore logo lapel pins and stickers. I wore the hat, and shorts.

I felt bad doing it.

I made a presentation to my department colleagues last Thursday, the day of Game 5 versus the Red Sox. Mostly English professors, they are a liberal leaning bunch. (One scolded me when I was about to drop a newspaper in the trash can -- "Recycle!" she yelled.) Before the meeting, I decided to take off the Chief Wahoo sticker I had been wearing around campus all day.

I realized I was embarrassed by it.

If I owned the team, the first thing I would do is change the name. Something generic, like the "Cleveland Clubs," with the globally recognizable playing card symbol as the logo.

Or maybe something blatantly corporate, like the "Cleveland Clydesdales." Need I suggest who the primary sponsor would be?

Indians is a racist name, and a stupid name. Chief Wahoo is an offensive caricature.

One argument against changing the name and logo is tradition. The name is nearly 100 years old.

It’s still racist and stupid.

The team’s name has changed several times. They were once the Spiders, the Forest Citys, the Broncos.

Change it again.

Another argument is business driven -- Indians hats are among the biggest sellers worldwide. In the MasterCard commercial running on TBS and Fox, little kids are playing baseball in the streets in Japan, and one is wearing a Chief Wahoo hat. They’re popular, but they're still offensive. (How would those kids feel if the team name was the "Cleveland Japs?" . . . Wait, didn't Ohio governor Rhodes suggest that once?)

The team and Major League Baseball need to sacrifice a little money for some dignity.

Have any ideas for a new name? Leave them as comments!

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More ideas (alliteration division):

Cleveland Clowns
Cleveland Clockers
Cleveland Clubs
Cleveland Classics (tuxedo-like uniforms?)
Cleveland Clydesdales
Cleveland Clamor (don't you hate those kind of nicknames -- Magic, Fire, Surge, etc.)

More ideas (general division):

Cleveland Plain Dealers
Cleveland Polka Kings
Cleveland Rocks (just big hunks of stone, scattered all over town)
Cleveland Lakers (quick -- name a lake in Los Angeles)
Cleveland "At Least We're Not Columbus"
Cleveland Spiders
Cleveland Barons (steal it)