The Washington __________________

Redskins primary logo 1965-1969 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

In the weeks since we did a post called "Changing Nicknames, Changing Attitudes" (Really.  You can look it up.), a few things have happened in efforts to get the Washington NFL franchise to change its name from Redskins to, well, anything but that.

• Protests by Native American groups have either gone on or are being planned in every NFL city the Washington team plays in.  In Minneapolis, one of those groups tried to get the Minnesota Vikings and the stadium commission to discontinue use of the nickname and its logos without success.
• Prominent sportswriters and broadcasters have stopped using the Redskins name.  Even President Barack Obama has called for a name change.  However, those who depend on the NFL and the Washington franchise for their livelihoods will continue to use the R-word, if they know what's good for them.
• NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and Washington owner Dan Snyder have already met to discuss changing the nickname.  Nothing came of it, so far as we know.

And that's where we are today, with no plans in place to change Washington's name to something that would appease both fans and the Native American community.  Remember, change is slow.  Rome wasn't built in a day.  The Washington Redskins have only been in business since Franklin Roosevelt was President, and the country was recovering from the Great Depression.

To all those in sports media who are refraining from using the R-word, we say:  That's nice, but we've been here before.  The same protests and calls for nickname change happened 20 years ago.  Only at that time, the names these groups wanted to get rid of besides the Redskins were the Braves, Indians, Chiefs and Warriors.  And they also wanted to get rid of Cleveland's Chief Wahoo.

A few newspapers, among them the Minneapolis Star Tribune, decided to take a stand by not publishing the offending nicknames in question in its game stories, making an exception for direct quotes.  The Strib tried it for a few years, but has since gone back to including the names because of stories that end up sounding like this:

The Washington NFL football team defeated Kansas City 27-24 in a game played at Landover, MD Sunday.  Washington quarterback Biff Hurdle threw for two touchdowns, including the game-winner with less than a minute to play.  Running back Andarelle Cooper ran for 150 yards, catching a pass from Hurdle in the end zone for a second-quarter score.  Kansas City responded with a 40-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Angus McCutcheon to wide receiver MarKwad Stephens-Dalton, an 80-yard punt return by Demetrius Jefferson, a sneak from the one-yard line by McCutcheon, and a 35-yard field goal by Ian Boise.  Washington is now 5-2, and will face the Dallas Cowboys next week.  Kansas City, dropping to 3-4, goes home to face the Oakland Raiders.

Until Snyder and the NFL decide that ditching the Redskins name makes sense morally and financially, it seems ridiculous to force sports fans to fill in the blanks.

Vikings 2013: Purple Meltdown

For only the second time this season (and the first time in North America), the Minnesota Vikings won an NFL football game.  They defeated Washington 34-27 at the Metrodome/Mall of America Field in the NFL Network's Thursday night game of the week, but only after surviving a last-minute charge by opposing quarterback Robert Griffin III.

This game the Vikings got right, having previously suffered last-second losses to Chicago and Dallas, and just plain sucking against everybody else--especially on national TV.  Their only victory was over an equally bad Pittsburgh Steelers team in London, England.  Their record at the halfway point is 2-7, good for last place in the NFC North division, but just behind the Jacksonville Jaguars and Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the race for the top pick in the 2014 Draft.

All the ingredients for a bottom-feeding club are there:  Lack of a dependable quarterback.  Leaky defense.  Injuries.  Dissension in the ranks.  Coach's job on the line.  Need more?

Start with the quarterback.  Christian Ponder began the season with question marks about his ability and his leadership.  He's turned out to be a mediocre quarterback who couldn't lead the Vikings over the hump without getting injured, which included having to leave last night's game in the third quarter because of a shoulder injury.  Which led to Matt Cassel, a journeyman QB who led the Vikings to their win over Pittsburgh.  He played poorly in the following game, which led to Josh Freeman, who was just picked up from Tampa Bay.  Freeman was rushed into the starting job in the Monday night game against the Giants, played poorly and suffered a concussion.  Re-enter Ponder . . .

For this, the Vikings gave up McLeod Bethel-Thompson?

It also does no good for your offense if your marquee player is otherwise distracted.  Adrian Peterson went on record as saying he wanted to set the league rushing record this season.  Instead, he's nursing a hamstring injury while mourning the death of a child he just found out was his.

The defense has been marked by injuries and the seeming inability to keep the other team's offense from getting out of hand.  It has gotten so bad that Jared Allen was briefly the subject of trade rumors, because he's a free agent at the end of the season.  Allen is still a Viking, but for how long?

Finally, there is Leslie Frazier, who will be the head coach for the rest of the season.  His assistants are failing him, which is resulting in players taking potshots at them in the media.  Frazier does not have a contract extension, so who knows?

So, yes, the Vikings are starting to look ahead to 2014 and see an uncertain future as a team in transition.  They'll be between quarterbacks, coaches, defensive players, and stadiums on their way to a brighter future in the edifice that replaces the Metrodome.  All we have to do is to be patient.