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At first I didn't like it, but after I thought about it...

Herlog

The Cheerleader
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...I've come to really despise it. This is what we get after 2 years? After what must have been innumerable meetings and focus groups run by high paid consultants? I haven't liked Commanders since it was first suggested as one of the finalists, but I never thought it would be taken seriously. In a way it's appropriate; the process of selecting this name is a perfect representation of how things are done in this city, where our "commanders" are completely out of touch with the real world. Not going to make this too long, so here is just a partial list of my reasons:

1. Did NO ONE among the brainiacs think ahead of time that this name was going to be shortened by media types/opposing fans to the Commies? REALLY??? It took me all of three seconds.
2. The arena football league team when it existed was called the Commandos. Again, I guess this makes sense inside the DC bubble where serial plagiarist Joe Biden is our commander. Pathetic.
3. What the hell do commanders do? In the generic sense they direct the grunts who do the dirty work and get the job done. No disrespect to current and past military commanders who have helped to preserve our freedoms, but commanding in and of itself doesn't guarantee victory.
4. What a safe route to take. Can't go with anything that has the slightest hint of controversy. Safe=boring.

Speaking of boring, about the uniforms:
1. The black may actually be my favorite look, but hmmmmm... where have I seen black and gold before? Thinking, thinking.... (see "plagiarism" above)
2. Plus, black has never been a color associated with this team (unless Jim Zorn had a hand in this). How about gold as an alternate color? I know I'm really thinking outside the box to suggest that.
3. So much time devoted to the name, I guess the clock ran out when it came to logos. Or maybe I'm too hasty... was someone just practicing their stenciling and this wasn't the intended helmet design?

Finally, I've read an article about how the team really nailed the hype video. Again, isn't this the perfect microcosm of what team management has prioritized over the past 30 years of mediocrity? All sizzle, no steak. We win the Hype Video Bowl! We win the Free Agent Bowl! We win the Harrassment Bowl!

Know what Bowl we don't win?
 
Great 1st post and welcome to the site :cheers:

Yeah, it ain’t easy being green… err … Burgundy and Gold, that’s for sure.

So I’ve been an infantry grunt in the Marine Corps, and I’ve been a Platoon and Company ‘Commander’. There are great officers but I could’ve told anyone who would listen that even among military vets, ‘Commanders’ was going to elicit snark and sarcasm and more than a little eye-rolling. It’s the enlisted guys and young NCOs that power our military and do the tough work. When you have guys like Jason Wright and Ron Rivera who love the military and want to pay tribute but more or less are clueless about terminology and how things are typically viewed by veterans, you end up with ‘Commanders’. Sentinels would’ve checked that box and been much less criticized. Warriors (which wasn’t even opposed in any formal or overwhelming way by the Native American community) would’ve been great but Jason Wright took it upon himself to strike that one off the list, despite knowing it was the most popular possibility at the time, and that the context of using it as the new name would be to celebrate service not reference Native American culture.

In a nutshell, the entire exercise was weak, overly exhaustive, excruciatingly prolonged, and landed us a name almost no one wanted (other than Jason Wright and Ron Rivera). How can call that a success is a mystery and that’s not even getting into some of the other details like uniform messes and historical errors.

It is what it is. It’s the name so we may as well finish ranting and get on the bus.

Welcome to the site!
 
Welcome!

I am happy to having bestowed upon you your fist ‘like’. 😉

Here’s to many more.
 
Great 1st post and welcome to the site :cheers:

Yeah, it ain’t easy being green… err … Burgundy and Gold, that’s for sure.

So I’ve been an infantry grunt in the Marine Corps, and I’ve been a Platoon and Company ‘Commander’. There are great officers but I could’ve told anyone who would listen that even among military vets, ‘Commanders’ was going to elicit snark and sarcasm and more than a little eye-rolling. It’s the enlisted guys and young NCOs that power our military and do the tough work. When you have guys like Jason Wright and Ron Rivera who love the military and want to pay tribute but more or less are clueless about terminology and how things are typically viewed by veterans, you end up with ‘Commanders’. Sentinels would’ve checked that box and been much less criticized. Warriors (which wasn’t even opposed in any formal or overwhelming way by the Native American community) would’ve been great but Jason Wright took it upon himself to strike that one off the list, despite knowing it was the most popular possibility at the time, and that the context of using it as the new name would be to celebrate service not reference Native American culture.

In a nutshell, the entire exercise was weak, overly exhaustive, excruciatingly prolonged, and landed us a name almost no one wanted (other than Jason Wright and Ron Rivera). How can call that a success is a mystery and that’s not even getting into some of the other details like uniform messes and historical errors.

It is what it is. It’s the name so we may as well finish ranting and get on the bus.

Welcome to the site!
Thanks Boone, and thanks for serving the USA! I have no military experience so perhaps my opinion is somewhat uninformed, but I still stand by it.
I am a Red Wolves guy, but I could have lived with Sentinels, and would have liked Warriors.
In order to root for this team (like I have since 1972) I have to consciously separate it from it's management and ownership, but that is getting more and more difficult to do. The worst part? I have cursed my son by influencing him to be a fan. What a masochist I am!

Good health and God's blessings to you!
 
Thanks Boone, and thanks for serving the USA! I have no military experience so perhaps my opinion is somewhat uninformed, but I still stand by it.
I am a Red Wolves guy, but I could have lived with Sentinels, and would have liked Warriors.
In order to root for this team (like I have since 1972) I have to consciously separate it from it's management and ownership, but that is getting more and more difficult to do. The worst part? I have cursed my son by influencing him to be a fan. What a masochist I am!

Good health and God's blessings to you!
I meant sadist, but then again...
 
Herlog, very happy that you have pulled up a chair at the BGO table and welcome!

I too am extremely down on the name. I suppose time will heal all wounds and when the footballs start flying again in the summer time, I hope that I will be able to look past it all and start cheering on the players and coaches that are associated with Washington football.

Speaking of the coaches, I love Ron Rivera. I appreciate his character and the strength he shows as an individual. I believe he is a fabulous role model and figurehead for this franchise, especially considering the turmoil we have had to deal with for quite some time. That all being said, I feel as though he likely had plenty of input into the naming process (considering his military ties and roots) and I am not sure that that was the correct way to go about things. Afterall, he is a coach and let's face it - they have shelf lives. It just seems odd that we would give so much input to someone that potentially 7 or 8 years down the road is no longer connected with the organization that will bear this name for the long haul.
 
You can add Jason Wright to that final thought as well, Paul. Though I think 7-8 years is optimistic.
 
As for Jason Wright. let's make this easier....

Is there anything he hasn't botched since he's been here?
 
Okay “if” by chance these hearings end up getting Dan to sell the team, can the new owner change the stupid name immediately?
 
Okay “if” by chance these hearings end up getting Dan to sell the team, can the new owner change the stupid name immediately?

Not immediately.
We will revert to Washington Football Team for 2 more years, while highly paid experts, brand specialists, and lawyers mull the options, and come up with the next new name - the Washington Presidents.

Yippee
 
There is never going to be a name that would be universally celebrated by fans outside of a return to the Redskins.

Commanders is what it is. There were names I liked better, many I liked less. For me it’s a ’be careful what you wish for’ situation.
 
Maybe it's somewhere on the same level as the "Raiders", but only seems worse, because we've grown to adapt to the Raiders for decades, and the newness of this name is what creates a lot of awkwardness.
So, impartially speaking, does it not seem much different than the Raiders ?
If that name came out in today's society as a new name, somehow I feel it would be attacked with equal scrutiny.
 
Now that we're the Commies, the think pink month will take on a whole new meaning.
I hate the name, and also don't see why we couldn't have kept last year's unis.
 
I have to admit that Seattle Kraken was a stroke of genius. Credit to that organization for thinking outside the box.
 
Now that we're the Commies, the think pink month will take on a whole new meaning.
I hate the name, and also don't see why we couldn't have kept last year's unis.

I tend to agree on the uniforms. That all said, while they will tell us otherwise, I think they intentionally wanted to venture as far away from anything associated with the old name as possible - look and uniforms included. The current look is clearly new, points to a new start, and casual fans would have a hard time figuring out we are the former Redskins in the white or black uniforms. It angers us, but for those on the inside, I think that's kind of what they were shooting for.
 
Pretty savvy take CH - I think the argument that the new identity is aimed much more at a new generation of fans than the incredible shrinking fanbase of old diehards like us. That’s why this was doomed to be a very unpopular reveal. They weren’t really trying all that hard to impress old Redskins fans.
 
All things considered, the name change, the actual name itself, and everything else that has changed, this team totally gives me a feel of an expansion team now.
And I don't like expansion teams.
It's becoming unrecognizable and completely disassociated with everything the team ever was.
It's come to a peak, as far as the difficulty in rooting for the team now.
 
I will say this, whether we like it or not... the overwhelming majority of the people with a positive response regarding the uniforms... are the younger group. I dont know everyone, but if I had to guess, most of those responding positive would be under 30. That's indicative of what we all know on multiple levels. 'OLDER' die hard fans were not going to support straying away from the history because it's what we all hold on to. The younger generation doesn't relate to the colors / uniforms the way we do because they have not expected winning. The other thing is that the younger generation was likely the target audience of the designs. It's a shift in what is believed to be appealing. What 22 year olds think is 'fire' is a lot different than what someone twice their age would think.
 

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