So what is the next shoe to drop?
I expect us to keep the name for this season. But what is the end game? The league turns on us, or a huge sponsor turns on us? Is that the final kill shot?
Budweiser says "screw you" and we are done? It would have to be a massive company....Bud, FedEx, etc.
I expect the next shoe to be of the legal variety. There's a pending hearing at the trademark office, which was cleverly staged by having a snack file for a trademark with the term Redskins in it which the trademark office rejected. The stage has already been set for them to say the word is offensive and therefore not a valid trademark.
We also don't know what the politicians are up to. There's multiple ways to attack the issue, we'll see which one they choose.
The end game is for the name to change, the question is how long it will take to get there. There's nothing we (meaning supporters of the name) can do; there's nothing actionable. We can't make them stop, we can't get some seal of approval that will end the issue, there's literally nothing that can be done. So the other side has time on their side and as much of it as they need.
While majority of the supporters of the name see the press releases over the last year as defensive techniques (at best) or ill advised PR moves (at worse) something different clicked in my head just the other week. They now read to me like half-assed attempts to salvage the fan base for the pending name change. When it happens they'll release a statement with lots of paragraphs that will include references to a 'bright future' without 'forgetting our past' and all sorts of other nonsense, but it'll be easily summarized with: "we did everything we could, but our hands are tied, please don't be mad at us and please accept this new team"
And it'll probably work. They'll probably salvage the majority of the fan base and with a few winning seasons they'll recoup losses - DC loves a winner.
It ****ing irritates me beyond belief that we've reached this point, but I just don't see any other way around it. When I try to take a step back and look at it objectively, I just don't see a way of 'winning' this one. The other side will not stop until the name is changed; there is no legal ruling that will change that, no statement from a person of any affiliation that will matter.
At this point... for me... all that's left is wondering how I'm going to feel when the team is announced as a new name for the first time. I have no idea. I don't know how anyone can possibly predict something so emotionally driven.
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