If Eskimos name is offside, try Elk, Egrets or Elect
To enliven and enhance its image, Edmonton needs to shed the racist name of its football team or risk remaining in the backwater that cities such as Washington, D.C., Cleveland, Atlanta and Kansas City find themselves in, with sports teams named Redskins, Indians, Braves and Chiefs.
Inuit never lived as far south as Edmonton anyhow, so there’s no historical reason to keep the Eskimos name. The recent issue of T-shirts with sports crests bearing names like Caucasians surely signals it is time for the communityowned team to be sufficiently embarrassed to give its head a shake.
If retaining the double E is desirable, let’s consider animals, birds, occupations, even concepts.
Elk is a good enough name for our nearest national park. Elk could trample Stampeders and Roughriders (not sure about Lions).
Elephants seem comic, but they’d be competing with Lions and Tiger-Cats, and Edmonton has two rather famous, or infamous elephants: Lucy’s at the zoo, and there’s the white one about to be built for the hockey team, so why not?
Of course, Edmontosaurs were fierce in their day, if vegetarians can even be fierce.
As for birds, Eagles would be too American for the Canadian Football League. Egrets would be fine if the name was not temptingly close to Regrets for headline writers after a loss.
As for concepts (à la Minnesota Wild, Sarnia Sting and Orlando Magic), there’s the Edmonton Eclipse (a 19th-century baseball team in Louisville, Ky., had that moniker), or Edge, Elite, Eliminators and even Elect (remembering that Edmonton is a centre of government and political office).
As for occupations, Entrepreneurs is one, as long as the populace could be persuaded not to pronounce it as George W. Bush would, rhyming the ending with sewers. Better because of its link to Edmonton’s storied bluecollar history would be Engags (pronounced a little like on-gaz-yeah), fur trade labourers as tough and hard-working a cohort as any football team could wish. Engags would also commemorate the French roots Edmonton has from its days as a trading post.
Beyond the double E, there’s the Garrison (if CFB Edmonton doesn’t mind), Guards, and Northern Lights (if keeping an arctic theme is thought desirable).
Apart from avoiding Potholes, Windrows, Magpies, Mosquitoes and the Edmonton Sprawl, there are plenty of choices that would offend no one. Well, on second thought, given the team’s record of late, elk might take umbrage.