Taking one for the team
Now that the Atlanta Braves can no longer be called the Braves lest we offend some long-dead native American warrior, and now that the Cleveland Indians can no longer be called Indians because this somehow insults all the Cherokees and Apaches and Sioux and their cousins, the creators of sports teams know that they must tread with great care as they go about the process of selecting a team name.
When the San Diego Padres (a name almost certain to be heard as a put-down of all fans with a Hispanic heritage) set about to name their new farm team in my hometown (Amarillo, Texas), they put to work a brilliantly creative staff to come up with a never-heard-of-before and certain-not-to-offend moniker.
The first time we heard the name Sod Poodles, all of us guffawed and said, “You’ve got to be kidding!
Surely you’re just pulling our legs!” But they weren’t.
That’s what our minor league baseballers are called. At least for now.
Do I have to tell you that nobody anywhere knows what a “sod poodle” is?
That fact is part of the genius behind it, of course. No climate-control fanatics will scream against it as they do about the Oilers.
No BLM or NFL or NBA flag defamers will turn thumbs down on it as they do to the Patriots. Sod Poodles doesn’t carry the kind of political baggage embodied in team names such as Senators or Volunteers or Rebels.
The fact that the Sod Poodles hit the ground winning gave them a leg up for sure. Folks in our trade area have embraced them with almost immediate loyalty. Before the virus hit, crowds overflowed their fine new stadium almost every night.
In today’s hyper-sensitive environment, though, nobody can craft a team name that doesn’t insult somebody. Just wait until the term “Sod” catches the attention of Arbor Day radicals. Or just imagine what kind of negative message pro-animal extremists may think they hear in “Poodles.” In this crazy era, no team name will pass muster for long.
I hope you hear me chuckling as I delve into this slice of idiocy in our uptight, too-easilyoffended age.
But I don’t laugh when, in our historically Christian nation, I hear the same kind of outcries against any public mention of our Lord. Our Constitution nowhere guarantees freedom from religion.
Gene Shelburne may be addressed at 2310 Anna St., Amarillo, TX 79106-4717 or at GeneShel@aol.com. Get his books or magazines at www.annastreetchurch.org. His column appears weekly.