Report: Indians changing nickname
The Cleveland Indians are changing their name after 105 years.
Citing three people familiar with the decision, The New York
Times reported Sunday night that the team is moving away from a name considered racist for decades. The Indians have been internally discussing a potential name change for months.
A team spokesman told The Associated Press the franchise has no immediate comment on the report.
The Times said the team could make a formal announcement later this week. It’s not known when the name change will take affect or if the team has settled on a new moniker.
Cleveland’s move away from Indians follows a similar decision earlier this year by the NFL’s Washington Football Team, which was previously known as the Redskins.
For years, Native American groups and others have protested against Cleveland’s use of Indians as its name as well as other imagery used by the American League charter franchise founded in 1901. Last year, the team removed the contentious Chief Wahoo logo from its caps and jerseys, but the smiling, cartoonish mascot has remained popular and merchandise is still sold bearing its image.
ETC.
Soccer: Inter Miami
● continues to make offseason moves, announcing on Sunday that the club traded defender Ben Sweat to 2021 expansion club Austin FC in exchange for $100,000 in General Allocation
Money (GAM). Sweat was the first overall pick in the 2019 MLS Expansion Draft for Inter Miami.
The 29-year-old left back went on to make 22 regular season appearances in 2020, including 20 starts, registering a total of 1,675 minutes and two assists.
— MICHELLE KAUFMAN
Lucas Zelarayan scored midway through the first half and added the clincher in the 82nd minute and the Columbus Crew won their second MLS Cup title, beating the defending champion Seattle Sounders
3-0 late Saturday night.
Derrick Etienne Jr. also scored in the first 45 minutes for Columbus.… Lionel Messi scored late to give Barcelona a 1-0 win over Levante and keep his team from falling further behind in the Spanish league. … Theo Hernandez scored twice to help AC Milan recover from two goals down to draw 2-2 against Parma on and preserve its unbeaten Italian league record. … Neymar was taken off on a stretcher deep into stoppage time as defending champion Paris Saint-Germain lost 1-0 at home to Lyon to drop to third place in the French league.
Auto racing: Red
Bull driver Max Verstappen won the seasonending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in dominant style for his second victory of the season and 10th of his career. He finished 16 seconds ahead of Valtteri Bottas and 18.4 clear of world champion Lewis Hamilton as Red Bull enjoyed a rare and significant success over both Mercedes cars.