NFL Speak - The Rough House Version

[Palehorse]

Dan Marino has joined the concussion lawsuit against the NFL. . . Wait. . . No he now wants to withdraw his name. . .

[Locutus]

I saw that today.  Coverage here in south Florida claims that he doesn't know how he was added as a litigant in the case to begin with. 

Stay tuned.   

[Palehorse]

I saw that today.  Coverage here in south Florida claims that he doesn't know how he was added as a litigant in the case to begin with. 

Stay tuned.

Maybe their lawyers played college football? 

[Locutus]

[Purplelady1040]

Dan Marino has joined the concussion lawsuit against the NFL. . . Wait. . . No he now wants to withdraw his name. . .

[Locutus]

The U.S. Patent Office has canceled trademarks belonging to the Redskins football team, saying they are offensive to Native Americans.

http://money.cnn.com/2014/06/18/news/companies/patent-office-redskins/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

[Locutus]

^^

Any thoughts on that?

[Henry Hawk]

Who exactly gets to decide what is and what isn't "offensive"?

[Bo D]

Who exactly gets to decide what is and what isn't "offensive"?

I don't know .... the person who is offended? Somebody has to draw a line somewhere. That's not to say I agree with all this.

But I was glad to see to Ocean City Maryland is discouraging the use of profanity in public. When my children were little and we would take them to the beach, I would get very offended when some redneck started dropping F bombs one right the other.

[Bo D]

The fact is that a large number are offended by the use of the word "Redskins." Why would we continue to hurt people with words that we know cause them pain?

[Locutus]

Perhaps that's a start Bo D.  Societal norms play a large part in what's offensive or not.  But in most dictionaries, you'll find this:

red·skin
[red-skin]
noun Slang: Often Disparaging and Offensive.
a North American Indian.

— n
   an old-fashioned informal name, now considered taboo, for a Native American

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/redskin

I guess I really didn't realize that the term 'redskin' is as offensive to some with Indian ancestry as the 'n' word is to black people.  BTW, the suit was brought by five native Americans.  I haven't been able to locate exactly which tribe(s) they are associated with. 

That being said, where does this sort of thing stop?

Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Florida State Seminoles
Atlanta Braves

What about the numerous teams at the high school level with names like Apaches, Aztecs, Blackhawks, Chiefs, Chieftans, Comanches, etc.?

[Locutus]

BTW, use of Indian related names as mascots is very pervasive. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sports_team_names_and_mascots_derived_from_indigenous_peoples

[Bo D]

Perhaps that's a start Bo D.  Societal norms play a large part in what's offensive or not.  But in most dictionaries, you'll find this:

red·skin
[red-skin]
noun Slang: Often Disparaging and Offensive.
a North American Indian.

— n
   an old-fashioned informal name, now considered taboo, for a Native American

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/redskin

I guess I really didn't realize that the term 'redskin' is as offensive to some with Indian ancestry as the 'n' word is to black people.  BTW, the suit was brought by five native Americans.  I haven't been able to locate exactly which tribe(s) they are associated with. 

That being said, where does this sort of thing stop?

Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Florida State Seminoles
Atlanta Braves

What about the numerous teams at the high school level with names like Apaches, Aztecs, Blackhawks, Chiefs, Chieftans, Comanches, etc.?

Seminoles, Apaches, Aztecs, etc.,  - IMHO, those are all tribal names with no racist connotations.

But then you have the Cleveland Indians with that ridiculous parody of a logo ....

Hell, I am offended that we are called Indians just because some Italian sailing under a Spanish flag landed here and thought he was in India!

[Locutus]

Seminoles, Apaches, Aztecs, etc.,  - IMHO, those are all tribal names with no racist connotations.

But then you have the Cleveland Indians with that ridiculous parody of a logo ....

Right, the accompanying logos could be an issue as well.

Hell, I am offended that we are called Indians just because some Italian sailing under a Spanish flag landed here and thought he was in India!

I thought that Italian sailing under a Spanish flag came up with the word Indian because he thought he was in the West Indies. 

[Bo D]

I thought that Italian sailing under a Spanish flag came up with the word Indian because he thought he was in the West Indies. 

Nope. He thought he was in the Indian Ocean. That's why those islands were called the West Indies.