Thorold Blackhawks Logo Has to Go

The Thorold Blackhawks of the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League have a problem with their logo. According to the St. Catharines Standard, the logo has to go.

“The City of Thorold, as represented by Council, shares the belief that the logo is discriminatory in nature,” Luciani wrote to Junior B owners Ralph Sacco and Tony Gigliotti and president of the TAAA Gene Citrigno.

Junior team ordered by city to change 'discriminatory' Blackhawks logo https://t.co/CAAHFtt4x2 pic.twitter.com/h5wpAgfzhc

— The Hockey News (@TheHockeyNews) August 24, 2016

“Every kid that plays, of the 400 kids we have, has a jacket, has a toque, has a track suit, warm-up gear, pants, helmets, all that stuff,” Citrigno told The Standard. “The logo’s on everything. It’s not just hockey jerseys that have to be changed, it’s the whole brand.”

Thoughts on this story?

Iowa Professor Doesn't like Hawkeye's Mascot, he needs to smile

This can't make this crap up, I am not sure how anyone can take this professor seriously. No. Seriously. What's happening to our country is unbelievable. We're turning into a bunch of cry babies or fragile snowflakes.

Jeff Charis-Carlson, Press-Citizen --- A University of Iowa professor is asking for the Department of Athletics to allow the university’s mascot, Herky the Hawk, to display a wider array of facial expressions in university publications.

“I believe incoming students should be met with welcoming, nurturing, calm, accepting and happy messages,” Resmiye Oral, a clinical professor of pediatrics at UI, wrote recently in an email to UI athletic department officials. “And our campus community is doing a great job in that regard when it comes to words. However, Herky’s angry, to say the least, faces conveying an invitation to aggressivity and even violence are not compatible with the verbal messages that we try to convey to and instill in our students and campus community.”

The email was included in a message Oral sent Tuesday morning to other members of the UI Faculty Senate, where she is one of the representatives from the UI Carver College of Medicine.

This is even more puzzling. Do we ask linebackers to non-aggressive? It's a sports mascot. What next?

Oral stressed that she thinks the iconic images of Herky definitely have a place within the highly competitive nature of college athletics, but she wants other parts of the university to have some nonaggressive options for using such a beloved symbol.

"As we strive to tackle depression, suicide, violence, and behavioral challenges and help our students succeed, I plead with you to allow Herky to be like one of us, sometimes sad, sometimes happy, sometimes angry, sometimes concentrated,” she wrote.

CBC News: Jets won't ban Hawks fans from wearing headdresses

I found this story to be very interesting and thought provoking. The Winnipeg Jest aren't going to ban fans from wearing Indian headdresses. So they say... We will be following this to see how it plays out.  So, if the Jets decided to start banning people from the arena for wearing head dresses, would they be violating a Canadian fan's freedom of expression?

Tiar Wilson, CBC News - The staff at MTS Centre in Winnipeg will be on the lookout for fake headdresses as they let fans in for the hockey game tonight between the Winnipeg Jets and the Chicago Blackhawks.

Headdresses are not banned, but if someone arrives wearing one, "We would have a conversation with them and we would make them fully aware of the ramifications of wearing that and the cultural ramifications of it," said Scott Brown, senior director of corporate communications for True North Sports and Entertainment, the Jets owner.

This past spring when the Jets last faced the Chicago team in Winnipeg, a Blackhawks fan sported a fake headdress in the stands. Jordan Wheeler, a longtime Winnipeg Jets fan and season ticket holder, filed a complaint with the Jets owner, True North Sports and Entertainment. He wanted the team to ban headdresses at hockey games.

Hum, I am thinking of a comparison here. Can you think of one?

A headdress is sacred to First Nations, worn by chiefs or those who have earned the right to do so.

Wheeler, who's Cree from the George Gordon First Nation in Saskatchewan, says no one — whether First Nations or not — should be allowed to wear a headdress to a hockey game, especially while carrying beer.

(s/t to the Hockey Writers)

Seattle Times, “Redskins” nickname offensive and outdated

#450825988 / gettyimages.com

I am going to ask UND fans, do you see anything similar here? Is so, what? Feel free to give your feed back.

Don Shelton, Seattle Times – It’s time to ban the use of “Redskins,” the absurd, offensive and outdated name of the NFL team in Washington, D.C.

Past time, actually.

We’ll probably receive scathing emails, letters, phone calls and reader comments telling me we’re too PC, that the name actually honors Native Americans or that we have no right to change a team’s official name.

Everyone’s entitled to an opinion – even if I don’t buy it.

We’re banning the name for one reason: It’s offensive. Far from honoring Native Americans, the term colors an entire race. Many Native Americans consider it an outdated label placed on their people.

Randy Lewis, a member of the Colville Confederated Tribes who is a board member for United Indians, didn’t pull any punches when asked what he thought.

“I find it as offensive as black people find the N-word,” he said. “They say they’re trying to dignify or honor something with it. It doesn’t dignify us. It doesn’t honor us. It doesn’t make us feel good about ourselves.”