BFT on Chief Wahoo

I was hoping that I would not ever have to hear about this. I really do not care about your political opinions. This is not about politics. This is about fan bases. I do not have an opinion about Chief Wahoo. The Indians are not my team. The Padres and Angels are my teams. I, personally, do not have a problem with the logo. I can see why Native Americans would be upset with the logo. The problem I do have, however, is that no one incorporated the fans of Cleveland in the decision to eliminate the Chief Wahoo logo, entirely. My opinion is generally going to side with the fan bases. Having been at Progressive Field in Cleveland only twice, I can say to a lesser degree that the fans I had met have strong feelings about Chief Wahoo. I am not saying that the logo is appropriate, but the fans should have been included in finding a solution to the logo that the majority of Cleveland Indians fans would appreciate.

Cleveland.com had an opinion poll asking fans about Chief Wahoo. 77.6% of the respondents to the polls voted that Chief Wahoo should stay as a logo for the Cleveland Indians. If the logo were to change, Timothy Jurkovac felt that the Indians should also change their name to "Tribe" to avoid cultural appropriation. There should have been some way to make this work for everyone. If the fans were included in some way, with the understanding that the logo had to change, then my understanding is that there would not be as much frustration from the fan base. Living in Columbus, OH, and attending The Ohio State, I am surrounded by Indians fans. The people I have discussed this with in Ohio feel that the MLB does not care about the fans. The MLB is simply trying to appease the mainstream media and casual baseball watchers by eliminating what has been deemed a "racist and offensive" logo.

I am not in support or against the logo. I feel that the fans in Cleveland were given the short end of the stick by not being included in the transformation. The backlash from fans of the Cleveland Indians will be justified, and it should have been prevented. It could have been prevented. All the MLB had to do was work with the organization and the fan base to appease all sides, instead of ignoring the fans of the team that is directly affected.