Cleveland Indians officially change their name to the Cleveland Guardians
Yeah, what is it with NBA teams moving to new locations and keeping the old, regionally-relevant name? Lakers? As in Minnesota, the Land of 10,000 Lakes? The only lakes near LA are man-made reservoirs that are quickly emptying out.
Was just thinking they should have gone with Cleveland Lakers. It's an established brand, albeit in basketball, and the city is on the shore of Lake Erie.
Anyway I have relatives there who were really pissed when they dropped Indians. I have a hunch they are going to hate Guardians, mostly because it sucks, but also because they were going to hate anything they came up with.
Cleveland is a weird town. I have a feeling a lot of people are never going to give up Indians until they're placed in a pine box.
Were they looking for a name with the same number of syllables that rhymes? Are they guarding America from those dastardly Canadians?
I've invaded several times already... no one seemed to notice.
Guardians? Wait - I thought that was the nickname for the Space Force? Please tell me that's not where the idea came from? Because the Guardians (of the Galaxy) was a wholly uninspired name from a wholly uninspiring group of 'people'.
It refers to the four "guardian" statues on the bridge connecting the east and west sides of the city that ends right at Progressive Field
That doesn't make it any better.
How old are those? I've been to the stadium a few times, and I don't think I ever knew those were there...
They're 89 years old. Honestly, the Guardian statues are pretty iconic.
The name and logo are just awful, so perfectly Cleveland!
People are taking a Cleveland Steamer on this new nickname online.
Cleveland just getting roasted.
Eh, sure, fine, whatever.
I get why they hadda change the name (to say nothing of the logo), but they coulda come up with something non-generic and interesting. Live by the focus group, die by the focus group, I guess.
That said, if I squint hard enough I can get behind this name. Since both Jedi Knights and baseball players make a living by swinging dangerous objects, the name kindasorta fits since the Jedi are the guardians of the Force
You couldn't be more correct when it comes to focus groups, especially from Cleveland. My Wife used to be a journalist for a major Ohio News network. Their Ohio editor lived by the focus group from Cleveland for the entire state. Needless to say, the focus group from Cleveland had very little knowledge of what the people of Cincinnati wanted to see and read. Spectrum Media is a cluster anyway. She moved on from that job quickly.
Does that dude still get to bang on the drum in LF all game?
The logo is horrible. The nickname is horrible. They are replacing “In” with “Guar”, I assume to maintain a tie to their old nickname.
Spiders or Rockers were too obvious, I guess.
Generic, stupid name and logo. It's not major-league caliber. Then again, neither is most of Cleveland's roster.
Should have gotten help from these guys
It's not even the most generic MLB team name in the state, "Reds" is about as generic as it gets and nobody seems to complain about that.
There is also the Browns.
That’s different though. Naming teams after their colors is an old-school thing. Think Red Sox, White Sox. Even the Tigers were so named because they wore striped socks.
The Browns were named after Paul Brown, not the color.
They could have called themselves the Cleveland Lakers.
The Cleveland Eries
As a Cleveland baseball fan I can say I don’t like it - but it’s still an improvement over the stupid chief wahoo logo.
? Should have been Spiders! ?
It seems like they picked "Guardians" because there is a phonetic similarity to "Indians" with the same ending to each word. It would be like the Detroit Lions changing their nickname to the "Scions". What I don't understand is the logo which makes me feel like they are trying to allude to "Guardian Angels" with the wings. We already have the Angels in baseball. Your identity should be unique across leagues, let alone within your own league.
The Guardian statutes have winged headdresses.
"We are a city of fire and water... Specifically our river, which does both"
The name is fine. I guess. although it seems to have been chosen mostly because the inspiration frames the sponsors’ names on the 2 stadiums.
the graphics suck. They need to be thrown in the garbage & replaced with the winner of a contest for fans, etc to submit their ideas.
on a side note: I shudder to imagine how much Cleveland paid for this crap. And how much worse the losing designs were.
also, what genius came up with “A city of fire and water.” It immediately reminds one of the time the Cuyahoga River caught on fire.
That is precisely what they are referencing. Clevelanders are proud of having created the EPA.
Had the same thought, that just feeds into the view the rest of the country has of Cleveland lol.
Every time a team rebrand I am shocked at how a team worth billions does worse than some Redditor's designs they made for free.
Plus, old and new can connect by simply calling them the Cleveland 'Dians.
1.Whatever new name they picked, and however they announced it, would have drawn complaints.
2. I think it's clever—or lucky—that their new name rhymes with their old one.
3. The name change is a reminder that a team name is usually random and arbitrary. (In the 19th century, when people from Indiana were first called "Hoosiers," people from Illinois were called "Suckers.")
4. No one asked me but I like the name. If you're going to be something random and arbitrary, why not be a guardian?
. No one asked me but I like the name. If you're going to be something random and arbitrary, why not be a guardian?
It certainly worked for the Space Force.
And Russia’s strategic rocket forces, eh?
Alternatively, comrade, they could have gone for alliteration, renaming the team the Cleveland Cossacks.
Name change was needed, and I know there's architectural reasons for the name, but they could have done so much better than this lol
Question: Could they have kept Indians if they changed the logo to a man meditating on a mountain in a Topi?
The mistake on the lake tradition lives on.
Well that was...underwhelming.
Wouldn’t it be okay to change it to the Cleveland Natives and still honor native peoples? I get why they wanted to change Indians for obvious reasons.
They should have gone back to Spiders. That was unique and had a history.
Guardians just seems very blah. I guess “Parents” was unavailable?
…of the Galaxy. Their new mascot is Groot.
While they are at it they should change the name of the stadium to the G-spot since the people who don’t take the Hope Memorial Bridge will never find the Guardian statues.
If they DO call the stadium the G-Spot, imagine how many men will have trouble finding their way there.
There's a club in Guam named the G-Spot. Good times. You won't have trouble finding it if your travels ever take you there.
what in cleveland is worth protecting such that it requires guarding.
Not surprised. Cleveland doing Cleveland things.
I believe Guardian is the third largest producer of glass in the world. Bill Davidson's old company. Obviously Cleveland's intent is to honor Bill, a Michigan grad. I am not sure why any of us would be opposed to this decision. I assume the mascot will be a guy dressed as a contractor carrying a nice double-hung window. I'm fully aboard.
ironic the announcement is via @indians
"Everyone, our name is now the Guardians. Signed, the Indians"