2016 MLB Postseason Thread

Good argument but the timing makes it seem like a publicity stunt. The Indians have been playing in Toronto for decades and it's just now an issue?

And someone is getting paid: "At least 27 lawyers representing the Cleveland Indians, Major League Baseball and others, including the plaintiffs, attended the hearing"

 

I don't know much about Canada, but in the US the logo thing is insane to me.

According to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights in 2003:

• The poverty rate for American Indians living on reservations (31.2%) is nearly three times the national rate.
• On some reservations unemployment levels have reached 85%. Overall, the unemployment rate on reservations is over two times the national average.
• Over 22% of American Indians do not have enough food to meet their basic needs.
• One in five homes on reservations lack complete plumbing facilities and less than 50% are connected to the public sewer system. This has lead to the creation of numerous health and environmental hazards.
• It is estimated that 1.1 billion dollars is needed to adequately address housing inadequacies on American Indian reservations.
• Over 90,000 American Indian families are homeless or underhoused. Homelessness on reservations is becoming increasingly more visible as families are living in cars, tents, abandoned buildings or storage sheds.
• Over 30% of American Indian families live in overcrowded housing and 18 percent are severely overcrowded with 25-30 individuals sharing a single home. These rates are over six times the national average.
• Approximately 40% of housing on reservations is inadequate according to the federal definition, compared to only 6% nationwide.

Just the tip of the iceberg among real problems that could be addressed in the Native American community, but people want to talk about sports nicknames and logos.

 

When the Braves and FSU stop doing that ridiculous chop and Washington changes their name, we'll talk. Until then, I don't care.

 

In an unrelated playoff note, I am deeply conflicted about this Chicago-LA series.

I was raised by a Yankee fan who himself was born and raised in the Bronx when the Yankee-Dodger rivalry was at its height. I was taught to dislike the Dodgers, and all things LA in a broader sense.

But the steady stream of Boston/Red Sox pop culture pablum that ensued following the 2004 Boston win was so nauseating, that I fear the same should Chicago win.
Also, the Theo Epstein boy genius narrative sickens me.
And the presumptive crowning of Chicago and Epstein that began in earnest last season also sickens me.

 

Exactly.

 

I recently read a review of The New Trail of Tears, about how policy has failed and continues to fail the Native American community. If the review (and the book) are even ballpark on the money, it's a devastating tale.

 

May have gained a bit more attention this trip in after a couple of stories about Blue Jays radio voice Jerry Howarth's long-standing refusal to call them the Indians.

California passed a law a few years ago barring use of Redskins by high schools, but it affects only four schools, which are using that name for the last time this fall. Yet nicknames like Indians, Cherokees, etc. continue to be used.

 

Don't think this is a d_b.

Cleveland embraces its cartoon chief even as world moves away from such outdated – and wrong – depictions

 

I'm right there with you. I was ready for the Cubs to break through and win in 2003. I like seeing oddball teams in the World Series and winning championships. And yet, something just wouldn't feel right with the world if the Cubs ever do win one. That and the fact their fans are already crawling out of the woodwork is already making me say, "Enough already."

 

There has not been this much blood shown during a baseball game since Schilling pitched for the Red Sox.

 

This dude's a bad ass. He's out there with a busted finger slinging a baseball 95 MPH.

 

I remember thinking in '04 that now that the Red Sox had finally won one, their fans would mellow out and get less aggressively manic-depressive. Oh, how wrong I was.