Washington Commanders? Really? Thread (2022)

[Slateman]

Pollin was never hated the way Snyder is. The commanders fan base is dead at this point. If Snyder was even moderately competent and not an awful human being, the team would probably be debuting a great downtown stadium in a year or two , instead, they’ll go to whatever exurb will take them and pretend that was always the plan

The Bullets never had the fanbase that football has had either.

Also, I vaguely remember ESPN bringing up the KKK reference at one point

[imref]

I’ve always wondered why Pollin chose name that could be construed as a Ku Klux Klan reference for a majority-black team in a majority-black sport in a heavily-black city. Now, if Donald Sterling had owned the team…

He had to something after sea dogs likely won the vote

[Vega]

He had to something after sea dogs likely won the vote

Dragons was a dumb option too, but it would have been much better than Wizards.

[HondoKillebrew]

I understand why Abe Pollin changed the name and I supported it, but he and his operation did a poor job with the new name and other aspects of the transition.  I hated that they changed the team colors -- and the colors of the Capitals, for crying out loud!  Just terrible.  Thankfully, the Caps returned to a red (albeit a different shade), white, and blue scheme.  As did the Wiz, as incongruous as it is with the team name.  As a result, the Wiz have some tremendous uniform combinations now. 

[imref]

https://bleacherreport.com/post/national/b237f576-cada-4387-b512-5f78370db6e0

[imref]

Dragons was a dumb option too, but it would have been much better than Wizards.

The Washington Blanks would have been a more appropriate name, it would have tied in to the legacy name, and accurately reflected how they played for most of the last 20 years or so.

[1995hoo]

The Washington Blanks would have been a more appropriate name, it would have tied in to the legacy name, and accurately reflected how they played for most of the last 20 years or so.

It’s rather striking that the franchise's only championship of any sort since the 1970s was a single division championship a few years ago that is mentioned in a single line on their "Division Championships" banner at Verizon Center. As an aside, has any franchise in any sport had so many name changes? They originated as the Chicago Packers, a nod to that city's meatpacking industry that didn’t go over well due to the city's long football rivalry with Green Bay. After one year, they changed the name to the Chicago Zephyrs, a reference to the "Windy City" nickname because in Greek mythology Zephyr was the west wind.* Then they moved to Baltimore and became the Bullets, intended to reflect "faster than a speeding bullet." When they moved to the new Capital Centre, they became the Capital Bullets, but that didn’t last after Abe Pollin named his NHL franchise the Capitals and changed the basketball team's name to Washington Bullets to avoid confusion. Then, of course, in the 1990s they became the Wizards.

* One wonders whether, if they had kept that name, "Zephyr" would have become a problem due to the well-known children's stories of Babar the Elephant, in which the character Zephyr is a monkey.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

I read a blog post somewhere where the blogger said the new name sounded like the kind of fake team name you'd see in a TV detective show like Law & Order or NCIS. Sounds about right.

If they were going to pick a meaningless generic name, they should have gone with the Washington Sentinels from The Replacements.

my thoughts too

[imref]

The bidding war begins for the new stadium. DC's Mayor wants it at the RFK site, and the Virginia legislature advanced a bill to convert the old baseball authority to focus on football.

https://www.wusa9.com/article/sports/nfl/washington-commanders/washington-commanders-new-stadium-fed-ex-field-rfk/65-ffc97b17-e9f9-4ce0-ad2e-b626596d2134

[Smithian]

https://twitter.com/justinholland/status/1491527192676814852?s=21

Either they’re fixing the crest or they screwed up the only highly purchased item in the entire online store.

But as someone who liked the Washington Football wording on the ring, how can sell a product advertised one way and delivered another? Those hoodies, like anything in a pro shop, are way overpriced. Least they could do is deliver what they advertise.

[aspenbubba]

I maybe weighing in  late but I believe that Snyder will be forced to sell the team. He has zero popular support and I think the fans would welcome a change from his mis-management and legal troubles. There is no way the NFL will allow him to remain in this social climate.

[HalfSmokes]

I maybe weighing in  late but I believe that Snyder will be forced to sell the team. He has zero popular support and I think the fans would welcome a change from his mis-management and legal troubles. There is no way the NFL will allow him to remain in this social climate.

I don't know if the allegations are true or not, but if they force him to sell, those women deserve to go into the ring of fame

[Slateman]

I don't know if the allegations are true or not, but if they force him to sell, those women deserve to go into the ring of fame

Cant say I believe the owners will do it. That would set a pretty dangerous (for them) precedent

[HalfSmokes]

Cant say I believe the owners will do it. That would set a pretty dangerous (for them) precedent

It already exists with Jerry Richardson

[UMDNats]

no chance snyder is forced to sell. he's been accused of just about everything under the sun, including some borderline human sex trafficking and nothing has stuck. more nimble than any politician in avoiding consequences

[imref]

Virginia's legislature is moving forward with a plan to float $1 billion in bonds to fund a new stadium, paid back over 30 years via tax revenues.

https://www.wusa9.com/article/sports/nfl/washington-commanders/washington-commanders-new-stadium-one-billion-dollars-bonds-virginia/65-0a09250a-c581-4201-8ed9-f9633e4d87d5

[Slateman]

It already exists with Jerry Richardson

If Snyder is forced to sell for sexual harrassment, at least three quarters of owners will be in jeopardy of losing their teams.

[imref]

If Snyder is forced to sell for sexual harrassment, at least three quarters of owners will be in jeopardy of losing their teams.

An amendment making stadium funding contingent on the NFL releasing the results of its investigation into the Commanders failed in committee yesterday.

[imref]

I would love to see some polling of residents of Prince William and Loudoun, I assume the stadium has little public support in either of those counties. Digging around in Google, the last polls in 2016 showed 70% of Northern Virginians opposed public support for a stadium.

[HalfSmokes]

I would love to see some polling of residents of Prince William and Loudoun, I assume the stadium has little public support in either of those counties. Digging around in Google, the last polls in 2016 showed 70% of Northern Virginians opposed public support for a stadium.

The bill requires county approval of any deal

[imref]

The bill requires county approval of any deal

Prince William killed a similar deal for the Fredericksburg Nationals a few years ago. Hopefully they do the same for this one.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

The bill requires county approval of any deal

the county can approve but taxpayers can opt out.

[imref]

https://www.audacy.com/thefandc/sports/washington-football-team/mike-florio-nfl-owners-may-be-preparing-to-push-dan-snyder-out

[HondoKillebrew]

I can't root for a team owned by Snyder, so I checked out on the team a while back.  Would love to see new ownership.   

[Slateman]

I can't root for a team owned by Snyder, so I checked out on the team a while back.  Would love to see new ownership.   

It isnt like it will be any better than Snyder.