Hey ESPN, Say Our Name. I Dare You….

This shouldn’t surprise me – and it doesn’t – but I cannot let it pass without comment.

Apparently, ESPN has a company-wide policy against any of their hosts, anchors, or analysts uttering the awful, no-good, totally hurtful and evil “DICTIONARY SLUR” word “Redskins.”

Or, as most of us call it: our proud team nickname for over 80 years.

Oh, sure. They’ll put that name and logo, with its resplendent and respectfully rendered indian-head badge on a jumbotron behind those same anchors. I guess that’s okay.

But none of the humans, dare utter that name.

Notice how everyone from low-level ESPN redshirts on the USS Bristol One like Kevin Negandhi, all the way through former NFL players and analysts like Merrill Hoge, up to senior female superstar Hannah Storm CAREFULLY avoid saying…. “Redskins.”

To the point of it being awkward and just plain stupid. “Uh..the rrrr… the Washington… actually leads the NFL in rushing….”

Right.

Keep fighting your dumb proxy war, ESPN. I see you are too chicken to pull on The Sheild’s cape by putting up a generic “non-Redskins” graphic or logo. Surely if you did that, Goodell and his jackbooted tape-stompers would remind you that there’s millions in merchandise to be sold, so don’t get cute!

But it’s obvious that there has either been an internal memo about never letting “Redskins” fall from your lips, or the culture of fear is enough that the Disney “cast members” in Bristol all fear that saying such a word – even inadvertently – will put you on John Skipper’s cost-cutting “naughty list.”

I desperately wish my team, and my owner, could write a Donald Trumpian letter to ESPN, reminding them of the 60-plus high schools and colleges with either “Redskins” as a team name or (worse!) “Savages” (11 teams, still!). I wish we could let ESPN know that what they are doing is obvious and disrespectful, and that any future cooperation with your hosts, reporters, and announcers will be adversely affected as long as this continues.

I wish.

But I know my owner has no reserve equity of “benefit of the doubt” to pull this off. So sadly, this little bit of weak passive aggressiveness will likely go unchallenged. At least I wanted to be one voice in the wilderness who is paying attention.

Meanwhile, a listener sent me this picture from his week visiting in Salmon River, Idaho. Apparently, the big rivalry game in town is…. wait for it…. WAAAIIIIITTT… “Redskins” vs. “Savages.”

Kid you not. And the local “Class of ’18” whipped up a little pizza-shop spirit painting, that I truly adore for its utter political INCORRECT-ness.

Yes indeed. BURN THE REDSKINS! Nobody takes it literally. And nobody cares.  Go “Savages!”