Edmonton CFL team to discontinue use of name "Eskimos"

[SFGiants58 14,565]

3 minutes ago, ManillaToad said:

Clumping in every type of explorer in the history of Alberta as genociders seems like a pretty good way to get upset at an innocuous sports team name, I agree.
 

 

Except the link is far more direct than any of the stretches you made. Explorers, as is understood in North American popular culture, can very easily be read as a synonym for “colonizer.” The same applies to Pioneers.

[the admiral 29,232]

Explorers is a lousy name, they shouldn't use it, it doesn't set off alarms for me personally but I'd want to avoid that headache just to stay safe.

[ManillaToad 1,426]

4 minutes ago, SFGiants58 said:

 

Except the link is far more direct than any of the stretches you made. Explorers, as is understood in North American popular culture, can very easily be read as a synonym for “colonizer.” The same applies to Pioneers.

It's also just the simple concept of exploration that is present in every culture in the history of mankind. Should the Patriots, 49ers, Cowboys, Rangers, and Trailblazers change their names? Didn't the mythical Argonauts explore the seas and cause problems with the locals wherever they landed? Yikes

[CS85 10,984]

After some careful consideration (and if the other mods want to re-open this after an interval), this conversation is going nowhere useful and has run its course.

[officeglenn 2,573]

Some actual news on this front ...

 

 

EDIT to save you a click and nearly four minutes of your life: The team is releasing their final list of possible names (I've read elsewhere it'll be a list of seven) for another round of fan input. However, the final decision will remain with the team's board.

 

I'll reopen this thread on Monday when the list is released.

 

Edited February 6 by officeglenn

[officeglenn 2,573]

And the finalists are:

1. Elk
2. Evergreens
3. Evergolds
4. Eclipse
5. Elkhounds
6. Eagles
7. Elements

The team has posted a survey online at https://www.esks.com/name

 

Let's keep the discussion here focused on these seven names, rather than what could have or what you feel should have been on the list.

 

Also, please don't dredge up any discussion around the reasoning behind the name change in the first place. We've gone around in circles on that, and it's happening whether you agree with it or not.

[CrimsonBull9584 361]

I like the Evergreens, but I don't think it properly matches the green/yellow look. The shade of green that the Seahawks used from 1976 to 2001, that's an evergreen and that's the color I'd want associated with it. Still, the name is better than the others on the list. Elk coming in a close second, mainly because I prefer animal mascots. 

[PaleVermilion81 2,436]

Evergreens and Evergolds are kinda cool. I'm not one who really follows the CFL, but it would seem weird to have either of those as names just from the "green" in the name perspective, with also having Redblacks as a team. Having 2 teams in a 9 team league with names containing colors is something that is weird to me. Elkhounds would be cool, but seems minor league baseball more than professional football. I would say Eagles, but there's already an NFL Eagles team so they'd had really have to tread carefully with branding and marketing. I think Elk is the best all things considered. Eclipse and Elements are just dumb. I'd even question those names in the arena league.

[oldschoolvikings 18,808]

Even though I guess it's grammatically wrong, I still prefer Elks to Elk. However, either way it's still my top choice. Eclipse and Elements are easily the worst.

[Brian in Boston 2,861]

Edmonton Elk

[_DietDrPepper_ 4,390]

I think Elk is a clear number one, with Eagles at two and a mix of Evergreens, Evergolds, and Elkhounds in the middle. Elements and Eclipse are clearly at the bottom. 

[DiePerske 2,165]

Names not worth considering:

Eclipse

Elements

 

Nope:

Eagles Would be good if the NFL didnt have it already. Yes I know two different countries, but I imagine that the NFL would fight to keep the copyright to sell merch in Canada.

Evergreens- If you are a green and gold team, don't want to prioritize one over the other.

Evergolds- If you are a green and gold team, don't want to prioritize one over the other.

 

Good

Elkhounds- Not the best, but at the same time not bad at all.

 

Yes:

Elk

[monkeypower 3,219]

Elk - clear #1

Evergreens - doesn't really make sense for the city of Edmonton and the current colour scheme

Evergolds - dumb and bad, also not a thing

Eclipse - dumb and bad

Elkhounds - It's a Norwegian dog, but I don't know about it as a team name. Kind of seems like someone started with Elk and then thought about the Tiger-Cats and Redblacks and said "we can do that too"

Eagles - I'd stay away from this because of Philadelphia and the fact that "Eagles" has become such a generic sports name

Elements - dumb and bad

[Gothamite 24,851]

This list reads like "the one we want, and a bunch of others we came up on the way to the press conference to pad out the list".

 

Gotta be Elk.

[DNAsports 6,442]

11 minutes ago, _J_ said:

Names not worth considering:

Eclipse

Elements

 

Nope:

Eagles Would be good if the NFL didnt have it already. Yes I know two different countries, but I imagine that the NFL would fight to keep the copyright to sell merch in Canada.

I mean, the BC Lions and Detroit Lions coexist so why can’t the Edmonton Eagles and Philadelphia Eagles do the same?

[Ridleylash 4,360]

Elk - Definitely a classic-sounding name, but maybe not my favourite of the finalists.

Evergreens - Not great, but could definitely play into the green part of their brand.

Evergolds - Same as above, but with gold.

Eclipse -

Elkhounds - I actually really like this one; it has a very similar cadence to the original team name (Es-kimos, Elk-hounds) and with their prominence in dog sledding would make it a fine mascot for Edmonton.

Eagles - Serviceable, if a tad generic. At least works phonetically with the city's location, as well. 

Elements - 

[DiePerske 2,165]

1 minute ago, DNAsports said:

I mean, the BC Lions and Detroit Lions coexist so why can’t the Edmonton Eagles and Philadelphia Eagles do the same?

Might be different since BC started in the 50s, dunno.

 

Honestly, if they can make it work Eagles would be a good name.

[PaleVermilion81 2,436]

10 minutes ago, Gothamite said:

This list reads like "the one we want, and a bunch of others we came up on the way to the press conference to pad out the list".

 

Gotta be Elk.

 

The problem I've learned with things like this, the clients usually end up picking the crap on and not the good one. That's what would make me nervous about a list like this if I was fan.

[MJWalker45 6,212]

22 minutes ago, monkeypower said:

Elkhounds - It's a Norwegian dog, but I don't know about it as a team name. Kind of seems like someone started with Elk and then thought about the Tiger-Cats and Redblacks and said "we can do that too"

 

Not a bad looking mascot, but I had to look up what it was. How many actual fans would be confused?

[monkeypower 3,219]

18 minutes ago, DNAsports said:

I mean, the BC Lions and Detroit Lions coexist so why can’t the Edmonton Eagles and Philadelphia Eagles do the same?

 

13 minutes ago, _J_ said:

Might be different since BC started in the 50s, dunno.

 

Honestly, if they can make it work Eagles would be a good name.

 

I would think it would have to do with that because I don't think copyright/trademark was as big of a deal back in the '50s and at this point it's been nearly 70 years of both teams being Lions.

 

I don't think Edmonton changing to Eagles in 2020 gets the same pass.