Braves Prove Cowards; Claim BP Cap Was Never Official

If that wasn't the chosen design, what the hell was it doing in a style guide? It shouldn't have been chosen, bit they shouldn't have lied about it.

dangit Anthony Sperando this was one i definitely would have bought

That pretty much assures I will never buy anything Atlanta Braves ever again. I refuse to support cowards!

Cowards. It's an awesome logo and they gave in to the politically correct bullshit.

If you're so ashamed of your logo you can't use it...that's not an effective logo.

Sad. The Braves of today are nothing like the team and the ownership of the 80's and 90's. Corporate cowards who can't play their way out of the first round.

boooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

they lost 35 bucks from my pocket

Does this article have a point, or did you just feel the need to incoherently rant about some related subjects? Seriously, there's no sense of organization to this piece at all. You go from attacking the Braves organization for (wisely) backing down from the use of a potentially offensive design to criticizing them for using something simple, and then somehow you get to needlessly attacking the "self-entitled, unintelligent, hipster wannabes" who you perceive to be the root of the problem? Pick a subject and stick to that, don't just jump around from idea to idea without any sort of rhyme or reason. I'm not saying that I completely disagree with you - I think the logo, in this day and age, is a bit much, but there are certainly worse depictions of Native Americans that need to be stamped out first (looking at you, Washington Redskins). However, the way you go about constructing your argument makes you sound like an angry high schooler. Also, this all seems like a thinly veiled attack at Paul Lukas, who's been very vocal about his opposition of these sorts of caricatures. Maybe it's just me, though.

I'm impressed. You state that you, personally, are insulted 3 different times over a merchandising decision, yet fail to see how reviving a racial caricature might in any way be insulting to an entire race of people. While Schuerholz excuse is chickensh!t, your defense of a tasteless design is tone-deaf.

I'm disappointed, but I can't really say I'm shocked or surprised. The "Moral Left" has become the very monster they've indignantly rebuffed for so long, and the Braves were afraid of getting hit with a boycott or lawsuit. You'd be amazed at how many people I know complain about my Indians hat.

Kudos to you for liking the cap and not caving in. We all know who the Self-entitled, unintelligent, hipster wannabe was that started this mess. This person happens to have a history of forcing his opinion while refusing to acknowledge anyone else's. I'm not saying he is the main reason, but he sure as hell is patting himself on the back like he is. Guys like that just make things worse. I e-mailed and tweeted a few writers telling them that that is not called a screaming savage and the guy who wrote it first (same guy) was just using that terminology to make it seem worse than it was for his benefit. This writer's response was that even if the real name is 'Laughing Brave' be was going to continue to call it 'Screaming Savage' because that's what it looks like. You can't do anything with people like that. Never let the truth get in the way of a white guilt movement that these people have no business getting into.

Oh great, its this "writer" again. Out to protect us from the "lies" of the Atlanta Braves organization. Somehow I don't mind that they chose to not go the racist route. It's a damn shame that some people actually view NOT being racist as "cowardly," but then again it's not surprising that some folks in AmeriKKKa would react that way. I'm glad the organization had enough brains to not cater to the tiny percentage of "fans" who wanted to go with the racist logo (aka pasty white racist basement-dwellers). Good job, Atlanta Braves organization. Continue to move forward with the times, not backward.

Political correctness wins yet again :(

I like the one they are going with now... As a replacement for their road hat. I hate the retro/throwback trend but caving in to the pressure and making a last minute change like this is just as sad.

What I learned from this piece: White people cannot say something is racist. White people can tell you something is not racist. Seems legit.

i dont really understand...i can see why people would be upset with the indians logo and also the indians throwback logo,the cartoon image could come across as kind of wrong(still a big fan of the current indians logo)but the one the braves were going to use was strong and powerful,if anything i feel it paid respect to native americans...same with the blackhawks and old UND logo's,but then again i havent ever spoke to a native american and got their thoughts

lets change all the names of team to Wildcats (course it might offend some domestic cats) then colors would be an issue black and white would be implying race divisions. Red might upset all the blue people, yellow will offend asians, blue offends the dead and cyanotic, green too earthy and might upset that irish guy. It is a hat with a picture nothing more.

good lord, was this written by an 8th grader? Geez, get over it. Braves didnt want to be criticized like the Redskins and Indians.....bottom line. Get over it.

First off, yes, the Braves organization should be upfront with its decisions, if their reason for the change was due to negative feedback. I agree, organizations should strive to be transparent. The bigger issue, though, is that I don't think you're getting why the minority that is opposed to this hat is so vocal about it. Think about hypothetically. You are one of the 10% of people (as per your claim) that disapprove of the proposed hat. My guess is that you're not a "self-entitled, unintelligent, hipster wannabes" (ad hominem never really helps an argument, anyway) -- you're probably someone who has faced (or knows someone who has faced) systematic policies of discrimination that are unfortunately built into the way our society functions. (Full disclaimer: I'm a white male, so our society is built to advantage me in every way possible.) Being aware of this, you see this hat as representative of a lack of understanding among the people who made the decision to use this logo but aren't affected in any way in their daily lives by any type of discrimination. And that's why you come down against it -- it trivializes the difficult realities that many people find themselves in and, when they find themselves being insulted for voicing their opposition to it, they are told that they are just being "too sensitive," which is something is usually being said by people who haven't themselves faced institutionalized discrimination. I hope this helps shed some light on why (some people) are opposed to it. If not, I'm happy to elaborate on my thoughts and hopefully add to this discussion a little bit.

Political Correctness can go to hell.

It's a boring, generic looking logo to begin with, and should have been scrapped for that reason alone.

'PC wins again'?? Yeah, you're right... because MLB isn't about money & business... a bp cap no less lol.

images like these, although not outright offensive, carry a stigma of racism and a long history of discrimination against natives. it's a caricature of an already marginalized and systematically oppressed group of people. As such, it trivializes their struggle. I can assure you that this isn't about "political correctness" for native americans who have had to face persecution and institutionalized stereotyping throughout this country's history, it's much more personal and directly offensive than that. also this article sounds like it was written by a teenager who's pissed because they won't sell pizza in the school cafeteria any more.

As much as this design is cool, I don't see what the big deal over a BP cap is either way. The cap with red A shown alone on top should be the road cap instead of the navy and white.

I don't understand the uproar over the Braves BP cap. The Indian Head has been apart of their team logos since they were in Boston. The logo is not distasteful, the Indian is not doing anything offensive. It would be different if the logo was more of a caricature and depicted the Indian doing something truly out of character.

The Braves' franchise usually got scared at playoffs and at designing! :D

come on guys, the logo is offensive

a bloo bloo they are taking my racist stereotypes away Cry more. Can't believe the website would publish such trash. Call Rush Limbaugh or post on Free Republic with your whining. Oh hey it's February, tell us how unfair it is that there's no WHITE history month

You know, the "Braves War Chant" and the music and Tomahawk chop are more offensive. Why don't they put an end to that instead?

I think they should have used this logo or the B on the jerseys http://www.sportslogos.net/logos/view/2267/Atlanta_Braves/1972/Alternate_Logo

I bet if there were a lot of sales or pre-orders on that hat it may have stuck around. Since it is a character based on a segment of society that has been discriminated and mocked in the past so often that those caricatures are common in American popular culture, it's probably best to not have a hat like that.

Francis keeps talking about how those against this Braves hat are in the minority. What polls is he basing this on? Or are all people he disagree with him always in the minority? This guy is the worst writer on this site. He offers no reporting and is a poor opinion writer. When commenters criticize his writing, instead of ignoring it or actually defending himself, he claims "satire".

I've been a Braves fan ever since I started to watch baseball as a little boy (27 now). It honestly doesn't bother me since you don't really see that logo on merchandise or on the official uniforms/caps. The only logos on stuff I've bought was the A and Braves with the tomahawk. The last time they used that logo was before I was even born. They're not cowards. I don't see why they think it's politically incorrect. I'm sure they're just saving their butts from being sued. Most companies have to do that these days since people complain about any little thing. So they're getting rid of a logo that they haven't used for 3 decades, get over it. If someone is going to stop being a fan over this isn't a true fan. Too many cry babies these days and I'm not even that old.

Does this make the ones that got produced valuable? Really, you make this announcement on the FIRST day of spring training, after a winter of everyone seeing the pictures of the style. I call B.S..

I think JR brings up some good points. The Braves were honestly trying to save face last minute. The overused "gum-ball head" Mr. Red logo was more offensive to me than the laughing brave. Hate that logo.

I think the cap is fine looking. It's definitely not the most exciting, and yes, the Braves copped out of the design due to potential backlash, but at least it's a little different. Some teams like the Giants didn't even change to a new design at all! They're cap is the same as their alternate! Ugh! Anyways, it's funny....a lot of the guys down at Uniwatch, including Paul Lukas, the founder, sem to be against Native American imagery. But here, at least to this author, he's not. Differing views on two websites that share similiar interests...pretty cool.

The Braves were too scared to put out an awesome logo and the Marlins had the balls to put out the crap they currently wear. No wonder Atlanta only won the World Series once.

Atlanta cowards! Lol I can get used to that

It's racist to even say it was racist!

It's amazing how butt-hurt you boys are over not getting "your" favoritest, most precious and special ball cap in the history of the whole wide world. Just a whole lotta moaning from the same group of dudes always bitching about how sensitive everybody else is. Crybabies.

With all due respect but it's a pretty bad logo. I remember seeing that logo on some old baseball cards from the late 80's and remembering how I never cared for the logo then.

I can understand that you are upset about cowards but at all every mlb bp are ugly this year looks like big cheap cap that you buy at wal mart especially colorado rockies it's not a baseball cap it's the cap of my two years old son the Native blablabla Braves is not a good baseball logo it's ugly and remember me the loosers they are in the 80's

I think it's funny for any majority to tell someone what they can find offensive. I didn't know that Native Americans were "self-entitled" to tell others what they might find offensive to THEIR own culture.

Goddamn. Self-entitled, unintelligent, hipster wannabes? White guilt? Step off the ledge, pal.

I liked the Indian logo and had planed on purchasing the hat; but I also understand why the Braves withdrew that option and went a different direction. Couldn't they at least come up with something more creative than their road hat with a red "A"? The creativity and design of this hat is "boring" at best.

Well, I guess JR is referring to me when he says that only one person responded to his request for a balanced discussion about the subject. I would feel disappointed too if only one person responded to a sincere and openminded invitation to give as many (possibly very valid) arguments in favor of or against the use of images like the Laughing Brave .I therefore really feel sorry for him (and not in a condescending way, JR) and for the sake of the argument that nobody else responded to his invitation. My point of view I will not repeat (JR knows and I already gave it in the comments on the original article), suffice to say that the Braves have taken a sound, if not entirely truthfully communicated, business decision in the long run to drop the Laughing Brave (even if they seem to ignore the fact that a lot of their fans would love to buy such a cap right now). Regarding the current version of the BP hat, it is a little bit too bland in my opinion. I would have liked them to take either the Braves B or the Hank Aaron home-run-record-era-underscore-a in red, white and gold (maybe with a retro drop shadow) on a all over navy hat.

http://www.theonion.com/articles/new-atlanta-braves-logo-features-gruesome-depictio,31284/

Cleveland uses a 'C' logo more often than not now yes?

Really disappointed to see this. I hate when sports teams kowtow to people who claim to speak for people who are perfectly capable of speaking for themselves.

Just happy the Braves aren't my team, that I'd have to defend this or other branding decisions. I don't think Braves as a name are inherently racist, but man, why go back to the Laughing Brave? Seems sketchy.

I sent an e-mail to the Braves about this decision. I told them that they had changed it due to the Native Americans, that's one thing, but if it were because of the media or the PC police (regardless of race or creed), that's another. I have a cap with the Screaming Savage logo on it (not the BP cap but a Cooperstown Collection one) and the only way they'll take it is from my cold dead head.

Native Americans hate the logo and logos like it. If you aren't Native American then you don't get to vote and your opinion on this issue doesn't matter. It's up to them because it's their heritage that is being demeaned and they'd consider the logo overwhelmingly offensive. You could say that it's honoring them, but they'd disagree and if they disagree then you have to take their word for it. Sorry. On top of that, it's a REALLY REALLY REALLY bad logo regardless of racist issues.

Note to self: Avoid JR Francis' writing from now on. I come here to see news on sports logos, not defense of racism.

That's funny Sean, I went to a high school that had the nickname Indians and used an Indian head as a logo. Just so happened our town's police chief at the time was a full-blood Native American. Our government teacher had him in to talk to the class one day about law enforcement, etc but at the end of class we had a chance to ask him about anything we wanted. One of my former classmates brought up the school logo and mascot and asked if he was offended (this was right after all the politically correct BS really started blowing up in the 90's). His response surprised many of us as he said that it didn't offend him at all and in fact, most Native American's are honored by the vast number of sports team's and schools that celebrate their heritage, even the ones that are considered to be "offensive". He went on to say that the only Native American's who were really going after this were ones who believed they could gain financially by raising a big stink over it. Now with that said, I do believe the Braves should have given a better explanation rather than coward away from the situation. I see nothing wrong with paying homage to the past. Personally, I never cared for the logo, not because it was offensive but because I just don't think it was a very good logo.

Seriously, JR? You try to make some point about people with "white guilt" stomping their little feet in an effort to gain a couple of page views? Talk about the pot calling the kettle black. You've been whoring this topic now twice, and use inflammatory language in order to do it. Of course, then you just claim it is "parody", but the folks who post in the comments who are in total agreement with your "parody" sure aren't taking it as such. They take your "parody" as gospel truth. I'm one of the people you emailed, and I ignored you. I ignored you because your previous article and your response to it were, at best, cowardly. You hid from responding, letting Chris fight your battles for you, then came out pretending to want a discussion about it. You were a coward then, and, judging from your line of reasoning in your article and your comments, were never sincere about wanting any kind of dialogue...as 39 of us guessed when you emailed us. Throw all the numbers out that you want. It still boils down to the only people being justified in commenting on something being offensive are those who can actually be offended by it. Why in the world would I ask YOU if Native Americans would be offended by something? Why would I ask YOU if blacks are offended by the n-word? Why would I ask YOU if women should feel offended about being called "ho's"...you know, in a friendly way, not a slutty way? Your articles are arrogant, your feigned desire for a real conversation pretentious, and your opinion, quite simply, is wrong. There's no justifiable poll numbers of fellow southern white boys telling you that you're right and that Native Americans have no right to feel offended, much less express it to those offending them.

JR, I'm with you. It would probably immediately appear to the sensitive left that I agree with you because I'm white, but that's just ignorant reverse bigotry. Teams like the Washington Redskins, the Atlanta Braves, and the Florida State Seminoles were named so to pay homage to and honor Native Americans for their proud culture and heritage, and uniform items like the Braves' BP cap are supposed to continue the tradition. We real fans appreciate such doings because they make us remember instead of forget. Just like the number of amazing ball players who played in the Negro Leagues and the uniforms items that are still made available for purchase by real fans. We don't want to forget them. We want to remember and honor them. PC idiots: wake up and smell the fresh cut grass in the outfield...

Even though it has been explained MANY times before, one more time please: Why does the Minnesota Twins have CT or TC in their logo?

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