[Papa John]

I was born and raised in a state named after a Native American tribe. My high school mascot was, and is, "Indians." The name was at least in part chosen to honor a former football coach who claimed Native American ancestry. On top of that, my high school was the "Papooses."

Context matters. Should my high school retain the "Indians" mascot? I'm not sure. Indian may be an ignorant term, but I've never heard it used in an offensive way, unlike "Redskins." Same thing with tribal names, like Utes, Illini, etc. On the other hand, I have no problem if Haskell Indian Nations University wants to call itself the "Fighting Indians" or Stanford wants to call itself "Nerd Nation." Self-referencing mascots are A-OK in my book.

So, because of the complexity of this issue, I have to side with the folks who believe that, yes Dan Snyder should change the name of his team, but the trademark office overstepped its bounds.

I also thank my lucky stars that I did not go to Coachella Valley High School, where I would have  worn this PE uniform:

http://webstores.activenetwork.com/schoo...ES_PIC.jpg

[Papa John]

I was born and raised in a state named after a Native American tribe. My high school mascot was, and is, "Indians." The name was at least in part chosen to honor a former football coach who claimed Native American ancestry. On top of that, my high school was the "Papooses."

Context matters. Should my high school retain the "Indians" mascot? I'm not sure. Indian may be an ignorant term, but I've never heard it used in an offensive way, unlike "Redskins." Same thing with tribal names, like Utes, Illini, etc. On the other hand, I have no problem if Haskell Indian Nations University wants to call itself the "Fighting Indians" or Stanford wants to call itself "Nerd Nation." Self-referencing mascots are A-OK in my book.

So, because of the complexity of this issue, I have to side with the folks who believe that, yes Dan Snyder should change the name of his team, but the trademark office overstepped its bounds.

I also thank my lucky stars that I did not go to Coachella Valley High School, where I would have  worn this PE uniform:

http://webstores.activenetwork.com/schoo...ES_PIC.jpg