What's In A Name: Institutional Racism and The Washington Redskins

Team names can say a lot about the organisation that they represent. Having said that, they can just as easily mean nothing beyond a particularly arranged set of letters and an obsolete theme or idea. The All Blacks are so-named because they wear black jerseys (though not literally ‘all’ black anymore). The Miami Heat, well, it gets pretty toasty in Florida. The Highlanders and the Chiefs in New Zealand rugby respectfully pay tribute to local cultural legacies while, say, the Melbourne Storm or Canberra Raiders names are more just example of badass imagery meant as a way of establishing an identity of intimidation and strength.

The NFL’s Washington Redskins have a problem with their name. As a franchise with great history and a well-recognised brand, they now finally seem poised to become a driving force once more, both on and off the field, thanks to one Robert Griffin III. RG3’s jersey is the highest selling jersey in the league, and his play on the field took the ‘Skins on their best playoff run for a long time. He is now the face of the brand and all it represents. But what exactly does it represent? Is their name racist?

The Ones That Got Away: Sport's Biggest Chokes

It is said that for every great comeback victory there is an equal or greater choke. And as great as Miami’s comeback was in Game 6 of the NBA Finals, San Antonio sure blew it. I don’t know that a team has ever been so close to winning an NBA title, only to let it slip away like that. The crowd was being cordoned off; the trophy was being readied for presentation; Commissioner David Stern was probably preparing his speech. But missed free throws, missed rebounds and curious substitutions came back to hurt the Spurs. This was not like any other defeat they will have suffered before. This was crushing. Devastating. You just don’t recover from a loss like that, not ever, least of all not in two days’ time for a Game 7. A game like that can haunts you with a lifetime of regret, of bitterness. In some ways, the narrow losses mean more than the victories. Like a tattoo you wished you never got, it both scars you and it defines you. The San Antonio Spurs are not alone.

Here are five of the biggest chokes of all time:

Journalists Unite! It's Tebow Time in New England

In the midst of the NBA finals and the Stanley Cup, in a week where we have seen bench clearing brawls in the MLB, the biggest story in American sports was the New England Patriots signing a backup quarterback who was cut by the Jets (The NFL equivalent of being turned down by Amanda Bynes). It doesn’t sound like anything more than a side note from preseason NFL training camps when put like that. But that quarterback happens to be a former Heismann Trophy winner and the most polarising American since G.W. Bush. He is Timothy Richard Tebow.

Why the media circus? Well, a number of reasons. Tim Tebow rose to fame as the starting QB for the Florida Gators in 2007, where his breakout sophomore season led to that Heisman Trophy for young Timmy, and the first of two BCS national championships. He was always an unorthodox quarterback, more capable as a runner than as a passer. His outspoken and devout Christian beliefs won him legions of fans and detractors both. His habitual on-field prayers, and especially the pose that accompanies them, became the national trend known now as ‘tebowing’. Then there was the ‘Tebow Rule’, which prohibits...