"When I found out the patriarchy wasn't about horses, I lost interest anyway."

-- Ken

Ignorance is...

Ignorance is curable, but I missed two opportunities at a football game to, if not cure then at least administer first aid, to ignorance.

Scenario 1 (Board-related): A fan was complaining about how horrible our team is playing this season. He said, "This is what happens when one guy on the Board of Directors decides he likes the coach. Now we're stuck with him."

Dear readers, you and I both know that's not how Boards work. We have this coach because the Board decided it, and not because of just one guy. Even if several board members didn't want the coach, the majority clearly DO. I have no doubt the Board has had many discussions on this topic, but when the vote is taken the ONE VOICE principle kicks in. You speak as a supporter of the Board's decision no matter how you voted in the meeting.

I didn't school that fan on the misunderstanding. See, I was also grumpy and while my brain was functioning fine, I wouldn't have been speaking from a good place in my heart. So I let him stay happy in his ignorance. For now.

Scenario 2 (Board-adjacent): Some fans say our team is losing because the name was changed from Eskimos to Elks.

Now this is one I have tackled several times in person and on-line, but I didn't jump in this time.

Having a name that was originally meant to convey strength and resiliency, but that was ultimately a racial slur of Inuit people based on the Anglicizing of a French slur (Esquimaux to Eskimos), well, it needed to go for so many reasons. The organization was in the midst of a long consultation process in the north, but in the context of Truth and Reconciliation and threats from sponsors, the timing escalated. The Board pulled the trigger and did the right thing by first dropping the name, then creating a generic name (Edmonton Football Club), then doing an involved naming survey, then announcing a new name. (This article gives some of the background).

During the time of the naming survey, Brian and I agreed that, as fans, we would support whatever name was chosen. Brian dropped his very well known and beloved Eskinator persona and adopted a new one (Elkinator) -- seamlessly and without whining.

Again, I let an opportunity go by with this fan and ignorance won the day. I suppose that is why you're getting the story (again) now. We don't always get it right, or at the right time, but we can always take a step. We can read and ask questions and listen to different points of view. The curse of living in interesting times can't be all bad.

/lmwe

Remembering My Brother

Martin Joe Wood

Oct 16 1936 - July 03 2023

Joe was my (much) older brother. By example, he taught me to be interested in other people and places and showed me what a curmudgeon is. As a pilot who lived and worked around the world, he made me curious through postcards and gifts to me as a child. As an adult, he taught me to like red wine, and then what an embargo was when we couldn't get it from South Africa anymore. He was the source of all Wood family history. Joe fell at home and broke his neck. I miss him and am sad about all the questions I hadn't asked yet. RIP, Joe.