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As a native Washington-area sports fan, you have no reason to apologize. I'm a lifelong fan of the Burgundy and Gold, but I agree with you---"Redskins" has to go. The hardest part for local fans is that even the fans who want the name changed find it impossible to think of the team other than "'Skins" or "___skins." Even the Washington City Paper which supports a name change thinks the team should be the "Pigskins." No matter how you slice it, "Skins" is the most offensive part of the nickname and a reminder that the team was named after a racial slur.

If it were up to me, I think the B&G should follow the example of Miami University. (I don't mean the more famous University of MIami in Florida, but the similarly named university in Ohio.) For many years, Miami (Ohio)'s team was named the Redskins with the permission of the Miami tribe. When the Miamians told MU that they wanted the team to be named something else, the name was changed to "Redhawks." It would take some getting used to, but "Redhawks" is at least more similar to "Redskins" than "Wizards" is to "Bullets."