President Barack Obama may have been on to something — but not something he ever envisioned — when he announced the other day that he was renaming Alaska’s Mt. McKinley.
He said he changed it to Denali because the natives have apparently called it that for years.
That didn’t set well with some legislators in Ohio since President William McKinley, for whom it was formerly named, was from the state — in fact, Canton, where there are all kinds of things named for him.They think it was a snub at Ohio, McKinley and history.
But I digress. If, like Obama, we could change the name of things to what the populace generally refers to them as, then we could really have some fun.
Take, for instance, tonight’s preseason finale between the Browns and Chicago Bears at Soldier Field. Since the outcome of the game means absolutely nothing as the teams are just trying to get out of it with no injuries, we could call it The Game Whose Final Score Is Forgotten As Soon As The Final Gun Goes Off.
Or, since no starters are expected to play on either side to make sure they don’t get hurt and to give them some rest for the beginning of the regular season in a week and a half, we could call it The Game Where The Starters Should Be Required To Buy A Ticket.
Let’s rename some other games — much more notable than tonight’s — in Browns history;
*The 1986 AFC Championship Game against the Denver Broncos — The Drive, or The Winning Field Goal Was Actually Wide Left Game.
*The 1987 AFC Championship Game against the Broncos — The Fumble.
*The 1980 AFC divisional playoff game against the Oakland Raiders — Red Right 88.
*The 1964 NFL Championship Game against the Baltimore Colts — The Perfect Game.
*The 1976 game against the Pittsburgh Steelers in which defensive end Joe “Turkey” Jones spiked quarterback Terry Bradshaw — The Turkey Jones Game.
*The 2001 game against the Jacksonville Jaguars in which angry fans pelted the field with bottles — Bottlegate.
*The 1993 game against Pittsburgh in which Eric Metcalf returned two punts for touchdowns covering 75 and 91 yards — The Eric Metcalf Game, or The Game When Bill Cowher Got So Mad That He Fired His Special Teams Coach On The Way Back to Pittsburgh.
*The 1980 AFC Central title-clinching win over the Cincinnati Bengals — The Bum Phillips Kicked In The Wrong Door Game.
*The 2002 playoff game at Pittsburgh when a wide-open Dennis Northcutt failed to make an easy catch that would have secured the win — The Drop.
*The 1986 AFC divisional playoff game against the New York Jets — The Mark Gastineau Game, The Double-Overtime Game, or The Never Say Die Game.
*The 1970 season opener against the New York Jets — The Monday Night Game.
*The 1979 Monday Night Football game against the Dallas Cowboys — The Drew Pearson Got Sick In The End Zone Right On National TV Game.
Are we forgetting any games that deserve those kinds of naming rights?
By Steve King
