It sounds like a name the late Jimmy Dean would use on one of his songs, if he was to re-write one again, but in reality, it had to be changed.
Expansion in any league is hard, given today’s economy, but officially Ottawa is getting the CFL back in town and everyone is excited, even the mascot.
If the Vancouver Giants can have Jack the Giant, I guess we can let Ottawa have one, considering it’s the Nation’s Capital.
The expansion Ottawa Redblacks in the CFL officially have made a name change of their new lumberjack mascot after receiving much critical and controversy feedback on the original name choice they made.
The team announced that the mascot would go by the handle of “Big Joe Mufferaw”, but after consultation the name was changed to “Big Joe” in English and “Grand Jos” in French.
“We unintentionally offended some with the original name and we sincerely apologize for that,” said Jeff Hunt, the president of the Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group, which owns the Redblacks. “We hope to create a fan base that is unified in its support for the Redblacks and we will continue to strive to do our best in that regard.”
The team received a number of suggestions from fans before naming the mascot and some wanted it named after late Ottawa storyteller Bernie Bedore’s character.
This was inspired by Joseph Montferrand, a real-life Outaouais logger and defender of Francophone rights dating back to the 1800’s and felt that using the “Mufferaw” name was very disrespectful.
The team said it plans to continue to seek opportunities to welcome Francophone football fans from Gatineau, Que., and Eastern Ontario and engage the Francophone community with appearances by players and the mascot throughout the region.
It should be noted that Big Joe Mufferaw was also immortalized in a famous song by Canadian country-folk legend Stompin’ Tom Connors, who was very patriotic to the individual
The Redblacks will kick off their inaugural season July 3 in Winnipeg and the first home game is July 18 against Toronto.
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