CHICAGO -- Changing the name of Clevelands baseball team isnt about the game. And its not about political correctness, or any other buzzword that gets hurled around to shock people into their respective Culture War camps.

This is about Cleveland who we are as a people, what we stand for.

I was raised on Cleveland baseball in the 90s. Herb Score and Tom Hamilton were my summer soundtrack in the car, on the porch, and in the garages and yards of every friend I had.

As life has taken me away from Northeast Ohio, the team has been my season ticket back to not just childhood, but home itself. Ive dreamt of those perfect summer nights off the shores of Lake Erie while scoring games from the desert of New Mexico to the bustle of Brooklyn.

Everywhere Ive gone, Ive found fellow fans. And any Clevelander who has physically left home behind whether for the short or long term has experienced that bond that comes when you spot someone in a hometown hat at the airport bar or on an unfamiliar street.

That connection is about more than baseball I sure dont see the same thing among Yankees fans. Its about being from Cleveland.

And theres a reason for that. As its importance in other areas has waned since the middle of the last century, Clevelands sports teams have remained the citys most recognizable symbols on the national stage. They are what people know us for, and, possibly more than any other city in America, how we identify ourselves.

David Weible grew up in Lakewood and is a writer, editor and web strategist in Chicago.

But while our sports teams may be our cultural calling cards, as a people, were of course much more.

In my experience, were the guy who stops to help you change a tire on the side of the highway. Were the lady who doesnt just give you directions, but shows you the way. Were the kid who returns your wallet, untouched, when you drop it on the street.

Were honest, hard-working, decent people. We do the right thing. Were Clevelanders. And somehow, our teams tend to reflect that. Whether theyre the team-to-beat or perennial bottom dwellers, we take pride in them, because they represent us.

Right now, theres a mark on that pride. Our team has a name that many Americans, members of our own community, and, Im willing to bet, some members of the team itself, find counterproductive and hurtful.

It doesnt matter whether you agree with that viewpoint or not. Politics and posturing aside, the undeniable truth is that those feelings are there, and they are real.

I understand that changing the name is a serious undertaking for the organization. And I understand the attachment fellow fans have to things as they stand especially since every single one of us born after 1915 has never known our team as anything else.

But the work is not impossible, and any fan willing to disavow their team simply because of a name change wouldnt seem to be much of a real fan at all especially in Cleveland, where we pride ourselves on loyalty as much as anything.

The organization is obligated to consider things in business terms, though theyve made clear theyll also be involving a range of outside stakeholders. Rightly so.

Even from a purely business standpoint, an opportunity for new merchandise sales, for positive press in a perpetually negative news cycle, and a chance to quiet the ever-growing roar of anger and discord outside the gates of Progressive Field at every home opener ought to carry some weight.

As fans and Clevelanders, we should look at changing the name as the honest and decent thing to do. The right thing to do. Because thats who we are, and, win or lose, thats something we can all be proud of.

David Weible is a writer, editor and web strategist living in Chicago. He was raised in Lakewood and is a graduate of Lakewood High School.

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Changing the Indians team name is simply the right thing to do: Dave Weible - cleveland.com