By Phil Rabin, Capitol Communicator editor
We raised the question in our weekly e-newsletter of whether the Washington Redskins should be referred to as “is” or “are” – as in “The Redskins are planning….” or “The Redskins is planning …”
We posed that question to, among others, legendary sports PR man Charlie Brotman of Brotman Winter Fried Communications and he said that even though it’s awkward, we should write that “The Redskins is …” And, while some people agreed with him, two people who e-mailed us that it should be “are”.
Donise Cheeks told us” I vote "are", there is no possible publication or other media venue on earth that would say the Redskins "is".... Let's see....
The Baltimore Ravens are...
The New York Knicks are...
The New Jersey Nets are...
The San Diego Chargers are...
The Indianapolis Colts are....
nah....... The Redskins are.....too!
Donise continued, “Would we say The Teams "is"? No! Because it's implied we're speaking of more than one team. When we say "is" for a named team, it too implies we're speaking of more than one, but this time we're referencing the players.”
And, Steve Goodwin, who considers himself a long-time fan wrote: “I can say that the Redskins “is” going to suck this season. I “are” sure of it.”
I think we’ll stick with “are” because it sounds better and, as Donise told us, sometimes the “ears” have it.