Muts Prez&Sun Belt Rep supports mascot ban

[MeanGreen61]

If I'm not mistaken, McPhee is the Sun Belt Conference representative on the Executive Council.

McPhee said the NCAA now may look beyond Native American references and take on other names and images that are considered offensive to some.

"We're not drawing the line at Native American references," McPhee said. "Perhaps we're going to have to deal with other things. If there are problems with names like Fighting Irish, Ragin' Cajuns and others, those can be brought forth.

"Now we have policy guidelines to help us examine those issues." •

http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/ar...404/1106/SPORTS

[stebo]

If I'm not mistaken, McPhee is the Sun Belt Conference representative on the Executive Council.

McPhee said the NCAA now may look beyond Native American references and take on other names and images that are considered offensive to some.

"We're not drawing the line at Native American references," McPhee said. "Perhaps we're going to have to deal with other things. If there are problems with names like Fighting Irish, Ragin' Cajuns and others, those can be brought forth.

"Now we have policy guidelines to help us examine those issues." •

http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/ar...404/1106/SPORTS

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Pardon me while I throw up on my computer.

[ntmeangreen11]

Someone needs to get laid,big time.

[mad dog]

I believe reptiles everywhere are offended by the moniker "mean green." They say it portrays them in a negative light as violent and anti-social.

Both the American Bald Eagle and the common parrot likewise take issue with NT's Mascot, saying that it misrepresents them as a species. Daffy Duck has also threatened a lawsuit.

[MeanGreen61]

I believe reptiles everywhere are offended by the moniker "mean green."  They say it portrays them in a negative light as violent and anti-social.

Both the American Bald Eagle and the common parrot likewise take issue with NT's Mascot, saying that it misrepresents them as a species.  Daffy Duck has also threatened a lawsuit.

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I guess that means that a talon decal grasping/squeezing a white squirrel

on the back of our helmets would be an absolute no-no

[meangreenfreak]

Excuse me while I wrap my head with Duct Tape. I think my head is about to explode and I want to be to find the pieces.

[UNTFan23]

You know Mr. McPhee, going after your conference brethren isn't the best way to win a popularity contest or land your school in a better conference.

Edited August 15, 2005 by UNTFan23

[MeanGreenTeeth]

Maybe my favorite mascot will finally get a chance somewhere now...

[posiesnivy]

Per another thread, an article mentioned that the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma opposed FSU's use of their name, which is entirely wrong. Chief Crawford (I belive that was his name) was interviewed on the news the other night and said that they had voted to support FSU, not oppose. The NCAA needs to check out information they are given before making a decision. Living in Oklahoma and knowing a LOT of Native Americans, I know of no one who has a problem with Mascots and or University Names!

[stebo]

Per another thread, an article mentioned that the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma opposed FSU's use of their name, which is entirely wrong.  Chief Crawford (I belive that was his name) was interviewed on the news the other night and said that they had voted to support FSU, not oppose.  The NCAA needs to check out information they are given before making a decision.  Living in Oklahoma and knowing a LOT of Native Americans, I know of no one who has a problem with Mascots and or University Names!

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I think Southeastern Oklahoma State is a little over the top with their name - The Savages. I went to school for a semester there in Durant to get my pilot's certificate and I thought it was really offensive back then - and that was in 1992 when I was right out of high school and PC had not crawled into our lives nearly as much. But I wore my Savages shirts with pride regardless, after awhile I didn't care that it was offensive. Of course, back then SOSU was NAIA and were not governed by the NCAA... now they are in the Lone Star Conference as a Div II NCAA school, so I imagine that they will be affected by this. Still, the only punishment is that they can't use the name in NCAA playoff or championship events, so I guess they could continue to play as the Savages just as long as they continue to lose.

[0footballfan0]

I am so tired of this. There was no problems with this a few years ago, and now the gripe wagon is on the move.

THERE IS NOTHING WRONG OR OFFENSIVE WITH THE WORDS INDIAN, ETC.

That is like being offended if someone calls me an AMERICAN. And I have to say that "I am proud to be an American".

Can some of these groups find more productive things to do with their time?

Raise money for Cancer, etc.

[MootPoint]

I am so tired of this. There was no problems with this a few years ago, and now the gripe wagon is on the move.

THERE IS NOTHING WRONG OR OFFENSIVE WITH THE WORDS INDIAN, ETC.

That is like being offended if someone calls me an AMERICAN. And I have to say that "I am proud to be an American".

Can some of these groups find more productive things to do with their time?

Raise money for Cancer, etc.

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And would you not be offended if you had to live next to the SMU Americans! Ee gads! How horrible!

[vpackrats]

When reading the initial post, I seriously thought this was a delayed April Fool's joke!! This is "not examples of political correctness run amok"???? What would be then???

Y'know, what's pathetic? People from Sports Illustrated to The Dallas Morning News are all making jokes like "gee, we better change the Fighting Irish's nickname because I'm Irish & offended" & here this IDIOT would consider it. ?!?! Sad commentary on how out-of-touch the NCAA & it's board are these days!

[MeanGreen61]

Somehow we've gotta find a way to save ourselves from self-righteous , hand- wringing idiots

Off the Arkansas State board.

Racist Paternalism at the NCAA

By Andrew Cline

The National Collegiate Athletic Association's executive committee -- comprised of 14 white men, two white women, and three black men -- decided last week that 18 university and college nicknames were "hostile and abusive" to Indians. The nicknames and mascots may not be displayed on any team uniform at any NCAA postseason tournament starting next February. It was a new milestone in condescending liberal racism.

The committee members were the sole arbiters of what was "hostile and abusive" and what was not. Among those not allowed a say in the matter were, ahem, Indians.

After NCAA busybodies spent time snooping around Tallahassee, Florida, to gather evidence for their case against Florida State's use of the Seminoles nickname, the Seminole Tribal Council voted in April -- unanimously -- to affirm the tribe's support for the university's nickname and mascot. Nonetheless, come August the NCAA decreed FSU's use of the name "hostile and abusive." Those silly Indians, they obviously don't know what's good for them.

Also banned is the nickname of the University of Illinois -- the Illini. "Illini" was the name of the tribal confederation that once ruled the land now called Illinois. It is the root word for the state name and the name of its people, Illinoians. It is hard to see hostility in a name the white people use to describe themselves, but the NCAA sees it.

University of Illinois basketball jerseys say "Illinois," not "Illini." In its eternal wisdom, the executive committee will allow jerseys printed with "Illinois," but not ones printed with "Illini." What will committee members do when they learn that "Illinois" is French for "Illini"?

Allowing jerseys to bear the French name for the Illini tribal confederation, but not the name the confederation gave itself, is the logical end point of multicultural sensitivity. One wonders whether the University of Illinois student newspaper -- The Illini -- will be allowed to cover future NCAA tournaments.

Indiana University, whose athletic teams are called "Hoosiers," escaped the NCAA's nickname ban. But Indiana's jerseys don't say "Hoosiers." They say "Indiana," which means "Land of Indians."

By the way, the NCAA is headquartered in Indianapolis -- "City of the Land of Indians." How embarrassing.

The NCAA has banned the University of North Dakota's "Fighting Sioux" nickname. "Sioux" is the name for a confederation of smaller tribes, including the Dakota. If UND removes the "hostile and abusive" "Sioux" name from its jerseys and replaces it with "North Dakota," it will still have a tribal name on its jerseys. Obviously, the NCAA executives have not thought their plan through.

The University of Oklahama's football team wears jerseys sporting the university's team nickname: Sooners. Sooners were people who illegally occupied land confiscated from the Indians. (They got there "sooner" than the law allowed.) The university's basketball team wears jerseys bearing the state name: Oklahoma. "Oklahoma" is Choctaw for "red people." Both of these names are OK, while "Seminoles," approved by the tribe, is banned. Go figure.

A thought to consider: If Cherokee Parks becomes a college basketball coach, or Dakota Fanning plays a varsity sport in 2012, will announcers be permitted to mention their names on air?

A college referee I know wonders whether Billy Packer and Greg Gumbel will be allowed to say "Fighting Sioux" or "Seminoles." Play-by-play certainly will be clumsy if nicknames cannot be used.

All of this nonsense is born of the notion that when white people adopt the name and likeness of red people, it is an act of racism, an assertion of racial or tribal superiority. After all, the University of North Carolina at Pembroke, a historically Indian institution, was allowed to keep its "Braves" nickname. Yet white people usually are not being condescending by adopting Indian names or mascots.

Athletic teams wish to associate themselves with qualities valued on the field of play: courage, valor, strength, endurance, bravery. Hence they choose names and mascots they believe emblematic of those qualities: Sioux, Vikings, Seminoles, Celtics, Bears, Tigers, Yankees, Pirates, etc. No one names his team the Pigeons.

To the NCAA executive committee, unencumbered by reality, the actual intent behind the nickname's adoption does not matter. All that matters is how others might perceive it.

The best reaction to this fear of offense, of course, is to let individual institutions work out these disagreements on their own. Instead, the paternalism that comes from intellectual superiority has overruled common sense. And so 19 white and black university and college executives have told countless Indians what is best for them. It is the very definition of racist paternalism.

I hope each of the 18 institutions affected by this policy makes every NCAA tournament next year. And I hope they wear their uniforms, unaltered, and force the NCAA to drag their players off the courts, fields, tracks and mats. Bureaucratic bullying is easy when it can be done with the stroke of a pen. When it has to be backed up by brute force, it becomes a lot more difficult to justify.

Andrew Cline is editorial page editor of the New Hampshire Union Leader.

[UNTLifer]

I love this article. How about the announcers that mention Patrick Cobbs? Can they state what hometown he comes from? Please don't remove this Harry/Cerebus

Tecumseh, Oklahoma

[Cerebus]

Tecumseh, Oklahoma

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"War is cruelty. There's no use trying to reform it, the crueler it is the

sooner it will be over." --William Tecumseh Sherman

[UNTLifer]

I'm glad William Tecumseh Sherman's eligibility is up. I wonder what the NCAA would do with him if he had a 40 inch vertical and shot lights out for North Carolina?

[Cerebus]

I'm glad William Tecumseh Sherman's eligibility is up.  I wonder what the NCAA would do with him if he had a 40 inch vertical and shot lights out for North Carolina?

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He'd burn down Georgia Tech

[Cerebus]

Actually, this is pretty topical because Sherman learned his "don't destroy the army, destroy thier support base" lessons while fighting... *drumroll* the Seminole Indians, while he was stationed in Florida in 1840-41.

As a side note, Cump Sheman is also ShaneB's favorite general:

If I had my choice I would kill every reporter in the world, but I am sure we would be getting reports from Hell before breakfast.

--William Tecumseh Sherman

[SCREAMING EAGLE-66]

----Personally I think he is being sarcastic....... I think he thinks the situation is ridicious.... By mentioning the Fighting Irish which he knows will cause extreme resistence he seems to be trying to kill this stupidity.

---He seems to be thinking that if this goes through then we will go after some other names as well which could cause some other schools to back off this non-sense and support the "leave them alone view".

---Of course I might be wrong but that that is what I am thinking. He knows his mascot is rather untouchable but there are a lot of others that could be "had" if this goes any further, including the probably the biggest of football names, Notre Dame's Fighting Irish...

[Guest Aquila_Viridis]

I hope the green people don't get upset.