The High Court

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The Big Gavel-Mascot Madness

Well, well, well.  The NCAA is at it again.  And after their ridiculous ruling last week, a ruling in which they banned the use of nicknames and mascots deemed “hostile and abusive” in NCAA postseason events, the big boys in the national media finally got on the bandwagon.  If you will recall, however, The Chief Justice was on this beat more than two months ago.  And I think the NCAA is just as nuts today as I did then.

 

I made it clear in June that I understand completely the notion that many Native Americans are offended by the use of “Indian” nicknames and the accompanying warrior imagery.  But I also believe (and I have been told as much personally) that there are many Native Americans who find great pride in seeing their heritage proudly represented on the uniforms of NCAA universities.  So to simply say that nicknames like “Fighting Illini” or “Fighting Sioux” are abusive and offensive, is to have little to no capacity for thought.  The issue just isn’t that simple, and even the NCAA seems to recognize that.

 

NCAA president Myles Brand acknowledged that North Carolina-Pembroke (Braves) would not face sanctions because the school has historically admitted a high percentage of Native American students (with 20 percent of the student body being Native American).  So Myles, is 20 percent of the student body the magic number?  What if North Dakota has a student body that includes more than 400 Native Americans?  Would that be enough to allow them to continue to be the Fighting Sioux?

 

Now if you think I am just pulling numbers out of thin air, I am not.  According to a statement released by UND president Charles Kupchella, the school does indeed have more than 400 American Indian students currently enrolled.  North Carolina-Pembroke (if we can believe Mr. Brand) has approximately 1,005 American Indian students (figuring 20% of 5,027 students UNCP’s website lists as enrolled).  So we will do just a little more math…and then we can say with some confidence that UNCP might have 550-600 more Native American students than North Dakota.  Is that any reason that UNCP should get a better deal than UND?  I wouldn’t think so.

 

Now keeping in mind that I do not agree with the NCAA’s position, let’s assume for a moment that I was on their side.  Not only have they gotten out on the slippery slope of not treating all of these schools the same, they can’t even manage to treat all of the sports the same.  According to their current plan, Division I-A football schools would not be affected, because (and isn’t this dripping with irony) major college football does not have a playoff system.  And the NCAA doesn’t own the bowls.  So the institution which has resisted a college football playoff at its highest level, can not truly police this nickname issue because there is no playoff.  So while they may be able to keep the Seminole name off of the NCAA basketball tournament floor, they cannot keep the name, the logo, or the mascot off of the turf at the Fiesta Bowl.  So just what do they think they are accomplishing here?

 

And that is a very good question.  What is the NCAA hoping to accomplish, and how do they believe they can accomplish it?  I firmly believe that this latest ruling is the first in a series of steps to completely eradicate Native American nicknames from NCAA sports.  I believe it is the organization’s intent to bring so much pressure to bear on its member schools that they will find that keeping the names aren’t worth the trouble.  Because along with the postseason ban, the NCAA is also urging member schools to refrain from scheduling schools with these so-called offensive nicknames (as the University of Iowa and the University of Wisconsin already do).  But I have news for the NCAA:  until they do a better job defining “hostile and abusive” they are going to have a very difficult time accomplishing their mission.

 

Because I also believe that they underestimate the passion with which some university communities will defend their school nicknames.  Administration, faculty, students, and alumni (including some very powerful boosters) will without a doubt be willing to go to the mat to defend nicknames that may have been with schools for nearly a century.  While both Illinois and North Dakota were diplomatic in their statements on the ruling, you know that the attachment to their respective nicknames has very deep roots.  And Florida State was not quite as understanding.  President T.K. Wetherell responded with a very strong statement when he said, “That the NCAA would now label our close bond with the Seminole people as culturally ‘hostile and abusive’ is both outrageous and insulting.” 

 

And so it is.  For the NCAA to come into situations that they know little or nothing about and start making blanket judgments is utterly preposterous.  That would be sort of like me strolling into an operating room and beginning to try and run a brain surgery operation.  I wouldn’t have the slightest idea what I was doing.  And neither does the NCAA.  If you are going to go in and give a school liken NC-Pembroke a break on a case-by-case basis, then why doesn’t it matter that North Dakota uses a logo designed by an American Indian mascot (as was noted by President Kupchella)?

 

What does make some of these nicknames offensive, anyway?  It is the imagery of the logos and mascots, or is it largely the term ‘Fighting’?  Oh, it can’t be that, can it?  After all, if that was the case then Notre Dame would have to stop being the Fighting Irish before a group of leprechauns got ticked off.  And that is how silly this whole thing is.  Again, we respect the feelings and the heritage of Native Americans.  But for the NCAA to try and single out this one issue on what is offensive is ludicrous.  How many discussions have already been had about the offensive nature of the Rebels nickname?  Is it being banned from NCAA postseason play?  Well, why not? 

 

As I mentioned back on June 6, I think the greatest importance of this whole issue is the awareness that it raises concerning Native American causes.  And that is precisely why I feel that the nicknames should be kept.  How many more people can be made aware of American Indian tribes and causes through athletics?  Thousands?  Millions?  It is time to drop this politically correct crusade and allow the institutions of higher learning to make these decisions themselves.  If they are willing to make the changes on their own, then fine.  Many schools already have (Marquette, St. John’s, Southeast Missouri…just to name three) made name changes, and Bradley and Illinois have already scaled back the use of mascots.

 

But should some of these schools with rich tradition tied up in the name (like Florida State, Illinois, and North Dakota) wish to keep them, then the NCAA could enlist all of them to produce educational material concerning the heritage and history of the tribe they proudly represent.  There could also be licensing fees (set by the NCAA…as I also mentioned in June) for using the names, with the proceeds going to Native American schools and other important Native American causes.  Then everybody wins.

 

As we draw to a close here, I do want to say that I am not completely anti-NCAA.  The body is responsible for a great many positive things in college athletics.  Somebody has to ensure a fair playing field, and the NCAA does that and many other things to the best of its ability.  But it continues to operate in a heavy-handed and misguided manner on a regular basis.  I hope that one day we will see its member schools rise up and put the NCAA in its place.  Because I am pretty sure that the NCAA would have a hard time existing without its schools, but the schools would be participating in athletics long after the NCAA had disappeared.

 

Let’s also hope that someday common sense will once again outrank political correctness as a priority in the decision-making process.  If it doesn’t, then how long can it possibly be before the NCAA asks the two-time defending national football champs to stop parading around with a condom brand mascot?  Hmm….

 

Court is adjourned.

 

 

 

You can email The Chief Justice at chiefjustice@thehighcourtofsports.com

The Big Gavel-The NCAA Name Game...The NCAA is at it again with another ridiculous ruling.  Find out what The Chief Justice thinks about the latest decision on the use of Native American nicknames and mascots.

 

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