Hey Big Ten. . . Have You Ever Heard Of The Pot Calling The Kettle Black?

It's not their stance on the issue but the hypocrisy that is galling.

 

Yeah, that pretty much makes them look like douchebags.

 

But, my question is are there really that many outraged Native Americans making vocal outcries against team nicknames or is this a bunch of spineless stuffed shirts trying to do some political correctness public relations all in the interest of making themselves look good?

If there really is that much pain and anguish caused to the Native American community, then ok, let's discuss changing nicknames. But, if this is Miles and his Armani thugs dreaming this up, well, F off. And my guess is it's way more of the latter than the former.

And also---where does one draw the line in the proverbial sand? Are we one more nasty storm season away from removing Hurricanes, Tide, Green Wave from our lexicon? Or do we have to eliminate Rebels and Yankees at some point to avoid offending Civil War sensibilities? Seems like there's bigger fish to fry out there (my apologies to any fish who may take offense at that remark).

Full disclosure: I'm an Illinois grad, so I'm certainly not an impartial observer on this topic.

 

But we have a baseball team called the Yankees, which if you recall, was a "racist" term of contempt used by the British to describe dumb, uneducated, frontier American rebels.

I'm not saying it's right to name teams like this...but to come up with a policy of not playing teams because of their nickname? C'mon. If it's that big of a deal to people, the NCAA should just step in and force them to change it or forbid teams from playing them. And "Fighting Sioux" and "Fighting Illini" have nothing on "Redskins" or Cleveland's Chief Wahoo.

I guess I just generally don't give two shits about sports team nicknames. If you want to go out and name a team the Honkies, Whities, Crackers or Rednecks, I'm really not going to care.

And I honestly don't think changing a few mascots of college sports teams is going to change the Native American views of how America treated them for 300-400 years.

 

Put it this way, then.

Say we are taken over by China. Every last "American" is killed or sent to live harmlessly on a reservation.

Then the nice Chinese start building new schools and to honor us for our fighting spirit -- heck it took 25 years and a staged outbreak of bird flu so there were many tales of brave Americans fighting off eradication.

So they want to give mascots to their new schools -- Palefaces, Rednecks, Wolverines, etc.

You good with that?

 

As long as it's not just the Southern teams nicknamed Rednecks.

(actually a lot of possibilities for the team logo with a team called the Rednecks)...

 

If the Chinese came today and took over, then started sports leagues in 2307, I doub't I'd care, since I'd be 230 years gone.

And given Chinese culture, my 15x-great-grandchildren would probably be so assimilated into their culture that they wouldn't care either.

It's like Kirk said earlier: if the Native Americans were the ones driving this, it'd be one thing. But I think Miles Brand and Co. have more to do with it than anything.

 

Bottom line, though, CJ, is that the Big Ten has a school with an Illini mascot but is saying it won't play schools with Native American nicknames.

I don't see how an organization could be any more hypocritical if it tried.

 

They can't be. I agree with that.

But if it is really that big of a deal, I would think more people from the Native American community would be speaking out about it, not some face-as-white-as-my-collar commissioner of a conference.

It would be a big deal if NA's were talking about it. People like Delaney just bastardize the whole thing for the sake of taking some faux-stand on an issue.

 

Well, it's a big enough deal that the Big Ten has a rule about it.

It's kinda like a cop drinking a beer while pulling you over for a dui.

 

http://So they want to give mascots to their new schools -- Palefaces, Rednecks, Wolverines, etc.

You good with that?

Redskins, Savages, Redmen, etc., no doubt. But to call Sioux a perjorative term is stretching it a bit. If you ask many Native Americans with Lakota ancestry, they often call themselves members of the Sioux nation.

And I think UND did away with any type of Indian "mascot" quite a while ago.

The cop arresting you for DUII while drinking a beer himself is a perfect analogy. Do as I say, not as I do.

So what happens when someone in the Big Ten has to play Bradley or Williams & Mary in the NCAA basketball tournament? Does the Big Ten team forfeit?

 

Is this a conference-wide policy? Or just Minnesoooooooota making ass? Though yes, the Illini's Chief Illiniwek is pretty damn scary. Easily the worst offender among all the schools with Amereican Indian nicknames.

I'm reserving judgment until I know Sid Hartman's take.