Say goodbye to the Fighting Sioux

[micropolitan guy]

Hopefully this isn't a d_b, but it sounds as if North Dakota will be changing its nickname because one of the two Sioux tribes in the state won't go along with the name, or allow a vote of the tribe to see if it's offensive.

http://www.kare11.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=704642&catid=2
http://www.grandforksherald.com/event/article/id/118527/


What's the alternative? The Fighting Flickertails? The Peace Gardeners? The Highway(2)men? The Fighting 180-degree Sunsets? The UND Wind Chill?

 

[Mark2010]

That royally sucks. All in the name of political correctness bullcrap.

What's next? No more Seminoles or Illini. The NCAA really goes off the deep end on some of these matters.

 

[JBHawkEye]

Membership in the Summit League will no doubt follow. South Dakota has already been added in the last couple of months joining NDSU and SDSU.

 

[TheSportsPredictor]

How about the Fighting Sue?

 

[BYH]

How about the Fighting Sue?

Brilliant!!!

 

[Hammer Pants]

The men's teams can be the Fighting Boys Named Sue.

 

[zeke12]

How about the Fighting Sue?

Brilliant!!!

Gophers fans have been calling them that for decades.

As to the decision, UND has known this was coming for at least a decade. Time to deal with it.

 

[Mystery_Meat]

Sioux long!

 

[Mark2010]

I think going D-I was a bad move for NDSU and would be equally poor for North Dakota, especially in football, where they are a powerhouse in D-II.

 

[zeke12]

I think going D-I was a bad move for NDSU and would be equally poor for North Dakota, especially in football, where they are a powerhouse in D-II.

It's not a choice. They're already D-I in hockey, so the NCAA wants them to go to D-I in everything.

And it was a great move for NDSU. They played in the NCAA basketball tournament this year. And everyone they used to play is going to end up D-I, so it's really not much of a choice. NDSU and SDSU were smart to get ahead of the curve.

 

[writing irish]

Crazy Horse was my gran'father!

 

[micropolitan guy]

The should become the University of North Dakota Cavalry, considering the state's history with that outfit of the Army.

 

[Armchair_QB]

I think going D-I was a bad move for NDSU and would be equally poor for North Dakota, especially in football, where they are a powerhouse in D-II.

It's not a choice. They're already D-I in hockey, so the NCAA wants them to go to D-I in everything.

Actually, that's not true. NCAA rules allow teams to ice DI hockey programs even if the rest of their programs are DII due to the fact the NCAA does not sponsor hockey at the DII level. They did not have to move up.

 

[Mystery_Meat]

I think going D-I was a bad move for NDSU and would be equally poor for North Dakota, especially in football, where they are a powerhouse in D-II.

It's not a choice. They're already D-I in hockey, so the NCAA wants them to go to D-I in everything.

Actually, that's not true. NCAA rules allow teams to ice DI hockey programs even if the rest of their programs are DII due to the fact the NCAA does not sponsor hockey at the DII level. They did not have to move up.

My understanding is that North Dakota and South Dakota were sort of pressured to move up when ND State and SD State made the move, since now all their natural rivals are D-I.

 

[DocTalk]

What will UND do with a few thousand Fighting Sioux emblazoned seats in their arena?


http://www.theralph.com/?SPSID=58724&SPID=6409&DB_OEM_ID=13500
http://images.usatoday.com/sports/college/football/_photos/2005-09-27-inside-sioux-cha.jpg

 

[zeke12]

I think going D-I was a bad move for NDSU and would be equally poor for North Dakota, especially in football, where they are a powerhouse in D-II.

It's not a choice. They're already D-I in hockey, so the NCAA wants them to go to D-I in everything.

Actually, that's not true. NCAA rules allow teams to ice DI hockey programs even if the rest of their programs are DII due to the fact the NCAA does not sponsor hockey at the DII level. They did not have to move up.

Yeah, they won't actually force them, but they have wanted them (and St. Cloud, IIRC) to move up for a while.

Who they play is probably the deciding factor. The NCC is gone, and with all the teams in it moving up or down.

 

[Rosie]

I don't have time to research it right now, but it was my understanding that the money Ralph Engelstad donated to the school would be pulled if UND changed its nickname. He's the late UND alumni for whom the arena is named.

I think there are a heck of a lot more pressing issues to spend time on than what a school nickname is. If the school used "Wahoos" or "Tree N*ggers" (yes, sadly, that's a derogatory term for Native Americans) I would be all for changing the name. But when schools in my surrounding area with a high density of Native Americans use "Warriors" complete with Native American accoutrement, sorry, ain't seein' it.

 

[writing irish]

I admit, it seems like a bit much, especially in light of more pressing matters in the world. I don't have a problem with the nickname and the logo is at least a dignified one, unlike, for example, the Cleveland baseball logo.

That said, I'm inclined to cut people some slack if they're surviving people from a nation that has been all but annihilated from the face of the earth. Part of the objection is the word "Sioux" itself. It has negative connotations in ways that some other European words for Native American peoples do not. That's overlooked sometimes, but it's a factor in the sensitivity here. Every people has the right to go by the name that it chooses.

I don't know, could you look a Native American from North Dakota in the eye and tell them to lighten up and get over it? Not saying you're a douche if you could, just throwing that out there.

As a Blackhawks fan, of course I've thought about this one. Black Hawk was a member of the Sac (or Sauk) nation, whose present-day leadership has been largely ambivalent or indifferent about the team's use of the name. Of course Black Hawk's name is all over North American culture; it's not just the Chicago NHL team. If the Sac ever changed their tune and decided they were pissed off about the logo, I'd say fine, retire the Indian Head and the tomahawked "C." I wouldn't like to see those images replaced with some bird logo or whatever, but I'd get over it.

 

[Armchair_QB]

Methinks somebody's looking for a payoff.

 

[Mark2010]

There are several schools who play D-I hockey that aren't D-I for anything else: St. Cloud State, Minnesota-Duluth, Minnesota State, Bemijdi State (which went to the Frozen Four last month).

There's a real cost-benefit argument about whether being a small D-I (FCS) is better than being a big boy in D-II when you figure in the money you spend on scholarships, coaching salaries, travel, facilities, etc.