The NCAA, We're There for You....for no good reason

Those darn feathers to me have always represented the plight of every ethic group that used feathers since the beginning of time. Long live a featherless world.

How ridiculous can this get, and these are the people that lead and set policy .

Does this mean boxers of a certain size will no longer be called "feather-weight"? Hmmmm... the endless possibilities.

Now I don't have a drop of "Native American" blood in my system, so take this worth a grain of salt....

I've always felt teams using Native American names was a tribute moreso than a sign of disrespect. My college teams were known as the Redskins (with the backing from various tribes) until they fell prey to PC pressures and changed the name. I honestly felt it was an honor and a privalege to represent them. I think it's a shame that schools are being forced to change their heritage when there are sooooo many more pressing matters. I could go on, but I'll leave it at that.

Agree 100% Beezer!

The Braves, the Indians, the Warriors, and the others have always meant strength in my book. I feel the NCAA deep down also feels this way but somewhere along the line they had their spine removed and now bow to the wimpy political figures who do not understand the words "competitive" or "strength" but thrive on threats of negative legislation to many groups that do not conform to their line of thinking.

So Feathers are bad now,,,,,,,better get a microscope out and see if there are any other college logos/mascots/seals that have feathers on them or hidden in them.... wouldn't want that..... now would we...

Can we no longer say:
"Feather in your Cap"
"Feather duster"
"Birds of a Feather"

What's next.............

Let's see, how about my school's mascot the
SUN DEVIL.........may have to get rid of that because

1. Devil-----reference to the underworld...not good.
2. Sun Devil could mean one that worships the sun, cultish....not good either.......
3. The word Devil if you take off the D then the word evil is in there, not good either.
4. Sun.......could mean the team is just too hot to play anyone and that could be bad.......

I am all for PC when it comes to things that truly degregate ones nationality or religion but FEATHERS..........I have heard it all......

NCAA...

No
Carma
At
All

I find it rather ironic that the NCAA has a drop dead discrimination policy on mascots but at the same time much of their agenda/decisions/selection processes are discriminatory against smaller conferences and they are at the whim of the "big boys" who push for certain legislation.

Maybe, this has something to do with that Bird Flu epidemic?

By the way, know of anyone who has caught that yet. I was listening to the radio about a year ago and an expert was claiming we would all have died by now.

There's actually a funny story behind all this.

Back when I played in Williamsburg, we had hats with smilin' Injuns on them -- just like Cleveland's old logo only in green & gold.

But only a few years before I had gotten there, a fraternity brother of mine had written a letter to the administration -- as a joke, mind you -- protesting the caricaturing of Indians and suggesting that the team name and the logos were offensive.

The real joke was that the administration soon after started the move from "Indians" to "Tribe" as the team name. Apparently we were cutting edge in the PC department. My fraternity brother claims credit for this, and while that cannot be proved, that is his story and he is sticking to it.

Once they adopted "Tribe", it was only a matter of time before the last vestige of "Indians" -- the feathers -- would have to go.

It's amazing it took this long. We now join the likes of Stanford and St. John's among those with PC nicknames where Indian names used to be.

What I want to know is: Who gave the NCAA this authority? And why don't they take it back? At a minimum, this seems pretty ancillary to their mission. At a maximum, it is like Washington bureaucracy run amok.

I would think the next membership meeting of the NCAA should involve someone bringing a motion before the body to eliminate the NCAA's powers over these items, restoring them to the autonomy of the member schools. The NCAA should focus on the regulation of intercollegiate sports and not someone's idea of what is politically correct or incorrect.

Well, you can look at the bright side of this I suppose...your old caps, t-shirts and pennants will be worth a lot more on ebay in a few years.

I've never understood this either. But I'm not a Native American. I can't wait till they "fix" the Notre Dame mascot (now THATS offensive!).

Or the Stanford Tree? Really offensive!

My son wrote a paper on this subject last year for a dual credit English class. His teacher was a Florida State grad and was "on board" with being PC. He posed the argument about the Ragin' Cajuns, Fighting Irish, and the Blue Devils (being offensive to Christians)and how these are ethnic or religious groups that could be offended, and therefore these schools should be held to the same standard. Her comment was that unless the ethnic groups (Irish, Cajuns, Christians) were complaining, the logos were not to be deemed offensive by the NCAA. Through the research, we learned that the Seminole tribe had given full support of FSU using the logo and that it in fact enhanced the tribe's standing. Some smaller schools had the same endorsement by various tribes, but were not given the same consideration as FSU. Oh - I think he made a B on the paper.

Here is an interesting twist to the same subject..Now the professors are taking matters along with the NCAA
Dear University of Illinois supporter and fan,

As many of you may be aware, a group of professors led by Professor Stephen Kaufman have been sending athletic recruits (including Eric Gordon) a packet of information telling them NOT TO COME TO THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS because of Chief Illiniwek.

What they are doing is completely inappropriate and has crossed the line. Professor Kaufman has shown that he no long supports our university in the way a professor should.

Along with the help of others, I have started a petition to have him send letters of retraction to the recruits, as well as resign from the university. IF YOU CARE ABOUT THE FUTURE OF OUR UNIVERSITY AND ITS ATHLETIC TEAMS, I HIGHLY SUGGEST SIGNING IT. Let's make a difference here. Since Friday, over 650 people have signed it. On the petition site, you can read the 2 1/2 page letter I have written to him if you need some convincing before you sign the petition.

This is not a matter of if you are Pro-Chief or Anti-Chief. It is a matter of a professor being held accountable for his inappropriate actions against a university that he works for and should be supporting.

Please forward this to your friends, other groups on campus, parents, alumni, and anyone else that you think would be willing to sign the petition.

Thank you for your time.

Loyal to Illinois,
Brian Glickman

SIGN THE PETITION HERE: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/316267750

I find this all so sad.

I am ripped at the NCAA. Don't they have anything else to do? What about the the allegations of Reggie Bush and family, accepting things before he turned pro. I understand this has been going on for MONTHS!

Let's see if we can stir up some trouble:

Syracuse Orange -- offensive to fruits.

Florida Gators -- offensive to preservationists. Also to shoe vendors.

UMass Minutemen -- offensive to British nationals.

South Carolina Gamecocks -- virulently protested by PETA. Ditto all those named Lions, Tigers, or Bears, Oh My!

Utah Utes -- offensive to young New Yorkers, and also to fans of "My Cousin Vinny".

Minnesota Golden Gophers -- deemed offensive to the Society for the Prevention of Jaundice in Prairie Dogs.

Dayton Zips -- offensive to postal workers everywhere, and you do NOT want to get them mad at you.

Ga. Tech Yellow Jackets -- offensive to Century 21 real estate agents.

Dayton Zips??

oops, your faux paux has offended Akron's Zips, Dayton's Flyers, AND the USPS

MiloDad, I'm afraid I have to call you on your reference to fruits being offended by the Syracuse Orange.

People with genetic tendencies toward alternate lifestyles don't like to be called fruits anymore.

Political correctness.......ISN'T!

Bee, my bad. I could use the edit button but instead I'll leave behind the record that you had to correct me.

Biggerpapi, I didn't say that. I thought it, but I didn't say it.

Told you we could stir up some trouble.

FEAR THE FEATHERS!

So if feathers aren't allowed anymore, what will the NCAA do when Virginia Tech's Hokie mascot starts showing up on t-shirts and, worse yet, at games butt naked?

I personally am not a fan of Hope College's mascot. Yeah they're in Holland, Michigan and founded by Dutch, and it doesn't help that I went to another Dutch founded school a half hour down the road that's a rather large rival school, but the name "Flying Dutchmen" just isn't right. I've never seen a dutch person fly without an airplane, nor do we walk around flapping our arms like birds. Well, the dutch couldn't flap their arms like birds because then the smart people at the NCAA would assume that they had feathers and then the Flying Dutchmen would end up naked and we'd again have a whole different problem.

quote:

I am ripped at the NCAA. Don't they have anything else to do?

No.

I think nudity is probably OK by the NCAA. Think of all the cultures in the world who never wear clothing. You wouldn't want to insult them, would you?

Midlo - did you say UTES? What's a Ute?

CLASSIC line from a classic movie!!!

Let's not even ask who the USC team nickname is offensive towards

Sorry - whole thing drives me nuts...

My HS team was the Trojans. For boosters we sold bumper stickers that said, "Do it with a Trojan -- WIN!"

We were making the most money of any project ever until the principal pulled the plug.

That was then. Today, they'd probably MAKE us GIVE them away -- for free!

quote:

Originally posted by Midlo Dad:
I think nudity is probably OK by the NCAA. Think of all the cultures in the world who never wear clothing. You wouldn't want to insult them, would you?

It's ok, you ever see what those cheerleaders wear or don't wear?

I've made a careful study of trends in this area, from a purely scholarly standpoint of course.

I'm glad to see that the NCAA has it's priority's in order. This has to be the most important thing in college sports today. No longer will the indians, who feel that team mascots are OK with them, be demoralized by teams that want to honor American heritage, as well as other heitages throughout this great country. The NCAA has established it's foot into the door where college mascots are feathered and has redskin to knock out the hate and give us the Florida State Semicolons, the Utah 'Utabegas, and the Central Michagan Chip Ahoys. On the back burner, and less important, are the brawls that break out and the administration of one of these schools makes sure that there captain sits out his one game. And then comes back the week later. The NCAA will uphold the "mascot law" while keeping the players rights to bash each other without any consquences for their actions. And that's the way it should be.

Although not on the same level of stupidity, the acedemic reform measures under which college coaches are now forced (by the NCAA) to operate have complicated and very stupid mathematical formulas which measure the ability of programs to retain and graduate their players. It sounds OK, but it is not. Good programs and good coaches will lose scholarships under this program and it will affect the baseball community greatly.
It is not just about flunkouts and draftees. Worse yet, the APR and GSR really only measure the progress and graduation of players who walk into the school with a scholly. The senior who gets rewarded with a partial scholly and graduated top of class does not even count. The kids who play with no money do not even count.

It is so comforting to know the NCAA can blow money left and right with this kind of BS.

Hey NCAA!!!!!

Why not take that money and hire enough enough people to process student athletes through the clearing house in a reasonable amount of time.

I realize this is actually a common sense request and as such will probably be rejected by the first management level person it reaches, but I have to try!