August 20, 2005

NCAA waffles on Indian mascots

The NCAA looks like it will take Miles Brand's advice and look to punt on the NCAA mascot ban. The NCAA announced Friday that approval from American Indian tribes will be the primary deciding issue for appeals by schools fighting the ban of American Indian imagery and nicknames.

In outlining the appeals process, Brand said:

"We recognize that there are many points of view associated with this issue and we also know that some Native American groups support the use of mascots and imagery and some do not; that is why we will pay particular attention to special circumstances associated with each institution."

And if you listen real close, you can almost hear him saying, "Please just don't sue us."

So far, Florida State is the only school that has issued an official appeal.

Now, in my opinion, there are two school names that absolutely must change: the Carthage College Redmen and the Southeastern Oklahoma State Savages. These names are offensive. There's no other way to say it.

Long story short, storied relationships between tribes and schools will allow the mascot names to remain. Florida State will remain the Seminoles. Utah will likely remain the Utes. And boosters at other impacted schools may open the checkbooks to tribes to garner support.