State Of North Dakota Fighting For Fighting Sioux

It was just about a year ago when I thought the final chapter was written for the University Of North Dakota's athletic name and logo, the Fighting Sioux. But of course I was silly to think that the nickname backers were going to go quietly away...not when they have lots of dollars left, and when I say lots I mean millions of dollars courtesy of the Ralph Engelstad estate.

I was curious as to why the nickname supporters were fairly quiet over the past year...after losing the supreme court decision, I thought the supporters would continue to pressure the Indians to garner their support...but the Indians are not the least bit interested in this topic and have refused to embrace or reject the use of the Fighting Sioux name.  But the nickname supporters are way more clever than I am...they went to the North Dakota legislature and so far got the ND House to pass a bill that would make it illegal for UND to change it's name from the Fighting Sioux.  It even goes so far to state that if the NCAA takes any action to prohibit UND from competing in NCAA sanctioned events that an anti-trust lawsuit will be filed against the NCAA.

This was a totally brilliant move by the nickname supporters...politicians, last I checked, are more than happy to accept campaign contributions from entities that they support...I bet you won't have to look too hard to see who got a nice campaign contribution from the Sioux nickname lobby...again, filled to the brim with millions of dollars.

I am a supporter of the nickname.  I have not seen nor have heard of many Sioux Indians that dislike the use of their name and, in fact, the last Sioux Indian I talked to about this issue, she was really proud that the college was using Fighting Sioux...and she always said THE Fighting Sioux...never just the Sioux, always, The Fighting Sioux.  I could tell she was proud of that name.

Sure, the ND Senate now needs to pass the bill and then the ball would go back into the NCAA's court...are they going to back down or are they going to continue the pissing match?  They have to know that if they choose to sanction UND they will have a lawsuit coming there way backed by a lot of money...and it isn't just the money part of it.  I think the NCAA is one of the most hypocritical, non-nonsensical governing body in sports, I think if this case goes to court, lots of NCAA hypocrisy will be exposed that could potentially open up a lot more cans of worms and this would be just the tip of the iceberg - which would hopefully, inevitably destroy the NCAA, which would make me happy.

And North Dakota isn't like Wisconsin or Minnesota or California with massive state debt and budget shortages...In 2010, estimates are that North Dakota had a budget surplus of $1 Billion ... yes, a surplus of ONE BILLION DOLLARS.  So if the NCAA wants to get into a pissing match with the State Of North Dakota, the state is ready to start pissing money down the drain right alongside the NCAA all over the use of The Fighting Sioux name...again, not sure of the rationale of the NCAA, but they probably feel so superior to us hayseeds in the barren wasteland...yet have no idea who they are dealing with...very stubborn, determined Germans and Scandinavians descendants that are use to getting their way or die trying....is the NCAA gonna be able to match that intensity?  No way.