DamStrait

We are the aggrieved party here - does any sane person (PC zealots are not sane, in case that clarification is needed) really believe the NCAA negotiated in good faith? Maybe the stubbornness borne from the blood of my Scottish ancestors flowing through me is responsible, but it was the NCAA and their PC zealot allies that picked this fight - if they didn't want it, they shouldn't have picked it. I fully recognize that I am likely to lose in the end (indeed almost certainly have already lost), but I am not going to yield anything willingly - if the PC bastards want it, I'm going to make them fight for every bit of it, not lay down like some beaten dog - you want to take something from me, you might get it, but I'm going to fight you all the damn way. This is one (probably the main) reason why I prefer no nickname into perpetuity - even though one will likely be chosen either now or in the future. I'm not willing to go all the way to a new nickname without a fight. I think that fight is based on principle and is worth it - and I do not believe going without a nickname causes any harm to UND, its athletes, or its fans - I personally like the new no nickname apparel and have purchased several items. It's not as appealing as the old Fighting Sioux items, but I prefer it to anything with any other nickname on it and will likely purchase only "UND" items ever again. New students coming to UND will have to buy something, so they will buy the no nickname items if that is all that is available and if the items were to branded with a new lame name or logo, I do not believe it will benefit sales. I do not believe fans of UND and its athletics will care less for either if UND were to continue with no nickname. And at the end of the day, if we are forced at gunpoint to select a new name, I think the current process is converging on an alternative, so this whole process has not been "for nothing", as some contend. As I say, I believe there is a principle involved, and I believe further that the cost for continuing to fight for that principle is negligible - that being the case, if this process is going too slowly for the NCAA, Bobby Kelley and all the other PC zealots, and that causes them discomfort and makes them unhappy - GOOD - that is entirely what they asked for and I am perfectly willing to provide it. Some - perhaps many - perhaps even most of you - will think I am being stupid - I don't care what anybody else thinks - I think I am being honorable and no amount of arguing, belittling, cajoling, pleading etc. is ever going to have me think otherwise. PS - The time to have confronted Kelley was at the time of his response to the "You can take our name but not our pride" sorority sign incident. At that time he should have been shouted down from all quarters, put in his place and run out of town on a rail. Instead there was nothing - we should all hang our heads in shame.

Uhhhh, no - most if not all of the polls allow the selection of more than one option, so there is no way to tell which is each participant's favorite. Even if only one option was allowed, many may opt for no nickname if their favorite does not make the final list of three, but the no nickname option does.

Buck up buttercup - if this is really causing you misery, you must have it pretty good, because you clearly must not have anything else to complain about. All the angst about this process, what the NCAA might do, what the PC zealots say and think of us is completely overwrought IMHO.

I think the solution is pretty simple, really. It looks pretty clear that continuing with no nickname or adopting Roughriders are going to be the two most popular choices - since I believe there needs to be three for the voting process, pick a token third - not Cavalry, since that would really put the PC zealots in full hysteria and therefore will never be selected as an option for the voting process; not North Stars, since UND is not in Minnesota - so let's say Explorers. Whatever receives the most votes gets adopted - if it is Roughriders, all the chicken littles will be able to breathe again - if it is no nickname, UND goes with that, and IF the NCAA has a problem with it, a respectable effort to bring their heavy-handed ways to full light should be undertaken. If at the end of the day we are further forced into more abject PC stupidity, all should be content that the good fight has been fought and all that could be done has been done, and we can at that point effortlessly adopt the second most popular option, i.e. Roughriders. This may cause the rabidly anti no-nickname crowd untold amounts of additional wailing and gnashing of teeth, but you know, I'm okay with that.

I think the ND should have a flat finish too.

YOU do not want UND to be a school without a nickname - please refrain from speaking for me or others that think otherwise. Not specifically referring to you, but some seem to be arguing that it is just a nickname - pick one and be done with it - these seem to be some of the same people that are saying that UND MUST have a nickname. If the nickname itself isn't important, how can having one at all be important - seems like talking out of both sides of one's mouth.

1. North Dakota - in a landslide - not because I'm a "hockey only" fan (which I am not), but mostly because the rest of the field is so incredibly weak. 2. Rough Riders - distant, distant second - it's too bad RRHS felt the need to go with a nickname that had no ties to the city, but was merely alliterative. To make this clear - it has ties to the state, and UND is a school for the entire state - but not the city, so would be much better for UND than RRHS. 3. Cavalry - mostly because would be poking a middle digit in the eye of the NCAA and all the other PC zealots which are too numerous, nauseating and undeserving to be listed by name. But does not work with our green and white athletic colors, which should not become yet another victim of this misguided process - and will never be selected due to the very reason I find it attractive. 4. Explorers - surprised this made it, as it has pretty undeniable connotations to the Lewis & Clark expedition, which of course was the beginning of the end for native domination of the West, therefore will never be allowed by the PC zealots. I thought "Pathfinders" would have been more unique and marketable, but also likely more undeniably associated with the Lewis & Clark expedition, so odds are that that is why it was axed. Pathfinders would have been my #2, slightly less distant than Rough Riders. Any other selection is reason to conclude the fix was in from the beginning, and is strong evidence that we are living in an age of abject stupidity.

Since you are on record as saying that "Fighting Sioux" is racist, any opinion of yours must be taken with a HUGE grain of salt.

And you would have been the very first to rip Hak afterwards if Johnson was put in and immediately gave up a couple of goals.

She should cite some of this so-called abundant research - as far as I'm aware, there isn't any that has passed the peer review process - it has all been puff pieces by PC hacks with an axe to grind. Anyone that has to resort to calling those that hold a different viewpoint from her "racists" and "uninformed" really ought not be listened to. If she is so thin skinned that she can't stand to live in a non-PC world, maybe it's time for her to grow up and let it go.

Good taste.

Trimming the possibilities using just three inviolable rules: No animals. No inanimate objects. No intangibles. Aeronauts Aeros Arctic Blaze Arctic Force Aurora Aviators Badlanders Big Green Bison Slayers Blackhawks BLAZE BLAZING STARS BLIZZARD Blizzard Dogs Bombardiers Bombers Cavalry Charging Nokota Drillers ENERGY Explorers Fighting Green Fighting Green Hawks Fighting Hawks Fire Flame Flames Flickertails Fliers Force Force of North Global Hawks Green Bombers GREEN HAWKS GREEN PRIDE 'Grey Hawks' Night Hawks Night Riders Nighthawks Nodak Nodaks North Dakota North Force North Stars Northern Lights Prarie Hawks Pride Riders roughhriders SNOW DOGS Snow Leopards Spirit STORM Sundog Sundogs Thunder Hawks Warhawks Warriors Warriors of the North Wings Wooly Mammoth fighting greens Not left with much - no nickname looks to be the best by quite a margin. Badlanders (rhymes with highlander not with Lunar Lander, for those that might [willfully?] confuse it with having negative connotations for UND's aviation program) a distant second, but the only other real option, in my mind.

Blais recommended Hak when he left - I wonder who Hak has recommended?

What did that "banner" say? "You can take our name, but you can't take our pride" - or something very close to that. Anybody that finds that racist is a blatant jackass of a moron that is just looking to pick a fight - looking straight at you ROK.

I am too - they are essentially saying they are for perpetually giving UMN, BC, and BU home regionals whether they have earned it or not.

When it comes to snarky and sanctimonious (not to mention self-righteous), I must admit, you definitely know whereof you speak!

Amen brother!!!!!!!!

No @$!%#& inanimate objects!!!!

No @$!%#& animals!!!!

You? Guilty of keyboard operation error? That's credibility stretched to the breaking point!

What UND has been using for the past 3 years is not working from a marketing standpoint because most people gorged themselves on buying up the remaining Fighting Sioux gear, which has artificially depressed demand for new gear in the near term. Michigan, Harvard, Stanford, to name but a few, have all done well selling merchandise without emphasizing a nickname. What's the most popular Michigan chant? Go Wolverines go? No, it's Go Blue go. I think its very possible that well designed no nickname gear could sell every bit as well if not better than new nickname gear. I have no evidence to support that, but neither do you have evidence to support your position, but somehow I doubt you'll admit that. I am unlikely to successfully change your opinion on the subject and you are unlikely to successfully change mine. I will end with this, and hopefully successfully resist the temptation to respond further - literally every UND fan I have asked has stated they would very strongly prefer to remain without a nickname rather than adopting a new one. Only on this board have I seen fans that feel differently. It seems likely that you part of the vocal minority. It was a vocal minority that got their way when the old nickname was abolished. I have had my fill of the vocal minority.

Talk about a straw man argument! The choice going forward is not Fighting Sioux merchandise and merchandise with a new nickname/logo - it is between UND merchandise and merchandise with a new nickname/logo. You and your ilk are arguing that the latter will obviously generate more revenue for the university. In other words, ANY new nickname/logo is better than sticking with just University of North Dakota and our existing (or possibly new) non-Fighting Sioux logos. Others, including myself, are arguing that it depends entirely on what the new nickname/logo is and since there is no natural consensus, it may very well be worse regarding merchandising revenues for UND than continuing only as UND. Your absolute certainty to the contrary seems to me to be irrational and often stoops to the level of condescension - and is so dogmatic as to lead one to believe you may have some ulterior motive, although I can't imagine what it might be.

Why is it racist? Because Erich says so - solid reasoning there. What a stupid little bitch he is.

I said what I meant and meant what I said. Opinion is opinion and truth is truth - didn't say or mean to say anything more or anything less.

One of the many that confuse their OPINION with the truth.