PCM

The radio feed has been in and out, too, which may be why the Internet feed isn't so hot.

I didn't hear anything about Parise, but the way the audio was cutting in and out, I might have missed something.

In the pre-game report, Hennessy said that Lamoureux is wearing a new all black mask because his regular mask got dinged. It sounds like Philippe is starting.

I don't disagree with your assessment on the procedural matters or the PC-ness of the universities. But it does beg the question: If Myles Brand and members of the Executive Committee believed that getting legislation passed to establish a policy on American Indian nicknames was a mere formality, why didn't they do that in the first place? They certainly know the process inside out. And I'm sure they realized that it would have greatly strengthened their position politically if the entire membership had voted in support of the policy. But Brand and the Executive Committee purposely chose not to follow standard operating procedure and do an end-run around the NCAA's members, bylaws and constitution. Why? Could it be that getting the required majority isn't as easy as it appears? Could it be that while many members might agree with Brand on this particular issue, they're uncomfortable with his vision of the NCAA as "a catalyst for social change," not knowing where it might lead? Are they afraid that their ox might be next in line for goring? I don't know the answers to any of those questions. But there has to be a reason why Brand the the Executive Committee chose the risky path they did. Remember, too, that back in August when the NCAA issued this policy, it encouraged its members to adopt the "enlightened" policies of Iowa and Wisconsin and not schedule games with schools that have "hostile and abusive" nicknames, mascots and logos. I haven't heard of a single college doing this. It might be that the nickname issue has a lot of traction with card-carrying ultra-liberals in academia, but very little traction beyond that. If that's the case, the issue once again comes down to the minority of a minority dictating to the majority. Same song. Different verse.

I'm astounded that the NCAA each year gives a major award named after a man who in 1886 gave a speech in which he was quoted as saying: Based on this fact, I'd think that the NCAA would have no problem with UND changing its name to Roughriders.

From The American Thinker: The Fighting Sioux Strike Back

Maybe you should try reading the thread or the news stories related to the the topic before posting. There will be no decision by the NCAA until April 27. In effect, UND and the other 15 schools are exempt from the nickname policy for the remainder of the school year.

I wasn't able to get all the information I needed or talk to everyone I wanted to today, so I might not get it done until the weekend. I'll see how things go on Friday.

I could send you the link via mental telepathy if you prefer.

I'm working on an updated story on this issue for USCHO. I'll post a link to it here when it's done. I hope that will be later tonight. I will say that this latest response from UND is far more legalistic. The case law is very well researched in the areas of anti-trust law and in defining what legally constitutes "hostile and abusive" behavior. Although I have not seen the memo that the NCAA Staff Committee sent to UND, it appears that the definition for "hostile and abusive" was suddenly switched from one based on case law to the dictionary definition. How convenient. The NCAA also apparently included some psychological research on the use of American Indian nicknames and logos in its latest rationale for denying UND's appeal. UND's response pretty much rips that research to shreds. It also questions why the NCAA selectively chose to apply that research to UND, but not Florida State, which does far more to perpetuate American Indian stereotypes than UND. EDIT: I should also add that the latest response spells out in detail how the NCAA Executive Committee is violating the organization's own constitution and attempts to circumvent the constitution by labeling its action as "policy" rather than "legislation." Fortunately, the NCAA's constitution spells out the Executive Committee's narrow responsibilities, which don't include enacting policy. This is the concluding summary from UND's latest response to the NCAA:

I've now read UND's response to the NCAA staff committee memo. While the NCAA was pickin', UND was kickin'.

For some reason, I didn't notice this quote in the Herald's story last night: That must be what Franklin is referring to. From the sounds of it, the NCAA was ready to deny UND's second appeal.

I agree. I think someone with solid legal credentials who was more objective than the NCAA's in-house experts read UND's appeal and told Myles Brand and the Executive Committee that they better think very carefully about what they're doing.

In effect, the NCAA has exempted UND for the remainder of the school year. That's quite a change from "effective at the beginning of the school year" to "effective at the middle of the school year" to "not effective this school year." It might serve to deflate the public uproar, but I doubt that it will change UND's plans which, at the point the NCAA denies the appeal, will leave the realm of public opinion and move into the legal phase. It wasn't long ago that this was being portrayed as a "slam dunk" for the NCAA. Remember all those "legal experts" who said UND had no chance in challenging the NCAA? If the all-mighty NCAA is on such solid legal ground, why doesn't it just go ahead and bring the hammer down now? I think there's more going on here than meets the eye.

The restrictions on uniforms at NCAA-sponsored events went into effect immediately last Aug. 5. The restrictions on hosting those events didn't go into effect until Feb. 1.

Lefty, I think you're confusing the Standing Rock tribe with the Spirit Lake tribe. The Standing Rock Tribal Council has passed a resolution against UND's use of the Sioux nickname and logo. The Spirit Lake Tribal Council has not. The last official resolution on the issue passed by the Spirit Lake Tribal Council was not to oppose UND.

Quote from the Herald's story: The NCAA has had UND's second appeal since early November. Why is the information in it suddenly characterized as "new"? This quote from Phil Harmeson is also interesting:

The ban on athletic team uniforms bearing logos and nicknames deemed "hostile and abusive" by the NCAA went into effect immediately on Aug. 5, 2005.

Here's what I posted on USCHO's Cafe Forum: First, the NCAA said that no school with "hostile and abusive" Indian-related nicknames, mascots or logos would be allowed to use them during tournament events sponsored by the organization -- even if they had the support of a namesake tribe. Oops. We know how long that high and mighty position lasted lasted. A loophole was created out of thin air for Florida State, Central Michigan and Utah. Next, the University of North Dakota was told that it would have to cover up all Fighting Sioux references and logos to host the 2006 NCAA West Regionals at Ralph Engelstad Arena. Oops. UND won that on appeal. Next, when UND's cross country, soccer and football teams made the NCAA playoffs in the fall, the university challenged the organization's policy that would have prevented Sioux teams from wearing their normal uniforms during the playoffs. Oops. The NCAA backed off and said that policy wouldn't go into effect until Feb. 1, 2006. Next, the NCAA scrapped its three-step appeals process and decided that its Executive Committee, which meets next week, would rule on UND's second appeal. (This is like appealing your speeding ticket to the cop who issued you the ticket.) Oops. The NCAA now says that it won't rule on UND's second appeal until April 27. According to the AP story posted on ESPN.com, "...UND officials said the school is exempt from the rule until the NCAA hears its second appeal." This means that UND's athletic teams are free to retain and use the Fighting Sioux nickname and logo through the hockey and basketball seasons. Every time UND pushes, the NCAA backs off. I wonder why.

That's the way I read it. Or you could say that Myles Brand blinked.

A most interesting development as reported on ESPN.com:

I regret to inform everyone that there are no hockey coaches on the Fighting Sioux Coaches' Show tonight. The team has already left for Anchorage.

From OCALA.com: NCAA needs a timeout By George Will

Great win! Nice revenge for last year's loss! USA! USA! USA! USA!