PCM

But we don't know that yet. Was the SBoHE chair expressing the opinion of the majority of board members or her own opinon? Hard to say.

The Forum poll showed that there is strong support statewide for UND to keep the Fighting Sioux nickname. Does this mean that taxpayers will support state funds being used in a lawsuit against the NCAA? Maybe. Maybe not. Who knows? If the State Board of Higher Education returns to Kupchella the authority to make the decision on whether UND's nickname stays or goes, then it's UND vs. the NCAA. There would be no reason for state involvement. However, if the SBoHE continues to mandate that UND keep the name, then the NCAA is punishing UND and its athletes for a state government decision over which the university has no control. The state might want to ask a court if it's fair for the NCAA to punish UND for a state government decision. The state might want to ask a court if the NCAA has any business trying to dictate policy to a state insitution, especially when the NCAA's own constitution prohibits it from doing so. I'm not saying that any of this will happen. I'm simply speculating on possible scenarios. The lawyers and political leaders will ultimately decide whether it's worth the time and the money.

Show me where I said it was.

Read the thread. I'm not going to keep repeating what I've already written.

I never advocated that the state give UND money to sue the NCAA. I said that the state might have good reason to join in a potential lawsuit against the NCAA.

Sept. 11, 2005 From the Fargo Forum: [url="http://www.in-forum.com/articles/index.cfm?id=102569

WDAZ had a good story about Bennett Brien on its Sunday news at 10 p.m. It mentioned that his wife is Sioux. He is very proud of the logo and doesn't understand why anyone would be offended by it. He said that anyone who's against the logo should visit a reservation and see what the real problems are. He also said that if UND drops the Sioux name, he thinks there' be a lot of support for switching to the Fighting Chippewa.

After this season, the logos and Fighting Sioux references in the REA are a moot point for hockey. This is the last season that the NCAA will allow a playoff team to play on its home ice. But if the Ralph ever wanted to host another NCAA basketball tournament, it'd be out of luck because of the Sioux name and logos.

What's in the Alerus doesn't matter this football season because the rule affecting playoff locations doesn't go into effect until Feb. 1, 2006. The rule on wearing "hostile and abusive" names and logos on uniforms went into effect on Aug. 5. That's why the Sioux could host playoff games at the Alerus this season, but they'd have to cover the small badge logo on the front of their jerseys.

Based on a suggestion by bincitysioux here, I've decided that "Troopers" might stand a better chance of being accepted than "Cavalry" as the new nickname for UND's teams. We could use these uniforms and still use dakotadan's excellent ideas. Home uniforms Road uniforms

Troopers? I like it! Except the NCAA would still consider anything with an American Indian symbol in it to be "hostile and abusive." A troop is part of the organizational structure of a cavalry unit. The term has been in use for centuries. The individual members of a cavalry unit and called "troopers," but state police, as you've noted, are also known as troopers. So why not the University of North Dakota Fighting Troopers? Home football uniform Road football uniform It's just a coincidence that the uniforms happen to look like this:

I don't think that had anything to do with it. As I recall, the NCAA decided to move away from having playoff games on home ice before this past season.

True, but it sounds as if she might be willing to revisit that decision and put it back in Kupchella's hands. However, that part of the article was so poorly written that I'm not sure exactly how to interpret her comments.

So this would be the new team mascot?

Below is the NCAA policy as stated on Aug. 5. If nothing changes, here's how it will affect UND (and please correct me if I'm wrong). From Aug. 5 on, any UND team participating in an NCAA playoff event will be required to cover up Sioux references and images on its uniforms. This means, for example, that if the football team makes the playoffs this season, it will be required to cover the Sioux logo badge on the front of its jerseys. That's not a big deal at this point. After Feb. 1, 2006, UND will be prohibited from hosting any NCAA playoff games. This is not really a problem for hockey because after 2006, the NCAA won't allow regional playoffs on a team's home ice. It will, however, be a big problem for football because the home-field advantage has worked in UND's favor. I'm not sure how it would affect other sports such as basketball, soccer and volleyball. Perhaps someone familiar with the playoff systems for those sports can fill us in. All Fighting Sioux references in Engelstad Arena must be covered when UND hosts the NCAA west regional playoffs March 24-25. Because UND was awarded the contract for this event before the policy went into effect, the NCAA will allow it to happen. But if UND makes the playoffs and the NCAA is allowed to unilaterally change the contract and enforce its policy, the Sioux hockey team won't be allowed to wear its normal uniforms and all Sioux logos and references in the arena will have to be covered. After Aug. 2, 2008, UND's cheerleaders, dance teams and band will not be allowed to wear clothing with Fighting Sioux references at NCAA playoff events.

I think that you're probably right.

And you still have the best avatar on the board.

Another question the State of North Dakota might want to ask the NCAA is how it can penalize UND's athletic teams in playoff competition for a decision that UND did not make and has no authority to change?

No. I feel embarrassed having asked.

You know what the best part is? The color of the stripes is "Vegas Gold."