PCM

You don't know until you try. Apparently many here don't even want to try. So who are the real quitters?

What part of "change in public policy" don't you understand? That change obviously wasn't Stenehjem's call to make.

That's where your angst is misdirected. You are giving up by assuming that the name is gone. I am not making any such assumption.

So go on the campaign trail to vote out Hoeven, Stenehjem and any legislative leaders who agreed with their decision to change public policy toward UND's nickname issue. We all know that the lack of support from North Dakota's congressional delegation hasn't hurt Conrad, Dorgan and Pomeroy one bit. To think that the majority of voters in the state are going punish the current elected leaderhship of state government because of this settlement isn't dealing with reality.

I'm well aware of that, but that's not the same thing as polling the general public on whether the settlement with the NCAA is good, bad or somewhere in between. A non-scientific poll of people who frequent this site -- that vast majority of whom strongly favor keeping the name -- doesn't really tell us anything we didn't already know. This statment Friday by Chancellor Bill Goetz is important to understand:

Again, we didn't get nothing. But I guess we'll have to agree to diagree on that point.

I'm guessing that the results of a statewide, scientific survey would look far different.

Opinions aren't facts.

We could keep our colors and still be the Raging Reds, which sympbolizes UND's historical, geographical and geological roots. This nickname has to do with UND being located at the confluence of the Red and Red Lake rivers, which have a tendency to go on the rampage from time to time. The rivers aren't really red, anyway. So we could use the rivers' names as part of the nickname and keep using the same colors. The great thing about this nickname is that it would continue to drive the PC zealots nuts. All we need to do is tell those who protest that they're hopelessly ignorant about our culture and past.

We did fight. We fought harder than any of the other 18 schools on the NCAA's list. Other than getting the exemption that five schools got, we got more than what any of the other 13 got. And if any of the tribes supporting the five with exemptions change their minds (and it's just a matter of time until some do), UND will have a better deal than any of them. If we would have continued the court fight and lost, we likely would've spent millions with absolutely nothing to show for it. And that's not even taking into account the possiblity that the NCAA could amend its bylaws and make a legal victory a moot point.

Sugar is bad for you. Plus, the word "beets" implies that we're in favor of violence. RAGING REDS Now there's a good replacement name.

Wow! That's nuts!

If I didn't have 12,000+ posts, they'd ignore me.

I can visualize it. I just can't see most people going for it.

Nice win for the Sioux! It makes a big difference when you can force the Huskies to play from behind.

VandeVelde

Now we're playing Fighting Sioux hockey!

I'd like to see the Sioux get two or three goals in the first period to force the Huskies to open up and play our style of hockey.

We're in total agreement on that point. I meant moving on to use the time that we've gained to our best advantage. At this point, I am not conceding anything.

Overwhelming support to have no name? Sorry, but I don't see that happening.

Assuming that we can't come to some type of agreement with the tribes is what's giving it away. You're the one doing that, not me.

I don't understand why this makes anyone angry. Do you think it's a realistic possibility that UND would adopt no nickname? I don't.

And if we had and won, then what? We'd be in court again fighting an NCAA appeal. All it would have done is bought us some more time, which is exactly what we have right now without the time and expense of a protracted legal battle. We didn't cave into the NCAA. We won concessions from them. Your characterization that we caved is what's ridiculous. If you think that an attorney general who got a higher percentage of the popular vote than Kent Conrad is going to be voted out of office over this settlement, you are delusional.

The NCAA's position is that if they don't receive specific complaints from specific tribes about specific tribal names being used, then they don't make any effort to find out whether or not other tribes in the state object. Now, I think this is a BS approach that's used because it conveniently works out to the NCAA's advantage, but I don't really see a different standard being applied to UND. In UND's case, we have one tribe in the state that's officially on record as objecting to the Fighting Sioux nickname and another tribe that either supports, objects to or doesn't give a damn about the nickname, depending on which way the wind's blowing. Keep in mind that part of the Sisseton-Wahpeton reservation is in North Dakota, so we're probably fortunate that the NCAA didn't require us to get that tribe's permission, too. We've got three years without NCAA interference to work out something with the tribes. From the time the NCAA implemented the policy until the three years gained from the settlement, we will have had more than five years to attempt to gain tribal support. At what point do we decide that we've spent enough time, money and effort to fight the NCAA and work out a compromise with the tribes? That's a political decision. Our elected leaders have bought UND another three years. It's up to us to decide what to do with that time. Look at where we started. The NCAA originally said that UND not only had to stop using the Fighting Sioux nickname and logo, it also had to cover up all the names and logos in REA if it was to host the west regionals. We beat the NCAA on that score. UND was the only school that pushed the NCAA's so-called appeals process to the limit. It was the only school that took the NCAA to court. In spite of some legal experts saying that UND had no chance, it won a preliminary injunction for the better part of a year that enabled us to continue to use the name and host playoff games. And even though we were repeatedly told we couldn't win in court, we extracted concessions from the NCAA that no other school received or is ever likely to receive. To portray this settlement as UND caving into the NCAA is patently ridiculous. At some point, we need to admit that we've done as much as it makes sense to do and move on.

What, exactly, is Spirit Lake's position? Is it the last official action its tribal council took, which appears to support UND, or is it Pearson's interpretation of what the resolution means, which is neither yea or nea?