Siouxphan27

LOL. UND Ostriches for the compromise?

Not a bad idea. It definitely would help make the name less of a mouthful.

Ok, i'll give the negatives idea a try.... Blaze- UND Blaze? Blaze of what? what is a blaze? just dumb... Cavalry - no negatives here- there were Cavalry in ND, so it is historically relevant. Explorers - not a bad choice given the crappy list- but not real catchy. Explorers Yeah Yeah! Yeah Explorers Explorers! ? Fighting Green- not a thing is it's biggest negative. can't believe it made the list Fighting Hawks- not the worst since there's so few good ones. But i'm not a fan of all these dumb Big Bird type mascots. Force -what is this, Star Wars? Green Hawks - again not a fan of Big Bird mascots Nodaks - nothing wrong with this choice. it's been used before. North Dakota - Perfect. As the saying goes, if you can't say something that isn't lame, don't say anything at all. North Stars - Maybe we could hire Oliver North to be the P.A. announcer while we're at it. Pride - When's the parade? Roughriders - not historically accurate as T.R.'s Roughriders were not from ND. But historical significance left this exercise 63 names ago. So not the worst Spirit - brought to you by Happy Harry's Sundogs -the mamby pamby rainbow connotation does not evoke any sense of power or competitiveness. Thunderhawks- How many Ornithologists are on this committee anyway?

Very, very well done.... and quite possibly sad but true. augh

I will go out on a limb and say this will not be open to everyone. Yes, it is being called a public vote. But I believe just saying "public" is becoming a little confusing.... being a public vote does not always mean everyone is eligible to vote. Just like a general election is a public vote, you still need to meet certain criteria to vote in your precinct for the people running in your district. The nickname vote will hopefully be handled similarly with a set of criteria that must be met to be eligible to vote. An email requesting a reply to the list of nickname finalists, sent to all current students and alumni would suffice in my opinion. If for some reason the university does not have someone's email address, that person is responsible for contacting the university, proving who they are, and registering their vote.

It's sure interesting reading all the differing opinions.... On one hand, if you prefer to go forward with no nickname, you are accused of holding UND back, as purported millions of nickname merchandise revenue will be left on the table, as people from all corners of the globe who had previously never heard of UND will suddenly purchase shirts that say UND Sundogs on them. Not to mention the loss of revenue from rich folks with no UND affiliation who might channel surf one evening and stumble upon a Traditional Circle of Sticks and see that Sundog logo and say to themselves, that nickname is cool! I gotta donate copious amounts of money to that school! And last but not least, when large research grants are being doled out to Universities, the deciding factor of who gets the grant and who doesn't, will inevitably come down to how cool the nicknames are of the top three finalist Universities. Yet some of the people accusing the no nickname crowd of holding UND back, are readily admitting they won't buy "Shiite" that "just says UND" on it. Interesting indeed.

Exactly. And also, people bought lifetime supplies of Sioux gear near the end, so it's understandable sales would be down.

If it were used to like that, it would be in reference to the state of North Dakota. Not the Dakota tribe. UNDs use of "we are North Dakota", irks some of the NDSU people. If we also said" we are Dakota", that would help tick off the South Dakota schools. It's a win-win for UND in both of the Dakotas

Don't have time to look, but I believe Slippery Rock uses Rock, and doesn't have another nickname.

I would've been ok with the UND Hunkpapas. Darnit, too late!

I guess I was just referencing his ability to play the race card and trump everyone else. He could just say staying without a nickname will be racist because people will then still use fighting Sioux.

You will need to talk to McDonald if you would like one person on the commitee to single handedly eliminate a choice; he's the only member who wields that much power. I think your assumption that people who want North Dakota are hockey only fans, is extremely inaccurate.

Very true. I would not be surprised if a similar problem with BRIDGES occurs for either Cavalry or Roughriders.

The first six I would like to see hacked from the list in no particular order: 1. Blaze a horse with a white blaze, or what is this describing exactly? 2. Fighting Green salad shooters? 3. Force what is a force? 4. North Stars Minnesota for one reason, and NORTH Dakota NORTH Stars is another 5. Pride all I got here is WTF 6. Spirit we got spirit, yes we do.... but we are not actually the spirits themselves. abstract concepts are poor choices for a name.

That's because it's really not about what is truly "offensive". Rather, it's about having more control of the process by being able to pick and choose which names related to NA culture they like (not offensive), and which names they don't like (offensive).

They spelled Blais wrong.

They're waiting for McDonald to tell them what the top ten are.

He has a neck tattoo... Who would've thunk it?

North Dakota Nobody's... or, NDN's for short. Oops, maybe not.

The guy would've been killed by ISIS long before the legal circus got underway..

The entire process has been and will continue to be corrupted. Which is all the more reason to stay North Dakota- no nickname needed.

The NA's already have a nickname committee member that is able to, and has already single handedly rejected name ideas that may carry a NA connotation. I'm surprised Old McDonald hasn't denounced no name and cavalry yet.

As do I- we just have vastly different opinions.

No- "Roughriders" weren't North Dakota, at all. But some on here have a hard time digesting actual facts, and prefer their imagination land version of historical events. I've heard the phrase We Are North Dakota.... But strangely enough I've never heard anyone yell We Are Teddy Roosevelt.

I find your arguments and constant campaigning for Roughriders tiresome as well. However, this is a discussion board for opinions is it not? Roughriders may be a popular saying in the western part of the state, but not in the east. As to your question, yes, I did grow up in North Dakota. My ancestors like i'm sure many others that post here walked across Wisconsin and Minnesota 136 years ago with an ox and cart and just the clothes on their back, and homesteaded in North Dakota. If the nickname is intended to honor anyone, why not the actual settlers that came here and carved out a life here? But yet the lame brain committee has struck down all names like Homesteaders, Settlers, Pioneers, (yes I've heard of Denver), as well as all Scandinavian related names. So we are left with Roughriders, which honors Teddy Roosevelt and something he did in another phase of his life. It just doesn't make any sense to me. Our ancestors spent the 1870s barely surviving a trek into the unknown wild prairies of Dakota Territory. Teddy Roosevelt spent the 1870s as a child of wealthy New Yorkers, vacationing with his family in Europe and Egypt. He later came here on a hunting trip, loved it, and plunked $14000 down on a ranch. He hired cowboys, and a crew to build him one of the finest homes in the area, and then galloped his way back to New York to finish his term. I guess I don't see him as one of us. Great President, yes. But not a North Dakotan.