Biggest drawback for each remaining name (final 15)

[scpa0305]

Thanks makes two of us... It's the offseason.

I'd use passive aggressive.

Blizzard and ice is basically equal or worse than sundogs, thunderhawks, force.

Haha I disagree. Again I was simply spitting out a few nicknames. Sun dogs? Are you kidding me?

I liked your Nordic Stars idea...not sure what it is but it has a decent ring to it. Or some other form of stars.

[scpa0305]

Minnesotans will have a hay day with the that name.

Honesty who cares...we don't even play against them. They chose to not bring the nickname back. But again I like that other guys idea about Nordic stars or some other form of stars.

[UND-RedSox fan]

I don't understand why North Stars is so much more popular than Sundogs. One's a ball of gas billions of miles away and the other is the reflection of light against ice. Neither one seems very inspiring or intimidating to me.

 

I can't think of a reason someone would like North Stars as a nickname other than they liked the Minnesota North Stars or they just think it sounds cool. If they think it sounds cool, then say North Dakota North Stars out loud 10 times. You'll never want to hear the word north again.

[NoiseInsideMyHead]

One's a ball of gas...

 

It would indeed be an honor to have the University recognize this forum in such a significant way.

[FightingSioux87]

I don't understand why North Stars is so much more popular than Sundogs. One's a ball of gas billions of miles away and the other is the reflection of light against ice. Neither one seems very inspiring or intimidating to me.

I can't think of a reason someone would like North Stars as a nickname other than they liked the Minnesota North Stars or they just think it sounds cool. If they think it sounds cool, then say North Dakota North Stars out loud 10 times. You'll never want to hear the word north again.

There's so much more than that...all of you who's only argument against the North Stars, because of a Minnesota connection, are closed minded. It would have nothing to do with Minnesota or their retired hockey nickname. It has everything to do with North Dakota as a state. We are one of the most northern of states, we are one of the leaders in oil production, low unemployment, agriculture, one of the most northern Universities etc.. We are the North Stars in many ways. Why is everyone so biased and negative to all of these suggestions when you all know we have to change and there is no going back. If you believe we should be something other than what is suggested by the committee than write the Herald and really get your opinion heard. I will always be a Fighting Sioux supporter/fan forever but the nickname needs to be changed.

[Hayduke]

There's so much more than that...all of you who's only argument against the North Stars, because of a Minnesota connection, are closed minded. It would have nothing to do with Minnesota or their retired hockey nickname. It has everything to do with North Dakota as a state. We are one of the most northern of states, we are one of the leaders in oil production, low unemployment, agriculture, one of the most northern Universities etc.. We are the North Stars in many ways. Why is everyone so biased and negative to all of these suggestions when you all know we have to change and there is no going back. If you believe we should be something other than what is suggested by the committee than write the Herald and really get your opinion heard. I will always be a Fighting Sioux supporter/fan forever but the nickname needs to be changed.

Minnesota is called the North Star state.

We aren't.

But we are called thr Roughrider state.

I don't dislike the Noth Star idea on it's name alone, only because the context does not fit.

[Unknown Siouxldier]

Cavalry meets all the criteria.

[dmksioux]

There's so much more than that...all of you who's only argument against the North Stars, because of a Minnesota connection, are closed minded. It would have nothing to do with Minnesota or their retired hockey nickname. It has everything to do with North Dakota as a state. We are one of the most northern of states, we are one of the leaders in oil production, low unemployment, agriculture, one of the most northern Universities etc.. We are the North Stars in many ways. Why is everyone so biased and negative to all of these suggestions when you all know we have to change and there is no going back. If you believe we should be something other than what is suggested by the committee than write the Herald and really get your opinion heard. I will always be a Fighting Sioux supporter/fan forever but the nickname needs to be changed.

I'm not against North Stars because of the Minnesota North Stars hockey team. I'm against it because Minnesota is the North Star state, it's on their flag and in their state motto. Also, I don't think it is very marketable...what type of a mascot would we have?

[Siouxphan27]

Minnesota is called the North Star state.

We aren't.

But we are called thr Roughrider state.

I don't dislike the Noth Star idea on it's name alone, only because the context does not fit.

Interesting side note.... There are just many North Stars (just one), as there were Roughriders who were from North Dakota that went to battle with Teddy Roosevelt in Cuba. (Just one- Jesse Langdon)

If Roughriders is chosen, it would be a nice tribute to that "northern star" of the Roughriders Jesse Langdon, the son of the head veterinarian at ndsu in the 1890's.

Or maybe Cavalry makes more sense....

[dmksioux]

Interesting side note.... There are just many North Stars (just one), as there were Roughriders who were from North Dakota that went to battle with Teddy Roosevelt in Cuba. (Just one- Jesse Langdon)

If Roughriders is chosen, it would be a nice tribute to that "northern star" of the Roughriders Jesse Langdon, the son of the head veterinarian at ndsu in the 1890's.

Or maybe Cavalry makes more sense....

Another interesting side note...

Definition of Roughriders:

n. noun

1. A skilled rider of little-trained horses, especially one who breaks horses for riding.

2. A member of the First US Volunteer Cavalry regiment under Theodore Roosevelt in the Spanish-American War.

The first definition has little to do with Teddy. Given the Native Americans history with the Cavalry. I can't believe it's still under consideration...it is my second choice however.

[UND-RedSox fan]

I'm not against North Stars because of the Minnesota Notth Stars hockey team. I'm against it because Minnesota is the North Star state, it's on their flag and in their state motto. Also, I don't think it is very marketable...what type of a mascot would we have?

I completely agree with you. How is North Stars any more marketable than Sundogs, Spirit, Force, or Fighting Green? Its still better than those names but still belongs in the same category as them. Personally I think the best nicknames are people or animals.

 

The committee could have selected any animal that is associated with North Dakota instead they selected a hawk. I've seen more crows (or are they ravens?) in Grand Forks than anywhere else. We could have chosen some sort of lesser used name like a fish (northern pike), bird (mallards, crows/ravens, pheasant, meadowlarks, owls), deer or moose (mulies, bucks), predator (foxes, wolves, mountain lions, coyotes), rodent (flicker tail), or horse (nokota) that are native to the state. I know a lot of schools use wolves and South Dakota uses coyotes so those would have probably not been too great. I'm sure some school somewhere uses the other animals I listed but not many and definitely not as much as hawks. We could have came up with a good animal nickname but instead we chose the same animal every university chose along with an adjective that doesn't make sense for hawks all because some outside advisor told the committee that we should do the same thing as everyone else.

 

As far as the people based nicknames go, I could live with any of them. They are all associated with the state in some way (state nickname, Lewis and Clark expedition, military history, and Nodaks). They are all unique. They have potential for cool logos and easy marketing (Nodaks may be more difficult than the others but smarter people than I would figure it out). They all have their drawbacks, but I think people would grow to like any of them which is something I don't think you could say about the adjective hawks or WNBA names.

 

If the committee wanted to give us an inanimate object nickname, they could have selected one of many categories that are actually associated with North Dakota. They could have chosen agriculture (reapers, sodbusters, etc.), aviation (jets, aviators, etc.), or oil industry (oilers, roughnecks, etc.). They could have chosen something to do with the badlands or prairie. Arrows are on the state flag. I was always partial to that name but what can you do when some moron decides that only Natives used arrows. Instead they chose an inanimate associated completely with Minnesota or else associated with nowhere (Blaze and Sundogs).

 

As far as intangible nicknames go, those should be left to the WNBA. I've never met a person that could even stomach a name like pride, spirit, or force. And of course fighting green is two adjectives describing nothing resulting in what would definitely be considered the dumbest nickname of any team, anywhere, in the history of the known universe.

 

To summarize my rant, UND could have came up with a lot of decent nicknames that could have grown on people that have an open mind (so ignoring the Fighting Sioux forever cabal). Instead the committee did a terrible job and came up with no nickname (which I hated until I saw the list), 6 nicknames that everyone hates, 3 bland and nonsensical animal nicknames, and an inanimate nickname strongly associated with another state. This results in only 4 nicknames that could meet the requirement of being unique and realistically grow on people out of the plethora of possibilities. Going 4 for 15 isn't even good in baseball, let alone this. I am extremely disappointed in the committee and the university.

[Siouxphan27]

I completely agree with you. How is North Stars any more marketable than Sundogs, Spirit, Force, or Fighting Green? Its still better than those names but still belongs in the same category as them. Personally I think the best nicknames are people or animals.

The committee could have selected any animal that is associated with North Dakota instead they selected a hawk. I've seen more crows (or are they ravens?) in Grand Forks than anywhere else. We could have chosen some sort of lesser used name like a fish (northern pike), bird (mallards, crows/ravens, pheasant, meadowlarks, owls), deer or moose (mulies, bucks), predator (foxes, wolves, mountain lions, coyotes), rodent (flicker tail), or horse (nokota) that are native to the state. I know a lot of schools use wolves and South Dakota uses coyotes so those would have probably not been too great. I'm sure some school somewhere uses the other animals I listed but not many and definitely not as much as hawks. We could have came up with a good animal nickname but instead we chose the same animal every university chose along with an adjective that doesn't make sense for hawks all because some outside advisor told the committee that we should do the same thing as everyone else.

As far as the people based nicknames go, I could live with any of them. They are all associated with the state in some way (state nickname, Lewis and Clark expedition, military history, and Nodaks). They are all unique. They have potential for cool logos and easy marketing (Nodaks may be more difficult than the other but smarter people than me would figure it out). They all have their drawbacks, but I think people would grow to like any of them which is something I don't think you could say about the adjective hawks or WNBA names.

If the committee wanted to give us an inanimate object nickname, they could have selected one of many categories that are actually associated with North Dakota. They could have chosen agriculture (reapers, sodbusters, etc.), aviation (jets, aviators, etc.), or oil industry (oilers, roughnecks, etc.). They could have chosen something to do with the badlands or prairie. Arrows are on the state flag. I was always partial to that name but what can you do when some moron decides that only Natives used arrows. Instead they chose an inanimate associated completely with Minnesota or else associated with nowhere (Blaze and Sundogs).

As far as intangible nicknames go, those should be left to the WNBA. I've never met a person that could even stomach a name like pride, spirit, or force. And of course fighting green is two adjectives describing nothing resulting in what would definitely be considered the dumbest nickname of any team, anywhere, in the history of the known universe.

To summarize my rant, UND could have came up with a lot of decent nicknames that could have grown on people that have an open mind (so ignoring the Fighting Sioux forever cabal). Instead the committee did a terrible job and came up with no nickname (which I hated until I saw the list), 6 nicknames that everyone hates, 3 bland and nonsensical animal nicknames, and an inanimate nickname strongly associated with another state. This results in only 4 nicknames that could meet the requirement of being unique and realistically grow on people out of the plethora of possibilities. Going 4 for 15 isn't even good in baseball, let alone this. I am extremely disappointed in the committee and the university.

Nice post.

I am also disappointed in the job the committee with "expert" help did in narrowing the list. They could've just asked a flaming gay guy with a bird fetish and came up with this exact same top 15.

Disclaimer:

(Nothing against flaming, gays, guys, birds, or fetishes)

[82SiouxGuy]

And of course fighting green is two adjectives describing nothing resulting in what would definitely be considered the dumbest nickname of any team, anywhere, in the history of the known universe.

Somehow dumber than any of these?

 

Milliken University Big Blue, Wellesley College Blue, Bluefield State College Big Blues & Lady Blues, Illinois State College Lady Blues, University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Blugolds, Stanford University Cardinal, Harvard University Crimson, Dartmouth College Big Green, University of North Texas Mean Green, Syracuse University Orange, Cornell University Big Red, Denison University Big Red

Or maybe you were just stretching things a little?  How about Green and White, the other name used now by people like the Grand Forks Herald?  Somehow Fighting Green is that much worse than Green and White?

[UND-RedSox fan]

Somehow dumber than any of these?

Or maybe you were just stretching things a little?  How about Green and White, the other name used now by people like the Grand Forks Herald?  Somehow Fighting Green is that much worse than Green and White?

I was using hyperbole which is the case just about any time something is described as the worst thing ever. I tend to do that every now and then. I would say out of that list fighting green would fit in with big red, big green, big blues, and mean green. Those names are worse than crimson, cardinal, blue, or orange in my opinion, which is the group I would consider green and white to be in. The latter group is worse than any other sort of nickname. I would rather have a WNBA name, soccer name, or something stupid like turd sandwiches or giant douches than a simple color.

 

So I guess as a general thought (putting my ESPN analyst hot sports take hat on) nicknaming YOUR TEAM after a COLOR or even worse using an adjective to DESCRIBE THAT COLOR is worse than AIDS! It is worse than slavery! It is worse than the crown prince of darkness himself, SATAN!!!!

[82SiouxGuy]

I was using hyperbole which is the case just about any time something is described as the worst thing ever. I tend to do that every now and then. I would say out of that list fighting green would fit in with big red, big green, big blues, and mean green. Those names are worse than crimson, cardinal, blue, or orange in my opinion, which is the group I would consider green and white to be in. The latter group is worse than any other sort of nickname. I would rather have a WNBA name, soccer name, or something stupid like turd sandwiches or giant douches than a simple color.

 

So I guess as a general thought (putting my ESPN analyst hot sports take hat on) nicknaming YOUR TEAM after a COLOR or even worse using an adjective to DESCRIBE THAT COLOR is worse than AIDS! It is worse than slavery! It is worse than the crown prince of darkness himself, SATAN!!!!

I know what your point was.  But I don't think that throwing out those extremes helps the discussion at all.  In most cases it just polarizes people.  I could probably find a group of people that would use the same description (worst ever) for every nickname on the list, and every nickname that exists in the world.  They can't all be the worst and describing them as the worst isn't helpful in trying to pick out one that will work.  That was my point.

[UND-RedSox fan]

I know what your point was.  But I don't think that throwing out those extremes helps the discussion at all.  In most cases it just polarizes people.  I could probably find a group of people that would use the same description (worst ever) for every nickname on the list, and every nickname that exists in the world.  They can't all be the worst and describing them as the worst isn't helpful in trying to pick out one that will work.  That was my point.

Yeah, I have a problem with exaggerating. My dad has told me a million times to stop   I tend to slip into hyperbole even though I know it is pointless. Can't help myself. Fighting Green didn't really fit into the four categories of nicknames that I was thinking of (animals, people, inanimate, intangible) and ended up with one exaggerated sentence in that rambling essay of a post. I could have stated it another way and probably should have, but I was just finding a way to dismiss the name since every poll and most posts on the matter have shown that we can. The main discussion points of that post still stand...

• Animals: can result in a good nickname as long as it is unique and associated with the state. There are hawks in North Dakota but using a common name and throwing a random adjective in front does not make a name unique
• People: the one category I feel the committee would get a passing grade on. I'm sure there are better nicknames in some minds but they were able to find multiple unique and North Dakota related names.
• Inanimate: the names they have are definitely unique but I don't see any association with North Dakota. Worse yet one is strongly associated with Minnesota.
• Intangible: These sort of names, I feel, are best left for the WNBA. 
• Colors: let the newspaper use them if they want so that they aren't using the same words over and over. Fans use them even if its not the team nickname ("let's go blue" "go big green" etc.) so it seems pointless to adopt it as a name.
• The committee has done an embarrassing job

[Oxbow6]

Yeah, I have a problem with exaggerating. My dad has told me a million times to stop I tend to slip into hyperbole even though I know it is pointless. Can't help myself. Fighting Green didn't really fit into the four categories of nicknames that I was thinking of (animals, people, inanimate, intangible) and ended up with one exaggerated sentence in that rambling essay of a post. I could have stated it another way and probably should have, but I was just finding a way to dismiss the name since every poll and most posts on the matter have shown that we can. The main discussion points of that post still stand...

• Animals: can result in a good nickname as long as it is unique and associated with the state. There are hawks in North Dakota but using a common name and throwing a random adjective in front does not make a name unique
• People: the one category I feel the committee would get a passing grade on. I'm sure there are better nicknames in some minds but they were able to find multiple unique and North Dakota related names.
• Inanimate: the names they have are definitely unique but I don't see any association with North Dakota. Worse yet one is strongly associated with Minnesota.
• Intangible: These sort of names, I feel, are best left for the WNBA.
• Colors: let the newspaper use them if they want so that they aren't using the same words over and over. Fans use them even if its not the team nickname ("let's go blue" "go big green" etc.) so it seems pointless to adopt it as a name.
• The committee has done an embarrassing job

To your last bullet point........this is not even up for discussion. Complete disaster.

[GeauxSioux]

 

Cavalry - Could be worse, but as mentioned people will mispronounce and misspell it

 Same could be said for Sioux.  Souix,... Soiux...

[ibleedgreen]

To summarize the last dozen posts:

 

North Dakota -

not a new nickname (may lose on marketing and other reasons all schools have nicknames),

forces media to create de facto nicknames (go green!),

no closure (extends life of Fighting Sioux),

some worry that the previous may run afoul of the NCAA,

kicking the can down the road (will students who no longer care about Sioux demand a nickname in 5-10 years?)

What are the chances of UND regaining a relationship with the Standing Rock Indian Reservation in the next 5-10 years to a point where there is a chance of them giving UND the okay to use the Fighting Sioux nickname again?

[Siouxperfan7]

What are the chances of UND regaining a relationship with the Standing Rock Indian Reservation in the next 5-10 years to a point where there is a chance of them giving UND the okay to use the Fighting Sioux nickname again?

 

The potential for the NCAA to get rid of ALL native american nicknames regardless of tribal approval may still happen down the road.  UND does not want to go thru all of this again if that eventually happens.  Plus it is already to late to gain approval as the deadline on the settlement has already passed.  Of course, there are people that believe that what is written on a settlement doesn't really matter, so...

 

But to answer your question, the chances of that happening are about as good as one of gfhockey's GOBC statements about UND sports insider information actually being correct!!!

[The Sicatoka]

What are the chances of UND regaining a relationship with the Standing Rock Indian Reservation in the next 5-10 years to a point where there is a chance of them giving UND the okay to use the Fighting Sioux nickname again?

 

Do you really want to be subject to the continual winds of change in tribal governments? 

 

We were chucked under the bus by tribal governments already. Why continue to give them the power. 

[skateshattrick]

Do you really want to be subject to the continual winds of change in tribal governments? 

 

We were chucked under the bus by tribal governments already. Why continue to give them the power. 

Great post. I remember visiting with Pat Morley, who represented REA, at the time of the lawsuit against the NCAA. He was of the opinion that if they wanted to be the Chippewas,  the tribal government would have allowed it at that time. When I asked why they would not consider it, he told me that they wouldn't do that because it could change as quickly as the tribal government changed. That is precisely what has already happened.