I’m behind the NCAA all the way in its efforts to make collegiate athletic teams across the land politically correct. I mean, “The Fighting Sioux” ... how demeaning is that!

On the other hand, I’m not sure why the Fighting Irish have been exempted from the NCAA crusade. Perhaps the NCAA’s authority, while it apparently includes defense of the Sioux, Huron, Chippewa, Seminole, Miami, Utah (oh, the list is just too long) nations, does not include defense of a foreign land.

Like I said, I’m 100% behind the NCAA’s political correctness crusade, but more than a few of my cousins – all members of the O’Hoyer clan – are really upset about the fact that their native Ireland has been demeaned by the University of Notre Dame and that stupid little leprechaun that only calls attention to our ignorance and superstition ... and at a time when our native land’s commitment to education and intelligent development far exceeds that of the United States.

Furthermore, many of my cousins live in the Southern Appalachians, and they are doubly insulted by West Virginia University’s mascot, a buckskin-clad Mountaineer, wearing a coonskin cap and carrying a long rifle. I have heard that the WVU football coaches show Deliverance to the football team the night before game day. Talk about demeaning.

By the way, no fewer than twenty-six states of the United States have names with roots in“ one of our many Indian” vocabularies ... and Oklahoma is apparently a Choctaw word meaning red people. In fact, “Oklahoma” is just a trifle less insulting than “Redskins.”

I admire the NCAA’s courage. Perhaps it’s time for Myles Brand to disallow teams like the Washington Redskins, Kansas City Chiefs, Atlanta Braces, etc. from having access to NCAA athletes prior to their graduation from college.

RWH, at 4:27 pm EDT on September 21, 2005

Ouch. My friend Tom is right. Satire is dead because modern Americans neither recognize it nor understand it.

RWH

RWH, at 8:39 am EDT on September 22, 2005

Ethnic mascots

Why is the ban applicable only to Native American mascots? Notre Dame has a stereotypical pugnacious Irishman, wearing vulgarly sterotyped “leprechaun” clothing, putting up his dukes as one of the “Fighting Irish.” Excuse me? Are we Irish Americans so used to being made to feel inferior and to keep it to ourselves that we no longer feel shame at the sight of such despicable images? What if a university called itself the Le Jeune University Frogs? The MacIntyre University Micks? The The Di Matteo Greaseballs? The Buchanan Tightfists? These sound absurd, of course, but isn’t it just because they are novel and we haven’t habituated to themyet?

Tina Bennett, Dr. at Wichita State U, at 8:46 pm EDT on September 27, 2005

Notre Dame Fightin Irish

Do not get insulted over Notre Dame’s sports nickname “Fightin Irish". There is a strong & proud reason for that name which goes way past the football field, and right to the heart of why Notre Dame was built..discrimination of Irish/American Catholics in Ivy League schools! They created an institution that to this day is still hated/envy’d because of origins. In truth, the name “Fightin Irish” is a testament to the people who stared adversity in the eye and beat it down with a stick.

Drchugs, Dr., at 2:27 pm EDT on October 24, 2005

the real meaning of illinois

all of you people who think having an indian name is disrespectful and abusive, you’re dead wrong. What does Illiois mean? It means “Tribe of Superior Men.” and the mascot of Illinois is Chief Illiniwek. Illiniwek means “Superior Man". What the University of Illinois Fightin Illini means is just what the meaning of the names say. All Illinois is a french adaption to the name illiniwek. If the state was called illiniwek, would we still have this mascot and indian name problem?? i dont think so. why U of I chose the Fightin Illini name?? They probably chose it because of the rich heritage of the Illiniwek Indians. Remember that Illiniwek means “Superior Man” therefore its not abusing or discriminating against native americans. think about that before you try to decide if all the names used by schools are being wrongfully used.think about the real meanings. btw, if u want to get on colleges and universities about the names and all, what about high schools and all the others who use it.

Mario, Illinois Fightin Illini, at 4:35 am EDT on June 5, 2006