You call this a Warpath?

The National Collegiate Athletic Association recently announced the ban, effective immediately, from the use by its "member institutions" of American Indian images deemed "hostile or abusive" from hosting post-season events or displaying such iconography during championship competition. It has identified 18 schools that allegedly use such derogatory imagery and it includes six Division I schools including a couple of biggies in Florida State and Illinois.

I was immediately reminded of the late Frank Zappa who once observed ( and when was the last time you saw Frank Zappa invoked in a piece about sports?) that they would never start World War III in Los Angeles because there's just too much real estate involved.

Let me state at the outset that I am a white male. As far as I can recall, I have had the privilege of knowing only one person of Native American descent. I know nothing about how the majority of Native Americans feels about the use of Native American iconography by sports and corporations. I believe that diversity is a good thing and that any practice that perpetuates hurtful stereotypes or causes needless offense is probably something that should be closely examined to see if the continued perpetuation of that practice causes more harm than good.

Having said that, the latest edict from the NCAA is nothing more than a cynical attempt to placate those advocacy groups that have called for the elimination of "ethnic identifiers" in sports iconography without actually doing anything about it. And if I were a Native American with an interest in the issue, I would be offended. Here's why.

The ban only applies to post-season tournaments. That way, Division I men's sports are pretty much off the hook. D-I football utilizes that marvel of fairness and reliability known as the Bowl Championship Series to decide its national championship. And of the 18 schools listed, Illinois and Utah are the only schools that have traditionally made repeat appearances in the NCAA basketball tournament. And since the revenue ( much of which is derived from the advertisement and sale of merchandise, some of it now bearing derogatory imagery) from D-I football and men's basketball is what feeds the bulldog over at the NCAA, I can see where the ivory tower types over at headquarters in Indianapolis must feel as if they have arrived at a particularly elegant resolution of this problem. As I said, D-I is off the hook. The new policy mainly comes down hard on little bitty schools that don't produce much revenue. World War III does not start in Los Angeles.

And here's where I might have my nose out of joint if I were a Native American. If the use of derogatory ethnic imagery is wrong why not ban it outright? Period. Across the board. Notre Dame's "Fighting Irish" on the one hand connotes spirit and scrappiness. On the other hand it perpetuates a stereotype of Irish people being argumentative and violent. Is this really an appreciably better image than the one used by SE Oklahoma State whose teams are the "Savages?"

OK. Bad example. "Savages" is a really terrible nickname.

But you get my larger point. If it's wrong it's wrong. And it is just as wrong for the Seminoles of Florida State (probably soon to be known as the "High-Pissed Seminoles") as it is for the "Flying Dutchmen" of D-III Hope College in Michigan.

But the NCAA would rather kick the hell out of the Chowhan Colleges in its ranks than take on
Notre Dame and Illinois in any fight that might appreciably hit those schools, the ones that feed the bulldog, in the wallet.

Evidently the use of "hostile and abusive" imagery is not sufficiently bad to warrant starting World War III in Los Angeles. Or South Bend either.

And if I were a Native American, it would offend me that the NCAA evidently thinks I'm too stupid to figure this out.