NCAA should pursue other issues
Published 6:46 am Tuesday, August 16, 2005
By Staff
It is once again time for the politically correct police to rear their ugly heads.
Now they are on the, excuse the pun, war path about the use of the name "Seminoles" by Florida State University.
Florida State has been the Seminoles for as long as we can remember.
We also do not remember anyone being offended by the use of the name by the school, which has a rich tradition in college football.
Florida State and the NCAA have been at odds this summer over use of the Native American-inspired nickname and its mascot.
The feud has turned nasty of late. However, a settlement may be in the offing.
Ken Chamber, principal chief of the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, told The Palm Beach Post (Fla.) on Thursday that he has no objections to the school using the nickname or its mascot.
This contradicts the position of a tribal spokesman from earlier this summer.
It is hard to believe in this day and age that we are even having this discussion.
Have we totally lost track of what is really important in the world today?
The NCAA, saying that because it had not heard from the tribe, placed Florida State among 18 schools it claims uses "hostile or abusive" Indian nicknames, mascots or logos.
Florida State, which has long had the blessing of the Florida tribe, reacted swiftly and emotionally, saying it would fight in the courts if it had to keep the Seminole name.
But with both tribes now on the same page and supporting the university, it is time for the NCAA and Florida State to bury the proverbial hatchet.
NCAA President Myles Brand is behind this. He is, of course, the man who fired Bob Knight while president at Indiana.
Brand has made few friends since taking over the NCAA and he certainly isn't winning the organization any fans with this move.
The fight over the use of Native American mascots and nicknames came and went in the 1980s.
There is no need to keep addressing this issue.
If a tribe had a problem with the use of a nickname or a mascot, it certainly would have spoken up by now.
It's time to move on and address some of the real concerns in college athletics.
College football begins Sept. 1.
The last thing we need to be doing is talking about controversy.
Let the games begin.