Wednesday, February 08, 2012

Big Sky Conference not Bluffing.

Big Sky Conference logoImage via WikipediaO.K. now the Big Sky Conference has weighed in... Sounds like they are not fooling around and they are concerned about the recent events in North Dakota. It also sounds like the notion that the BSC won't expel UND is not quite true.
Chuck Haga, Grand Forks Herald --- UND’s status within the Big Sky Conference won’t change immediately as a result of this week’s tentative restoration of the university’s Fighting Sioux nickname, Big Sky Commissioner Doug Fullerton said today.

But he said “it’s absolutely not true” that UND could not be dropped from the league, as some nickname supporters have said in seeking to dismiss concerns about consequences if the fight over the name continues.

“Our concern, as before, is not that they are the Fighting Sioux,” Fullerton said, “but rather whether they can be an effective Division I program and a benefit to our conference.”

UND’s membership status is still probationary, he said. “But even a full-fledged member can be removed from the league at any time by a vote of the presidents.” Such a vote, he said, would have to be unanimous.

Fullerton said he’s concerned about another example of what he called “misrepresentation” by nickname supporters, a suggestion “that we need UND more than UND needs us,” which would seem to counter concerns expressed by university and other officials that keeping the nickname could cost UND conference membership and Division I status.
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