The UND president and athletic director were in such a hurry to drop the Fighting Sioux nickname and yet it has yielded not positive results for the University of North Dakota. So my first question is; was the Summit conference a proxy for the NCAA in pressuring UND to drop the Fighting Sioux? Now that the Summit/NCAA is successful in getting UND to drop the Fighting Sioux name there really is no hurry for the mediocre Summit League to rush to act on UND’s application to the Summit conference. Why should they? The Summit holds all of the cards. Second it would appear that UND has been had, what do you think? I also wouldn’t be surprised if the Summit rejected UND’s application. It doesn’t appear that UND to the Summit is a slam dunk like some said it was.
The decision to retire the UND nickname and logo hasn’t been a topic of hot conversion at the Summit League.
What that means, however, is anyone’s guess.
Summit commissioner Tom Douple said Wednesday that the league is watching the situation at UND now that the school has begun the process of retiring its controversial nickname and logo.
The league, however, has not acted in any official capacity regarding UND’s desire to join the 10-team conference.
“Right now, we’re going to monitor the situation,” Douple said.
UND has applied to join the Summit, the league that best fits UND and its move to Division I athletics. The Summit, however, said it won’t consider UND until the controversy surrounding the school’s nickname and logo is resolved.
Last week, the North Dakota State Board of Higher Education set in motion the process to retire the Fighting Sioux nickname and logo.
Douple said he was out of town last week and did not return to the Summit office in Elmhurst, Ill., until Tuesday. The commissioner said he has yet to talk to UND athletic director Brian Faison about the SBoHE’s actions.
The league’s presidents will meet in June. But Douple said there is no indication the presidents will address UND’s application to join the league at that time.
“I’ll update the presidents in June,” he said.
The league currently is at 10 teams, although Centenary — a small school in Louisiana — will leave the Summit after the conclusion of the 2010-11 season. At that time, South Dakota — a school that made the jump to Division I athletics at the same time as did UND — will join the Summit.
[read the whole article]
every quote from douple in that story would indicate that he's simply ignoring und.
ReplyDeletethis line is precious:
"Douple said he was out of town last week and did not return to the Summit office in Elmhurst, Ill., until Tuesday"
i predict many more lame excuses like this one for the next year or so until und is finally told that the summit league is not interested in expanding at this time.
oh what fools we're going to look like if standing rock takes care of business before the november deadline, thereby satisfying the ncaa requirements to keep the nickname and logo, and we're sitting here without the nickname and logo and no chance at getting into the summit league.
at least i'll be one of those who gets to say, "i told ya so".
IMO, $150,000 to $300,000 thousand dollars from the Big Ten schools who are willing to schedule UND for football and basketball is the main culprit.
ReplyDeletePure and simple it is about money from the BCS that fueled this change.
Here is what you do. Rename yourselves after some extinct tribe and keep your logo. You can't be hostile and abusive if there is no one around to feel that way.
ReplyDeleteThat doesn't work millsy03. The NCAA has said that the University of Illinois is "hostile and abusive" even though there is no Illini tribe any more.
ReplyDeleteWhy doesn't any of this surprise me. I bet that the Standing Rock tribe, who has dragged their feet as much as anyone, will get their vote done before the Summit league takes any action. What a mess. Just goes to show that our fearless leaders in Kelley and Faison are about as "helpful" as McClown and Shepp!
ReplyDeleteThe Summit League is monitoring it because the controversy is not over. The issue is not resolved as they demand. That's why the SBHE should have waited until Nov 30....then it would have been, theoretically, open and shut. SR Council has said that: 1) they are working on a referendum, 2) it will take up to 18 months to establish and organize that, and 3) no matter what the results of the referendum (straw vote) is, the Council can still not give their approval....theirs is not a democratic system at SR. Was the SBHE negligent? The ND AG thinks so. The SBHE does not. For more insight, read the key articles written on the grandforksherald.com, especially those from Grant Shaft (SBHE) and Chuck Haga....links posted in a Goon's World article yesterday.
ReplyDeleteThis just looks fishy and I don't think membership in the Summit is a slamb dunk like some said it was. I also think UND has been duped by the Summit and by our president and AD.
ReplyDeleteWon't the future students and athletes get as revved up about the new name as everybody is about the current one?
ReplyDeleteI am going to LOL and be ROFLMAO when the Summit decides NOT to admit UND, even with the new nickname and logo. The last thing they want is an 11-team league.
ReplyDeleteHey, maybe UND can join the Big 10 (actually 11 teams) to form a 12 team league. YEAH, that's the ticket!!!
If you read the Class B BBall league commissioner's statement you'll see that there is no controversy.
ReplyDeleteHe says that we have to come to a conclusion that's acceptable to the NCAA.
We have an agreement with the NCAA and nobody's saying we will ignore it.
There is no problem there. Either we get approval from the two tribes or we don't. We will be in compliance either way.
In fact the SBOHE gaving us the Shaft has been the only controversy about the name since 2006 at UND. (Obviously there has been some controversy on the reservations).