William Brotherton Is 5 Years Too Late

William Brotherton has written another letter to the editor and something he said in his letter stuck out.  My question is, where was he five years ago. It's too late now? The cows are out of the barn already. There's no way UND is going to retreat from the Fighting Hawks nickname. Like it or not, it's UND's official nickname.

All UND had to do was listen to alumni and supporters when they appealed in unison that the school simply leave UND/North Dakota as its nickname. Or at a minimum, make that nickname one of the choices in the so-called nickname vote.

UND refused to do so, and now it's suffering the consequences.

What a squandered opportunity when our hockey team won the national championship, and we weren't able to capitalize on it! Just imagine how much Fighting Sioux merchandise would have been sold after the championship victory if the name was still in place. Or even if the name was simply UND/North Dakota.

Instead, we have the hated "Fighting Hawks" name that no one wants. Indeed, when I saw an advertisement for sports gear celebrating the victory, the Hawks name was in tiny print on the merchandise. That says it all.

But it's not too late to try and fix this mess and save UND.

I don't think that Brotherton realizes that UND did sell a lot of merchandise under the Dacotah Legacy Collection. The Fighting Sioux wear flew off of the shelves at the Sioux Shop.

Replacement Nicknames

Yesterday the University of North Dakota released a list of potential names for replacing the UND nickname. There are quite a few entertaining nickname suggestions. There were also some funny nicknames that won’t be used. You could write five or six blog posts from that list as well.

People on social media are having a field day with the story. Of course my friend Donna has had a field day as well. True to form, she has made snarky an art form and that's awesome.

Both lists are organized alphabetically and each submission is listed separately, contributing to the length of the documents.

The most-submitted option for consideration appears to be North Dakota, the name the university has used since retiring the Fighting Sioux nickname in 2012. Other popular submissions on the list of considered submissions included the Flickertails, NoDaks and the North Stars.

Johnson noted the process is not a popularity contest based on the number of times a name was submitted. (Grand Forks Herald)

I am concerned when I read the that process isn't a popularity contest. What the hell are we doing then? Wouldn't you pick the most popular nickname or simply "North Dakota".

This is how UND is going to end up with a stupid nickname that no one will be able to get behind. Are we going to end up picking from three crappy nickname ideas or are we going to be able to pick one of the three most popular?  This is also how we are going to end up with a stupid nickname like Sundogs. I will be following this issue very closely. Thoughts?

Jack Rabbits won't play the Sioux...

University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux athletic logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

This news came out today and SDSU won't play UND until UND "is in good standing" with the NCAA and no longer on sanctions.

FARGO, N.D. (AP) — The leader of University of North Dakota's alumni says South Dakota State has joined a growing number of schools that won't schedule UND in athletics until the controversy over its Fighting Sioux nickname is resolved.

UND Alumni Association and Foundation CEO Tim O'Keefe was in Fargo on Tuesday morning to kick off a campaign to get rid of the nickname. O'Keefe says the issue is no longer about preference, but the price the school will pay if it keeps the moniker.

O'Keefe says SDSU won't schedule any more athletic contests with UND until the Grand Forks school is "in good standing." SDSU officials were not immediately available for comment.

This story has evolved even more since it first emerged this after noon. The SDSU SID was on with Mike McFeely on KFGO and said that SDSU will honor "existing contracts" with UND but will no longer schedule UND until they are in good standing, meaning that they are no longer on NCAA sanctions. You can listen to the Mike McFeely show right here. [Click to listen]

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