"Don't pee on my leg and tell me it's raining." someone once said. And that is exactly what the NCAA is doing with the Mascot ruling of 2005.
In 2005, the NCAA declared that Native American mascots could no longer be used by teams when they participated in postseason tournaments after February 1, 2006.
But, the ruling doesn't apply to the entire season, only post season tournaments. So, for 9/10ths of your season, feel free to use the mascot any way you choose. We're sensitive to Native American's feelings, but only for a couple months of the year.
But, the ruling doesn't apply to college football because semantically they don't have a postseason tournament. Right. They don't have a single-elimination post-season tournament the way basketball does or double-elimination in baseball. They just have multiple one-game post season tournaments between only two teams at a time called Bowl games. But, those aren't considered post-season tournaments. Even though the outcome of the bowl games results in a final ranking, which is exactly what a postseason tournament does. Hmm. I seem to recall that they have in-season basketball tournaments called Coaches against Cancer tournament or along that line where four teams come into a big arena and each team only plays one game. It's also not for Div 1-A college football because college football at that level is a golden cash cow built on slave labor disguised as "empowering student athletes mind and bodies".
But, schools can appeal the ruling. And here is where the hidden agenda lies. And where you can begin to follow the green-papered road. What all the huff and scruff about the use of Native American imagery is over. It's simple exortion by the NCAA to get even more money from schools and a way to increase their bottom line. How it works is this: The larger the school, the more money adverstisers pay to put these schools on the air, the more national exposure the school has in a particular sport, the more money the NCAA wants from them. You want your appeal denied or approved? Pay up. This is the price. Florida State? They bring in milliions of dollars are national powerhouses in multiple sports. The NCAA wants them to appeal and want that appeal to be approved. So, they charge them $100,000. Easy enough for Florida State and sure enough their appeal was approved.
But, schools can appeal the ruling. And here is where the hidden agenda lies. And where you can begin to follow the green-papered road. What all the huff and scruff about the use of Native American imagery is over. It's simple exortion by the NCAA to get even more money from schools and a way to increase their bottom line. How it works is this: The larger the school, the more money adverstisers pay to put these schools on the air, the more national exposure the school has in a particular sport, the more money the NCAA wants from them. You want your appeal denied or approved? Pay up. This is the price. Florida State? They bring in milliions of dollars are national powerhouses in multiple sports. The NCAA wants them to appeal and want that appeal to be approved. So, they charge them $100,000. Easy enough for Florida State and sure enough their appeal was approved.
North Dakota State Fighting Sioux? Well, outside of ice hockey, they are not a national player. We're going to charge you $2 million for an approval of your appeal and we really don't care about you anyway.
Now we get to the University of Illinois. Yes they have history, but nationally, they don't play other than in brief appearances. So, the price for the Fighting Illini: $5 million. They have only recently sent in their appeal, but they may not have reached the money amount the NCAA wanted from them for a successful appeal because the response from the NCAA was non-plussed when asked. "We take them as they come." Doesn't sound too hopeful for Illini nation.
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