Dartblog

The fellers at the Inside College Hockey blog write, inter alia:

[Dartmouth Athletic Director Josie] Harper added that when North Dakota was extended an invitation to the Ledyard Bank Classic two years ago, the school’s mascot and nickname were not considered. Perhaps the prospect of an arena filled to capacity with paying customers on hand to see one of the nation’s top college hockey programs clouded her view back then. While First Shift has no position regarding NoDak’s mascot/nickname, we are squarely anti-hypocrisy.

Meanwhile, the folks at the Sioux Sports message board are having a grand old time tearing down elitist, know-it-all Dartmouth.

Perhaps we should apologize.

UPDATE: The Daily News Record writes:

So why was this upsetting? Well, the UND is known as the “Fighting Sioux.” Ms. Harper apologized to “the Native American community and the Dartmouth community as a whole” for the coming game and offered regrets for “the pain it will cause.”

College officials — you gotta love ’em.

As it so happens, the Standing Rock Tribal Council of North Dakota has publicly supported the use of the nickname “Fighting Sioux.” Members don’t think its offensive at all. (Perhaps all of them need to attend sensitivity training taught by white Dartmouth officials about how to be a Native American.)

Of course, that could also be extended to the Seminoles in Florida, who have always taken pride that Florida State University has used their Native American name. (Well, they did until the recent losing season.)

A Dartmouth blogger responded to the controversy by saying, if the athletic director is wasting her time by offering useless apologies, no wonder the football team is 2-8.

Regardless of Ms. Harper’s abilities as an athletic director, at least she got the silly season in American politics off to a robust start this year.

In my very first post on this issue, I warned that all that would happen if the Native Americans at Dartmouth Club enacted their national press strategy is that it would reveal how out of touch they and Dartmouth’s stifling atmosphere of political correctness are with the American public. And this has happened, a thousand times over.

UPDATE: The New Hampshire Union Leader editorializes this ayem: “The Offendians Strike.”