Just when I began to fret about having nothing to write about this week (I’ve taken a vow to avoid Rafael Palmeiro, steroids and the new Dukes of Hazard movie), the NCAA drops another beauty in my lap.

The organization met Friday and decided to ban American Indian mascots and nicknames from postseason tournaments, starting next February. Starting in 2008, mascots will be barred from the postseason, and cheerleaders and bands will be prohibited from using American Indian on their uniforms. Some schools are considering legal action.

The ban does not apply to football because it doesn’t have a post-season tournament. Great, more support for the BCS.

The ban does affect some of the most high-profile schools in college sports, including Florida State and the University of Utah, as well as some lesser-known institutions, such as McMurry University, which was founded by a big fan of My Three Sons who couldn’t spell, and the Indiana University-Pennsylvania, which was originally named Washington University-Nebraska. Little known fact.

The debate over American Indian nicknames has been raging for a couple of decades now. Many schools, such as Stanford (Indians) and St. John’s (Redmen), bowed to pressure to scrap long-held nicknames that some found offensive, in favor of names that would only offend the color-blind (Cardinal) and over-sensitive meteorologists (Red Storm).

A handful of schools and some pro teams have stubbornly clung to their nicknames, and they have been subject to protests, boycotts and other campaigns over the years. Having had only mixed success, those offended by the nicknames have tried to put indirect pressure on their offenders by calling on media outlets to stop using the names in print or broadcast reports. One notable newspaper about 30 miles south of here caved, and I’m happy to report oppression of American Indians and all forms of racism have since been expunged between the Gray and Kittery tolls.

This newspaper contemplated adopting the same policy a few years ago. We had a big meeting involving the news and sports departments and it got pretty heated. One side thought we should take the lead in the community and show how inappropriate these nicknames were by pretending they didn’t exist. The other side thought it was up to the teams and schools to make the change, and for us to not use the nicknames in our stories, scores, etc. would be misleading to our readers.

Thankfully, the latter argument won, if only because this column would be a real pain to write, starting now, if it hadn’t.

The outrage surrounding some nicknames, such as Redskins or Redmen, is understandable. Historically, these have been pejorative terms aimed at American Indians. Some mascots, such as the Cleveland Indians’ smiling, red-faced Chief Wahoo, an old cartoon stereotype, cross that same line. And you could probably convince me that a 20-year-old white guy dressed as an Indian and dancing at the 50-yard line during halftime isn’t bringing honor to the Illini.

But what I don’t get is the double-standard among the self-appointed nickname cops that deems some monikers Rebels and Minutemen, glorifying and others, such as Braves, demeaning.

This is the same kind of mixed-up logic that brought us the NCAA’s decision. It’s okay to have these nicknames and images broadcast from coast-to-coast during the regular season and bowl games, but a hockey regional semifinal involving the North Dakota Fighting Sioux might do irreparable damage to the 126 people watching it in Fargo. The Florida State Seminole, which has been endorsed by the Seminole Tribe of Florida, is “hostile and abusive”, but a belligerent Irish leprechaun is acceptable.

Incidentally, the meeting where this bold decision was made was held in Indianapolis, or as the NCAA would like us to refer to it, Cardinalapolis.

Randy Whitehouse is a staff writer. He can be reached by e-mail at [email protected]