The effect of the Retirement of Chief Illiniwek and the Political Correctness of the NCAA . . .that’s the Subject of this Big B File.
Last night, the 81 year old symbol of the University of Illinois, Chief Illiniwek, danced for the last time at Assembly Hall in Champaign, IL. The students and fans in attendence told the Champaign-Urbana News Gazette that they were saddened and in mourning, including Maren Schuit of Chicago, former Marching Illini member and one of the few women to try out to be the Chief, who said this:
“When I was a little girl, they used to show the dance at halftime on TV during basketball games,” Schuit said. My dad “would actually get me out of bed so I could watch the Chief dance at halftime, then he would put me back to bed. It makes me sad that my kids will never see the Chief with me the way that I was able to with my father.
“It’s something I’m incredibly proud of having been a part of for even a couple of months.”
In fact, a large number of the members of Orange Crush, the Official fan club of the Fighting Illini Athletic Teams, changed from orange to black right after halftime was over. there are a group of people to portray the Chief are working to find a way to keep the tradition alive.
The ramificatioins of the “retirement” of Chief Illiniwek are huge! According to the News-Gazette, thousands of Chief Illiniwek supporters have said that thet will never donate to the U fo I as long as there is no Chief Illiniwek, and that means that the U if I could Millions of Dollars in funding that come from Donations to the university. not only that, but any apparrel (buttons, glasses, clothing, photos, bags, etc.`) with chief Illinwek has been flying off the shelf at local stores since the Announcment las Friday. As the Champaign News-Gazette Reports:
“If it has the Chief on it, people are wanting it,” said Kristi Brownfield, owner of Brownfield Sports in Urbana.
Rumors had been circulating that the UI would announce the end to Chief Illiniwek, but “since that on-the-record ruling came down on Friday, it has exploded. We didn’t anticipate this much of a reaction. We’re having a lot of fun keeping up with the sales,” said Cory Shumard, manager of Gameday Spirit in Champaign.
“Anything with the Chief logo is dominating requests. Especially anything referring to the last dance or the 80-year-old tradition,” he added.
Since Friday, Shumard estimates the average number of items per transaction has more than doubled – “that’s always nice to see,” he said, adding that about 90 percent of sales since the announcement have been for Chief-related items.
Hundreds of items, including Chief buttons, glasses and photos, have been listed for sale in recent days on the online auction site eBay. Top sellers on the UI’s Fighting Illini site included a slate Chief Illiniwek sign and a “Hail to the Chief” T-shirt. Even a few Chief-related items, such as duffel bags, were for sale on the NCAA’s Web site as of Wednesday.
“We have a lot of Chief merchandise, and we’re getting more every day,” Brownfield said.
The University of Illinois caving to Political Correctness and intimidation of the NCAA will most certainly embolden the Left. Others might ask, especially in the St. Louis Metro Area might ask “What is the impact of the U of I’s decision to us?” Here are some of the examples of what could happen now in lite of the Chief Illiniwek decision:
- The animal rights groups could go after Missouri State Bears, Missouri Tigers, St. Louis Cardinals and the St. Louis Rams and tell them that either you change your team names and get rid of your mascots because they are “offecsive and Abusive” to animals (the groups themselves) or we’ll do to you what the NCAA did to the U of I or worse.
- The Enviromentalists could go after the Rivermen of the University of Missouri-St. Louis and tell them that either you change your team name and get rid of your mascot because it is “offecsive and Abusive” or we’ll do to you what the NCAA did to the U of I or worse.
Do not think that the senario above won’t happen is so far fetched, because nothing is beyond theAmerican Left. Do not be surprised if it happens within the next 10-15 years or so.
That’s the Big B files. Click on the “Comment” Link below and tell me what you think . . i’m Bryan Hewing.