Brad Edmonds has posted a great piece about the "National Communists Against Athletes." Link. Excerpt:
Let's remember also that Indian tribes are sovereign ”“ meaning foreign ”“ nations. Their complaining about the "Washington Redskins" is akin to our complaining about a Botswanian soccer team calling themselves the "Ugly Americans" (or, more fittingly, the "Cowboys"). Our kowtowing to the sentiments of a sovereign nation to the extent of limiting our own rights is the same as our kowtowing to the United Nations: an absurdity.
Back to the NCAA. Matters get "complicated," the press release says, when a tribe approves the use of its name one year, and changes its mind the next year. Another complication is that two different nations with the same name (different tribes of North Dakota Sioux right now) disagree with each other ”“ one approves of the use of its name, the other doesn't. But this doesn't really complicate matters, as matters remain simple: Indians are foreign nations, so to heck with what they want.
There should be no problem in the first place: Teams ignorantly select nicknames in the belief that the nicknames will portray them as undefeatable; as though the name itself, rather than the team's actual performance, will intimidate opponents. Note that no football team ever has, or ever will, name itself the Actuaries, the Family Doctors, the Composers, or the Compassionate Nuns. (There is one team that calls itself the Ducks”¦)
Further, team nicknames are meant to be flattering to the namesakes. While the selection of Vikings, for example, is misguided (Vikings were raiders who killed innocent homesteaders far from Nordic lands, and kidnapped and sold into slavery those they didn't kill), no team has nicknamed itself the Hitlers, the Muggers, or the Corrupt Federal Prison Guards. These are names that might be more intimidating than the ones we usually see. The fact that we don't see such names means teams are already selecting names of entities they feel they can be proud of.
I can suggest some intimidating names myself: The Withdrawal-suffering Crack Addicts; Women with PMS; Internal Revenue Supervisors; Congressmen Needing Votes and Willing to Send the ATF to Get Them.
