As we speak, the NCAA is the defendant in an action brought by the University of North Dakota. The NCAA Political Correctness Police ruled that North Dakota could not retain their nickname/mascot (The Fighting Sioux) and that the school could not host any post-season games or use the mascot in any post-season road games. Well, North Dakota qualified for the Division II football playoffs; so, they went to a Federal judge and got him to issue an injunction against the NCAA enforcing this rule. That doesn't win the case for the school, but it does give me a rooting interest in that tournament among schools to which I have no personal affiliation.

In the lawsuit itself, the University of North Dakota claims that forcing them to change mascots is a breach of contract (I'm not sure I understand this.) and that the action violates the antitrust laws. (I'm positive I don't understand that one.) The NCAA counter-argument says in part that granting an exemption for the University of North Dakota would deprive the NCAA of authority over its own championship tournament. That seems like a pretty lame argument to me because if the NCAA had to have full authority over its tournament(s), that might include an edict requiring all coaches on the sidelines to wear a negligee and that would be disgusting beyond belief. But if they had full and unfettered authority, who could stop them?

The tentative date for the trial on this matter is April 24, 2007. This weekend, North Dakota will host Winona State in the first round of the Division II football tournament with the winner of that game to play Nebraska-Omaha the next week. Might there be a small bit of retribution going on here? North Dakota plays in the first round with a 9-1 record while Nebraska-Omaha gets a bye with an 8-2 record. No, that would be petty and small-minded and the NCAA Political Correctness Police would never allow that kind of thinking to prevail…

I suspect that most of you will not be checking out the brackets for the Division II football playoffs; if you have a bracket pool for that or the Division III playoffs in your office, you definitely need more work to do. But I did notice there that one of the opening round games is between Dell State and Elizabeth City State. Shouldn't Dell State be matched against Hewlett-Packard Tech?

The NCAA is about to do something that has nothing at all to do with Political Correctness but is equivalently stupid. They are about to institute a new award for the best kick returner in Division 1-A. There's nothing wrong with that, but they are going to name it the Randy Moss Award because he was such a good kick returner at Marshall. Ignoring the fact that Marshall was not Division 1-A when Moss did his business there, might not an institution with such noble and lofty ideals have just a twinge of pain when they name an award for such a "troubled" young man. Remember, he tried to use a traffic control officer as a hood ornament once.

Memo to NCAA: What's next? The Maurice Clarett Award for Career Management Acumen?

Since I mentioned Randy Moss' "troubles", he now claims that the reason he has not been catching passes at his normal rate this season is because he is unhappy with his lot in life as a Raider. Here's what the player, who admitted that he doesn't play hard if his number is not involved in a particular play, had to say about the current situation:

"I'm not too much excited about what's going on. So, my concentration and focus level tend to go down sometimes when I'm in a bad mood. All I can say is if you put me in a good situation and make me happy, man, you get good results."

The underlying attitude that could generate that kind of statement is so stunningly self-absorbed and self-entitled that it should stop you in your tracks. And it does make me ask why the Raiders continue to play him. Look, the Raiders have another self-absorbed and hypersensitive receiver named Jerry Porter and they have him sitting on the bench for 90% of the season; so why is Moss even dressed for games? How much worse would the Raiders be on the field if "unhappy Randy" were in street clothes? Unless I'm reading the stats incorrectly, the Raiders have the least productive offense in the NFL with "unhappy Randy" on the field and a large component of that lack of productivity is that the Raiders generate the least passing offense in the NFL. So, why is this guy even on the sidelines on Sunday spreading his gloom and malaise?

Maybe the reason is that Raiders' Coach, Art Shell, has to focus on the inane commentary of his starting quarterback of the moment, Andrew Walter. Let's be clear here; the only stat in which Walter leads the league is in first names. He's a second year QB who has produced bupkes so far. Walter now complains publicly that the offense is too simple and too predictable and that there is insufficient depth and complexity. How the hell would he know? Shell called his remarks "totally off-base" which is a bit of hyperbole given the offensive output for the year, but he has to be asking himself now why the hell he agreed to take over this cesspool of a team last summer.

Here's another measure of the Raiders offensive incompetence. In the second half of their nine games this year, they have scored a total of 28 points. In four of those second halves, the Raiders have been shut out. For perspective, last week in Cincy, the San Diego Chargers scored 42 points in the second half of one game.

The Raiders are a mess. And I think I know the fundamental problem here. This would never have come to pass if Al Davis were still alive…

I'm going to go way out on a limb here and make a prediction. In Detroit, the Pistons, Red Wings and Tigers all made the playoffs in their leagues last year. I am now making the call that the Detroit Lions will not - repeat not - join those other teams representing Detroit in that status. That's why you come here - - to get that kind of insight and foresight.

Finally, a note from Elliot Harris in the Chicago Sun-Times:

"Meanwhile, a Michigan woman claimed in court Detroit Lions offensive lineman Damian Woody, 28, wooed her while she was engaged (and he was married) and promised to marry her. A promise he backed out of. Gina Ballard, 35, is seeking more than $250,000 in damages. Sounds like a big penalty for a false start."

But don't get me wrong, I love sports...

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