The names of sports teams are supposed to convey certain ideas: courage, valor, pride, and so on.

The names of sports teams are supposed to convey certain ideas: courage, valor, pride, and so on. That's why many teams, such as the Atlanta Braves, the Chicago Blackhawks, and the Florida State Seminoles, have chosen Indian monikers and mascots. Several years ago, a poll in Sports Illustrated found that 81 percent of Indians supported the use of Indian team names by colleges and universities--the respondents rightly saw them as signs of respect and admiration. But the NCAA, responding to tribal activists and cowed by political correctness, has spent the last several years cracking down on the practice. The latest victim is Chief Illiniwek, sometime mascot of the University of Illinois. The NCAAhad moved to block the school from holding postseason events unless it changed its insensitive ways. Illinois's teams will still be known as the Fighting Illini, though it's hard to say for how long. On the matter of Chief Illiniwek, the administration considered it wiser to surrender--something that many real Indian warriors never did.