Tribal Warfare

Indian names are as much a part of football as pigskins and point spreads.

In the NFL, the Kansas City Chiefs compete with the Washington Redskins. Players shave their heads into Mohawks, while beer-swigging tailgaters party in Winnebagos.

College football teams have sported the Indian moniker since Geronimo was still alive.

This afternoon in Williamsburg, Va., Harvard plays the Indians of William & Mary, otherwise known as the Tribe. And elsewhere across the nation, Division I teams like Northeastern Louisiana and Arkansas State will proudly bear the Indian name as they do battle.

Other teams prefer spin-offs of the Indian tradition, like the Alcorn State Braves or the Miami (Ohio) Redskins. Specific tribes also provide several college nicknames: the Central Michigan Chippewas, the Florida State Seminoles, the Utah Utes, and the San Diego State Aztecs.

Even the shoes worn by Native Americans can be manufactured into a nickname, at least according to the Tennessee-Chattanooga Moccasins.

Ethnic Ethics

But what about the ethics of ethnic nicknames?

Putting an entire ethnic group on par with Lions, Tigers, and Bears seems rather degrading. A football team that calls itself the Indians is equating Native Americans with wild animals.

Both Dartmouth and Stanford have, in recent years, discarded the Indian tag because of its racist overtones. Unfortunately, however, both schools decided that if they couldn't be called the Indians, they would choose really stupid nicknames: the Stanford Cardinal (without the "s," thank you) and the Dartmouth Big Green.

Conservatives at Dartmouth have lately begun to rally around the old Indian symbol. In their support, they even published a survey of 100 authentic Indian chiefs, all of whom allegedly approved of Dartmouth's Native American nomenclature.

But none of that matters up in Hanover this year, anyway, because Indians or no Indians, Dartmouth really stinks.

Anyway, the picks.

William & Mary 14, Harvard 7: Although the Crimson Multiflex will charge into battle, attempting to ambush William & Mary, the Tribe will go on the warpath and scalp the Crimson.

[One of the great things about the Indian nickname is the incredible selection of bad puns.]

Penn 6082, Columbia 0: Do I really have to go into the grisly details?

Brown 21, Princeton 2: The Bruins play tough defense and could be one of the big surprises this season. Princeton, on the other hand, lost super-quarterback Doug Butler to graduation, so its offense is now boring, boring, boring.

Cornell 44, Lafayette 4: Lafayette got spanked by Holy Cross two weeks ago, and had its hands full with Columbia last week. That's right, Columbia. And Cornell is real good.

Army 28, Yale 21: An Ivy League team has no business playing a bowl team, but Yale continues to try. A couple of years ago, the Elis were crushed by Boston College. This year, they might fare a little bit better against the Cadets, but not nearly well enough to win.

Navy 35, Datmouth 10: Dartmouth's defense, which gave up 66 points last week, looks more like the Indian Givers than the Big Green.

Our boys in uniform play big-time football. Navy will sink Dartmouth, easily.

Last week: 6-2. Season to date: 10-2.