The match hadn't been fun to watch so far. At halftime, the score was 23-19, with Illinois over Michigan. In fact, the game itself wasn't even the main attraction on February 27, 2007. It had taken its place on stage at the halftime show. This was the day that Chief Illiniwek, the mascot of the University of Illinois for eighty-one years, would be officially retired from the University due to pressure from the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Dan Maloney, a graduate student at the school, headed to midcourt one last time. Dressed in a buckskin robe and feather headdress, the chief performed for the last time. As Maloney left the court, tears began to well up in his eyes. A part of him had just died. Chief Illiniwek received a standing ovation from the crowd as he left the field. In a departure from tradition, Maloney returned to midcourt to greet the fans. He then turned and left the field, and Chief Illiniwek has not performed since. Over the past six or seven years the NCAA has cracked down on what it believes are controversial nicknames and mascots used by member universities. The University of Illinois was one such school. For twenty years the school had received complaints about the use of the Illiniwek cape. The NCAA eventually stepped in and ruled that the use of Chief Illiniwek and the Chief Illiniwek mascot was hostile and offensive. Illinois would have to abandon use of the two or be banned from hosting postseason activities as long as it continued to use the mascot and symbol. After two years of trying to fight it, Illinois finally gave in, retired the Cape, and stopped using the logo. On the day he retired, students wore black shirts during the second half of... half of the paper... h. These are offensive uses of the Native American name. Many tribes in the country dislike the use of these names and, for me, that is where the main problem lies. However, schools will never take this extra step to keep their names. I think it would be a huge wake-up call for these schools if the NCAA forced them to not only receive permission, but also have a working relationship with these tribes. Works Cited Badger, Emily. “NCAA places limited ban on American Indian team names, mascots.” Orlando Sentinel (Orlando FL). 5 August 2005: np SIRS Researcher. Network. March 28, 2011.Kolpack, Dave. “Sioux or be reported? The school loses its mascot." Los Angeles Time (Los Angeles CA). 12 December 2010: A.42. SIRS researcher. Network. March 24, 2011.Wieburg, Steve. “NCAA mulls future of Indians nicknames.” United States today. 15 May 2005: np SIRS Researcher. Network. March 28 2011.