Chief Illiniwek\'s Last Dance
 

As some of you may know, Chief Illiniwek, the mascot of the University of Illinois Urbana-Chamapaign, performed his final halftime act (for at least the immediate future) tonight.

Due to NCAA mandates and other outside pressures, the Board of Trustees decided to remove the mascot from dancing at the halftimes of football, basketball, and volleyball games.

If anyone is interested, here is a link of the dance he performed tonight...

Chief's Last Dance


The dance he performs is not completely accurate according to Indian dances, and his costume isn't entirely accurate either. I personally believe U of I should have asked a neighboring Indian tribe to sponsor the chief, and correct any flaws the mascot might have.

Anyways, I just thought I would post this seeing if anyone were interested. I was at the game tonight, and it was a pretty emotional experience. I am not completely opposed to the University removing the chief as a mascot with the current situation, but I do blame the university for not stepping up to the plate and handling this issue before it got blown out of control. Still, tonight's perfomrance was very moving.

Anyways, just for this I hope we make it to the NCAA tournament. It would be weird to host an NIT game this year without the chief performing.

Re: Chief Illiniwek\'s Last Dance
 

i think you should be allowed to keep your mascot. sorry for your loss.

Re: Chief Illiniwek\'s Last Dance
 

its not really a mascot man, it doesn't stand on the sidelines, its just at halftime. but yeah, im pissed that its gone

SAVE THE CHIEF !!!

Re: Chief Illiniwek\'s Last Dance
 

Political correctness is retarded sometimes. 80-year old tradition down the sh*tter.

Re: Chief Illiniwek\'s Last Dance
 

First off, I'd like to mention that I'm a UIUC alum.

They've been talking about doing this for a long time, and I think they are total idiots for doing so.

Everyone I know that attended U of I agreed that the school had very little feel for tradition. While a very strong academic school, it never felt like a special place to be.

This is just one more step towards killing any iota of tradition that might have existed there. Good job guys.

Re: Chief Illiniwek\'s Last Dance
 

It would be one thing if the chief was dancing on the sideline during the game, or being a typical Big 10 mascot who taunts the opposing crowd. I still find it funny of the double-standard that exists for other mascots.

Notre Dame comes to mind. The fighting Irish leprachaun is seen as a happy little guy who dances around, etc. In my mind, this is more offensive towards Irish people than the chief, who performs only at halftime in a respectful manner. However, no one has a problem with the leprachaun IMO because it doesn't portray a minority.

I just think the whole thing is stupid, and people need to stop worrying about a mascot and focus on real-life economic problems which are around us, especially in the CU area, today.

Re: Chief Illiniwek\'s Last Dance
 

LOL at kids wearing black.

and holding a candlelight vigil, what a joke.

seriously who the hell cares about the cheif, you will get another mascot. we are lucky we still get to be called the "fighting" illini

Re: Chief Illiniwek\'s Last Dance
 

Fighting actually has nothing to do with Indians. It was added to Illini in 1921 to honor those who fought in World War I.

I did not wear black tonight, I wore my Orange Krush shirt, and it was probably about 60/40 black to orange in the student sections.

I agree that the candlelight vigil is a joke, I really don't know what those kids are thinking.

Re: Chief Illiniwek\'s Last Dance
 

Good thread, O.P. I hadn't seen the video yet. As an alum, it sucks to see the Chief go after all these years.

Here's a petition some alums have started if anyone's interested:

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/987672837

Re: Chief Illiniwek\'s Last Dance
 

Wow, I was really expecting this to go the other way. I've never heard anyone actually defend the chief. I didn't go there, but I had a few friends who did. It seemed like everyone thought of him as an embarrassing sort of minstrel show.

BTW, the Fighting Irish comparison really doesn't hold. Notre Dame was founded by Catholics, many of them Irish. And I've never heard anyone find it offensive.