And now:[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:

Friday, November 12 'The Native American Sports Experience'
[excerpt from]
http://espn.go.com/espninc/pressreleases/991110otlnativeamericans.html

November 10, 1999

ESPN will examine issues surrounding Native Americans and sports in a one-hour Outside 
the Lines Presented by AT&T special Tuesday, Nov. 16 at 7 p.m. ET.

Hosted by Bob Ley from the National Museum of the American Indian in New York City, 
Outside the Lines: The Native American Sports Experience will look at the role sports 
play in the history and lives of Native Americans.

Segments include: Phil Jackson -- Phil Jackson, the former Bulls' and current Lakers' 
coach, uses teachings of the Lakota Sioux in his coaching. He would burn sage to 
cleanse the team of negative energy and show game film intercut with clips from a 
movie about a Sioux warrior. Jackson says he decorated the Bulls' team room at the 
Berto Center with Native American artifacts to reinforce in the players' minds that 
their journey together each season was a sacred quest. Is he using these same coaching 
techniques with the Lakers? -- Rick Telander

Leaving the reservation -- Many Native Americans find it difficult to leave their 
reservations -- particularly women, especially when they are teenagers or mothers. 
LeAnn Montes, a Chippewa Cree from the Rocky Boy reservation in Montana, is leaving 
her two-year-old daughter on the reservation to play basketball and pursue an 
education at the University of Montana. Three of the four seniors on her high school 
team had children when they won Montana's 1998 Class C State Championship. Many Native 
Americans are not able to adjust to living away from the reservation and return before 
receiving their college degrees. Montes says she needs a degree to leave the 
alcoholism and poverty of her reservation and create a better future for her and her 
daughter. - Kelly Neal

Sports mascots-- The debate over the use of Native American mascots, logos and team 
names rages on. -- This year the Washington Redskins had seven registered trademarks 
canceled because a court ruled that the word "redskins" disparages a group of people. 
-- The Atlanta Braves are having ongoing discussions with people representing Time 
Warner shareholders. According to those people, the team has pledged more than $1 
million for a campaign to educate the public about Native American culture. -- At the 
high school level, school boards are regularly faced with protests over Indian 
mascots. Last year the Los Angeles Board of Education voted to ban Native American 
mascots and team names from high school sports.

Because teams like the Braves, Indians, Redskins, Chiefs, and Seminoles are popular, 
the issue touches sports at all levels, professional, college and high school. This 
segment focuses on the Washington Redskins, Atlanta Braves, Cleveland Indians, and the 
ongoing debate at a high school in Marquette, Michigan. - Greg Garber

Jim Thorpe: The Athlete of the Century? -- In 1950, Jim Thorpe, a Sac and Fox Indian, 
was voted the greatest male athlete of the half century. What is his impact on sports 
today? Is he still an inspiration to Native Americans? His accomplishments: twice a 
college All-America; led Pennsylvania's Carlisle Indian School to victories over some 
of the nation's best college football teams (Army, Navy, Pittsburgh, Syracuse, 
Pennsylvania, Nebraska); won gold medals in the decathlon and pentathlon in the 1912 
Olympics; played six seasons in Major League Baseball, mostly with the New York 
Giants; began playing pro football with the Canton Bulldogs in 1915, and when the top 
teams were organized into the American Professional Football Association in 1920, was 
named the first president. The APFA was renamed the National Football League in 1922. 
- Bob Ley

Making it to the NHL -- There are several NHL players with Native American heritage, 
including Philadelphia's Sandy McCarthy, a Mic Mac Indian, and Washington's Chris 
Simon and Atlanta's Denny Lambert, both Ojibwa Indians. The Islanders' Gino Odjick, an 
Algonquin, is the only NHL player who grew up on a reservation-called a reserve in 
Canada. Hockey is the national sport of Canada and virtually all Native youths on 
reserves play hockey, but why has only one reached the NHL? This segment will look at 
the struggles of Native Americans to reach the NHL -- including racism and the 
stereotype that all Native players are enforcers. The game of hockey has Native 
American influences: one of the first examples of the hockey as we know it was played 
in the late 1600's by the Mic Mac Indians in Nova Scotia. Those interviewed include: 
McCarthy, Simon, Odjick, Ted Nolan (former NHL coach), Ron Delorme (NHL Scout) and 
Fred Sasakamoose (the first Native American to play in the NHL). - Jeremy!
!
!
 Sch
aap

Steve Young and the Navajo nation -- San Francisco 49ers' quarterback Steve Young has 
visited Native American tribes in Arizona for more than 10 years under the auspices of 
American Indian Services, a non-profit organization which helps send Native Americans 
to college. Why does he do it?- Bob Ley

Lacrosse -- Lacrosse is perhaps the oldest sport in America, and Native Americans were 
playing it long before Europeans arrived in the New World. Today, the Iroquois Nation 
plays as it's own country in international lacrosse competition. Historically, 
virtually all tribes in southern Canada and the United States played some form of 
lacrosse -- a team could consist of hundreds or thousands of players, goals were often 
miles apart, and a game might last up to three days.- Bob Ley

Quotes from Outside the Lines "Phil Jackson" segment "He was very much into cleansing 
of the spirit and the rooms. He'd burn sage in the practice room, in the gym, in the 
office, actually in the whole building&he'd also do it at the United Center." - Bill 
Wennington on Jackson's traditional sage-burning ritual to cleanse the soul of 
negative energy. "Here's a coach burning sage and saying he wanted to cleanse our 
spirit, clean our souls. And when we get out there on the court, we'll be able to 
perform because everything internally is clean." -- B.J. Armstrong on Jackson's sage 
burning. "I personally feel that the native folklore helped us become, as a team, more 
focused on what it was we were trying to accomplish -- winning the championship -- and 
also becoming a more cohesive unit. You know if we don't win the championships and 
Phil still tries to push the ideals of the Native Americans, he might be seen as a 
little bit off his rocker. Guys at times made jokes that he smoked !
!
!
too 
many peace pipes back in his old days." - Will Perdue


<<<<=-=-=                                  =-=-=>>>> 
"We simply chose an Indian as the emblem.
  We could have just as easily chosen any
uncivilized animal."
   Eighth Grade student writing about his school's
   mascot, 1997

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