Not even one month after laying down one of its classier and more positive decisions in recent years, the NCAA has folded in the face of a temper tantrum thrown by Florida State University.

The NCAA recently laid down a new rule that would prohibit potentially offensive team nicknames from being used in postseason competition. Almost immediately, although several other schools seem to have accepted the decision, Florida State was making waves, threatening lawsuits and invoking the ever-righteous Jeb Bush in protest of the decision.

There are many points that can be made about this situation. First, it is widely known the Seminole Tribe of Florida supports the use of its name as the nickname of the university. The problem with this is there have been reports that some Seminoles in other states may not be OK with this usage of the name.

Furthermore, even if all Seminole tribes were supporting this, I would suspect there are other American Indian tribes who find the name hurtful or offensive.

Although I am not an American Indian, I personally find it unsettling that people who have been conquered and forcibly removed from their land are now forced to sit back and see their likenesses on the side of some kid’s football helmet.

Second, I am surprised and disappointed the NCAA so quickly folded on this issue for Florida State, but not anyone else. Clearly Florida State has quite a bit more clout than Central Michigan or Bradley, but it is unfair the university can continue this practice while the others cannot, simply because it is a richer, more visible university.

Finally, and perhaps most bothersome to me, is how obvious Florida State continues to be in its seeming value of its college sports (particularly football) over all other aspects of the collegiate experience.

Florida State is notorious for having incredibly lackadaisical player discipline rules and regulations, with football coach Bobby Bowden consistently choosing what is best to get wins over what is best for student athletes and their development as people in a working society. Bowden was quoted recently as saying, “There are more ways to discipline other than suspension.”

Sounds to me like Bowden makes his guys run a few extra laps (which probably only helps the player physically) as punishment for being generally ill-behaved citizens. Worse yet, only around 60 percent of Seminole football players graduate from college, which ranks them right around the middle of national rankings. But one would like to see a greater academic emphasis on the kids in their program.

Furthermore, Florida State sells a great deal of merchandise based on its logos and nickname (which I admit are aesthetically pleasing) and one can’t help but suspect that the fear of losing such a market scared the pants off of the brass at Florida State.

All things considered, I say shame on the NCAA for backing down from its initial, correct decision and shame on Florida State for raising such a stink about something that may be hurtful to a large number of people here in America.