Mediocrity rewarded and reasons to HATE DePauw U.

- Freud believed that the goal of therapy was to convert misery and anguish into general, everyday unhappiness. In the world of the NBA, or the New York Knicks at least, the goal seems to be to convert all-out suckiness into mediocrity. Isaiah Thomas, the coach and general manager of the most perpetually inept and formerly great franchise in the Association, took over the team this year after serving solely as general manager because owner James Dolan wanted Thomas to clean up the personnel mess he himself made and to see if he could get anything out of the roster of overpriced, ego-riddled small forwards that Zeke assembled. Thomas was given this year to show “visible improvement”, and if the team didn’t do markedly better than last year’s 23-59 record, he would be gone as both coach and GM. Well, apparently leading your team to a 28-34 record and a spot on the fringe of the playoffs qualifies as the necessary improvement for Zeke to not only keep his job, but to receive an extension. That’s right, he’s the general for a team losing more than half of its games and one that probably won't make the playoffs, but he’s rewarded with an extended contract. Matt Millen and his continued presence with the Detroit Lions think that’s an absurd notion. Millen’s futility as Lions’ GM and Thomas’ repeated failures with the Knicks are just about the two worst general managing jobs in sports over the past five years, but apparently incompetence is rewarded, at least in sports. Good thing Jim Dolan wasn’t in charge of Enron, or he would have given Kenneth Lay a 15 percent pay raise, a new company car and a ten-year contract extension. Well done, Jimmy, well done.

- Much of Europe hates America, more specifically our imbecilic leader, W., and we know that the Middle East isn't crazy about our Buffoon in Chief either. You can check off Sotuh America on that list too, because during W.’s recent visit to Colombia, 1,500 protestors, including students, labor activists and opposition groups, gathered to taunt W.’s caravan as it passed through the streets of Bogotá. Some threw rocks at the caravan, and 100 people were arrested, and may I say that I am deeply proud of all of those people. See, this isn't an American thing, it’s a universal thing. We can all band together to despise incompetence and idiocy from this man. You need not live in the United States to openly loathe W., and perhaps this is the one cause that can unify us all. Protestor Luz Marina Carrillos doesn’t quite get what W. is all about, though. “He wants us all to get on our knees for him,” Carrillos lamented. No, Luz, he doesn’t want you on your knees, he wants you on the next military transport plane to Iraq so you can fight in the atrocity of a war he created and refuses to end. He wants you to fight and potentially die because he can't just own up to the war being a total debacle and failure and simply end it. Still, I am loving your protest, and I honestly wish more Americans would take to throwing rocks at W.

- Haven't seen the movie 300 yet, but for once, it does look like the biggest movie on a given weekend might actually be worth the praise and support it is getting. Based simply on the fact that it doesn’t have an over-the-hill star trying to make a stab at humor and failing miserably (Wild Hogs, anyone?), doesn’t include Pauly Shore or any of the Wayans brothers, isn't a remake of a movie that was successful in the past and has inspired others to piggyback on its success and has (at least judging from the promos) a decent production value and a discernable plot, this movie is a winner. Problem is, it will be hard to tell how good it actually is in a larger sense because 98 percent of the movies in theaters now are so gawd-awful that they make most anything with a modicum of quality to it seem like Citizen Kane. I do look forward to the day, though, when I no longer see the commercial with that one angry Spartan dude screaming…..“This….is….SPARTA!!!”

- I hate DePauw University. I’m going to say that right now and yes, hate is a strong word, but DePauw merits every ounce of hate I can muster. This university is diametrically opposed to what is truly good and right about college, and a decision made by its leaders is absolutely reprehensible. The Delta Zeta sorority was ordered off of the campus by this fall for, get this, only allowing popular, attractive members. Am I the only one missing the problem here? If a sorority only wants hot girls as members, then you don’t boot them off campus, you salute them for a job well done. I’m guessing that none of the fraternities or male students at DePauw had issues with this policy. More likely, some overweight, ugly girls didn’t get in to the sorority and they threw a fit. Well sorry, girls, but this isn't modern youth soccer, where everyone gets to play, no score is kept so no one wins or loses and everyone is treated the same and we all play nice together. The world isn't a place where people have to overlook you being fat and unattractive for everything you want to be involved in. Can you be fired from a job for being fat and ugly? No. Can you be denied admission to a public university for those same reasons? No, and that’s how it should be. Fundamental rights should not be taken away on the basis of criteria like that, but membership in a sorority is different. There are plenty of sororities out there, and if you don’t like any of the ones available, then go Revenge of the Nerds and create your own. Instead, we’ve got an Animal House-like situation, with a Greek organization being run off campus. Worse yet, it’s an organization of hot girls…..this makes me profoundly sad. Of course, all the Delta Zetas will do is find a new house off campus and they can operate outside the guidelines and rules that on-campus Greeks have to abide by. They can be even wilder and more out of control, and coupled with a couple dozen hot sorority girls, that should make them the most popular Greek organization at DePauw.