Discourse on (lack of) Reason

It seems like it was just a year ago that Myles Brand, the man who not even own organization can spell his first name (search “Miles Brand” site:ncaa.org and you’ll get a nice laugh when you find the press release announcing his hiring), foolishly decided that the “Seminole” nickname was “abusive & hostile” to a group of people who supported it 100%.

Oh wait, it was.

But some things never change. Now the man who should be selling swiss cheese to monkeys has decided that two green and yellow feathers symbolize hostility and abuse towards Native Americans. Am I missing something?William & Mary, one of the nation’s oldest and most respected institutions of higher learning, has been told that its logo, which contains two feathers and the even more insulting letters “W” and “M” must go, or else they won’t go to the postseason. They did, however, hold up the use of the nickname “Tribe,” despite complaints by biologists who claim that it is abusive to the taxonomy of naming organisms.

But it’s the same thing all over again with Myles Brand trying to be god.

According to NCAA guidelines, a logo is “hostile” if it is “characteristic of an enemy; warlike; having or showing ill will; unfriendly; antagonistic, not hospitable” and it is “abusive” if it is “abusing, mistreating; coarse and insulting; scurrilous, harshly scolding.”

Now, besides the point that anything can and is insulting, especially such a profound idiot as Myles Brand leading the most profitable amateur sporting business in the world, but how do two feathers, either one of which could have been taken from the stage during the filming of Forrest Gump and painted green and yellow, fall into either of those categories?

But instead of worrying about the hypocrisy that allows Fresno State to drop wrestling or the University of Miami giving 17 scholarships to women’s track & field and one to the men’s team just because of football and Title IX, Myles Brand is focusing his time on bringing down a logo.

As always, the school is appealing this joke of a ruling, claiming that “we are condemned for our use of two simple green and gold feathers because those feathers `continue to perpetuate the stereotype.'” And as always, they are right.

There is nothing abusive or hostile, let alone both, about their logo. But in his crusade against common sense, Myles Brand has decided to test the university.

I would have wished that this did not have to become a full-fledged fight, but it always does.

I would have thought that the NCAA learned its lesson after failing to bring down the Seminole nickname when even the Seminole tribe of the state of Florida supported the use, but I was wrong.

I would have thought Myles Brand would be fired by now, but common sense never prevails.

So instead of committees on the important issues that aim to destroy collegiate athletics, such as Title IX, the NCAA is spending its money investigating feathers- the same money it won’t give to its employees, the athletes, which make it so profitable.

Now, I’ve never supported Myles Brand, having in the past claimed that he was the Nazi Party of collegiate athletics and for that I apologize, but he’s not much better. And with each passing year, he proves more and more that he is not capable of running such an organization, let alone the presidency of Indiana.

But really, the losers today are not William & Mary, but rather the athletes who because of Title IX cannot play.

The A.D. at the University of Maryland, the only Division 1-A college to have had both a female president and athletic director, has come out against Title IX as it currently stands, claiming that she has struggled to find people to take scholarships to play female sports yet has had to tell male athletes that in order to meet quotas, they cannot even walk on.

This is an issue that needs to be addressed, not the logo of their neighbors. But Myles Brand will never address real problems, choosing instead to side-step the pressing issues and focus on feathers.

I used to think it was funny; now I just find it sad.

Clearly, Bobby Knight choked the wrong person when he was at Indiana, or else maybe we wouldn’t be having this problem.

Clearly, Myles Brand is still incompetent.