A Favorable First Amendment Slant Should Save the Redskin's Trademark

For several years, there has been a politically correct effort to force the Washington Redskins to change their name.  In fact, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office was convinced with withdraw the NFL franchise's trademark protection in 1999 and 2014, citing that "the term redskin" as derogatory and offensive even though the USPTO had approved the mark over 80 years before. Washington Redskin's owner Daniel Synder appealed claiming that case law and the weight of the evidence had been ignored.  A federal district court agreed with the Patent Office's withdrawal of the trademark in July 2015. 

However, a Federal Appeals court handed down a ruling which may well be a game changer.  The Portland Oregon dance rock band "The Slants" won a Federal Appeals Court case which began in 2011 over their provocative moniker.  The Slants are composed of Asian Pacific Island band members and pride themselves as taking on racism presumably by embracing a name which many consider to be ethnic slander. 

The Slants

In a December 22, 2015 decision, the Federal Appeals Court ruled:

“Many of the marks rejected as disparaging convey hurtful speech that harms members of oft-stigmatized communities. But the First Amendment protects even hurtful speech...

The government cannot refuse to register disparaging marks because it disapproves of the expressive messages conveyed by the marks."

That ruling ended The Slant's legal Misery, but also serves as a strong indication that the Redskin's ruling will not stand. The Redskins were stripped of trademark protection because of "hurtful speech".  In addition, the Redskin's case is even stronger as the USPTO had already approved the trademark years before and then sought to yank it away.  However, because the Redskin's appeal is in another circuit, the Slant's ruling is not automatically set a precedent.  And the US Supreme Court could also overturn the Slant's First Amendment trademark protection.

But until then..

Bono's Cycling Spill--Bad

The legendary rock band U-2 was scheduled to take a week-long residency on the NBC Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon to promote their new album "Songs of Innocence"  (2014).   But  U-2 was a no show as frontman Bono Vox was in a "high energy" bicycling accident in Central Park on a Sunday Bloody Sunday.   

Fallon and the Roots tried to compensate for U-2's absence with a dead-on impersonation of their 1988 hit "Desire". 

Alas, Bono's injuries were more serious than initially thought.  Dr. Dean Lorich, an Orthopedic Trauma Surgeon at New York Presbyterian/Weill Cornell's Emergency Department, revealed that Bono broke his right arm in six places as well as injuring his left hand, fracturing an eye socket and a shoulder blade.  The spill was so bad that bone protruded through the skin on his arm. 

The arm fracture required a five hour operation and involved three metal plates and 18 screws. While Bono is expected to make a full recovery, it will take some intense and progressive therapy to do so.

It is believed that Bono's accident occurred as he swerved to avoid another cyclist and he fell over.  The NYPD has been cracking down on cyclists over the last couple of years for traffic violations in Central Park. Street cyclists have a reputation for running red lights and wearing headphones while on the roadways.  Bono's crash is a reminder why these rules matter, even in Central Park.

While cycling fans look to stars like Lance Armstrong or Jens Voigt for inspiration, many participate in the sport with their own "high-energy" rides.  Bono's Central Park "spill" is a reminder that the recreation is not without its risks as well as its rewards.

Anthematically Verklempt

Rosanne Barr at Padres game 1990

Some cynics question why we perform patriotic music like the National Anthem before professional sporting matches.  This perspective is bolstered  when singers forget the lyrics like Aaron Lewis did during the 2014 World Series.  And people wonder "What the Hail?" when people like Rosanne Barr or silver screen characters such as  Frank Drevin from "The Naked Gun"  (1988) who turn "honoring America" into a joke. 

That being said, there are glimmers of hope on honoring America in song in pro sports.  It was a touching new tradition that Major League Baseball featured active servicemen singing "God Bless America" during the seventh inning stretch during the playoffs and the World Series.  

However, what was truly moving was the reaction to an instrumental rendition of the National Anthem during an NFL Monday Night Football game. At MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, the New York Giants invited Grammy Award winning trumpeter Chris Botti to play the National Anthem.

Botti's rendition was so inspiring that it visibly moved Indianapolis Colts veteran Wide Receiver Reggie Wayne to tears.  This stirring rendition of the Star Spangled Banner was no mere formality when it can make a veteran pro football player verklempt. 

On the eve of the midterm elections, when conscientious American citizens prepare to go to the polls and exercise their franchise to support and maintain our democratic Republic, it is fitting to hear such a beautiful rendition of our National Anthem.  Bravo!

h/t:  Uproxx 

San Fran Radio Bans Lorde "Royals" During World Series

After the San Francisco Giants beat the St. Louis Cardinals to clinch their right to represent the National League in the 2014 Major League Baseball World Series, two Bay area radio stations made waves.  Both KFOG-FM and KOIT-FM announced bans on playing the minimal art pop song "Royals" by New Zealand chanteuse Lorde.  This ersatz outrage is a silly attempt to generate civic pride for the a World Championship Series with two wildcard teams.

During interviews last year, Lorde became inspired to compose "Royals" in a half-hour writing session after seeing a photo of George Brett signing baseballs.

The song is about aspirationalism and uses pop artists' luxurious lifestyles as a counterpoint.

One would think that there would be more tolerance in the City by the Bay.  Then again, the  message might be challenging to those actually listening to the lyrics of the Lorde's song. 

The radio silence on "Royals" seems like a cheap publicity stunt which jumps on the civic bandwagon while getting earned publicity.  But this may be a desperate ploy to generate enthusiasm in San Francisco for the World Series.  

This is the third time in five years in which the San Francisco Giants have made it to the World Series, whereas it has been a 29 year drought for the Royals.  

This is reflected in World Series ticket prices on the secondary market.  It would not be cheap to see the San Francisco Giants play their World Series home games, averaging around $700 a seat. But in Kansas City, expect to pay between $1,000 to $1250 a ticket to see "Royals" in the World Series up close and personally. 

Kasey Kahne on Talladega

Steve Austin on Tackles

Towards the end of the first half of the Ohio State Buckeyes and the  University of Cincinnati Bearcats football game, a rowdy fan dressed in in a rushed onto the field at Ohio Stadium in Columbus.

This unruly behavior was unwise to do around Ohio State Buckeye Football Assistant Coach Anthony Schlegel.  The Buckeye's conditioning (strength) coach was a linebacker for OSU as part of the class of 2006. In addition, Schlegel was a 3rd round draft choice by the New York Jets in 2006 as well as playing for the Cincinnati Bengals.

So when the disruptive fan evaded a security guard while storming onto the football field, Coach Schlegel sprang into action.  Schegel made a horse collar tackle and body slammed the disruptive fan onto the turf, but Schlegel was not penalized on the play.


 The record setting crowd of 108,262 Buckeye boosters roared its approval. Security officials then escorted 21 year old Anthony Wunder off the field, who apparently is a 6'2" Ohio State University Senior  who hails from Cincinnati.   Wunder will be arraigned on charges of criminal trespass for his stunt.  No word on how many ice packs Wunder needed after his close encounter with Schlegel.

While the Buckeyes beat the Bearcats 50-28, the big winner of the day seems to have been Coach Schlegel for his protective tackle.   Pro wrestler Steve Austin shared his kudos on Twitter, suggesting that Schlegel earned several performance perks usually reserved for players, Another enterprising Buckeye booster scored the scene into a music video titled "Here Comes the Boom".

Reconsidering the Release of Raven's RB Ray Rice

On February 15, 2014, Baltimore Ravens Running Back Ray Rice and his fiancée Janay Palmer  had gotten into a fight while in an elevator at the Revel Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The altercation was initially described as a minor physical altercation. Both Rice and Palmer were arrested on simple assault charges.

On February 19th, police obtained the security camera video from the Revel Casino, which showed that the 26 year old Running Back cold cocked Palmer and then dragged her out of the elevator.

When evidence was presented to a grand jury, Rice's was indicted with third degree aggravated assault.  The very next day, Rice and Palmer got married.  Although Rice rejected a plea deal on the charges, Rice plead not guilty and enrolled in a diversion program for first time offenders to receive counseling which could could legally clear him within six months.

Alas that was not the end of the issue for Ray Rice.  The NFL initially suspended Rice for two games, noting that the League and the Union did not have a policy on domestic violence.  There was a public hue and cry against what was considered to be a lenient punishment from the NFL.  After all, players caught using illegal narcotics or performance enhancing drugs could have stiffer punishment.

 NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell claimed that he did not have all of the information about the event four months after the event.  This claim has come under scrutiny as the NFL had the police tape in Feburary.  Moreover, Rice insisted that he was upfront with the NFL over what occurred.

To placate the public NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell admitted that the League "didn't get it right" with the Rice ruling. So the NFL beefed up its punishment for domestic violence, imposing a six game suspension without pay for a first offence and a virtual lifetime ban on the second instance.  Goodell said:

"I take responsibility both for the decision and for ensuring that our actions in the future properly reflect our values, I  didn't get it right. Simply put, we have to do better. And we will."

The question is to how the infraction is determined and when it is imposed.  For instance, Rice was not CONVICTED by a jury of his peers or a court of domestic violence.  And his diversion program would wipe the legal slate clean. And what sort of appeal process is there for the league.  It also begs the question of whether an employer should impose sanctions on players for conduct outside of the workplace and on charges not substantiated by society.

On September 8th 2014, TMZ Sports released the full Ray Rice elevator assault video.


This prompted swift response.  The Baltimore Ravens unconditionally released their star running back.  Moreover, the NFL indefinitely suspended Ray Rice.

By chance, the first Thursday Night Football game on CBS featured the Baltimore Ravens versus the Pittsburg Steelers. CBS initially planned to use a promo which featured the song "Run This Town" with Jay-Z and Rihanna, the latter who suffered felony assault  at the hands of rapper Chris Brown in 2009. The network also pulled a comedy sketch between Don Cheadle and Rihanna.   Instead the CBS Sports pregame consisted of somber interview by CBS Morning Show host Nora O'Donnell which harped on domestic violence.

Much of the media seemed flummoxed when Ravens fans proudly wore their Ray Rice jerseys for the Thursday Night Football game. Such fans believed that it was a one time event, Rice apologized and had been punished once by the League.  Moreover, other players with domestic violence charges hanging over them, like Carolina Panthers Defensive End Greg Hardy was convicted of assault charges yet was able to play on Week 1 while the charge is on appeal.  But there probably was no videotape.  Rice was not legally convicted yet he has suffered the playing death penalty on what might be called double jeopardy in a legal context.

While domestic violence is reprehensible, there are already existing remedies to redress the offense.   The Ray Rice videotape seemed to skew the process and railroaded Rice while not equally applying punishment for similar offenses. The NFL has become notorious for political correctness. Based upon the controversy as to when Goodell saw the Rice videotape, the League may be hoisted on its own PC petard. 

FIFA Follies

Kudos to Mark Stobbart, an English actor who combined surreal cartoon sensibilities from Monty Python shorts with his love of football to create 442oons as a way to satirize the soccer community. 

Steve Rushin on Violence

Hunter S. Thompson the Kentucky Derby

Dan Fogelberg had a much less cynical take on the fastest two minutes in sports with his chart topping song "Run for the Roses", but the rendition takes double the time of the actual race. 

Rosie Ruiz on Running

Rosie Ruiz, a 27 year old Cuban American hailing from New York City, was declared the winner of the 1980 Womens' Boston Marathon with a time of 2 hours 31 minutes 29 seconds, which would have been the fastest female time in the Boston Marathon ever and the 11th quickest recorded time for any female marathoner.

Bill Rogers winning 1980 Boston Marathon

Bill Rogers, the four time winner of the Boston Marathon, including his last victory in 1980, sensed that there was something wrong with Ruiz's hobbled first place finish as there were no perspiration stains under Ruiz's armpits or on her back.  Rogers thought that a big mistake was being made.  At the post Boston Marathon press conference, Rogers asked Ruiz about her training and what intervals she did and Ruiz had no clue as to what Rogers was referring.

When a reporter asked Ruiz how she was able to best her marathon time from the New York City marathon by 25 minutes, Ruiz quipped that she woke up with a lot of energy that morning.  Ruiz could not remember anything about fans at Wellesley College, a female Seven Sister College of the Ivy League, which always roots loudly for the leading female runner in the Boston Marathon.  But the most damning evidence from the Hub came from two Harvard students who reported that Ruiz burst through a group of spectators on Commonwealth Street, a half mile from the finish line.

New York Marathon officials investigated a report from a freelance reporter who stipulated that six months before the Boston Marathon she rode the subway train with Ruiz and watched her report herself injured by the finish line, and she was credited with finishing the NYC marathon in 11th place, thereby qualifying her for the Boston Marathon. 

After doing their own investigation, the Boston Athletic Association disqualified Rosie Ruiz and declared that Canadian Jacqueline Gareau was the winner with a time of 2 hours 34 minutes and 28 seconds, which was the fastest time for a woman in Boston Marathon history. 

 The BAA staged a ceremonial photo finish for Gareau with 3,000 spectators to give the woman her due, but Ruiz had stolen the spotlight by grabbing the garland that Patriots' Day and remains infamous. 

Sarah Palin on Life in Amazing America

Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin (R-AK) continues to be a conservative cultural vanguard who is adept at reinforcing her own brand.  

Palin's latest project is a reality series Amazing America with Sarah Palin on the Sportsman Channel.  

The series is intended to be an anthology which explores the people, places and pastimes which makes America great as exhibited through outdoor living.  Ms. Palin, who some have dubbed "The First Lady of the Outdoors", will host the weekly half hour show in which she chooses the topics and the guests.

Amazing America will be co-hosted by comedians Mark Christopher Lawrence and Jerry Carroll.  Carroll claims: "I bring that good ol' boy, dare I say redneck, blue-collar experience to the viewers."  The patriotic rockers Madison Rising wrote an original theme song for Amazing America theme.


Amazing America will highlight outdoor sports and spectacles not normally in the limelight, like a blacksmiths' championship, or spotlights on professional shooters,  knife makers and taxidermists.

But Momma Grizzly's creative control should allow for messaging which reinforces her political and cultural weltanschaaung, such as her selfie challenge to young women.

Amazing America premieres at 8 PM EDT on the Sportsman Channel.  

h/t:  Breitbart

John Williams on the Olympics

John Williams conducting the Olympic orchestra for the 1996 Summer Olympiad in Atlanta, Georgia USA.




Although the quality of the video from John Williams conducting the Olympic Orchestra in the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California USA is shaky, the composition and choreography is magnificent.

Bob Costas Sees Red in Sochi

Sports fans may not have recognized Bob Costas in his early reports from the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics because of his unfamiliar eye wear.  Wags likened the bespeckled sportscaster as doubling as Clark Kent or more mature Harry Potter.  There is even a parody Twitter account chronicling the situation

As NBC started its 18 days of intense coverage of the XXII Winter Olympiad, Costas came down with an eye infection, so he needed to wear glasses on air.  Network doctors think that it is a minor infection which should resolve itself by the weekend.

Considering all of the Sochi Problems, especially with the special non-potable Sochi water coming from "five star" hotel taps, it is easy to see how Costa could get pink eye.

It is a reminder to don't drink the water.

             

Lt. Col. William Kilgore on Surfing

Reconsidering Apocalypse Now (1979) as a surfing film.

Baseball Ballet Between The Beltways

For the third year in a row, the Geico Racing Presidents crashed a performance of the Septime Weber's  and the Washington Ballet's performance of  Tchaikovsky's "The Nutcracker" (1892) at the Warner Theater.




As it was at the end of the Washington National's 2012 season, Teddy was a winning standout.

 At a time when the District of Calamity is divided on how to avoid the Fiscal Cliff, it is nice to see how baseball fans, Christmas sentimentalists and lovers of the arts can briefly be brought together in a season of hope and anticipation.

 [This article was originally published on DistrictofCalamity.com]

Cap'n Slappy and Ol' Chumbucket on Raquetball

When Mark Summers and John Baur attended their first fantasy convention at CapriCon  in Chicagoland in 2008, their alter egos Cap'n Slappy and Ol' Chumbucket were joined onstage by Tom Smith for a rousing ode to "Talk Like a Pirate Day".

Merry Talk Like a Pirate Day--  Aaarrr!

RGIII is not PC in DC

Since the City Council in the District of Calamity has nothing better to do, Councilman David Grosso (I-At Large DC) has proposed a non-binding resolution to prompt the Washington NFL franchise to change its name from the “Redskins” because Grosso finds it racist and offensive.  The councilman claims that a majority of DC City Council  will support the resolution.

The politically correct clamor from the DC City Council is meant to bolster efforts by aboriginal American groups who are suing to deny the football franchise from keeping trademark protection for their famous Redskins moniker. 

Grosso proffered his solution to change the name of the team to the Redtails.   Grosso observes that : “You can still sing the song and everything...you can still keep the feather.”  How generous! This solicitous solution sounds as weak as changing the Washington Bullets to the Wizards.  


While the Clash sang about Washington Bullets referring to weapons, the Washington Bullets name derived from a shoe manufacturer.  The American Basketball League Baltimore Bullets were named after Bata Bullets athletic shoes named near Baltimore.  Washington kept the name Bullets of the NBA franchise from 1973 when the team moved to DC until 1995 when owner Abe Pollin wanted to change the name after the assassination of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzah Rabin.  While there was a contest to narrow the name list and the Wizards moniker was chosen.   But that was the free market working by a capitalist choosing to rebrand to suit himself.

Now it seems that politically correct politicians and attention seeking pressure groups want to dictate how private companies can market themselves.  No wonder why DC can be considered the District of Calamity (sic). 

What is remarkable about this politically correct pogrom is that a prominent community leader took a stand against social tyranny.  Robert Griffin, Jr (a.k.a. RGIII), the first year Washington starting quarterback who lead his team from the wilderness into the NFL playoffs dared to speak his mind and buck the PC powers that be.  RGIII tweeted “In the land of political freedom, we are held hostage by the tyranny of political correctness.”  

It did not take long for RGIII’s Twitter statement of independence to draw fire from those who would otherwise champion diversity (as long it conforms to their mores).

It seems that the ‘Skin’s star quarterback is not only agile and inspirational but also courageous.  But now the ire of liberal sports writers will be waiting to heckle him.  RGIII may be treated slightly better than dog killer Michael Vick before he was convicted.  However, if RGIII stumbles in his comeback from season ending knee surgery, he might be considered like a PC sports pariah ala Tim Tebow.   


h/t: The Blaze
      WAMU . 

[The article originally appeared on DistrictofCalamity.com]