NFL 2010: Because it's never to f'ing early

[HVC]

We should start a NFL 2011 thread and speculate who the NFL might use as replacement players.

They can just buy out the cfl

[CountDeMoney]

Lulz, and so it begins anew....

CINCINNATI - Police in northern Kentucky have arrested Cincinnati Bengals linebacker Rey Maualuga on charges of drunken and careless driving.

Covington police spokesman Spike Jones says Maualuga hit a parking meter and two parked cars early Friday with his 2003 Pontiac. There was minor damage.

The 23-year-old was held about seven hours at the Kenton County jail before being released on his own recognizance.

The Bengals' 2009 second-round draft choice from Southern Cal started the first 15 games of his rookie season before breaking his left ankle.

Team spokesman Jack Brennan says he won't comment until the case is resolved. A message has been left for agent Gary Uberstine.

I love the agent's name:  Uberstine.   The OverJew.

[MadBurgerMaker]

his 2003 Pontiac.

 

[Neil]

Lulz, and so it begins anew....

CINCINNATI - Police in northern Kentucky have arrested Cincinnati Bengals linebacker Rey Maualuga on charges of drunken and careless driving.

Covington police spokesman Spike Jones says Maualuga hit a parking meter and two parked cars early Friday with his 2003 Pontiac. There was minor damage.

The 23-year-old was held about seven hours at the Kenton County jail before being released on his own recognizance.

The Bengals' 2009 second-round draft choice from Southern Cal started the first 15 games of his rookie season before breaking his left ankle.

Team spokesman Jack Brennan says he won't comment until the case is resolved. A message has been left for agent Gary Uberstine.

I love the agent's name:  Uberstine.   The OverJew.

Poor Bengals.

Next thing you know, Brown will try and save a buck by locking out his players a year early.

[HVC]

his 2003 Pontiac.

 

If you're goign to go out and drive drunk and trash your car it's a good idea not to take your best one out. i like his planning

[CountDeMoney]

Troy Smith wants to make his career disappear in Cleveland.

Smith made his preferences known in a recent interview with Mark "Munch" Bishop of ESPN Radio's Cleveland affiliate.

"There is no doubt about it," Smith said regarding his desire to play for the Browns.  "It has always been a childhood dream of mine.  It's funny how we always talk about Cleveland.  That's the first thing that comes to mind with anything I do whether I get a chance to come home and be a part of that organization or not.  You know, I would love to get that chance if that opportunity comes up, but the political and right thing to say in this situation is that I would love to be anywhere that would give me a chance.  But, without a doubt, there would be no second guessing in my mind if I could come back home and be a part of something that I love."

[Sophie Scholl]

   He's better than Quinn or Anderson, and would save the Browns drafting anyone or having to trade for someone super pricey.  About the only person I'd prefer that's on the market is my boy, Kyle Orton.

[Sophie Scholl]

Jim Zorn is the new Ravens QB coach.

[CountDeMoney]

Jim Zorn is the new Ravens QB coach.

Great choice.

"Jim played successfully in the league for a long time," Harbaugh said, "and certainly understands what an NFL quarterback goes through. He has been an NFL quarterback coach, NFL head coach and is familiar with our offense. That's a great resume for us."

Harbaugh added, "I've gotten to know Jim the last couple of years and I'm impressed with him as a person. He's a good, kind and decent man. He's an exciting addition to our staff."

[Neil]

That's awesome.

[katmai]

Who Dat Owns 'Who Dat'? Dat's Us, Sez da NFL
League Moves Against Vendors of T-Shirts with New Orleans Chant

By JENNIFER LEVITZ

For decades, even through a multitude of dismal seasons, New Orleans Saints fans have belted out a cheer they say is as much a part of the fabric of their city as jambalaya and jazz: "Who Dat Say Dey Gonna Beat Dem Saints? Who Dat? Who Dat?"


Now some are asking, "Who dat trying to spoil our fun?" The Saints' win last Sunday over the Minnesota Vikings vaulted the team into its first Super Bowl, lifting, at least temporarily, the long shadow of Hurricane Katrina over the city. But just as New Orleans is revving itself into a fever pitch about the Feb. 7 showdown in Miami against the Indianapolis Colts, the National Football League is claiming ownership of the phrase "Who Dat."

The NFL asserted rights to the phrase earlier this week through the Florida Department of State, and it has issued cease-and-desist orders against New Orleans vendors who sell Saints memorabilia adorned with the wording. It informed vendors that using the phrase is likely to "confuse the purchasing public into believing that your items" are sponsored by the NFL.

New Orleans locals are outraged and suspicious. The NFL, they contend, never cared about the quirky chant when the football team was dubbed the 'Aints a few decades ago, or after it was ousted from its home stadium in 2005 by Hurricane Katrina and finished 3-13.

"The Saints actually win something and go to the Super Bowl, and the NFL sees a way they can make a penny," complains Dan Frazier, general manager of local sports-talk radio station 690 WIST.

"It's terrible. It's ridiculous," scoffs self-proclaimed Saints "die-hard" Wade Dugas, a 46-year-old computer consultant, speaking by phone as he nursed a beer Friday at Cooter Brown's Tavern, a New Orleans bar. "What are they going to do—charge us if we cheer? Is that the next step?"

Saints Coach Sean Payton weighed in at his news conference Friday, saying "No one should own 'who dat,' " says team spokesman Greg Bensel.

New Orleans is known for its colorful dialect. You "make groceries," you don't buy them. You don't stop by for a visit, you "pass by." Dishes are washed in the "zink." Although its precise origin isn't known, it's clear that "who dat" is a part of local lingo that predates the rallying cry at Saints games.

St. Augustine High School, an all-boys Catholic school in the city, says it started the chant in 1972 at its own football games. "Who dat talking about beating them Knights? Nobody! Nobody!" recalls the Rev. John Raphael, the school's principal. "It didn't originate with the Saints or the NFL," he says.

The saying became the rallying cry for the Saints. In the 1980s, New Orleans singer Aaron Neville made a video, singing "who dat" alongside team members. The cry has become code for local pride as New Orleans unites in an excitement so infectious that many natives who live elsewhere plan to converge on New Orleans—not Miami—to watch the game.

"It's just permeated the city completely. People start their calls on the radio saying `who dat,' they end their calls on the radio that way. You walk down the street and say `Who dat!' and people you don't even know say `Who dat' back," says Jacques Berry, the spokesman for Louisiana's secretary of state. After the win over the Vikings, he says, "everyone loved everyone, and it's still going on."

But now, according to the NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy, "If 'who dat' is used in a manner to refer to Saints football, then the Saints own the rights."

Mr. McCarthy says the enforcement isn't new. For two decades, the NFL has been "using and enforcing its rights in the 'who dat' mark to refer to Saints football," he says.

Local residents say they've never heard of any problems until now.

On Monday, the NFL registered a trademark for use of the phrase "who dat" on apparel with the Florida Department of State, according to state records.

Lauren Thom, 29 years old, who makes her living on a tiny New Orleans T-shirt shop called Fleurty Girl, is one of a half dozen Louisiana vendors who received cease-and-desist orders. She makes shirts with local sayings such as: "My-nez. It's not mayonnaise, or mayo, oh no, My-Nez is what you put on dat san-wich." Her black-and-gold "Who Dat" shirts had been selling like crawfish, she says. She says she is complying with the NFL order.

So is Elizabeth Harvey, whose family owns Storyville, a local shop that sells similar T-shirts. She says the NFL "asked us to remove everything from our Web site Saints related. That definitely hurt us." She says she is cooperating. "They are the NFL, and we are a small company," she says.

Ms. Harvey says her customers are upset. "I have old ladies calling me and telling me that they say 'Who dat at the door?' One woman said her dog is named `Who Dat.'"

The cause is drawing bipartisan support from elected officials. On Friday, Sen. David Vitter, a Louisiana Republican, wrote to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, urging the league to "drop this obnoxious" position.

"Who Dat has become part of New Orleans and Louisiana popular culture," he wrote. "For the NFL to try to claim exclusive ownership of it would be like me registering and trying to claim exclusive ownership of the terms 'lagniappe' and `laissez les bons temps rouler!' "

"Please either drop your present ridiculous position or sue me," he wrote, signing his letter, "Junior Senator of Who Dat Nation."

Democratic Congressman Charlie Melancon, who is a candidate for Mr. Vitter's Senate seat, collected 1,800 signatures in just over 90 minutes for a petition he emailed to supporters and posted on Twitter. It urged the NFL to back off. "No one owns 'Who Dat' except for 'Who Dat Nation," he wrote.

Late Friday, the NFL responded to Sen. Vitter's letter, emphasizing that it doesn't want to entirely control the phrase "who dat"—only when it pertains to the Saints. NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy also said that shirt vendors could use the phrase but not on shirts that in any way promote the Saints—such as the ubiquitous black and gold "who dat" shirts the vendors now sell outside games and in fan shops.

[Admiral Yi]

Boo. 

[jimmy olsen]

And the NFL gets pimp slapped by the Louisiana AG.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35190249/ns/business-sports_biz/

AG says 'Who Dat' spat cleared up with NFL
Merchants can return to selling items with longtime Saints fans' cheer
   
updated 8:46 p.m. ET Feb. 1, 2010

BATON ROUGE, La. - Louisiana's attorney general said Monday that shops can sell T-shirts with the phrase "Who Dat" and the fleur-de-lis symbol if they don't make other references to the New Orleans Saints or the National Football League.

Attorney General Buddy Caldwell said he had a conference call with the NFL's general counsel to discuss cease-and-desist letters some Louisiana T-shirt makers received from the league. The letters demanded they stop selling shirts featuring the phrase that's part of a popular cheer by Saints fans, citing trademark infringement.

"They've conceded and they've said they have no intention of claiming the fleur-de-lis, which would be ridiculous, or the 'Who Dat,' which would be equally ridiculous," Caldwell said in an interview.

The NFL is only objecting to shirts that are marketed or presented as an official Saints or NFL product, Caldwell said. Shirts that are black and gold and say "Who Dat" can be sold, he said, if they don't purport to be Saints gear and don't include the team logo.

The chant — "Who dat say dey gonna beat dem Saints" — is often shortened to "Who Dat" on shirts and signs and has been a mainstay at the Superdome in New Orleans since the 1980s.

"People can use Who Dat all they want if it doesn't include NFL and Saints trademarks," said NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy, in an e-mail. "We explained that we would contact merchants only if a Who Dat item also contained NFL or Saints trademarks or if it is falsely claimed that an unauthorized item is affiliated with the Saints or NFL."

The "Who Dat" spat has outraged many Louisiana residents and merchants, who argued the NFL couldn't claim ownership of a saying or symbol that predates the Saints, who will make their very first Super Bowl appearance Sunday against the Indianapolis Colts. Gov. Bobby Jindal asked Caldwell to look into a possible lawsuit if the NFL was attempting to declare ownership rights of the phrase.

Lauren Thom, owner of the Fleurty Girl T-shirt shop in New Orleans, said she's changed the product description of her "Who Dat" shirts after getting a letter from the NFL demanding she quit selling them. She's sold out of her stock and is now managing back orders.

"Yes it disrupted business, but it's been kind of great as well. We've had lines of people waiting to buy our merchandise," Thom said. "One lady told me she wanted to buy anything in the store that was not NFL-licensed. I told her 'that's everything in the store!'"

"What started out as a letter that scared the bejesus out of me, has turned out to be the best thing ever for my business," she said.

Copyright 2010 The Associated Press.

[katmai]

Welp guess no reason to tune in now.

Madden NFL popped into headlines today, predicting a sunny Super Bowl win for the New Orleans Saints, and eight months of winter for the Indianapolis Colts.

Every year, Electronic Arts runs a Super Bowl simulation within their video game, Madden NFL. And five out of the last six years, the game's results have predicted the Super Bowl winner correctly. The simulation's only miss was the Giants' Super Bowl XLII victory over the Patriots, and even Nostradamus couldn't have seen that one coming.

This year, Madden NFL predicts a close Saints victory, with a final score of 35 - 31 over the Colts. According to the game, Drew Brees will be named the MVP after passing for 299 yards and three touchdowns. Reggie Bush will account for two more touchdowns, one rushing, and one on a punt return.

On the other side of the football, Colts' QB Peyton Manning will throw for 322 yards and three touchdowns in a great-but-not-good-enough performance.

[jimmy olsen]

Huzzah!