Friday, February 02, 2007
Football may be King, but NFL Lawyers are Mental Jesters
Honestly, I am stunned at this story out of Indianapolis where the NFL legal eagles stiff-armed a group of degenerates who really had it coming - the fine people at Fall Creek Baptist Church.
Read the story here.
The NFL is exhibiting a double-standard here equal to the proportions of some of the linemen who will play in Sunday's game. I wish that the church would have called their bluff and countersued on Free Exercise and equal protection grounds.
In any case, if you are having a party on Sunday (as I am) make sure to follow the NFL guidelines for such (particularly if you are a Christian, have ever known a Christian, or think that someone named "Christian" may attend):
- No admission fees. (No problem here for me.)
- Only one television, 55-inches or smaller. (Sorry, NFL, but I didn't measure the screen. Perhaps you can send an official NFL chain crew to make the ruling if the TV at the party is too big.)
- No use of the words "Super Bowl" in promotional materials. (OK, I might be guilty of this one. Of course, I am using the OFFICIAL NFL LICENSED materials, which I assume incorporates a fair use defense. Think the NFL Party Nazis will let me slide?)
- No exhibition of the game in connection with events "that promote a message." (Well, the message surrounding our party was "We can't believe that Da Bears made it back to the Super Bowl in my lifetime." I think we might change it to "The NFL Office of the General Counsel need to be tarred and feathered as halftime entertainment instead of Prince.")
***
It's amazing to me that the NFL - who tends to handle PR better than its baseball and basketball counterparts in deflecting criticism for the thugs that star in their sports - would choose to strike at a church that was trying to promote the positive qualities of Coach Dungy and Coach Smith. The only explanation I have is that the lawyers for the NFL had the common sense beat out of them during what I expect were probably expensive Ivy League educations.
Read the story here.
The NFL is exhibiting a double-standard here equal to the proportions of some of the linemen who will play in Sunday's game. I wish that the church would have called their bluff and countersued on Free Exercise and equal protection grounds.
In any case, if you are having a party on Sunday (as I am) make sure to follow the NFL guidelines for such (particularly if you are a Christian, have ever known a Christian, or think that someone named "Christian" may attend):
- No admission fees. (No problem here for me.)
- Only one television, 55-inches or smaller. (Sorry, NFL, but I didn't measure the screen. Perhaps you can send an official NFL chain crew to make the ruling if the TV at the party is too big.)
- No use of the words "Super Bowl" in promotional materials. (OK, I might be guilty of this one. Of course, I am using the OFFICIAL NFL LICENSED materials, which I assume incorporates a fair use defense. Think the NFL Party Nazis will let me slide?)
- No exhibition of the game in connection with events "that promote a message." (Well, the message surrounding our party was "We can't believe that Da Bears made it back to the Super Bowl in my lifetime." I think we might change it to "The NFL Office of the General Counsel need to be tarred and feathered as halftime entertainment instead of Prince.")
***
It's amazing to me that the NFL - who tends to handle PR better than its baseball and basketball counterparts in deflecting criticism for the thugs that star in their sports - would choose to strike at a church that was trying to promote the positive qualities of Coach Dungy and Coach Smith. The only explanation I have is that the lawyers for the NFL had the common sense beat out of them during what I expect were probably expensive Ivy League educations.
Labels: Equal Protection, First Amendment, Football
Permalink posted by Rob Huddleston @ 2:56 AM 
