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How would they know?
I still think it's absurd for Johnny Manziel to try to claim "Johnny Football," but that's neither here nor there. The entire idea of Manziel being able to form a corporation and then sue someone for copyright or trademark infringement threatened to open up a loophole for some -- creative -- boosters and the like. A loophole the NCAA has now, fortunately, closed.
The NCAA has informed A&M that Manziel, 20, will be able to keep any potential earnings from the lawsuit. The NCAA added in its initial declaration to the university that such a ruling certainly doesn't mean a student-athlete can sue an individual -- say a booster of his school -- with the intent of the defendant then channeling money to the student-athlete via a schemed lawsuit and ensuing payout.
The problem, of course, would come in proving that the student and the booster had conspired to use it to funnel money. Can a booster just infringe on the player's trademark with impunity, knowing that a lawsuit would cast suspicion on that player?
It's a tricky thing in our increasingly litigious society. You don't want to bar players from having their day in court, but how do you make sure that the law doesn't override the rules?
Godspeed, Warren Norman
The former SEC Freshman of the Year just can't play. Blame his knees.
"I've been battling knee issues for the last couple years. After talking with my family, Coach (James) Franklin, the staff and doctors, I've decided to forgo my last season," Norman said. "Considering my current health and whether I'll be able to help the team win football games next year, I thought it was the best decision for me."
It's always sad to see a career end prematurely, especially one that's as promising as Norman's. But he's going to get a college degree out of the deal, and there are worse consolation prizes in life.
Jameill Showers going from Texas A&M to UTEP
You might recognize him as the guy who was going to be the starting quarterback for the Aggies before Johnny Manziel got involved.
Verne Lundquist is now far less likely to be confused
After his brother left for the draft, Zander Ogletree's career is over based on medical evaluations.
Arrested players gone at Alabama
No word yet on whether it was because one of them beat the tar out of some fellow students or because one of the things they stole was a Macbook Pro. (Really? You're not even going to wait until someone with an Air comes along?)
"Their actions do not reflect the spirit and character that we want our organization to reflect," Saban said. "It's obviously very disappointing and unacceptable what happened."
To be honest, we haven't seen too terribly much of this kind of stuff out of Alabama. Then again, we haven't seen too many muggings by football players anywhere in the SEC, so that's not too notable.
Marvin Shinn, Danny Woodson Jr. out
Shinn is probably gone and Woodson is suspended.
The Process begins again on March 16
April 20 is A-Day.
Jimbo Fisher continues his pillaging of the SEC
The Florida State coach is apparently out to find every SEC assistant coach who has either been fired or been part of the reason someone else was fired in the course of their careers. Mississippi State's Tim Brewster, come on down.
DeLoss Dodds might be the least delusional denizen of Longhorn Nation
Consider that Dodds actually felt the need to say this while defending Mack Brown.
If you have stability, you have continuity and you’ve got good people. It’s a formula that works. I think we’ve got that. If somebody tells me we need to change, I say, ‘Ok, but who should we hire? [Alabama head coach Nick] Saban? Well, Saban isn’t going to come here.’
One hopes he was simply making a rhetorical point and not reflecting on actual conversations he's had. But this being Texas, you never know.
This year's Ridiculous Use of Technology to Sell Seats Award goes to ...
LSU, for Seats 3D. Really, the name alone is worth making fun of.
Boy Wonder just can't shut up, can he?
Lane Kiffin, ladies and gentlemen.
I've said this before: If Matt Barkley had the defense that Matt Leinart and Carson Palmer had, Matt Barkley would have won the Heisman Trophy just like they did. He would have had the winning records they had.
Yes, Kiffin just threw his entire defense (the one formerly coached by his father) under the bus. And ignored the 15 interceptions that Barkley threw.
NCAA's Shapiro price tag: $170,000
Again, the penalties Miami has already self-imposed are right in line with similar cases. The Reggie Bush case was a bit shy of $300,000, and Southern Cal got a two-year postseason ban. End this investigation.