Bloghits #1(a) -- Sports Edition!

I haven't talked about it much here, but I am a more-than-casual sports fan -- particularly baseball and college football and hoops.   (As much as I love hockey, I just don't get enough time to follow it to call myself a true fan.)  With that disclosure, here are a couple bizarre notables from the last few weeks...

• I nearly spat my beer across the coffee table at hearing Mike Gminski's color commentary during the Fox Sports ACC Sunday Night men's basketball Sunday night (BC defeating Georgia Tech).  Near the end of the broadcast, Tim Brando and Gminski were talking about other games in the ACC this weekend and the G-Man dropped the following wisdom -- "Wake [Forest] looks like it's in a flat spin headed out to sea."  A Top Gun reference without any warning and (apparently) not intended as a joke -- is this man begging to be mocked in the next Sports Guy mailbag? 
• UPDATE: Could someone please send an intellectual property lawyer to the Washington Post?  It's time for the annual "SUPER BOWL is a protected phrase" marketing and advertising discussion... and the Post miserably confuses trademarks (like SUPER BOWL when used as a source identifier by the NFL and its licensees) and copyrights (which don't attach to short phrases like "super bowl") throughout this year's offering. Of course, I also believe the NFL is taking full advantage of the confusion through its overly aggressive posturing. Anyone at league headquarters care to study up on or debate "nominative fair use" some time?  Here's a signpost to get you started -- New Kids on the Block v. New America Publishing, 971 F.2d 302 (9th Cir. 1992) (nominative use "does not imply sponsorship or endorsement of the product because the mark is used only to describe the thing, rather than to identify its source").
• Looking back to the Rose Bowl, I now have confirmation that I wasn't dreaming when I saw the USC marching band perform Michael Jackson's "Beat It" and mimic the choreographed knife fight from the video.  I can't find video on-line yet, but there are negative reviews from GuideLive, EbJournal, a grudging acceptance at the MEAC-fans marching bands message board, and a surprisingly positive review from TexasGigs.com.

Now back to your regularly scheduled programming...