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It's official: The MFY are the evil empire

RealityChuck Feb 24 2013 09:09 AM

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-big-l ... --mlb.html Judge rules that Yankees are baseball’s only ‘Evil Empire’ By Mark Townsend | Big League Stew – 17 hours ago (USA Today) It's only February, but I think we already have a pretty strong candidate for strangest baseball story of the year. According to the Wall Street Journal, a company registered under the name of Evil Enterprises Inc. has been seeking exclusive trademark rights to the phrase “Baseballs Evil Empire” since June of 2008. Their intention? Release a clothing line — t-shirts, hats, jackets, and who knows what else — with the phrase "Baseball's Evil Empire" attached to them. Good plan, I suppose, but there's one big problem with that. The "Evil Empire" phrase has long been associated with the New York Yankees. In fact, it was Boston Red Sox CEO Larry Lucchino who coined it back in 2002 after New York signed Jose Contreras out from underneath them. It wasn't meant to be flattering, but it stuck, and in recent seasons we've even witnessed the Yankees beginning to embrace it by playing the Imperial March during home games. That's why Major League Baseball immediately stepped in on their behalf to block Evil Enterprises' attempt to land the trademark. Eventually the Yankees themselves joined the fight, and apparently that's led to a long, drawn out battle that was finally settled before a panel of trademark judges in Washington D.C. earlier this month. Here's what the judges had to say: The panel of judges sided with the Yankees, ruling that the Yankees are strongly associated with the phrase. Allowing anyone else to use the phrase exclusively would likely cause confusion, ruled the judges. "In short, the record shows that there is only one Evil Empire in baseball and it is the New York Yankees," wrote the judges. "Accordingly, we find that [the Yankees] have a protectable trademark right in the term . . . as used in connection with baseball." That makes it officially official. Anytime you hear or see the phrase "Baseball's Evil Empire" it's a direct reference to the Yankees and no one else. That cool, Evil Enterprises? Gerard Dunne, a lawyer for Evil Enterprises, said he and his client had yet to figure out whether to appeal. "But we disagree with the opinion, because we don't think "Evil Empire" exclusively refers to the Yankees anymore," he said. "You've seen it used with the Phillies, the Rangers, and other teams." I wouldn't bother with that, Gerard. We've all heard it used in reference to other teams, sure, but the original is the original. It just doesn't pack the same punch unless you're talking about the New York Yankees, and to argue baseball fans would think anything else when looking at your apparel is fairly absurd. We're sure you could do better anyway, so give up the battle and wow us with something original and creative.

Mets – Willets Point Feb 24 2013 09:16 AM Re: It's official: The MFY are the evil empire

This is like the baseball version of "Miracle on 34th Street" when the USPS validates that Kris Kringle is the real Santa Claus.

SteveJRogers Feb 24 2013 10:49 AM Re: It's official: The MFY are the evil empire

I'm kind of shocked Lucasfilms, and now Disney didn't think to get that trademarked. Granted I don't think it is ever uttered once, and the actual name is Intergalactic Empire, but I mean there aren't that many who don't know that it's origins are from Star Wars.

SteveJRogers Feb 24 2013 10:53 AM Re: It's official: The MFY are the evil empire

WAIT, the phrase doesn't have a damn thing to do with that space adventure opera Star Wars? [url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evil_empire

Kong76 Feb 24 2013 10:58 AM Re: It's official: The MFY are the evil empire

It just occurred to me that if R A pitches today, there will be a Dickey on YES not named Michael Kay.

Edgy MD Feb 24 2013 02:03 PM Re: It's official: The MFY are the evil empire

This is too strange.

Zvon Feb 24 2013 02:46 PM Re: It's official: The MFY are the evil empire

Read about this yesterday. This is just so much bullshit. It cracked me up.