NCAA Football Phoenix

Following in the footsteps of the pathetic legal battle between Texas A&M and the Seattle Seahawks over the use of the term, "12th Man", it looks as if the Phoenix Coyotes and Penn State University are going to be headed to court over the use of "White Out".

God save us all from lawyers with nothing better to do. From the Daily Collegian:

This football season, a trademark held by the national hockey team the Phoenix Coyotes nearly blacklisted Penn State's use of the term "White Out."

Lucky for Lions fans, Penn State found some gray area.

"We have applied to protect the phrase 'Penn State White Out' in connection with the promotion of fan participation and involvement in collegiate athletic events," said Greg Myford, associate athletic director of marketing. "Penn State intends to register the phrase for protection on a national level."

But "White Out" is not originally a Nittany namesake.

In fact, Steve Weinreich, vice president of general counsel for the Phoenix Coyotes, said that any variation on the term for marketing purposes is "in violation of the law," restricting certain posters, advertisements and garments around campus.

For those of you unfamiliar with the origin of the term, the "Winnipeg White Out" came into being during the 1987 NHL Playoffs when the Winnipeg Jets -- the team now known as the Phoenix Coyotes -- faced the Calgary Flames. Wanting to come up with their own answer to the "sea of red" worn by Calgary fans at their home playoff games, the Jets responded by asking their fans to wear white to their home playoff games.

Subsequently, the Jets eliminated Calgary in five games that year, and a new tradition was born -- albeit one that is only observed sporadically as the Jets/Coyotes make playoff appearances about as often as a solar eclipse.

Quarterbacks with multiple fractures in their throwing hand usually take a seat and do that whole "healing" thing. On the surface it sounds like common sense. But then, common sense fell by the wayside long ago for last year's Arizona State football team.

Arizona State's Rudy Carpenter didn't get the memo.

The junior told ASUDevils.com that he fractured his right (throwing) hand in two places during practice before the Colorado game. And that he broke a bone on the ring finger of his left (non-throwing) hand when it was stepped on during the California game.

Both hands? I guess I should give him props for the incredibly tough/macho "look ma, no hands!" act. But then it explains away a lot of his ineffectiveness last year as he morphed from being the nation's most efficient passer to something resembling former UCLA quarterback Cory Paus.

Also: future wife take notice - the man needs no ring cause his ring finger kinda sorta doesn't work.

He also said of the injury against Cal, "It didn't feel good, but it's alright. I don't think I have a knuckle any more on my ring finger.

Ewwww.

Take a gander at the grainy picture below. That's incoming USC football recruit Everson Griffen (in red) jumping over a defender on the way to a touchdown run.



'Hm, that's kind of interesting' you might say to yourself before thinking nothing else of it.

Thing is, Griffen's merely moonlighting as a tailback. In reality he's a 6'-4", 270 pound defensive end starting his college football career in just a few months. Can your defensive end do that? USC's can.

I've watched a lot of highlight tapes over the years and I've rarely seen tailbacks do that whole mid-air hurdle routine. I've seen exactly zero 270-pound defensive ends do it. So yeah, he's a freak.

For more of Griffen be sure and check out all his videos at Rivals.com.

Dennis Erickson has not coached a game yet for the Arizona State Sun Devils, but the wayward head coach is already making an imprint on the program.

Erickson has announced he'll be moving running back Rudy Burgess back to wide receiver for his Senior year.

Erickson had recruited Burgess to Oregon State as a wide receiver, but Rudy chose the Sun Devils, who shifted him to running back in 2004, when he racked up 186 yards on 34 carried against Stanford.

Asked by the Arizona Republic if Burgess could play both ways, Erickson responded, "It's not fair for him (Burgess) as far as having a great senior season."