Saturday, February 04, 2006
If "12th Man" Illegal, What About the "Terrible Towel"?
The Seahawks fly the number 12, representing the 12th man, which is apparently the whole set of fans in the stands. This is based upon the proposition that thousands of people shouting is equivalent to one man doing something. Unfortunately for audience participation, it turns out the Aggies of Texas Agricultural and Military School have a trademark on the phrase "12th Man" and have secured a temporary restraining order in a Texas court prohibiting the Seahawks from saying "12th Man".
The Aggie tradition is somewhat different from the Seattle one, to wit, thousands of people standing rather than thousands of people shouting. To them, the 12th man was E. King Gill, who was called from the stands and suited up to be ready if the team ran out of players. They didn't, so he didn't play, but everyone appreciated the gesture. Nowadays, everyone stands in case they need to be called down to suit up, and, of course, it includes the females, as required by Title IX.
The Seahawks flag, which is still flying from the Space Needle, has only the number 12 on it, and no "man" (see Title IX), and not even any "th". That didn't help them in the Texas court. But inexplicably, the Aggies have not attacked Pittsburgh's "terrible towel". Their tradition includes waving a 12th Man Towel. If you can't say "12" denuded of th and man, you sure can't wave a towel just by substituting "terrible" for "12th man". Can you?
