Designer knock-offs might be bad for business, but blatant designer knock-offs are always good for a laugh. A Rolax watch? A Pollo shirt? There’s more funny there than you can fit into a Louis Veeton bag.

Which brings us to a story from Georgia about counterfeit Air Jordans, the iconic Nike brand. An officer pulled over a car and noticed the smell of marijuana. A search of the car yielded 78 boxes of Air Jordans.

Except the serial number on the tongues of the shoes didn’t match the one on the box. And the Nike logos peeled off.

And because Michael Jordan’s hand had six fingers.

The two women in the car have been charged “for having forged or counterfeited goods,” according to a local news report.

No word if the women will attempt the “Antonio Alfonseca” defense.

In his intriguing new historical novel, Then Everything Changed, political commentator Jeff Greenfield posits how events might have played out under three different scenarios: had Lyndon Johnson been elected president in 1960; had Robert F. Kennedy survived an assassin’s bullet and been elected president in 1968; and if Gerald Ford had won the 1976 election.

I will not spoil Greenfield’s masterful work by detailing his alternative history. Rather, I mention the book because it has spurred me to think of “what ifs” both historical and personal, an exercise that sparks my imagination and makes me feel grateful.

What if Clement Haynsworth or G. Harrold Carswell had won Senate confirmation to the Supreme Court? President Richard Nixon would not have had to resort to his third choice, Harry A. Blackmun, who wrote the high court’s opinion in Roe v. Wade.

What if Ralph Branca had walked Bobby Thompson and pitched to the next batter (a rookie named Willie Mays)? The New York Giants might not have won the 1951 pennant.

What if Florida had electronic voting on Election Day 2000? President Gore, perhaps.

What if Jeffrey Maier had left to get a hot dog when Derek Jeter was at bat? A banner might be flying in Baltimore.

What if she weren’t in her sorority house to take my call? But I digress.

Please submit your “what ifs.”

Let me say at the outset that I love Camden Yards – and have since its 1992 opening.

I have enjoyed many a spring and summer day (but, unfortunately, not too many in the fall) watching the descendants of Brooks, Boog, Belanger and Bumbry play in one of Major League Baseball’s most beautiful parks.

But it is not “the mecca of baseball,” as my colleague Rachel Bernstein writes in her well wrought and researched series on the O’s home. That grand title in my opinion belongs to Wrigley Field, where I spent many an afternoon (no night games then) back in the 1980s watching then-future Hall of Famers Ryne Sandberg and Andre Dawson give the (still) long-suffering hometown fans hope.

I even worked at the “Friendly Confines” as an usher during the summer of 1984, a season that ended with the Cubs losing the National League Championship Series to the San Diego Padres. Then there was the spring of 1987, when my girlfriend (now wife) and I took the El from Northwestern University (where we were seniors) to the Addison stop three times to see the lovable losers at that most beautiful of ballparks, at the intersection of Sheffield and Waveland avenues.

Now, I know you’re thinking that it’s not the ballpark I love so much as the youthful memories. But that’s not the case.

Read the rest of this entry »

Good morning! Here are some law links for your pre-Solstice perusal:

• Judge drops thousands of John Doe porn sharers from industry copyright infringement case.
• In court, come dressed to impress, but remain who you are.
• A Post editorial says the problems in Prince George’s County stem from residents’ “apathy.”
• Tweens fight for their right to show their support for breast cancer research — but school officials say their “I [heart] boobies” bracelets are vulgar.
• A pro cyclist says she was disqualified from racing for taking a supplement that contained a banned substance, but it wasn’t on the label.
• TSA officer used scanners to find and lift travelers’ valuables.
• Security sells.

Most of us basketball fans know Pat Riley as the former head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers, New York Knicks and Miami Heat. Think Armani suits, hair gel, “Showtime” and a decidedly less elegant brand of hoops once he moved east. He’s also the current Heat team president, the man responsible for luring LeBron James and his talents to South Beach.

The guy’s also won five NBA titles and is in the sport’s Hall of Fame, so even an avowed Boston Celtics fan like me pays him his proper respects.

What does this have to do with Denise Whiting and “Hon,” the local term of endearment she’s trademarked to the consternation of many around town? Well, Riley’s also behind a corporate entity known as Riles & Co. Inc. that first trademarked the phrase “three-peat” back in 1989 and continues to hold the trademark today. It’s active for shirts, jackets and hats, meaning anyone selling memorabilia with the phrase needs to kick some coin to Riles & Co.

Its attorney, David R. Shaub of Los Angeles-based Shaub & Williams LLP, will no doubt see to that. Shaub’s bio describes him as an experienced intellectual property and business litigator and has a sub-speciality in patent and transnational litigation, having litigated over 1,000 cases and tried over 100.”

Riley’s move set off similar derision in sports circles back in the late 1980s.

Read the rest of this entry »

Still upset about last night’s game? Just getting to work now because of last night’s game? Here are some links to take your mind off it.

• A former Baltimore County public defender starts a law firm in Annapolis focusing on “low bono” clients.
• Are we ripe for growth in the small-town lawyer arena? An Above the Law contributor says, “Possibly.”
• Turns out a stability ball in Sacramento might not have been all that stable.
• A primer on the “Repeal Amendment” you might be hearing more about once Congress becomes Tea Party-flavored next month. (The story has generated a spirited back-and-forth on The Volokh Conspiracy.)
• Say what you want about Eliot Spitzer, but “professional exerciser” Ron Miller gives the former New York governor high marks as a lawyer.

Paul Allen

Happy Monday! While Danielle tries not to be a hurricane, finding those delicious legal tidbits is up to me. Here we go:

• Law Shucks calls it Paul Allen’s “gift to BigLaw”: the Microsoft founder is suing Google, Apple, YouTube and other Internet giants for patent violations.
• A group of Kansans is arguing the state’s selection and appointment process for Supreme Court justices violates the 14th Amendment because some commission members are only selected by lawyers. (HT: Constitutional Law Prof.)
• Thank you, Legal Marketing Blog.com!
• Meet the lawyer who will be representing Roger Clemens in the star pitcher’s federal perjury case. (HT: WSJ’s Law Blog.)
• Disturbing, potentially devastating news from the Jersey Shore. (I never thought anything could overshadow “That’s one shot!“)

I wonder how much my 1974 Brooks Robinson baseball card is worth?

That question came to mind as I read Liz Farmer’s article on the National Sports Collectors Convention, which opens Wednesday in Baltimore.

I found the card last weekend, as my 12-year-old son and I sifted through three shoeboxes worth of baseball cards, circa 1972-1976, which I had collected when I was younger than he.

In addition to Brooks (similar ) I came across a Belanger and a Boog (but not a Bumbry); a McNally and a Cuellar (but not a Palmer); an Etchebarren; and a Grich.

There were non-Orioles, as well, including the New York Mets Jerry Koosman, Jon Matlack, Wayne Garrett, Cleon Jones and John Milner, who made 1973 a magical summer and heart-breaking fall; Pittsburgh Pirates stars Willie Stargell, Richie Hebner, Manny Sanguillen and Rennie Stennett, whom I remember watching on NBC’s Game of the Week with Joe Garagiola and Tony Kubek; and there was the Los Angeles Dodgers Al Downing (who I watched surrender Hank Aaron‘s 715th homerun on April 8, 1974) and Tom House (the Atlanta Braves pitcher who I saw catch the ball in the bullpen).

Yes, I wonder how much those cards are worth… On second thought, they are not for sale.

One of the best parts of the World Cup is the national teams’ nicknames. You’ve got the champion Furia Roja and the runner-up Oranje, not to mention El Tri, the Super Eagles and the Blue Samurai, to name a few.

(You can see a full list here. The U.S. is nicknamed the Yanks, which is, well, kinda lame.)

Outside of the Socceroos, however, the best nickname is Bafana Bafana, which belongs to South Africa. Sort of.

That’s because the phrase “Bafana Bafana” (Zulu for “boys, boys”) was actually copyrighted by a South African businessman in 1994. The South African Football Association, which uses the name, lost a lawsuit before the country’s highest court for control of the name in 2002.

Earlier this week, a South African government official suggested Bafana should be changed because of the lack of a copyright. As the AP noted in its story, “There is no indication the current owners of the brand will sue SAFA for using the term, but the country’s soccer association is unable to market it and make money from it.”

SAFA officials said this week they might seek the public’s help in choosing a new nickname. One thing’s for sure: whatever is chosen will probably be better than the Yanks.

(Hat Tip to vuvusela2010bafana.wordpress.com for the photo above.)

Upstate New York is the birthplace of many things – Wegmans, the Buffalo wing, and snowstorms, to name a few. The region’s most notable sports export is arguably lacrosse, which the Iroquois helped invent more than a 1,000 years ago.

You might know where I’m going with this: An Iroquois lacrosse team has been prevented from traveling to England for the 2010 World Lacrosse Championships due to passport issues. The British government will not allow the team’s members to enter the country using Iroquois-based passports. Team members say they will not obtain U.S. or Canadian passports because they do not consider themselves citizens of either country.

The team, known as the Nationals, has already been forced to forfeit its opening game Thursday against England and faces another forfeit for Saturday’s game against Japan.

I’m not a die-hard lacrosse fan, but it seems like something would be missing if you hold an international tournament without the sport’s founders. It would be like going to a Lionel Richie concert and not hearing “All Night Long.”

Incidentally, the team was initially prevented from traveling by the U.S. government because the passports lack modern security features. A lawyer for the team said the Iroquois nation is transitioning to the more secure passports. In the meantime, Hillary Clinton helped the team secure a one-time travel waiver.

Your move, United Kingdom.