Via Crooked Timber and Hit and Run comes the official list of banned words from the back of replica NFL jerseys (warning: NSFW). This list came to light after a customer was originally prohibited from getting the name “Gay” on a jersey, even though Randall Gay is a member of the Super Bowl champion Patiots. After the predictable outcry, common sense prevailed and “gay” was struck from the NFL’s bad words list. But that still left 1159 other words and phrases.
Now, I like to consider myself fluent in the language of profanity, but alas, the culture moves faster than most of us, and a few of those words were ones I’d never heard. One such word is “stagg”. I know what the naughty connotations are of “stag” with one “g”, but not “stagg” with two. What I do know, however, is that Amos Alonzo Stagg was one of the greatest and most innovative football coaches in history. That doesn’t mean that a member of his family could get a personalized NFL jersey, however. They say that NFLShop.com “uses three levels of manual checks to make sure a personalized jersey meets the league’s guidelines”, but unfortunately it would seem that none of those levels includes a knowledge of the game’s history. And that’s a pity.
Tim would like to point out that “asshat” is not on the list. (He’s reading over my shoulder.) It’s my current favorite insult, so I guess I’d better run out and get a jersey before the NFL discovers it.
Now the only question is, since I don’t actually like any NFL teams, should I get it on the back of a jersey for a team I don’t like, say the Cowboys (hey! stop throwing things at me!)?
Three thoughts on this subject:
1. My brother worked as a sales rep for a cigar company a few years ago. One of his regular customers was a man with the last name of “Faggot”. The last name was pronounced “fag-goh”.
2. I actually had a client in Hong Kong with the name of “Fuk-Yiu”. I also know that “Yoo-Suk” is a legitimate Korean name.
3. This reminds me of the Mystery Science Theater 3000 debate over whether or not “Dickweed” is obscene?
It pains me to admit that there were knowing glances tossed around back in 1970 or so when a friend got sent to Nam and came back mentioning Phuket.