The One Where Daniel Loses His Nickname
LOS ANGELES, California (AP) – Itstheleague.com’s Fantasy Basketball owner Daniel Thomson (pictured here) has lost his nickname. CourtTV is reporting that a temporary injunction has just been issued against Daniel Thomson. Under the injunction, theBangladesh Thunder team owner and manager is unable to use the word "Thunder" in association with either his team or his own persona. U.S. District Judge Terry J. Hatter Jr. ruled in favor of Jeffrey Boyd, team owner and manager of Itstheleague.com's Lightning Jeffs.
Jeffrey Boyd filed a lawsuit against Daniel Thomson alleging that fans of basketball could possibly get confused between Thunder Dan and the new Lightning Jeff.
Lightning Jeff is a new creation of Mr. Boyd designed to appeal to the fans of his fantasy basketball team. Located in Malibu, Mr. Boyd stated that the hardest part of
starting a brand new team is creating fan loyalty. "Creating this new persona, Lightning Jeff, is just one more way I can reach out and tie those fans with the team," stated the team owner and
multi-millionaire.
According to Mr. Boyd, the idea came to him as he was traveling to the annual Itstheleague.com's draft held this year in La Jolla, CA (a small town outside of San Diego). "I was on the phone with Mark Cuban, and the idea hit me." Mark Cuban is Mr. Boyd's protege. Mr. Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks, a minor league subsidiary to Itstheleague.com. "It was raining," Mr. Boyd continues, "and all of a sudden flashes of lightning started
to hit the ground. It forced me to pay attention. And I thought, if I can harness this energy and convert it into a fan base, I will have a very well liked team."
And boy was he right. Mr. Boyd had two sell outs crowds this week to both PRESEASON games. That's right...PRESEASON.
The fans attended the newly created Google-dome were treated to a stunning game featuring Lightnng Jeffs' star Gilbert Arenas. After Arenas' stunning performance on both Tuesday and Thursday night's games, Mr. Boyd entered into negotiations with Google to rename the arena Google Arenas' Arena. Rest assured we'll keep you informed on these developments as they continue to happen.
Back to the court's decision today, U.S. District Judge Hatter's ruling prohibits Daniel Thomson from using the word "Thunder" in any promotion of himself or his team. This will be difficult for Mr. Thomson to comply with immediately as his team, Bangladesh Thunder uses the prohibited word. Additionally, the team is registered with Itstheleague.com by the name Thunder Dan.
There are alot of unknowns at this point. It is unsure how long it will take Daniel Thomson's legal department to make these corrections. It is also undetermined what new words Mr. Thomson will use to associate with the team. Bangladesh Dans? The ring just isn't there. And with this ruling, you can be sure the team will no longer be entering the basketball court to AC/DC's "Thunderstruck."
One question still remains, what was it that made the judge decide that Mr. Boyd was entitled to the name lightning? First off, lightning and thunder are two different things. One being the flash of light seen and one being the sound heard during an electrical storm. The judge decided that they are far two closely related. Fans purchasing tickets on E-bay or another website could accidentally purchase tickets for Bangladesh Thunder when they really intended to see the Lightning Jeffs.
The judge cited an earlier case Tampa Bay Lightning v. Atlanta Thunder. In that case, Tampa Bay Lightning sued the Atlanta Thunder (now Atlanta Thrashers) for having a team name far too similar to the Tampa Bay Lightning. However, in that case, Tampa Bay won the lawsuit because they had been established as a team prior to the arrival of the Atlanta Thunder. This should mean that Thunder Dan should prevailover Lightning Jeff as Thunder Dan has been in this league for years before Lightning Jeff came along.
However, the court found pictures and documentation by Mr. Boyd that he had truly become
Lightning Jeff. After viewing these pictures the judge quickly dispatched with the case. "It is clear that Lightning Jeff is more serious about his persona than Thunder Dan," wrote Judge Hatter in his opinion. "As such," he continued, "this court has to side with Lightning Jeff and rule that Thunder Dan can no longer use the word Thunder in association with his persona or his team." The judge included that for every day it take Daniel Thomson to comply with this order, he must pay Lightning Jeff one thousand dollars in compensatory damages due to the confusion.
Daniel Thomson and his legal team was obviously shocked by this outcome. Outside the courthouse he had this to say:
"What on earth just happened? I've been Thunder Dan forever!" He added this, "Man, I bet this means I have to choose new walk up music for pool baseball."
Mr. Boyd had this to say as he left the courthouse, "Honestly, what was he thinking? What would a Thunder jersey look like anyways? What does a sound look like? Please." His news conference was interrupted by a call from Judge Hatter congratulating him on his victory and also asking him when he should expect the season tickets Lightning Jeff had promised him would arrive in the mail.
So what was the evidence that the court found so persuasive (well, other than the season tickets)? The court was overwhelmed at the lengths to which Lightning Jeff would go to secure his name. As such, he sported a pair of lightning bolts for these pictures (click here).
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LA JOLLA, California (Reuters) – Itstheleague.com’s Fantasy Basketball League officially kicked off the beginning of the basketball portion of its epic sports competition by holding its draft. One half of the league’s members congregated in an apartment in La Jolla, California. Residents of La Jolla were happy for the positive publicity that this event brought its town. The last time the residents of La Jolla were in the news was when Scott Peterson* (pictured), convicted wife-killer and baby murderer, was arrested in the parking lot of Torrey Pines.
There were several protesters (pictured) present for the arrival of Matt Reyes, alleged Del Taco food-poisoner. Police officers decided to allow Matt to dress in his choice of attire (for those of you who were present, Matt wore a blue shirt, jeans, and a delicious mid-night black pinstriped jacket). However, Matt still had one more protester to face before the night would end…but she decided to protest a little bit differently. More on that later.
The first moment that jumps out over last night’s events began with Cody taking LeBron James. Sources say Trent’s groan of agony was heard all the down in San Diego and as far east as Arizona. This pick rattled those team owners who would be drafting second and third as it appeared all but certain that Cody would take Marion (you needn’t look further for more proof than the shirt on Cody’s back—which on draft night bore the name “Marion”). It was interesting.
On an unrelated note, sources in Riverside have confirmed that Trent Knapp, owner of The Big Knasty was spotted Saturday night attending an evening ballet after leaving the draft early. Sources close to Mr. Knapp confirmed that the reason for his early departure was so that he could see the second act of the ballet. Fellow members in the audience confirmed that a with a tear in his eye, Mr. Knapp made the following comments at the conclusion of the performance, “My favorite part are the costumes. But there wasn’t enough pink in them for my taste.”
In all seriousness, this actually happened. The girl was quite decent, and we were all stunned. Take the girl in the picture, give her blond hair, remove those censored spots, turn her around, bend her over. That's how she protested. I guess she wanted dto show Matt that she thought he was an ass. Trent Bridges, you pissed off you didn't come down yet?
La, Jolla, CA (AP) --Here in La Jolla, Autumn is upon us. With air temperatures beginning to dip (as little as they do in this part of Southern California), excitement is in the air. With only three days left until Itstheleauge.com's draft, La Jolla will play host to five, possibly six, team owners over the next few days. Residents are excited that there small town has the opportunity to be in the spotlight, if only for an afternoon. Owners and observers of the event should keep in mind that showers are predicted for Friday night and Saturday. 
In a statement earlier today Riverside District Attorney Grover Trask announced that charges will be filed against DreamTeamPartDeux's team owner Matthew Scott Reyes. The charges stem from what was supposed to be a fun night out for all. After a fun night in downtown San Diego, the night took a turn for the worst when Matthew Reyes deliberately poisoned Jeffrey Boyd's food. Authorities at the district attorney's office in Riverside tell us that the poison attempt is motivated by an urge to win Itstheleague.com's fantasy basketball league at all costs.
Mr. Reyes's attorney, his father, has yet to make a statement. However he has assured reporters that Matt will be present for the draft on Saturday. Whether or not he will be in a jumpsuit and handcuffs remains to be seen.
Yes that's right. He possesses absolutely no Yahoo! Avatar. Currently his team logo is a red jersey with a star on it. Fantastic. Nice work there Cody. Quite frankly, if I were the league's champ, I think my Avatar would be bling bling. I picture Cody's avatar out on the golf course (with a cell phone in one hand giving some Poker Pro in Vegas advice on whether to stay or fold)(with his other hand? he's flipping me off).
Golf is the sport Cody most plays in Yahoo! Fantasy leagues. Interesting to note is that while Cody was the champ last here, on Yahoo he has absolutely no trophies. Instead, his yahoo profile gives him this lovely image.
Daniel Thomson one of the NICEST guys I know. Could that be his flaw? We'll see. I doubt Daniel would ever approve a trade just to be nice. But what if he has a mouth that can trash talk so much it'll make his opponents weep leaving them senseless and unable to set their lineup? We'll never know. And it would most definitely improve his teams chances of doing well this season. According to Daniel's Yahoo! profile, his favorite is tournament pick'em. This appears to be his fourth season for basketball. He has netted himself five pieces of hardware, the most recent being 2005 Baseball Championship.
Kevin has an avatar (but he chooses to use the stupid jersey on the website. Why? I have no idea). And it's a decent avatar. His guy even has a basketball in his hand. However sadly for Kevin's avatar, he lives on the East Coast where it snows. So that avatar won't be smiling come winter. Whereas, I will still be on the beach here in Malibu, pissed off because it's 68 degrees. Additionally, I think one of the things working against Kevin (as mentioned in the chat room yesterday) is that he does go to Harvard. I think Kevin will have to work harder than people who go to other schools...cough cough...UCSD...cough cough....awww crap. I went there. Kevin has five trophies in his case. I expect him to make the playoffs and nothing more. My only question is, in your avatar, is that white stuff on the tree snow? That sucks. Because come winter the white stuff behind me will be sand on the beach. Also minus two points for wearing Ipod headphones in your picture on the Reyes Review.
Sigh...how are we related again? In all seriousness, I am impressed with the creativity placed here. Michael cares alot about fantasy sports. Sometimes he doesn't though. Ask him about how he went undefeated the entire year in baseball only to lose to his older (and wiser?) brother in the second round of the playoffs. Seriously, when my little brother puts his mind to something, I do get worried. So what is my strategy on Michael? Distract him. Easier said then done, but I think it is definitely doable. Hire a few ex-playmates to send over to his apartment and WHAM someone forgot to set their lineup. End result: I'll win again. Michael has two trophies, the last being the 2004 Basketball Championship.
Okay. Clearly people haven't heard of alliteration (Bronx Bombers, Seattle Supersonics, etc.) I know it's spelled Gigolos but it sounds the same phonetically with a J. Also, my avatar is tight. Note the cash and bling bling. That's a little something leftover from my 2nd place prize money in Baseball. Also note the Vegas sign in the background. I will be going there several times during our trip. I just wish I could put money only on my fantasy players. That would be tight.
Matt's team's logo is this jersey. Wow, a red jersey with the number '23' on it. I'm shocked. For those of you who don't know Matt, MJ is his favorite player. However a problem I think Matt suffers from that affects most old timers (I include myself in that as well) is that we remember the good old days and think wow that player is tight. How does this manifest itself? What are the symptoms? Well for starters, taking Barry Bonds in the third round. If MJ were still in the NBA, he would be one of Matt's top picks. And I'm not going to say that I don't suffer from the same problem. Frank Thomas was on my roster at the end of the year (albeit he did have a hot streak). However, basketball is Matt's passion, much moreso than baseball. Expect Matt to be a threat to place in the top three this year--that is, if he's learned a few lessons from his rookie year. Matt has no trophies on his Yahoo! profile so he gets a skunk. Why has Matt been ranked so high? He has no past success. Matt, you have so much basketball knowledge. Please! prove me wrong.
First off, Trent has an avatar. That is tight. Second, Trent is a relative noob to fantasy sports, but definitely not to sports in general. Short of Kevin, Matt, and Michael, Trent is the kid I've known in this league the longest (as evidenced by who we toasted on our last outing). That said, Trent has a true passion and feel for sports that many team owners lack. Trent has an intuition about trades, pickups, etc. I think his first season with baseball helped alot. We all respect his draft of Ryan Howard, the question is, can he draft a decent rest of the team? I think Trent will and do a decent job this time around. Trent would you like to add anything to this: "I am Carlos Delgado. Such my" yeah yeah Trent. We know.
Nice avatar. What do I know about Trent. Let's see. First, he's the only person to recognize that my quote on myspace ("Earn this") is from Saving Private Ryan. Aside from having wonderful taste in movies, I also hate playing poker against this guy. Trent is truly a competitor and has two pieces of hardware in his Yahoo! trophy case. Trent is quite enthusiastic about basketball, and I cannot wait for the season to begin to see him in action.
Cute pun with your college and last name. Brandon does have an avatar which is good. And his avatar doesn't wink at me, there's another plus. My last memory of Burns is of him winning the Itstheleague.com's baseball championship. That brought his trophy total to four. I'm not that scared of Burns. Why? Because his baseball team sucked and happened to have dynamite weeks at the end.
Wow. What a team name from the past. Remember the Ninja Turtles? Good stuff. I should have been Leonardo for way more than one Halloween. Okay. Back to here. Let's hope this team name isn't indicative of how Matt will perform (ie. score big with two singles and then split). I don't know Matt that well at all. In fact, I doubt I've ever said two words to him. However, boy am I a fan of his avatar. Blue hair. Nice work Matt. No trophies in the Yahoo! case, but rumor has it you made a trade that hurt others along with your team. Don't have much else to say. Although, with the red glasses in the pic that Kevin found of you. Should I be worried about another metrosexual on our hands? Best of luck to you Matt.
When I think of Rojas, I don't think fantasy. I think pool baseball. I think that's how I remember Steven most. Let's hope this year is different. Nice work on the avatar. The fact that he is angry and not smiling or winking is a definite plus. But you're going to have to do something if you want to be ranked higher. With no trophies in the case, you're going to have to have something more to show for it. Best of luck on having this be your breakout year. 