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, the
Bangladesh 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 prevail
over 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).