Copied from Orlando Sentinel
The Miami Hurricanes obviously need the money; why else would they be making this unfathomable power play? Why would they risk the wrath of their one-time friends? Why would they put years of tradition up for sale just for the sake of protecting their bottom line?
No, we're not referring to UM's impending decision to wreck the Big East. We're talking about the Hurricanes trying to crush little Umatilla High.
"I guess we got Miami worried when we won the district championship last year," cracked Kent Merrill, president of the Umatilla High School booster club. "I thought Miami was trying to join the ACC, not the FHSAA [Florida High School Activities Association]."
If you think the other Big East schools were shocked when they learned about Miami's ACC money grab, think of how Umatilla felt when they received a "cease and desist" letter from UM lawyers recently. The letter informed Umatilla that the "U" in its logo was too similar -- criminally similar -- to Miami's. It seems the Hurricanes have a trademark, giving them exclusive rights to the unique "Split U" design.
We're talking Umatilla here, folks. This place is so small that the local library closes whenever somebody borrows the book. Umatilla is a suburb of Eustis, for crying out loud.
"I guess we should be flattered that the University of Miami even notices little Umatilla," school principal June Dalton said.
To her credit, Dalton is taking the high road on this one. She said Umatilla will change its logo because it doesn't have the financial wherewithal to fight Miami. "Public schools have better things to spend their money on," she said.
You would think Miami would have better things to spend its time on. A UM spokeswoman said the school only is following NCAA guidelines, which say a high school cannot use the registered trademark of a university unless the university demands fair market value as compensation.
Translation: Miami has told Umatilla it can keep using the logo -- as long as it pays UM $2,000 a month.
"Again," Dalton said, "we have better things to spend our money on."
Cynthia Beamish, the UM attorney who sent the letter, would not comment when contacted Wednesday. To which I say: U gotta be kidding me.
In my expert legal opinion, Umatilla has more of a right to the letter "U" than Miami does. Why does Miami even have a "U" on its helmet, anyway? Shouldn't it have an "M"? And, besides, who died and made Miami the lord and overseer of the letter "U"?
"The letter 'U' is more important to our name than it is theirs," Merrill said.
He's right. Without the "U", Miami is still Miami, but Umatilla is just plain old Matilla.
This is just another example of the corporate greed that pervades our institutions of higher earning.
Remember when colleges used to be worried about how many students they graduated? Now they worry about how many T-shirts they can sell. These days, schools such as Miami make nearly as much money from merchandising as they do from their games.
Meanwhile, Umatilla goes about the business of changing its logo. The granite marker in front of the school will have to be sandblasted. New T-shirts and hats will have to be ordered. And when the Umatilla Bulldogs take the field next season, they will have a strange new design on their helmets.
But will this be the end of it?
Don't count on it.
"Don't forget, we are the Bulldogs," Merrill said. "I'm expecting a letter from the University of Georgia any day now."
The Miami Hurricanes obviously need the money; why else would they be making this unfathomable power play? Why would they risk the wrath of their one-time friends? Why would they put years of tradition up for sale just for the sake of protecting their bottom line?
No, we're not referring to UM's impending decision to wreck the Big East. We're talking about the Hurricanes trying to crush little Umatilla High.
"I guess we got Miami worried when we won the district championship last year," cracked Kent Merrill, president of the Umatilla High School booster club. "I thought Miami was trying to join the ACC, not the FHSAA [Florida High School Activities Association]."
If you think the other Big East schools were shocked when they learned about Miami's ACC money grab, think of how Umatilla felt when they received a "cease and desist" letter from UM lawyers recently. The letter informed Umatilla that the "U" in its logo was too similar -- criminally similar -- to Miami's. It seems the Hurricanes have a trademark, giving them exclusive rights to the unique "Split U" design.
We're talking Umatilla here, folks. This place is so small that the local library closes whenever somebody borrows the book. Umatilla is a suburb of Eustis, for crying out loud.
"I guess we should be flattered that the University of Miami even notices little Umatilla," school principal June Dalton said.
To her credit, Dalton is taking the high road on this one. She said Umatilla will change its logo because it doesn't have the financial wherewithal to fight Miami. "Public schools have better things to spend their money on," she said.
You would think Miami would have better things to spend its time on. A UM spokeswoman said the school only is following NCAA guidelines, which say a high school cannot use the registered trademark of a university unless the university demands fair market value as compensation.
Translation: Miami has told Umatilla it can keep using the logo -- as long as it pays UM $2,000 a month.
"Again," Dalton said, "we have better things to spend our money on."
Cynthia Beamish, the UM attorney who sent the letter, would not comment when contacted Wednesday. To which I say: U gotta be kidding me.
In my expert legal opinion, Umatilla has more of a right to the letter "U" than Miami does. Why does Miami even have a "U" on its helmet, anyway? Shouldn't it have an "M"? And, besides, who died and made Miami the lord and overseer of the letter "U"?
"The letter 'U' is more important to our name than it is theirs," Merrill said.
He's right. Without the "U", Miami is still Miami, but Umatilla is just plain old Matilla.
This is just another example of the corporate greed that pervades our institutions of higher earning.
Remember when colleges used to be worried about how many students they graduated? Now they worry about how many T-shirts they can sell. These days, schools such as Miami make nearly as much money from merchandising as they do from their games.
Meanwhile, Umatilla goes about the business of changing its logo. The granite marker in front of the school will have to be sandblasted. New T-shirts and hats will have to be ordered. And when the Umatilla Bulldogs take the field next season, they will have a strange new design on their helmets.
But will this be the end of it?
Don't count on it.
"Don't forget, we are the Bulldogs," Merrill said. "I'm expecting a letter from the University of Georgia any day now."
