Lead Story
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Shortly after the New England Patriots won the Super Bowl in February, Louisiana State University professor Leigh Clemons went to the NFL’s official merchandise site, NFLshop.com, and tried to order a jersey personalized with the name of a former student of hers, Patriots cornerback Randall Gay. But when she entered “Gay” in the “Name” field, an error message appeared reading “This field should not contain a naughty word.” Stunned, Clemons called NFLshop and argued with a series of employees until she was permitted to order a “Gay” jersey as a one-time exception to policy. Gay sports site Outsports.com soon picked up the story and ran the entire list of more than 1,100 words and phrases the NFL considered too naughty to put on jerseys; in March the league removed “Gay” from the list (and rewrote the error message). (Still inexplicably forbidden: “Kumquat.”)
Smooth Reactions
The source of all those rec-room prints of dogs playing poker is a series of nine originals painted by illustrator Cassius Marcellus Coolidge while under contract to a Minnesota advertising company in 1903. Two of them were sold at the Doyle New York auction house in February; preauction estimates had them bringing a combined $50,000 at most, but the pair went to an unnamed private collector for $590,400.
Least Competent Criminals
Art accompanying story in printed newspaper (not available in this archive): illustration/Shawn Belschwender.
