Nicknames & Sayings BYU, Utah Should Trademark
Aug 15, 2019, 1:35 PM | Updated: 1:40 pm
The BYU Cougars fans hold a banner as the team enters the field before a game against the Houston Cougars on September 11, 2014 at LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo, Utah. (Photo by Jay Drowns/Getty Images) Utah Utes fans cheer during the first half of an college football game against the Stanford Cardinal on October 7, 2017 at Rice Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City, Utah. Stanford defeated Utah 23-20. (Photo by George Frey/Getty Images)
(Photo by George Frey/Getty Images)
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – Ohio State University, well actually it will officially be “The” Ohio State University if they get their way, submitted a trademark application for the word “The.”
KSL’s UnRivaled has some ideas for terms local universities should trademark.
If that sounds a bit odd you are on the right track. Trademarking the most common word in the English language seems like a longshot. However, the Buckeyes – in their eyes – have a good reason for this move.
“Like other institutions, Ohio State works to vigorously protect the university’s brand and trademarks,” Chris Davey, a spokesman for the university, said in a statement.
“These assets hold significant value, which benefits our students and faculty and the broader community by supporting our core academic mission of teaching and research.”
Of course, Ohio State’s biggest rival Michigan jumped in with this absurdity using a clever tweet of their own mocking the Buckeyes.
— University of Michigan (@UMich) August 14, 2019
Protecting the entirety of “The Ohio State” makes more sense but trademarking just a simple word gave Scott Mitchell and Alex Kirry, hosts of UnRivaled, some ideas about the common phrases Utah and BYU should be locking down.
The™, The MUSS™, Crazy Dancing Lady™
One suggestion Mitchell made is that Utah should follow Ohio State’s footsteps and challenge the Buckeyes for “The” as a trademark, or at least that is the argument he made.
“I feel the same way about ‘The’ University of Utah. I have always said it like that,” Mitchell argues. “It is ‘The’ University of Utah, Brigham Young University a nice private university in Provo. It is not ‘The’ University of Utah, it is Brigham Young, there is no ‘the’ or ‘thou’ in Brigham Young. I will now on and until the end of time refer to it as The University of Utah.”
One of the other great traditions at Utah is the Crazy Dancing Lady who seems to always have a good time. She does not stop dancing at all through the game.
She has been featured in a lot of national media outlets thanks to her crazy moves.
One suggestion from KSL Sports contributor and host of SportsBeat Afterhours, Hema Heimuli, is that Utah attempt to trademark “The Real U” since it seems to be an ongoing battle with the University of Miami about who the real U is.
Eric Weddle, Utah alumni, cleared things up once on Monday Night Football.
1984™, Cougar Tails™, 4th and 18™
BYU has quite a few iconic phrases in its lexicon. Most Cougar fans will instantly know what Kirry is talking about when he says these words.
Kirry came up with 4th and 18, which is one of the most iconic plays from the Utes and Cougars rivalry. Max Hall found Austin Collie for a huge gain which eventually led to BYU defeating Utah back in 2007.
“This means if you are playing a game in any place in the country it is either 4th and 17, 4th and 19 or 4th and 17 1/2. You can’t use 4th and 18 unless BYU is in the game or if you pay them some money,” Kirry jokingly said.
Possibly the most iconic and generic phrase is 1984. Tell any BYU fan that year and they remember that special football season when the Cougars became national champions.
“If you asked the run of the mill BYU fan and gave them the year 1984 the thing that came to their mind first, it would not be George Orwell’s 1984,” Kirry said. “It would be Robbie Boscoe and the national championship team, and BYU should trademark the year 1984.”
One more came to mind for BYU – Cougar Tails.
If you’ve ever been to a game at Lavell Edwards Stadium you know what a Cougar Tail is. It is a giant, delicious Maple Bar that BYU fans young and old look forward to at every home game.
Pregame meal…Cougar Tail! Foot long donut, maple glaze, & stuffed w/ Bratworst. @BYUfootball v @BadgerFootball ABC 3:30 Eastern Today! pic.twitter.com/1cxwn6Nvh6
— Paul Carcaterra (@paulcarcaterra) September 16, 2017
The Cougars could also keep it simple and nail down a trademark on “The Y” to eliminate any confusion with the YMCA or New York University. New York University often uses a simple “Y” on merchandise that can look confusing to anyone from the state of Utah.
Tune into KSL’s Unrivaled every Monday through Friday, 7-9 p.m., or download the KSL NewsRadio app to subscribe to the podcast.
