It Should Be Legal to Be Stupid

In a ruling handed down this week, a judge in Chicago stated that Bears fan Scott Wiese would not be allowed to legally change his name to Peyton Manning. Wiese, 26, signed a pledge in front of a bar full of people prior to this year’s Super Bowl that he would change his name to Peyton Manning if the Indianapolis Colts defeated the Chicago Bears. Clearly, he and the Bears lost. Macon County Judge Katherine McCarthy ruled that Wiese can not change his name because it could infringe on the privacy of Peyton Manning, Colts’ quarterback, and also because “it could be confusing.”

It would figure that a woman would ruin a man’s right to screw up royally. If Wiese was dumb enough to make the bet*, and especially if he’s dumb enough to go through with changing his name, the court should let him. As far as privacy issues are concerned, what about all the paparazzi stalking celebrities? What, are people now going to call the real Peyton Manning looking for The-Peyton-Manning-Formerly-Known-As-Scott-Wiese? Are Scott’s parents going to suddenly be demanding that the real Peyton Manning be helping out with chores around the house?

And what’s with the part about how “it could be confusing?” The real Peyton Manning is pretty recognizable, especially since he’s got a great Mastercard commercial, just hosted Saturday Night Live, is the son of Archie Manning (former NFL quarterback) and brother of Eli Manning (current NFL quarterback), and is probably a lot more recognizable to the average Joe than Scott Wiese. Is Scott Wiese going to be taken as the real Peyton Manning in disguise? If people are going to get these two guys confused, that’s great for Wiese. If you can take advantage of having the same or similar name to a famous person, but not look like him or her, hell, I’d like to re-introduce myself:

Hi. My name is Steve Chen... Co-founder of YouTube. I’d like to make a withdrawal.

* – Just a little side note: it was rather ridiculous to think the Bears were actually going to beat the Colts. As much as I was opposed to the Rex Grossman haters who were calling for his removal, after watching him and the Bears get through the earlier playoff rounds, you had to admit that they lacked the precision on offense to keep up with the Colts…