Publisher's Notebook

The Washington Redskins have been lame this season (3-6). Their front office has been a model of dysfunctionality. Head coach Jim Zorn, a good guy, has deserved far, far better than he’s gotten (some of us remember when Zorn was slinging touchdowns for the Seattle Seahawks).

Enter the U.S. Supreme Court, which today handed the team a victory it probably will value even more than yesterday’s 27-17 thumping of the Denver Broncos. According to CNN, the high court has declined to take the appeal of a Native American group that attacked the name as disparaging and sought cancellation of the team’s highly lucrative trademarks.

The group had prevailed at the Patent Office appeals board stage; that body nixed the trademarks. The team appealed through the courts, ultimately prevailing on a laches argument: In other words, the complaining parties waited too long to make their claim. The “Redskins” name was formally registered in 1967. The suit was filed in 1992.