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New Jersey bar owner wins $1.5 million verdict for right to insult Boston

A federal jury decided this week that New Brunswick, NJ violated Lawrence Blatterfein's First Amendment rights by refusing to let him open a sports bar called Buck Foston's and that he's owed $1.535 million for his troubles.

In his complaint, Blatterfein accused the mayor of being out to get him because the guy is a Red Sox fan.

By a vote of 6-1, the jury in his civil suit in New Jersey federal court in Trenton agreed Blatterfein's rights had been abridged, although they took no formal position on whether it was because the mayor's heart belongs to a team 250 miles away.

NJ.com reports the mayor said he opposed the bar not because of its name but because of its location at a busy intersection.

In his lawsuit, Blatterfein claimed:

For avid sports fans, the play on words "Buck Foston's" is evocative of a century-old sports rivalry between the New York and Boston sports teams, including between the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox, the New England Patriots and the New York Jets and New York Giants and between the Boston Bruins and the New York Rangers. In selecting the name "Buck Foston's," Blatterfein intended to attract to his restaurant the large population of New York sports fans in and around New Brunswick.

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Comments

Blatterfein?

There's a joke to be made, but it's not coming to me right now.

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hater Johnny Groinslapper patronizes his joint? A couple of pissas they are.

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My, what a fine blatter you have there, sonny.

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and between the Boston Bruins and the New York Rangers

I didn't realize NY *had* a hockey team.

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They have 2. The Rangers and the Buffalo Sabers.

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I think he means the Islanders.

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Oh, you mean the Guylanders.

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I mean, the bar is in New Jersey. The Devils play in New Jersey. The Devils have had more success in the post Islanders era.

Just sayin'

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Recent team troubles aside the team is still very well run and should recover fine. That said, it's always been the worst part about being a hockey fan in NJ - the proximity to Philly and NY teams is suffocating, and the lack of local love for the Devils (given their relatively young age and historical allegiances that families in the area have from when the Devils didn't exist) is something I feel pain about to this day. It's an endless struggle which I yearn for the day when I can visit home and a Devils vs. Rangers game won't be 50% Rangers fans. I can't imagine a worse feeling both as a fan and as a player on the chance the Rangers win and their supporters are louder than yours inside your own building. Trust me, I've felt it.

I love hockey, so go to my share of Bruins games, and am always jealous how dependable the atmosphere in the Garden usually is... although I miss the $50 tickets close up you could get when I moved here, now playoffs are $300 for the balcony's!

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I mean, the rivalry between the B's and the Flying Wrenches is much stronger than anything between the Bruins and the Rangers. There's a whole generation of fans who, when recited the line "have another donut," can think of anything other than the origins of the Bruins relative (cupless) success in the late 1980s/early 1990s, ended only by a first round exit at the hands of none other than the Martin Brodeur led New Jersey Devils.

I mean, to get from New Brunswick to MSG by train, you have to go by the home of the Devils. Jus sayin'

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Marty please give me a license for my new Boylston St restaurant venture, "NY/NJ Suck Dogshit Dildos Family Grill and Tap."

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Clearly seeking 4 Michelin stars.

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Doesn't sound too appetizing.

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what's the difference between Buck Foston and a porcupine?

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The porcupine keeps all its pricks on the outside.

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It will be called "New Jersey".

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I wonder how much ocean state job lot can get from Somerville?

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