It’s demoralizing enough for followers of the Texas A&M University football program that the Aggie football team has fallen on hard times, but now they have to deal with the theft of their sacred 12th Man tradition:

The Seattle Seahawks are facing the Pittsburgh Steelers in the Super Bowl, but they have an off-the-field battle brewing with Texas A&M.
School officials are upset with the Seahawks’ use of the “12th Man” theme to recognize their fan support. A&M has legal claims to the “12th Man” moniker, a school tradition that dates to the 1920s.
Texas A&M contends the 12th man lives at Kyle Field, not in Seattle.
The Seahawks have celebrated their fans as a “12th Man” since the 1980s, when they used to turn the now-demolished Kingdome into one of the NFL’s loudest venues. . . .
A&M has twice registered trademarks for “The 12th Man” label — in 1990 and 1996 — that include entertainment services, “namely organizing and conducting intercollegiate sporting events,” and products, such as caps, T-shirts, novelty buttons and jewelry. . . .
[A&M Athletics Director] Bill Byrne said A&M has contacted the Seahawks about the issue. He said he wrote the Chicago Bears and Buffalo Bills in the past about halting their 12th man themes once the university made them aware of the trademark registrations. Byrne said Seattle, though, “has been slow-rolling us.”

The Aggies reduced to a post-season lawsuit rather than a post-season bowl game? Well, at least some folks are smiling.
Update: A&M filed a lawsuit in Brazos County on Monday to enjoin the Seahawks from infringing on the university’s 12th Man trademark. Home field advantage — Aggies.