Jump to content

Randolph Duke

Legacy Members
  • Posts

    3101
  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    1

Everything posted by Randolph Duke

  1. To the Supremes. Not likely to happen. But it at least looks like the aggy administrator is going to get nailed for a few million in damages. I think aggy’s insurance police for this stuff is for $5mil. I assume they will settle for around that amount, the school will indemnify the employee and insurance pays the writer.
  2. 11th Amendment. Yes, every state. Only to the states. But all kinds of exceptions apply as well as other protections granted to municipal governments.
  3. And the other decision is out. A&M can't be sued. https://www.reuters.com/legal/transactional/texas-am-escapes-copyright-claims-5th-circ-over-12th-man-story-2021-09-09/ Texas A&M escapes copyright claims at 5th Circ. over 12th Man story (Reuters) - Texas A&M University is immune from a sportswriter's claims that it infringed his copyrights by publishing a story he commissioned about the school's "12th Man" ethos without permission, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled. As an arm of the state of Texas, the state school's athletic department has sovereign immunity from Michael Bynum's claims, U.S. Circuit Judge James Graves wrote for a unanimous three-judge panel on Wednesday. Bynum's lead attorney Elaine Goldenberg of Munger, Tolles & Olson didn't immediately respond to a request for comment, nor did A&M or the Office of the Texas Attorney General, which represents the university in the case. In 1922, A&M athlete E. King Gill was called to suit up for the school's football team when it nearly ran out of reserve players due to injuries, becoming its "12th Man." "Today, the 12th Man tradition is a symbol of the Aggies' unity, loyalty, and willingness to serve when called upon to do so, and is woven into many aspects of life at A&M," Bynum said in his 2017 complaint. The school also owns a trademark covering the term. Bynum, a Birmingham, Alabama-based author, commissioned a short biography of Gill from sportswriter Whit Canning for a book about Gill and his impact on the school's football program. Bynum contacted Brad Marquardt, a media rep for A&M's athletic department, in 2010 for photographs to use in the book, and included a draft in his email. In 2014, Marquardt allegedly had the story copied to use in fundraising efforts, removed any references to Bynum, changed the title, and altered the byline to suggest that the College Station, Texas school commissioned Canning's work. In the three days before Marquardt took it down, the department promoted the story to "hundreds of thousands" of social media followers and subscribers to its e-newsletter, destroying the market for Bynum's book, according to his complaint. Bynum sued Marquardt and A&M's athletic department in Houston federal court in 2017 for copyright infringement and allegedly violating parts of the U.S. and Texas constitutions. U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen decided in 2019 that the athletic department couldn't be sued separately from the school, and that the university had sovereign immunity from Bynum's copyright claims. After the Supreme Court decided last year in Allen v. Cooper that North Carolina was immune from a filmmaker's copyright claims, Hanen dismissed the case against all defendants except Marquardt. On appeal, Bynum argued among other things that the athletic department wasn't immune from the claims because it "operates with total financial independence" from the state. But Graves, joined by Chief Circuit Judge Priscilla Owen and Circuit Judge Jerry Smith, said sovereign immunity applied because the department is run by the school and can't sue or be sued in its own name, among other things. Bynum also failed to show that the department, not the state, would have to pay for any judgment against it. The panel also rejected Marquardt's challenges to the claims against him in a separate opinion. The cases are Epic Sports v. Texas A&M University Athletic Department, 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, No. 20-20503; and Epic Sports v. Marquardt, 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, No. 20-20530. For Bynum: Elaine Goldenberg of Munger, Tolles & Olson For A&M and Marquardt: Melissa Mather of the Texas Office of the Attorney General
  4. Personally, I don't give a shit if a university provides remedial Boy Scout training. Most respected universities that care check for "public service" as part of the pre-acceptance evaluation. I point out that academic instruction, the raison d'être of any undergraduate institution (other than aggy, evidently) isn't anywhere to be found in the metrics Washington Monthly uses to determine its rankings. So if you don't care about education, but you want to concentrate on remedial Boy Scouts, these rankings are for you. "We rank four-year schools (national universities, liberal arts colleges, baccalaureate colleges, and master’s universities) based on their contribution to the public good in three broad categories: social mobility, research, and providing opportunities for public service." https://washingtonmonthly.com/2020college-guide
  5. Remember back when my 12th Man story was picked up by the Wall St Journal? That, and Seattle in the Super Bowl caused aggy administrators to panic and look for anything they could to bolster their claim to the trademark. Brad Marquardt was (allegedly) told to handle the issue. Brad Marquardt is/was one of the aggy school employees responsible for marketing, or fairy tales, or whatever. One of the things Marquardt (allegedly) did it take a manuscript about the subject submitted by a writer to the athletics department for pre-publication comments, have his secretary retype the writer's work into A&M's computer files without the copyright info, and then he (allegedly) sent the manuscript to 350,000 alumni. Marquardt was sued by the writer as was the school. The school is claiming sovereign immunity. That issue is still outstanding. Marquardt was denied sovereign immunity protections. He appealed. His appeal was denied. As it stands, Marquardt is still personally liable for copyright infringement damages which under DMCA can start at $2,500 per incident. Multiply $2,500 by 350,000. Whether A&M can hide behind sovereign immunity is the other case the 5th Circuit heard in July. That decision should be out shortly.
  6. California also has an economy that dwarfs that of Texas as well as state revenues that dwarf that of Texas. That being said, Texas does fund its post-secondary institutions rather meagerly.
  7. The first of the 5th Circuit opinions on Mike Bynam’s 12th Man lawsuit against A&M just came out. Bynam’s about to get paid. Not quite sure how much yet. https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/ca5/20-20530/20-20530-2021-09-08.html
  8. The ags have been having an internal sturm-und-drang moment over the "Fuck Joe Biden" chant and (heaven forbid) that some fans were booing instead of hissing to the refs of a perceived bad call. It's truly comical. http://www.thebatt.com/news/head-yell-leader-responds-to-obscenities-at-fall-opener/article_ad76751a-0ff9-11ec-ade4-cb941c025d1f.html Yet again, their fairy-tale self-image is conflicting with the reality of their culture and who they actually are. The problem of aggys being vulgar rednecks during football games goes back to al least 1906, as shown by the clip from the October 6, 1906 edition of the school paper. What makes this even more comical is that even though they were complaining about vulgar yells by the "yell leaders" at least starting in 1906, they insist their tradition of having yell leaders didn't start until 1907. Add to it the aggy behavior that got one of them killed at the Baylor game in 1926, the admissions that most of the state of Texas held them in low esteem in the late 1940s and early 1950s, etc, etc, and you have a clear pattern of the ags never being the "classy" fanbase they insist they are today.
  9. This isn’t the first time society has resorted to the courts to settle a cultural disagreement. I’m perfectly fine with this being litigated. Litigating it is probably the quickest to get the relative arguments laid out in detail and for a third party to opine. Not that this will settle the matter entirely, but it will allows those passionate about the subject to be heard. Bring on the civil debate and let’s see where things stand afterward.
  10. It was Rooster who drew what today is known as the “Royal logo,” the current longhorn silhouette seen on the helmets.
  11. They just upped the pay to $20/hr for event staff for the next UT home game. Seriously.
  12. If the ags are actually some "super courteous fanbase," I'd love for one of them to explain when this supposedly started and why the big change. The 1926 death of aggy Charles Sessums during halftime of the A&M/Baylor game was a direct result of the fans around the SWC being sick and tired of the aggy students attending away A&M games being such assholes to the home team fans. The teew before the A&M/Baylor game A&M played SUM in Dallas and the aggy students attending were so bad, the Baylor decided they would be ready for them the next week in Waco. Throughout the 1940s and 1950s, the aggys were widely despised by sports fans in texas for being such assholes. This continues well into the 60 with the regular fights aggys would start when attending sporting events at other SWC schools (article below is from 1963). Need I mention 1973 Rice? So when as why did aggys quit being such assholes? Last I noticed they were still assholes. Doing typically classless things like making death threats against people who simply tell the truth about aggy history and aggy culture.
  13. When has Leon ever opened his mouth without making it clear to everyone that Fallen Timbers State University truly was the perfect school for him. Sounding like Buckwheat every time he speaks is going to be the least of Leon’s problems as he goes through life. Leon has long been destined for a job where he gets paid by the hour. Think about it.
  14. A couple of small details the ags don't seem capable of processing. How many students does aggy have? How many students are attending UT Austin? Yet UT Austin spends $1 billion more each year than aggy to educate students. Only an aggy would claim an additional $1 billion of additional financial resources would make no difference in the quality of education offered at A&M. Imagine $1 billion more in financial resources PLUS 20,000 fewer students. aggy's athletics debt is almost twice that of UT Austin. Check out the institutional endowment. Again, only an aggy would claim an additional $4 billion in endowment investments would make no difference in the quality of education offered at A&M. So, $1 billion in additional financial resourced every year, 20,000 fewer students, and $4 billion in additional endowment investments. But there is no difference between the two institutions. Ok, cool. Hook 'em.
  15. Leon will win the Heisman. Why else is Jimbo known as “the linebacker whisper”? Book it. If I'm wrong, I will promise to shit in my hand and slap myself on the face with my shit-laden hand. I’m a better American than you. But only for the corrupt referees, we would have won every national championship for the last twenty years. Yay “better Americans” making war! I love serving my country while at Texas A&M. Active duty isn’t really all that tough. As a military academy, at A&M we get extra juice boxes and extra cookies because everyone attending A&M is in active military service because the President could call us out of chicken farming class to save democracy at a moment’s notice. After my three years at Blinn and my three years at A&M, I will have enough active duty service time to qualify for military retirement benefits. I’m a better American than you. We hate our current president but we’re still better Americans than anyone else. I was chanting "Fuck our Commander in Chief" last night when we were hyper virtue signaling, congratulating ourselves for having worn color coordinated t-shirts twenty years ago. Have I told you lately that I'm a better American than you? We also don’t believe in immunology because we know better. We are going to deliver millions and millions of doses of vaccine within days if there is ever a global flu pandemic. We were paid hundreds of millions of dollars to build a vaccine production facility. And we're aggys. What could possibly go wrong? Have I told you lately that I'm a better American than you? We’re going to build a big wooden structure instead of going to class later in the semester. Want to help? Excuse me as I squeeze my testicles. (swidt?)
  16. Show her the audited financials from each school's athletics program. The difference on the academic side is beyond comical. Texas A&M 2020 NCAA financials.pdf UT Austin 2020 NCAA financials.pdf
  17. At least the ags were self-aware enough to forego the plan to light Kyle at night.
  18. And I'm still waiting for any aggy to explain how someone who kills people of color for the express purpose of "establishing the supremacy of the white man" isn't a white supremacist. sul ross biography copy.pdf
  19. Texas A&M has had consecutive seasons with a winning record in conference play since the 1990s. Players such as Myles Garrett never saw a winning record in conference play the entire time he was at A&M. Since 1998 aggy has exactly ZERO seasons with 10 or more wins over FBS teams. ZERO. Only by the comically low standards that define "aggy excellence" is a record like that considered a "national powerhouse program." Not one of them has the intellectual depth to recall when their team "failed to meet expectations." The best part is those ignorant, dumbfuck white trash rednecks truly believe they exemplify "excellence." They truly believe this is their year. They truly believe this year is "next year." This is going to be hilarious.
  20. I think Richard Justice needs to check on the definition of "national powerhouse." https://www.texasmonthly.com/arts-entertainment/jimbo-fisher-contract-extension/?utm_source=Texas+Monthly&utm_campaign=8ef064bc68-TM+Today+9-3-21&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_92f99d7313-8ef064bc68-53408619
  21. I'm enjoying the tap dancing the ags are having to do around their 100-yr commemoration of the "12th man" game. "As the legend goes...." You are a fucking AAU member research university. Cut the "legend" shit and start telling the truth. No, he hadn't "earned letters." He quit the team before the UT game that season because he wasn't good enough to earn playing time. They had a whopping three players suffer injuries during the game. Dobie was spot on - "that pimply outbreak on small natures who cannot abide with equanimity their own smallness." That pretty much encapsulates all that is aggy. The people of Texas deserve better than Texas A&M.
  22. White trash rednecks. The people of Texas deserve better than Texas A&M.
  23. https://books.google.com/books?id=gZuzDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT60&lpg=PT60&dq=lying+four+flusher+sul+ross+goodnight&source=bl&ots=oIU0rg_3nx&sig=ACfU3U3FNfg6g5fwMEkie3WJhS9aBKAMCg&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiW7ZeI197yAhWSTN8KHWz7BtsQ6AF6BAglEAI#v=onepage&q&f=false
  24. College coaches trying to recruit with only three years left on a contract are often at a disadvantage. Remember Mack also got an extension late in his time at Texas. The extension will usually generate headlines (as it has with Jimbo). If the “not for cause” termination clause is modified, the contract can be extended but the cost over the original term is the same. When looking at college coaching contracts, look at how the provisions other than the original term and salary structure have been modified.
  25. The hypocrisy of those white trash smoothbores can be illuminated with two words - Sul Ross. Not one of them has ever dared to have an honest conversation about why they worship that human piece of shit, “the gallant Texas negro killer.” UT culture has long decreed the racist pieces of shit connected with The University, and how they held back the school, the state, and the nation. aggys worship the racist pieces of shit who defined the school’s culture and insist their repugnant brand of white supremacy remains an intrinsic part of aggy culture and the school’s curriculum. Name me one major university that maintains an alumni and faculty Klan robe collection among their prized artifacts or a shrine to white supremacy as the center point of their campus. Fuck you aggys, you worthless pieces of shit. Feel free to use anything I have written on the subject. Needless to say, I have much more info on the subject. https://aggypedia.com/wiki/Sul_Ross
×
×
  • Create New...