Daily Archives: August 2, 2015
Hall of Fame will allow Junior Seau’s daughter to speak at induction
The daughter of the late Junior Seau will be able to speak live during the Pro Football Hall of Fame induction ceremony after all.
FOX Sports has learned the Hall has added some opportunities that will help Sydney Seau further honor her father as a posthumous selection next Saturday in Canton, Ohio.
Sydney will be given the chance to participate in an on-stage interview conducted after the unveiling of Seau’s bust. The Hall also has invited Sydney and Seau’s three sons to unveil his bust on stage. Normally, the unveiling is only done by the presenter and enshrinee.
The Hall will continue to uphold its rule calling for only a video presentation of a posthumous inductee that includes the presenter’s speech. However, the Hall has taped a 6 1/2-minute highlight video of Seau’s 20-year NFL career that includes comments from Sydney. The normal highlight video lasts three minutes.
Sydney also will be participating in the Thursday night “Gold Jacket” ceremony that marks the first major Hall event of the week. She will be given the chance to make remarks during the NFL Network telecast.
The Hall’s moves were made following a controversy involving the induction speaker rules and the perception that Sydney Seau was being silenced to keep from speaking about the circumstances surrounding her father’s death.
Seau committed suicide in 2012 at age 43. His family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the NFL the following year claiming that brain damage suffered while playing football led to him committing suicide. The lawsuit is still being litigated.
There also was some confusion from the Seau family about whether Sydney was initially told by the Hall that she could deliver the induction speech for her father during the ceremony.
“Our goal was to try and keep our policy but also show some compassion and understanding,” Pro Football Hall of Fame president David Baker told FOX Sports. “Through all the conversations, Sydney has always been great.
“She will have the opportunity to say whatever she wants to say but we will still maintain our (posthumous induction) policy. We want this to be a great day for Sydney and her family. Should she choose not to speak afterward, that should be OK.”
Seau was a first-team All-Pro selection eight times and also voted to 12 Pro Bowls as both an inside and outside linebacker. A 1990 first-round pick by the San Diego Chargers, Seau became one of the most popular players in franchise history before being traded to Miami during the 2003 offseason. Seau announced his retirement after three seasons with the Dolphins before quickly changing his mind and accepting a contract offer from New England where he played from 2006 to 2009.
Seau was voted into the Hall of Fame last February in his first year of eligibility.
I certainly hope some good comes out of this tragedy
Dawg wet the bed again……..
Texas attorney general indicted on felony charges
The charges will be unsealed in McKinney on Monday about noon, and a Tarrant County judge has already been appointed to preside over the case, sources told WFAA.
After the indictments are unsealed, Paxton can surrender to be photographed, fingerprinted and booked into jail.
It’s unclear exactly what Paxton will be indicted for, although a grand jury here has heard evidence that Paxton, 52, violated securities laws.
Special prosecutors in the Paxton case told WFAA they planned to present a third-degree charge of failing to register with the state securities board as the law requires. They also said they planned to present a first-degree felony charge against Paxton accusing him of securities fraud. All indications are that charge is related to Servergy, a McKinney-based company that has been under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Paxton does not have to resign or step down from statewide office as he prepares to face a criminal trial. He can continue to work, just as Gov. Rick Perry did after his two felony indictments in August 2014.
Paxton’s case, legal experts predict, will go to trial since his law license and statewide office are now on the line.
He was sworn in as Texas’ top law enforcer on Jan. 1. The indictments relate to alleged conduct that occurred while he was serving in the state legislature.
Special prosecutor Kent Schaffer first revealed last month that the Texas Rangers had uncovered new evidence.
He said then that the securities fraud allegations involved losses in excess of $100,000, but Schaffer declined to reveal the specifics of them.
“The Rangers went out to investigate one thing, and they came back with information on something else,” Schaffer said in early July. “It’s turned into something different than when they started.”
On Tuesday, a grand jury heard evidence and testimony presented by special prosecutors Schaffer and fellow special prosecutor Brian Wice in connection with the case. The Texas Rangers investigating the case were also seen entering and leaving the grand jury room.
The two special prosecutors were appointed in April after Collin County District Attorney Greg Willis recused himself from the case.
William Mapp, the founder of Servergy, was also seen entering the courthouse and milling around the grand jury room with his attorney. He and his attorney declined to comment.
Paxton’s state filings show he owns at least 10,000 shares of Servergy. His name also appears as a search term in SEC filings accusing Servergy of misleading investors. The filing also listed Paxton’s email address under “selected e-mails” of dozens of other contacts.
In those court records, filed in December 2014, the SEC said it was conducting an ongoing investigation into Servergy’s “possibly fraudulent statements or omissions related to Servergy’s technology and purported business relationships.”
The filings accused Servergy of lying to investors about having pre-orders from companies, such as Amazon.
Other than the fact that he owns stock, Paxton’s connection to Servergy is not clear.
Allegations of failing to register arose out of Paxton’s dealings with friend, business associate and campaign donor Fritz Mowery.
Their working relationship goes way back. They both had offices on the second floor at 206 Kentucky St. in McKinney. Campaign finance records show Mowery donated nearly $16,000 to Paxton’s campaigns.
Last May, Paxton was disciplined by the Texas State Securities Board after he admitted to the board that he solicited clients for a friend’s investment firm without being registered with the state as the law requires.
According to the disciplinary order, Paxton acted as an “investment advisor” when he solicited clients on behalf of Mowery Capital Management, or MCM.
“Respondent was compensated by MCM for each solicitation resulting in a client relationship with MCM,” the order said. “Specifically, MCM agreed to pay Respondent 30 percent of asset management fees collected by MCM from each client that Respondent solicited successfully.”
Several clients have said they were not aware of the fee-sharing arrangement.
Paxton paid a $1,000 fine and called it an administrative error.
But that situation ultimately sparked the criminal investigation that led to the appointment of the special prosecutors, the involvement of the Texas Rangers and now the indictments.
Anthony Holm, Paxton’s spokesman, has repeatedly said the attorney general has done nothing wrong. Holm also has accused the special prosecutors of being biased and unfair, and engaging in a political witch hunt.
“The securities board was very clear this was no crime,” he told WFAA on Tuesday. “It was resolved last spring. It was a civil event. It was a $1,000 fine and we are only here because of liberal activists.”
Despite the criminal investigation, Republican state Rep. Matt Krause said Paxton’s Tea Party base still supports him.
“I think people are now quick to say, ‘Hey let’s see where this goes before we get too upset or enraged about it, and see what the facts really are, because maybe there’s nothing to it and we don’t want to dishonor or disown one of our own,’ ” Krause said.
You and I would be sitting on the bench collecting no money and wondering how to feed our families in this situation. This Fuckhead gets to keep working and have a chance to influence the investigation.
It never ceases to amaze me how so called upper management have taken care of themselves……..
Retro of the day: Bob Marley
“Buffalo Soldier” is a reggae song written by Bob Marley and Noel G. “King Sporty” Williams from Marley’s final recording sessions in 1980. It did not appear on record until the 1983 posthumous release of Confrontation, when it became one of Marley’s best-known songs. The title and lyrics refer to the black U.S. cavalry regiments, known as “Buffalo Soldiers“, that fought in the Indian Wars after 1866. Marley likened their fight to a fight for survival, and recasts it as a symbol of black resistance
The song’s bridge, with the lyrics woe! yoe! yo!, is similar to the chorus of the Banana Splits‘ “The Tra-La-La Song“, the 1968 theme from their TV show, written by Mark Barkan and Ritchie Adams. There has never been any litigation connected to the similarity.