Member for

15 years 3 months
Points
593.00

Recent Comments

Date Title Body
"Wexner was just another…

"Wexner was just another victim" - Wexner's attorney and PR firm.

I feel the same.  It makes…

I feel the same.  It makes me wonder if he is different or if most good coaches can break things down so simply.  Currently employed coaches almost never speak this candidly about their analysis of plays.  I suspect they are concerned they might give something away to a future opponent.  That's why Don Brown pressers are so great, the Heiko Al Borges interview was awesome and quotes from Harbaugh about 'hitting their stride' are so frustrating - no explanation even if he must see something we don't. 

3rd year at Michigan, sat in…

3rd year at Michigan, sat in student section so opposite endzone (I think, I was drunk then and it was a long time ago).  I don't recall silence on the way back to the ol' Packard house.  I recall grown men and sorority girls crying, while frat boys screamed "Why" at the heavens as my roommate who didn't care a bit about football laughed and laughed.

Reminds me of the mound…

Reminds me of the mound scene in Bull Durham, “Well, Nuke’s scared because his eyelids are jammed and his old man’s here. We need a live roo– is it a live rooster? We need a live rooster to take the curse off Jose’s glove. And nobody seems to know what to get Millie or Jimmy for their wedding present. Is that about right? … We’re dealing with a lot of sh–.”

"Okay, well, uh... candlesticks always make a nice gift, and uh, maybe you could find out where she's registered and maybe a place-setting or maybe a silverware pattern. Okay, let's get two! Go get 'em."

Thanks for pointing this one…

Thanks for pointing this one out.  Its fundamentally different than the Arian Foster/Fantex type deals and I imagine the Dinwiddle deal on several fronts.  Bowie's was structured like a traditional bond, it was secured by an established asset (current and future royalties), had been evaluated and rated by 3 rating agencies (in 1997 rating agencies were still believed to be impartial vs. 2007 CDO, CMO, MBS, etc.).  An interesting side note, the Bowie Bonds used "credit enhancements" sometimes called "yield enhancements to ensure the 7.9% return was paid.  In essence, if the underlying asset wasn't performing, the sponsor had a separate revenue stream they would use to "enhance" the return to ensure 7.9%.  What's interesting is that Prudential Bache, a division of the Bowie Bond's sponsor, had just been hammered a few years earlier by regulators failure to disclose the use of yield enhancements, among other things.  In the Pru Bache case, the enhancements consisted of the undisclosed return of the investors own capital investment to prop up the yields.  In Bowie's case the enhancement was a guarantee from a third-party.  I've been doing securities litigation for a few years and never heard of the Bowie Bonds so found it interesting.  While it appears the Bowie Bonds were legit, there were a number of other companies that purported to have celebrity IP (music rights, royalties, masters, etc..) as collateral that turned out to be complete frauds.   

These are definitely…

These are definitely securities and I'm not sure an individual can issue private placement securities.  He could do it in the form of promissory notes personally, but those are likely to be considered securities.  In either event, you wouldn't want to do it personally - if you make an LLC and do it correctly he has zero exposure.  If you issue personal promissory notes, he can be sued left and right.  And you would need offering materials, prospectus, etc. all that stuff to CYA from the fraud and securities fraud claims.  The Adrian Foster and other athlete investments are all issued by an offering company Fantex as different series of stocks.  Fantex is essentially a holding company, which has sub-corps and LLCs that are responsible for different issues of stock.  You aren't really buying into Dinwiddle, you are buying into a company that has some deal with Dinwiddle.  I just think the articles are short on the details at this time.

Most of the deals are in the…

Most of the deals are in the area of 10-20% of future brand earnings for whatever amount of $ the sponsor arbitrarily values those future earnings at.  The athlete is only shifting a portion of the risk and even then, he simply has no downside.  The athlete is the one who needs to figure out the time value of money and such, but if you want cash fast for whatever reason this is one way to do it.  The Arian Foster stock said something to the effect that if he quits or gets injured within 2 years he needs to pay back a certain % of the $ to the offering company, but other than that 0 downside to the athlete except what else he could have done with the 10-20% in the future. 

It appears as if the…

It appears as if the structure of the investment is the offering company purchases X% of future earnings (contract plus endorsements) for Y$.   The investor is not guaranteed any periodic payment, so its NOT like a promissory note.  The manager of the particular tracking stock can declare a dividend or perhaps make a payment at the end, but they don't even provide financial projections to guess what the ROI might be.  Apparently there is a Vernon Davis series from 2013 that is more developed than the Arian Foster series which was pulled, but I'm out of time to keep reading fun SEC filings for today and figure out the history since 2013.  In any event, among the worst investments you could make IMHO for an investor but could be a pretty decent deal for the athlete. 

Well, it will be a hell of a…

Well, it will be a hell of a deal for him.  He will get all that money now with no future liability.  The investors will buy into some LLC.  Dinwiddle gets paid a little bit less but upfront, the investment sponsors and managers will get paid, the lawyers and accountants will get paid, and if it doesn't work out, the only loser is the investor. 

It only pays off for lottery…

It only pays off for lottery winners on the time value of money theory which depends on many factors going right including that you largely leave the principal intact, invest responsible and don't get robbed by crocked accounts, investment advisors, lawyers, hookers, pit bosses, etc.  Most lottery winners are far better off taking the annual payments based on the real world experience theory (TM pending) e.g. if you have no experience managing or having significant assets you are much better taking the annuity and learning how to handle the money over time vs. taking it all and being a feeding frenzy for sharks. 

"This offering is highly…

"This offering is highly speculative and the securities involve a high degree of risk."  from the 2013 Form S-1 Registration Statement for "Fantex Series Arian Foster Convertible Tracking Stock"  at https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1573683/000104746913009713/a2216998zs-1.htm

Go to sec.gov, company filings, search "Fantex" to learn everything you want to know about these types of offerings.  Other notable aspects include high fees (5.21% for Arian Foster), lack of liquidity, no public market, complete dependence on the honesty and good will of the investment sponsors, managers, and parent corporation, its the opposite of diversification, depends on a single persons whims who could die or quit at any time, no operating history, significant losses since inception, and on and on.  Its basically an unsecured promissory note - the highest of high risk investments. 

The FWP or S-1 for Dinwiddle will likely state, "Gauranteed contracts do not mean 'gauranteed' in the common sense of the word."

Run away.

flagged for multi-user names

flagged for multi-user names

Need a "wife week door"…

Need a "wife week door" between MSU and Penn State

riding on same ride in San Diego on Wednesday

Its a real tragedy what happened in Ohio.  My kids and I were riding on the same ride from the same manufacturer called "Beach Blaster" at San Diego's Belmont Park on Wednesday when the accident happened.  When I checked my news feed later it was a hug your kids and count your blessings kind of moment.

time to break out the shirtless pic with the babies

Might be time to break out the shirtless pic drinking beer with the babies sleeping while suffering through the RichRod era.  I wonder if DB has it framed on his wall.

excellent free water park

Kids love this park which just opened few months ago. Plus it's free so good for your short window without breaking the bank.

http://m.yelp.com/biz/waterfront-park-san-diego

tm or attribution

Either give the word tremendlus a TM or a footnote to Hokes intro presser.

I don't know about pro's

but I have partied up and down the east coast, midwest, and west coast.  There is nothing like opening weekend at WVU or as some people call it the first week of school.

Nick hardwick

Has had a pretty good career as a center for a guy who lacked the measurables coming out of purdue.

theseshows arent the half of it

These shows are great at the broad strokes. I have been involved in two federal securities class action cases against the worst offenders and the really, really egregious specific acts never see tne light of day because everyone settles and the settlements and all discovery is confidential.

for perspective on B10's dominance..

My info is dated, but something like the Top 8 finishers in the Big10 make the NCAA tourney with 4-5 wildcards (i.e. Top 9 in 1/2 the weight classes).  In contrast, the ACC's top 2 or 3 make the tourney. 

It isn't unusual for the B10 to have 10 guys ranked in the top 10 or even 15.

Hell of an accomplishment.

beg of end for bcs?

if this concept expands, can this be the end of the bcs? Why do the major conferences need them or the ncaa for that matter?

suggestion for next profile

Make it facepalm guy

Tremendous

That is all.

I was wondering...

If I would make anyones cut. Thats what you get for sending drunken emails to dave brandon to save The Game. I enjoyed and deserved the abuse I took for that one.

every chance I can?

Is that the correct answer?  If its not the answer, you are asking the wrong question. 

I see now....

He doesnt want any future employers to associate him with his alter ego lloyd brady and the good clean, harmless fun of being photoshopped into every famous scene ever, so he runs around campus in a lloyd brady t-shirt posing for random photos. Makes perfect sense /s

I see now....

He doesnt want any future employers to associate him with his alter ego lloyd brady and the good clean, harmless fun of being photoshopped into every famous scene ever, so he runs around campus in a lloyd brady t-shirt posing for random photos. Makes perfect sense /s

Nice Moobs..

Al has some nice Moobs (man-boobs). 

That is gay comment #2.  NTTIAWWT.

if the NCAA was awesome

they'd rule before the supplemental draft that the original 5 game suspension is acceptable and Pryor is free to transfer to another institution if he wants to complete his collegiate eligibility.  That way he cannot be eligible for the supplemental draft.

Of course, everyone knows that the NCAA is not awesome like me.

that or the soup truck

They used the earthquake story and the soup truck crash story to scare us into being at the exam early and ignoring everything. 

Earthquake - Some people got up and left the test center in SD when the earthquake hit.  "Sorry, no refund.  Sorry, can't sit for the rest of the exam.  Sorry, see you in 6 monhts."

Soup Truck - Essentially, a Cambell soup truck crashed on I-8 freeway west and shut down the freeway an hour before the exam.  Basically anybody traveleing down the coastal areas (Orange County, LA)  from the 5 freeway, was stuck in traffic and missed the first day of the exam.  The state bar, in their very empathic way said, "Sorry, no refunds.  Sorry, can't sit for the rest of the exam.  Sorry, see you in 6 months."

 

good luck

+1 to above advice.  During lunch break, eat a light lunch quickly, spend 20-30 minutes relaxing, then get fired up for the afternoon (i have no idea your exam format).  Don't talk about the exam with other people taking the exam b/c they'll either tell you how they aced question #2 and make you feel bad OR they'll tell you how panicked they were after question #2 and make you feel bad.  In CA its 3 straight days, 6 hrs per day.  After I was done for the day, I ate a large dinner, sat in a hot tub/pool for a bit, drank 2-3 shots of tequila and a beer and went to bed by 7-8pm.  Got up at 4-5am next day and spend 2 hours refreshing before the exam. 

You can trust me, b/c I passed on only the 2nd try!

underlying premise might be wrong

The entire underlying premise of your post might be incorrect i.e. you are assuming because some tOSU message boards said Michigan's coaches were using the sanctions to 'negative' recruit, that this premise is true.  

Its quite possible that these kids looked at the situation, the loss of an icon (to OHIO) of Tressel and simply started paying attention to Hoke, etal and they didn't need to threaten sanctions of whatever.  The most difficult job for any recruiter (salesperson) is getting your foot in the door.  One you are in the door, if you have a good product, you might just have a customer (commit).

I'm not too worried.  Add to the fact that the NCAA didn't come out and say, "OSU is innocent, we have closed all investigations, there is nothing to see here.  Please move along."  They said, "Tatgate and tressal lying appear to be the only things involved with THIS situation."  The overall situation will likely lay the foundation for how school's handle future serious violations - if the NCAA comes down lightly, then the lesson learned is 1) coach and student athlete take all the blame; 2) make sure coach and student athlete land very lightly on their feet in a better position.  If the NCAA comes down hard, the lesson becomes - be  honest and forthright with the NCAA and we will take mercy on the soul of your institution.

Brady Hoke says

"Tremendous Effort.  Tremendous Intensity.  Way to be fanatical."

If thats what you do while sick, I'd like to see some of your work when healthy.  Fantastic job.  And take the (constructive) critics for what its worth - you'll never please everybody.

Is this gonna get a BUMP to front page?

He is

the most interesting Wolverine in the world.

Excellent post.  It fits great with the 'Michigan Fan snobbery' pe.rception (and reality in some cases).  My laughter woke me up enough to get back to work

public records requests

will vary depending on the state they are issued in.  I'm only familiar with CA, where you have to go superior - appellate - then supreme, but OHIO is obviously different.  Some interesting things:

1) In CA, if you can find a single document which wasn't produced per your request, you are eligible for attorney fees.  That means big dollars if you go to the highest court.

2) Bodies subject to public records laws (such as Ohio), tend to restrict access instead of encourage disclosure.  This is contrary to the entire premise behind Public Records laws, but you can only enforce it by going to court.

3) My personal bet, as a CA attorney, is they are fucked.  ESPN will get the information they want with minimal retractions and Ohio will pay a settlement.  They'll be all kinds of useless arguments about preemption and other stuff, but in the end the public right, especially when the student isn't being protected, outweighs the non-disclosure.

4) I'm kind of buzzed, sorry for any typos.

Go Blue!

weight gain

In high school I wrestled 125 - 135 - 145 - 171/189.  By freshman year of college I was 205 solid in the offseason.  My point is - no telling how much growth a 'child' will have during these years.  I put on 20-30% of solid weight in 2 years, so he could literally be 270 by the end of his freshman year.

I'm still

Buckled Up in my car in the garage.  Will someone please check and see if my wife and kids are alive?

pretty funny

I clicked back to this article from a Doc Sat link.   Um, where is the interweb erase key?  I'd like to erase my 3 year old post considering the success he had at SDSU, the fact that I nearly broke into tears during Hoke's intro press conference I was so fired up and he quite literally shit's solid gold 5* recruits at will.

/delete

Do you work for Nike?

You must be a Nike employee doing some blog market testing.  I think those shirts are great ideas - The Get Raped would have a rapier and fencing helmet.  Its an endless list

anti-drug message

Its always funny have the anti-drug crown gets up in arms anytime something like this comes out, when in reality the shirts are meant to 'recapture' or 'repurpose' the message that Dope and Get High, aren't about drugs, they can be about sports.  So somehow because a T-shirt with various board sports on it says Dope, means that Sally and Johnny are going to become sterior users?  Its just as likely to make them into the next Tony Hawk or Laird Hamilton or Jake Burton. 

How is this different than the anti breast cancer shirts that say Boobies or rape walk rallies or thousands of other double entendre marketing campaigns? 

can't be true

It can't be true b/c Hoke would never say OSu will get hit harder than USC.  Hoke might say:

"That school in Ohio is going to get hit harder...."

or

"That school in Ohio is going to get TREMENDOUS sanctions."

I'm not sure this matters to the NCAA

If I'm reading the quote at the end correctly, all the BMV did was look to make sure that titles accurately reflected the car's sales prices.  This doesn't mean the cars were sold above, below or at market value, merely that there isn't any funny business going on with the titles and accounting AT THE DEALERSHIP.  The state's interest would most likely be in ensuring that it receives its fair share of taxes and other fees.  Without reading all 65 pages (or having access to it), this is a far cry from everything done was "NCAA legal".

 

"The BMV's 65-page report issued Tuesday said the certificates of titles for cars sold by Jack Maxton Chevrolet and Auto Direct to players and families accurately reflected the vehicles' sales prices"


Self-Reporting?

I'm not sure I completely understand what is/isn't considered self-reporting and how much of a hammer than means you will get.  For example, Michigan didn't self-report its violations - the FreeP reported them and Michigan responded with an investigation in the reported issue and all related issues (and maybe more).

Now contrast that with OSU's self-reporting - different allegations were made over the last decade.  Each time OSU either said, "Nothing to see here" or self-reported exactly what the alleged violations were and claimed to have conducted an investigation each time.  In the recent tat-gate stuff, they again 'self-reported' in response to allegations, conducted a sham of an investigation and said nothing else to see.  Then in response to new allegations, they again 'self-reported', conducted a sham investigation and said, "This is everything to see here."  This cycle repeated itself a number of times with outside allegations, OSU investigations and 'self-reporting' of EXACTLY what was alleged by outsiders.  For anyone, OSU fans included, to claim this meets 'self-reporting' standards is absurd.

My point (finally) is that it can hardly be considered self-reporting or an investigation when neither is actually occurring.  In contrast to UofM's investigative report and self-sanctions, which were essentially adopted entirely by the NCAA, I have to believe that the NCAA looks at this pattern and will be working to uncover every stone with no faith in OSU's ability to conduct an impartial or competent investigation.  The fact that the Head Coach and #1 witness are no longer cooperating has to be an aggravating factor in the eyes of the NCAA, if solely based on the human nature of annoyed investigators. 

boneheaded plays?

Sometimes on a really bad D a player can look bad and like they are making boneheaded plays because rather than doing JUST their job, they are always trying to do the job of other guys so they seem out of position.

fraud/misrepresentation

Buy something from Talbott on ebay.  Make the allegation that it wasn't signed by Terrelle Pryor because he Talbott said he never has current student athletes sign and fiel a fraud/misreprentation/breach suit.  Woudl that work?

what is really interesting...

is one article said James was hired by tOSU to represent the student-athlete's for the NCAA investigation.  Pryor is no longer a student athlete and I fail to see what negotiating a CFL contract has to do with an NCAA violation.

Of course, the records between tOSU - James and James-Pryor are all privileged.

NCAA needs a rule update

Something along the lines of:

Bylaw FU.2 - If a student-athlete of the institution under investigation, leaves the institution during the course of the investigation and says FU to the NCAA by refusing to cooperate during the investigation, the NCAA retains sole discretion to make the factual determination as to the veracity of allegations which may have been collaborated or denied by said student athlete.

Underlying Policy - The institution can exert enourmous pressure on the former student athtete to coopreate IF THEY CHOOSE TO DO SO.  Under current rules, there is no incentive to ask the student to cooperate.  If the NCAA was able to essentially say, "Fine don't cooperate.  We will take every allegation as true until you or the student-athlete show it is false.", it would provide tremendous incentive for the institution and the athlete to continue to cooperate.

Otherwise, I see the Reggie Bush/Terrelle Pryor solution becoming systemic when violations are uncovered - simply leave the institution, have boosters line up for financial support while you continue your training for the next regular or supplemental draft and the institution will be safe.

enormous difference

between 'threatening to sue' and 'filing a lawsuit'.  I don't think they'll win, because I don't think they'll ever file suit.  Not only does it open the particular player, his family, and potentially other tOSU players, university to a real legal discovery process, but any theoretical basis they would have is a high-risk, low reward type of case. 

Bush settlement

Bush reached an out-of-court settlement with one of the parties who was paying his family which included a clause so the other party couldn't discuss specifics with the NCAA.  THe other guy (Lloyd Lake?) told the NCAA everything he could - one of the things that lead the the DB coaches show cause. 

WIth OSU, there aren't any jilted external parties - the tattoo guy isn't owed money and the feds won't reduce his sentence for cooperating with the NCAA, the car guy will probably go to all possible lengths to protect tOSU, without lying to the IRS.

What I don't recall is if Bush met with the NCAA and if he did, whether he was found to be cooperating and forthcoming?