MARCH SADNESS

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That didn’t take long, did it? I picked Auburn to win it.

It was nice while it lasted — all 31 hours of it.

(Click) (Lights go out.)

2025 March Madness will get here soon enough.

THE GAMES PEOPLE (LAWYERS) PLAY – A REAL EYE OPENER

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In theory, trials are supposed to be fact-finding missions. In reality, it often turns into word games and manipulation of the rules to obscure the truth. It shouldn’t be a shocker – Original Sin leading to disordered passions and all that – but it’s still a slap in the face the first time you deal with it.

I found out the other day about a process called “Requests for Admission.” Those are statements meant to stipulate facts in a case so the trial doesn’t get bogged down trying to prove that 2+2=4. The questions are phrased to elicit a straight yes/no answer.

Of course, the devil is in the details. And given the nature of the modern practice of law, those details come complete with pitchfork and a distinct smell of sulfur and rotten eggs.

The stench comes from the wording of the questions, changing the language to make the statement false-to-fact in subtle ways that are easy to miss, designed to trap the plaintiff and confuse the issue.

A series of four questions that were asked by a defendant in a COVID shot mandate case is a perfect illustration.

See if you can spot the distortions:

  1. Admit that you requested a religious accommodation to ****’s Covid-19 vaccine policy because of your belief that the vaccine uses fetal cell lines.
  2. Admit that the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine does not contain fetal cell lines.
  3. Admit that the Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine does not contain fetal cell lines.
  4. Admit that the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine does not contain fetal cell lines.

It all starts with the first sentence. The religious objection was because the COVID shots relied on tests using the fetal cell line from a baby aborted in the Netherlands, utilizing that literally unholy substance to justify putting the injections on the market. This distortion of the request with carefully crafted wording designed to create confusion by masking that deception with a verbal shell game instead of openly making the effort to uncover the truth is something that violates the very spirit of the law.

Do the listed shots contain fetal cell lines? Well, the drug companies have refused to reveal the ingredients in their concoctions, which leaves the question open to debate. For all we know, they used a ham sandwich in the formula.

Why is there such suspicion of the legal system? Hey, I have no idea what could have caused that.

All this makes me want to use strong soap to scrub off the moral contamination of the system.

P.S. A reminder that I’m in the legal fight of a lifetime. Please contribute to the Dave Platta Legal Fund at GiveSendGo.  Any amount will help and it will help keep alive the battle for the very soul of America versus this corporate tyranny.

MARCH MADNESS

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Time to roll out my bracket. I know the tournament already started, but this is copied from ESPN’s website, so you know I did it before the start of play on First Round Thursday. I had to wait until I got off of work to post it.

I went with Auburn over Houston in the finals, with Arizona and Purdue as my other Final Four teams.

I’ve been doing a bracket challenge since the 80’s, back when it was just me vs. Bruce Snyder. In case you’re wondering, I had to buy Bruce’s lunch every single year. When others jumped into bracket-mania, I usually finished in the bottom third.

I finally won in 2022, after I got fired. That year I won the WRBL pool, and finished second at WTVM. Irony abounds.

Note: last year, my bracket got crushed, just like the old days. But hey – it’s a new season and a new chance. We’ll see how things turn out.

Good luck with your bracket!

GOLD STRIKE

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It’s been a minute since I posted anything about Golden Park since other things have been demanding my time (as you can see elsewhere on this blog.)

Maybe I took a break, but everyone else connected with the project has been moving forward with all necessary breakneck speed.

On Tuesday, Diamond Sports Group put up a website at https://www.columbusgabaseball.com/  to make their presence known. In the process, they announced that current Mississippi Braves GM Pete Laven will spearhead the move to Golden Park.

This is the best of all possible worlds for Columbus. Laven is a baseball lifer with over three decades of experience in running minor league baseball operations. He spent six years as GM of the Arkansas Travelers of the Class AA Texas League, three as GM of the Schaumberg (IL) Boomers of the Frontier League, and the last four running the MS Braves. He also has a grasp of the challenges of baseball in South Georgia after a year as the assistant GM of the Albany Polecats back in the mid-90’s. A video posted on the team website gives everyone a chance to see what he’s about.

Also posted on the website are artistic renderings of what Golden Park should look like after the renovations are completed. Brasfield & Gorrie are the architects chosen for the work, and as those responsible for the construction of Truist Park in Atlanta, the drawings are of the quality you would expect.

I said that Riverwalk Stadium in Montgomery would be a good blueprint, and the plan is definitely reminiscent of that ballpark. They look really, really good. You can see more of the renderings on their website.

From what I can tell, Golden Park 3.0 will rectify the numerous problems of GP 2.0 from 1995. If I recall correctly, McDevitt Street Bovis did the work. Some of it was good, especially the brickwork façade of the ballpark. Inside was another matter.

The luxury box windows don’t open and there are no mics and speakers set up so fans in the boxes can’t hear the sounds of the game. The fixed blue seats are extremely narrow and uncomfortable for the majority of the fans. The absolute worst of it was the decision to route the heat vents from the concession areas into that same photo well. Anyone sitting in the box seats near the well gets all that heat right in their faces. Oh, and the photo well behind home plate has no easy access – to get into it, you have to scale over the railings which isn’t exactly comfortable and is slightly dangerous considering there’s camera equipment involved. Shooting the game from there is no picnic either because of the vented heat, but that’s a first-world problem.

With Brasfield & Gorrie calling the shots, all those issues should a distant and unpleasant memory. And with a veteran baseball man running the promotional aspect of the franchise, it’s going to be a quality, professional product.

That leaves it up to the city to follow thru on maintaining the ballpark, and for the team to get enough fan support to make the return of pro baseball to Columbus a success.

P.S. And a reminder that I’m in the legal battle of a lifetime. Please contribute to the Dave Platta Legal Fund at GiveSendGo.  Any amount will help and it will help keep the battle going.

I HAVE TO KEEP FIGHTING, BUT I ALSO NEED YOUR HELP

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The amount of support I’ve gotten from the public has been humbling. Nearly every day, people tell me they’re on my side, give me pep talks, and encourage me to keep fighting. Thank you everyone for all those kind words.

Anyone who has been fired unjustly knows how devastating it is – emotionally, physically, and especially, financially. When it happens, your only recourse is through the legal system, which turns the stress volume up to 11.

That’s where I’ve been for the past two and a half years.

Of course when it gets legal, the real stressor becomes the financial end, because going through the courts is incredibly costly.

And when you get in the legal big leagues, being on the right side of the law only makes it harder. DELAY-DELAY-DELAY raises the costs and raises the stakes, as the tactic becomes to bankrupt you before you can even get your day in court. If you need a refresher on what my religious discrimination suit is about, an explanation and a look at the evidence is posted on my blog.

But now things are ramping up and I need material support. The ugly truth is that I’m up against a multi-billion dollar corporation that can crush me using court costs and court procedure to completely wipe out me and my family financially.

I have to keep fighting, but do be able to do it I need your help. Please contribute to the Dave Platta Legal Fund at GiveSendGo.  Any amount will help and it will help keep the battle going. Every single penny will go to the legal bills. To those who have already contributed financially, mere words cannot express my gratitude. I hate to keep asking for contributions, but this is where we are.

We’ve seen the rich and powerful, the politically well-connected violate the law with impunity and run roughshod over people who are just trying to put food on the table and support their families. Their greed for wealth and their lust for power has no limit, and the stark reality is that you and your family may be the next ones victimized.

It has to stop, and with your help, and with the Grace of God, we can turn the tide on all this.

Please share this message on Facebook, Twitter, and every other social media platform you use! Again, thank you, and may the Good Lord bless you.

THE NEXT LEGAL STEP

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It probably seems like I’ve been MIA from the website for the past few days. I’ve had to concentrate on the next step of my religious discrimination lawsuit versus Gray – discovery.

This is the least glamorous but the most important part of the process. Discovery is basically doing your homework, gathering evidence that could be used for the trial, or used as background for developing legal arguments.

It’s as exciting as it sounds. But life gets more exciting if you don’t do it right – exciting in all the wrong ways.

Four days of drudgery completed. Now we wait for the other guys to return the favor and do the reveal of all the things we’ve asked for, which should happen tomorrow.

It’s a marathon, not a sprint.

WINTER (SPORTS) WONDERLAND

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The winter sports season is almost done in the Columbus area, and what a season is has been for area high schools. There were a whole slew of programs that made deep runs in the playoffs in all of the different state organizations, with plenty of individuals and teams grabbing championships.

Two wrestling programs stood out. Columbus High won the GHSA Class 3A traditional meet title by over 30 points with four individuals winning their weight classes. Pacelli took the GIAA 4A dual meet championship for the second straight year.

The Vikings dominated in GIAA basketball, with both the boys and girls winning 3A titles last weekend at the Lumpkin Center at Columbus State University.

In AISA, the Glenwood girls and Lee-Scott boys took the Class 3A basketball titles.

It’s been a great season for area teams. Congratulations to all the champs, and to all those that made those deep runs to showcase their talents and prove that hard work pays off.

That’s what it’s all about.

I’ll be talking about all this with Richard Holdridge on his podcast, “The Sports Beat” on Thursday night. Here’s a link to the show. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-sports-beat-with-richard-holdridge/id1497725104

AREA STATE CHAMPIONS

GHSA TRADITIONAL WRESTLING

2A-285 JOJO SHUMAN, CALLAWAY

3A-120 CARTER DIXON, COLUMBUS

3A-126 MASON PERSONS, COLUMBUS

3A-165 MASON SECOY, COLUMBUS

3A-190 TYLER SECOY, COLUMBUS

4A-144 BRAYDON BOWEN, TROUP

3A – COLUMBUS TEAM 169.5 (WON BY 30.5 PTS)

GHSA GIRLS TRADITIONAL WRESTLING

145 – AYANA FLETCHER, NORTHSIDE

GIAA WRESTLING DUALS

4A TEAM – PACELLI

GIAA BASKETBALL

4A BOYS – PACELLI

4A GIRLS – PACELLI

AISA BASKETBALL

AAA GIRLS – GLENWOOD

AAA BOYS – LEE-SCOTT

AHSAA TRADITIONAL WRESTLING

7A-157 – BRADY CAMPBELL, OPELIKA

A WHOLE NEW BALLGAME

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Here’s something to keep in mind about the impending move of the Mississippi Braves of the Class AA Southern League to Columbus – it’s a completely different ownership structure than we’ve had in the past in professional sports.

Columbus has had a minor league baseball team more often than not since 1909, but those teams were owned by identifiable individuals who had a tie to the community. Those teams were borderline profitable, but the owners were willing to take a financial hit because it wasn’t solely about money.

Of course, there was a breaking point, and that’s when we saw the team sold to another single owner or an ownership group, or saw the team head off to another city where there was a new ballpark or other incentive to realize a profit, or in the worst case scenarios, close up shop.

There was at least an identifiable individual with the power to bind and loose as it were. But this is a whole new deal. The team that’s coming to town is owned by a corporation, Diamond Baseball Holdings, which owns 28 teams.

And they’re in turn owned by Endeavor Group Holdings, which is the result of a merger of two Hollywood Talent Agencies, Endeavor and William Morris Agency. It’s not just baseball – Endeavor owns the WWE, UFC, and Learfield Sports, which handles the media marketing for Alabama, Georgia, and 90-plus other universities. No shock here that Endeavor is traded on the NYSE, which means they’re playing in the financial big leagues.

There’s no sentimental value to having a baseball team in this town for the ownership group. It’s all about making money for investors, which means the city has to toe the line, or lose the team.

The terms of the 20-year lease gives the team the right to bail if the city doesn’t maintain a refurbished Golden Park to Major League Baseball’s facility requirements. Get ready for the owners of the team to play hardball.

It will indeed be a new ballgame for the city of Columbus.

NOTE: Edited to remove Auburn from list of schools marketed by Learfield Sports. Auburn media marketing is handled by Playfly Sports Properties.