ULMNLU JURY

I have been serving on jury duty in Tyler, Texas over the last three days (still another day left on Monday). I went to grab some Mexican food across from the courthouse today for lunch. There was another jury member there, so I sat with him and we started talking. I told him that I was headed to Ruston Louisiana tomorrow to see a Tech game. He got this huge smile on his face and said "WRECK TECH". I knew immediately what school he was from. We laughed about things and he stated how disappointed he was in "NLU" since they moved to 1a. He said that Tech left them in the dust by going to the WAC. It was all good as we talked about several topics:
The old rivalry
The Sun Belt
The WAC
How ULM gave North Texas their first victory this year
How ULM got screwed with the name change by ULL
How they should still be called the Indians.

And the best thing:
How he thinks that ULM should go back to 1aa (or whatever they call that these days). He wants them to get back into rivalries with Northwestern, McNeese, SFA, and Lamar - the Southland.

We had a few heated moments, but it was all cool. Talk about a coincidence. He is headed to Monroe tomorrow night.

I've heard the same from other alums, they're not happy w/ there alma mater. Why they have alot of people rooting for lsu.

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Originally Posted by GermDawg

I've heard the same from other alums, they're not happy w/ there alma mater. Why they have alot of people rooting for lsu.

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my boss is always telling me that ulm and tech need to head back to 1-aa. I tell him that they can go if they want, but thus far, i'm extremely content in where we're at.

one if his points is that its about winning and they could win more if they went back to double a. my point that i've never discussed with him since i like my job is, there is no certainty that if you drop back that your gonna win games.

personally, i wish them luck in they're drop back.

I also sometimes wonder if they had stayed 1-aa if there might be some overlapping support for both ulm and tech.

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Originally Posted by Choudawg86

my boss is always telling me that ulm and tech need to head back to 1-aa. I tell him that they can go if they want, but thus far, i'm extremely content in where we're at.

one if his points is that its about winning and they could win more if they went back to double a. my point that i've never discussed with him since i like my job is, there is no certainty that if you drop back that your gonna win games.

personally, i wish them luck in they're drop back.

I also sometimes wonder if they had stayed 1-aa if there might be some overlapping support for both ulm and tech.

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There are at least 20 1-AA teams better than ULM.

ulm has MUCH more of a reason to want to go back to 1aa. We, on the other hand, do not. We are focused on the future and, if you could have heard our conversation, it typified a discussion between two fans of these two schools. Tech fans/alumni have a much different vision of where we want to be.

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Originally Posted by Choudawg86

my boss is always telling me that ulm and tech need to head back to 1-aa. I tell him that they can go if they want, but thus far, i'm extremely content in where we're at.

one if his points is that its about winning and they could win more if they went back to double a. my point that i've never discussed with him since i like my job is, there is no certainty that if you drop back that your gonna win games.

personally, i wish them luck in they're drop back.

I also sometimes wonder if they had stayed 1-aa if there might be some overlapping support for both ulm and tech.

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Yep, that's the one that makes me want to bite a nail in to. The ONLY fond memory of success nlulm has is the string they put together during the Crow/Collins years when they dominated Tech. That's it! Over 50 years of football and only 10 years of success that has the bar set at defeating Tech. That was an entire genereration ago BTW...well two generations by Monroe standards.

When I hear this type thing from nlulm grads who wear purple and puke or from uneducated sports fans I'm always quick to correct them about "lumping in" Tech with nlulm. Point out all our successes and hope they don't recognize our current lack of leadership at top positions.

Has nlulm ever...

Had a winning season since joining 1A?
Been to a bowl game?
Won their conference outright?
Beaten a ranked team?

Ever won a post season men's basketball game? (my favorite that is probably the most overlooked)

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Originally Posted by maddawg

Yep, that's the one that makes me want to bite a nail in to. The ONLY fond memory of success nlulm has is the string they put together during the Crow/Collins years when they dominated Tech. That's it! Over 50 years of football and only 10 years of success that has the bar set at defeating Tech. That was an entire genereration ago BTW...well two generations by Monroe standards.

When I hear this type thing from nlulm grads who wear purple and puke or from uneducated sports fans I'm always quick to correct them about "lumping in" Tech with nlulm. Point out all our successes and hope they don't recognize our current lack of leadership at top positions.

Has nlulm ever...

Had a winning season since joining 1A?
Been to a bowl game?
Won their conference outright?
Beaten a ranked team?

Ever won a post season men's basketball game? (my favorite that is probably the most overlooked)

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keep going, im writing these down for next time. :icon_wink:

the funny thing is, this usually comes up after my boss has been to a game when ulm has either gotten beat down by a 1-aa team, or, he has been to a game where the attendance was FAR less than desirable. And as you would guess, he is all about bringing up lsu in the deal. He also makes another point about winning championships. talks about how much easier it would be in 1aa vs 1a. Again, like you said, he is stepping back a whole generation. He'll hit me with the ole "no way tech ever wins a championship" argument. But then I'll hit him with the ole, "that may be true but its also true for about 80% of all the teams in 1a. Should all of them drop back as well?"

of course, what added fire to it was lsu winning half :icon_wink: of the champoinship in whatever year it was. As i said before, ulm folks just dont see themselves ever becoming or competeing with the LSUs and Arkansas, and then you have the tech folks that have just the opposite view of tech and where we should be.

Not to offend maddawg or anyone else but Tech, ull and ulm are whores to the paydays of D1A. No way could we or ulxer move back to D1AA just based on economics.

Until we have an AD that understands we need to generate revenue internally rather exploit our football and mbb teams for financial gain, then we'll always be in the same grave as ulxers and most sunbelters.

Amazing how one man can slowely kill an athletic program.............even more amazing is what we have been able to do over the years with the X factor stacked against us. I swear he could ruin a major BCS's program if he was not fired first.

I hear Nebraska has an opening.

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Originally Posted by champion110

I have been serving on jury duty in Tyler, Texas over the last three days (still another day left on Monday). I went to grab some Mexican food across from the courthouse today for lunch. There was another jury member there, so I sat with him and we started talking. I told him that I was headed to Ruston Louisiana tomorrow to see a Tech game. He got this huge smile on his face and said "WRECK TECH". I knew immediately what school he was from. We laughed about things and he stated how disappointed he was in "NLU" since they moved to 1a. He said that Tech left them in the dust by going to the WAC. It was all good as we talked about several topics:
The old rivalry
The Sun Belt
The WAC
How ULM gave North Texas their first victory this year
How ULM got screwed with the name change by ULL
How they should still be called the Indians.

And the best thing:
How he thinks that ULM should go back to 1aa (or whatever they call that these days). He wants them to get back into rivalries with Northwestern, McNeese, SFA, and Lamar - the Southland.

We had a few heated moments, but it was all cool. Talk about a coincidence. He is headed to Monroe tomorrow night.

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Man I'm jealous of the jury duty. I've gotten called three times and NEVER got picked to serve on a jury. You're at least as strongly opinionated as I am. Do they weed out just the conservatives?:icon_wink:

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Originally Posted by markay714

Man I'm jealous of the jury duty. I've gotten called three times and NEVER got picked to serve on a jury. You're at least as strongly opinionated as I am. Do they weed out just the conservatives?:icon_wink:

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Weeding out conservatives in Tyler, Texas? That would be eliminating 90% of the jury pool. Actually, I am very surprised that I was picked. They don't usually like us "mental health guys" on there.

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Originally Posted by markay714

Man I'm jealous of the jury duty. I've gotten called three times and NEVER got picked to serve on a jury. You're at least as strongly opinionated as I am. Do they weed out just the conservatives?:icon_wink:

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Be carefull what you ask for.
I always wanted to be on a jury until the last time I was called in.
I spent a week just in the jury picking process on a rape and murder of a six year old girl in south Louisiana. I was really torn because I personally believe that serving on a jury is one of the most important things an American can do. But just hearing about some of the things they were GOING TO get into made my heart so heavy. And looking a man in his face and saying "If you are convicted I could sentence you to death." was alot harder to say than I thought it would be.
Would I do it again? Of course. Would I ever WANT to do it again? Not a chance in hell.

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Originally Posted by JAB

Be carefull what you ask for.
I always wanted to be on a jury until the last time I was called in.
I spent a week just in the jury picking process on a rape and murder of a six year old girl in south Louisiana. I was really torn because I personally believe that serving on a jury is one of the most important things an American can do. But just hearing about some of the things they were GOING TO get into made my heart so heavy. And looking a man in his face and saying "If you are convicted I could sentence you to death." was alot harder to say than I thought it would be.
Would I do it again? Of course. Would I ever WANT to do it again? Not a chance in hell.

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Just a taste of some of the TERRIBLE things in S'port that happen that I have to hear and see pictures of.

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Originally Posted by DocMarvin362

Just a taste of some of the TERRIBLE things in S'port that happen that I have to hear and see pictures of.

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Actually this happened in south Louisiana. I think in the North Shore area. It was about six years ago so I would say the crime happened seven to eight years ago. They moved the jury picking process up here to find a jury because of al the pub. down there.

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Originally Posted by JAB

Be carefull what you ask for.
I always wanted to be on a jury until the last time I was called in.
I spent a week just in the jury picking process on a rape and murder of a six year old girl in south Louisiana. I was really torn because I personally believe that serving on a jury is one of the most important things an American can do. But just hearing about some of the things they were GOING TO get into made my heart so heavy. And looking a man in his face and saying "If you are convicted I could sentence you to death." was alot harder to say than I thought it would be.
Would I do it again? Of course. Would I ever WANT to do it again? Not a chance in hell.

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I agree totally with what you say. I always thought I would be the tough guy on the jury panel. I was picked for jury duty on a murder trial where a five month old baby had been tortured its entire life. Twenty three broken bones in its body. Some of the bones had started to heal so it was over the baby's entire life that it was tortured. Witnesses said the baby cried all the time. Its skull was broken in five places. Every rib had been broken at one time or another. The mother never took it to the doctor for treatment of the wounds.

That was the worst experience of my life. Some jury members were tough guys. We tried the mother and her boyfriend at the same time. The guy was easy to convict because we were convinced he killed the child. All but three of us were set to convict the mother. She WAS guilty but she did not kill the child. She let it take place. I wanted to convict but I did not know what of, second degree, manslaughter or negligent homicide. The judge had read the definitions of each but I had forgotten. In my conscience if I convicted her of second degree murder and that was not the right conviction I would have to live with that. I asked that the definitions be read to us again. Some jurors got upset but two women said they wanted them read again also so they caved. As soon as the judge said neglect was part of second degree murder I was fine. I didn't have a problem convicting her of second degree murder because she caused the baby's torture and murder through neglect.

The two women sobbed uncontrolably saying that it was her baby and they couldn't convict. There was a lot of anguish and crying. I thought back over the judge's comments and he had said it took 10 to convict. I asked the ladies could they live with just abstaining and not voting to convict. They said they could so we had a vote and it was ten to convict and two abstentions. The News-Star said it was ten to convict and two not guilty votes.


They are now in prison for the rest of their lives with not parole. I certainly hope he is someone's girl now.

Would I serve again? yes. Would I want to? No way. I am still tormented today.

We finished the trial today. The jury was a 10-2 decision in one direction. Me, and of all people, the ulm guy were the lone dissenters.

This was a divorce case with an abusive husband. Both he and the wife had no money or assets. She wanted spouse support. Since both were disabled and she was the only one working, it didn't fly with 10 members of the jury. I believe that the husband was faking disability, though. He had a very powerful "high dollar" lawyer paid for by his parents. She had a volunteer lawyer that does work for the women's crisis shelter here. She had Muscular Distrophy and he needed knee replacement (it is great to be able to finally talk about the case).

It was all a mess and I wouldn't be able to sleep, if I had gone the way of the majority of that jury. Funny how I found a fellow friend in the ulm guy.

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Originally Posted by champion110

We finished the trial today. The jury was a 10-2 decision in one direction. Me, and of all people, the ulm guy were the lone dissenters.

This was a divorce case with an abusive husband. Both he and the wife had no money or assets. She wanted spouse support. Since both were disabled and she was the only one working, it didn't fly with 10 members of the jury. I believe that the husband was faking disability, though. He had a very powerful "high dollar" lawyer paid for by his parents. She had a volunteer lawyer that does work for the women's crisis shelter here. She had Muscular Distrophy and he needed knee replacement (it is great to be able to finally talk about the case).

It was all a mess and I wouldn't be able to sleep, if I had gone the way of the majority of that jury. Funny how I found a fellow friend in the ulm guy.

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I really AM jealous! You actually got to serve on a jury! Knee replacements are a piece of cake. Its been 2 months and I graduated from therapy today. I never missed a check - and was back at work in 2 weeks.

I'd never want to be a juror on a hideous murder/rape/incest type thing, but definitely wouldn't hesitate otherwise. Actually, I'd hate to have the unpleasantness of being on a horrific trial, but wouldn't be unwilling to serve. I got a taste of what you guys were talking about when a friend of a friend served on the Derrick Todd Lee trial here in Baton Rouge. She was a Tech grad and gave us a 3 hour blow by blow of the jury experience - sequestered and everything. There were definitely things I'd have rather not heard - certainly the jurors have no choice but to listen.

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Originally Posted by markay714

I really AM jealous! You actually got to serve on a jury! Knee replacements are a piece of cake. Its been 2 months and I graduated from therapy today. I never missed a check - and was back at work in 2 weeks.

I'd never want to be a juror on a hideous murder/rape/incest type thing, but definitely wouldn't hesitate otherwise. Actually, I'd hate to have the unpleasantness of being on a horrific trial, but wouldn't be unwilling to serve. I got a taste of what you guys were talking about when a friend of a friend served on the Derrick Todd Lee trial here in Baton Rouge. She was a Tech grad and gave us a 3 hour blow by blow of the jury experience - sequestered and everything. There were definitely things I'd have rather not heard - certainly the jurors have no choice but to listen.

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It is always interesting. Of course, in my line of work, I am used to hard luck stories. The problem is that I am pure administration now and don't do any direct service. This was, actually, a welcome break from work.

At work, I am consolidating many of the administrative functions of 8 large Mental Health/Mental Retardation agencies. We cover 43 counties. Each one is a completely separate agency. Talk about people not liking me. We are doing something very special, though, and it will be a model for others to follow. I have found a LOT of inefficiencies and opportunities for cost efficiencies. This model is unheard of among agencies like this, but it makes me a VERY unpopular guy across Texas with the employees. Anyway, I know this is off topic, but this sure was a good break. Makes me REALLY miss direct service.

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Originally Posted by DocMarvin362

Just a taste of some of the TERRIBLE things in S'port that happen that I have to hear and see pictures of.

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I know EXACTLY what you're talking about. Its shocking.

Markay, be careful. You may get a federal jury summons...to appear in New Orleans or Lafayette. They don't care if you live an hour or so away. They also don't mind keeping you on call for months. I was lucky and didn't have to show up in Sheveport, but I've talked to people who said it was horrible.

I have served on Federal Jury Duty twice. At least the pay is better.

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Originally Posted by Luminaire

I know EXACTLY what you're talking about. Its shocking.

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I have nothing but respect for your family members. I would not last 2 weeks in their jobs.