Back in June, after The Frontier released their big exposé on the Rise and Fall of Sellout Crowd – the most ambitiously unsustainable dumb idea in Oklahoma sports media history – I asked a Mole with connections to Big Dog Media – the Toby Keith, Bob Stoops, and Hunter Miller conglomerate that funded the site – about a little snippet where Berry Tramel expressed concerns that he feared bankruptcy if the group tried to collect on their $1.5-million loan.
The Mole seemed to brush off Ole’ Boomer’s concerns, saying something to the effect of, “Do you really think Bob Stoops and Barry Switzer want to be seen as shaking down Berry Tramel?”
Well, I guess the answer to that question is… “No, they don’t mind. And, in fact, they seem to be relishing it!”
Not only did Big Dog sue Tramel and others to collect on their loan guarantees that even a Taco Bell manager could see was a guarantee, but they’re taking the case to frivolously vindictive extremes and trying to get their hands on all of Tramel’s privileged communications.
Earlier this month, Big Dog’s lawyers issued a subpoena to The Frontier demanding that the non-profit outlet release all the correspondence they had with Tramel for the big piece from back in June.
Specifically, they wanted all correspondence that had to do with the following topics:
Yeah, that’s weird.
As I always say, I’m not an attorney—I just pretend to be one when hitting on women at bars—but Oklahoma actually has some pretty strong shield laws that work a bit like reporter-client privilege.
If a court wants to break through and make a journalist spill the beans, the plaintiffs usually have to meet three strict criteria:
• Relevance and materiality: The info has to be highly relevant to the case, not just a nice-to-have.
• Critical or necessary: It must be essential for the lawsuit’s outcome, like the secret ingredient in a lawsuit-winning recipe.
• Unavailability by other means: They can’t just ask someone else or grab it off the internet.
Well, at least that’s what our chief legal analyst – Chat GPT – told me.
Either way, when you consider that Berry Tramel once signed a loan guarantee with the word “GUARANTEE AGREEMENT” plastered across the top of the document in all caps like a neon sign, it’s hard to imagine a judge agreeing that Berry’s insights about Bob Stoops, Hunter Miller, or Stelen Covel are relevant, critical, or necessary to Big Dog’s case. It’s like asking for Clark Crew’s secret meat rub to prove they ran out of brisket—there’s just no connection.
So, why did Stoops & Co. file this subpoena? Who knows? Maybe Bob Stoops is worried that Berry spilled to The Frontier’s Dylan Goforth the real reason he stepped down as OU’s head coach.
A more plausible explanation is that coaches—and their nepo sons-in-law—are competitive, paranoid, and a bit vindictive.
They’re probably just trying to pile up legal bills and headaches for The Frontier, to punish them for publishing an unflattering story and not following the unwritten local media rule that you must kiss Barry Switzer’s and Bob Stoops’s asses at all times.
If that’s the case, well, fire up the PRIDE of Oklahoma and hang half a hundred on em'.
The Frontier’s lawyers fired back with this motion to quash. They claim they don’t have to comply with the subpoena thanks to public shield laws and something having to do with counties:
That’s brief, simple, and probably cost The Frontier way more than it should, which, once again, I think was the goal of Big Dog. I guess nobody told them that The Frontier is backed by old Oklahoma money with way more cash than a bunch of football coaches and musicians’ heirs and that a few billable attorney hours won’t hurt them.
Anyway, I guess we’ll continue to follow this riveting and entertaining case. If you’re Berry Tramel – and/or Jenni Carlson – and want to email me dirt on Bob Stoops, Hunter Miller, or whoever else, hit me up on the TLO Tip Line.
Stay with The Lost Ogle. We’ll keep you advised.
