What to know before the 2024 season [Video]
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What to know before the 2024 season [Video]

The Oklahoma State University football team aims to make a return appearance in the Big 12 title game as the new-look, 16-team conference is set for the 2024 season. Below is what you need to know before the season starts.Schedule vs. South Dakota State, 1 p.m. Aug. 31 in Stillwater (ESPN+)vs. Arkansas, 11 a.m. Sept. 7 in Stillwater (KOCO 5)@ Tulsa, 11 a.m. Sept. 14 (ESPN 2)vs. Utah, Sept. 21 in Stillwater@ Kansas State, Sept. 28vs. West Virginia, Oct. 5 in Stillwater@ BYU, 9:15 p.m. Oct. 18 (ESPN)@ Baylor, Oct. 26vs. Arizona State, Nov. 2 in Stillwater@ TCU, Nov. 9vs. Texas Tech, Nov. 23 in Stillwater@ Colorado, 11 a.m. Nov. 29TicketsThe Cowboys have sold out every game for the 2024 football season, marking the first time Oklahoma State University has sold every seat for each game before the start of the season.While the games are sold out, tickets may still be available through thirty-party vendors like SeatGeek, Ticketmaster, Vivid Seats and StubHub.How Oklahoma State Did Last SeasonThe Cowboys stumbled a little out of the gate in 2023 while trying to work things out on offense, opening to a 2-2 record that featured back-to-back losses to South Alabama and Iowa State.After that, Mike Gundy’s squad figured things out and won seven of their last eight games of the regular season. Part of that stretch included a 27-24 win over in-state rival Oklahoma in the last matchup with both teams in the Big 12.The winning ways earned the Cowboys a berth in the Big 12 Championship Game, where they met up with Texas. The Longhorns took the conference crown with a 49-21 win, sending the Cowboys to an appearance in the TaxAct Texas Bowl.In the bowl game, the Cowboys ended the season on a high note by beating Texas A&M, 31-23. Quarterback Alan Bowman threw for 402 yards and two touchdowns while star running back Ollie Gordon II added 118 yards and a touchdown on the ground.Key PlayersOllie Gordon II: The defending Doak Walker Award winner and unanimous All-American will be a force to be reckoned with after returning to Stillwater for his junior season. Gordon was among the most exciting players in college football last season, rushing for 1,732 yards and finding the end zone 21 times on the ground. The offense will once again run through Gordon in 2024 as he makes another case for the Heisman Trophy.Alan Bowman: The seventh-year quarterback returns to Oklahoma State for his second season after receiving an eligibility extension due to a season-ending injury in 2019. Along with Oklahoma State, Bowman has played for Texas Tech and Michigan. In 2023, the Grapevine, Texas native threw for 3,460 yards, 15 touchdowns and 14 interceptions. Brennan Presley: One target that’s going to be crucial for Bowman will be the senior wide receiver from Tulsa. He was by far Oklahoma State’s top receiver in 2023, catching 101 passes for 991 yards and six touchdowns all of which were team-highs. Presley enters the 2024 season fourth in program history in catches (225), seventh in receiving yards (2,548) and 12th in receiving touchdowns (16). Click here to see the Cowboys’ full roster.Preseason RankingThe Cowboys will open the 2024 season as the No. 17 team in the Associated Press Top 25. This marks the fifth time since 2016 that Oklahoma State has started a season in the AP Top 25 and has been ranked in every season since 2008.The Cowboys are the second-highest ranked Big 12 team and among a handful of ranked teams in the conference. Others include No. 12 Utah, No. 18 Kansas State, No. 21 Arizona and No. 22 Kansas.Oklahoma State also is No. 18 in the USA Today Sports AFCA Coaches Poll.Boone Pickens StadiumThe Oklahoma State Cowboys call Boone Pickens Stadium home. The stadium holds more than 52,000 fans, but the largest crowd for a game was over 60,000 in 2013. Boone Pickens Stadium sits in the heart of campus along Hall of Fame Avenue between Washington and Duck streets. Click here to learn more about Boone Pickens Stadium. ParkingGeneral parking is controlled by Oklahoma State University police and the university’s parking services on a first-come, first-serve basis.Public parking includes lots near Willis and Hall of Fame Avenue, McFarland and Hall of Fame Avenue, McFarland and Farm Road, Farm Road and Kerr Lane, Cleveland and Wentz Lane, Monroe and Athletic and along Walnut between Hall of Fame Avenue and McElroy. Oklahoma State University also offers a free round-trip shuttle service to Boone Pickens Stadium near the corner of Lewis and Seventh. The shuttle service begins three hours before kickoff and will continue until 30 minutes after the game starts. Shuttles will resume in the third quarter and will go for a minimum of 30 minutes after the game or until lines are gone.The athletics department also offers POSSE parking for donors. Those lots will open starting at 8 a.m. on game days. Donors at the Cowboy VIP and Maverick levels will be provided with premium parking lots. Lots used for premium parking will be the closest to Boone Pickens Stadium, and parking will be allocated by reserving numbered parking spaces. The premium parking will be reserved in a specific lot but without a numbered space.All Pistol Pete and Golden Spur donors will have parking in any of their corresponding lots on a first-come, first-serve basis.Click here to see the parking map and to learn more about gameday parking. TailgatingPeople can start setting up tents, tent frames, awnings, chairs, ropes and other markers or similar equipment at noon on Fridays before Saturday games. Tailgate areas are on a first-come, first-served basis.Tailgating on campus and parking in POSSE parking lots is permitted starting at 8 a.m. for Saturday games, regardless of kickoff time. Tailgate setup on campus grass areas may start before 8 a.m. All tailgating activities on Oklahoma State University property must end and items associated with a tailgate must be taken down and removed by 10 p.m. or two hours following the end of the game. Tents up to 10 feet x 10 feet and 20 feet x 20 feet are allowed. Any tents, awnings or similar equipment must be anchored.Gas and charcoal grills with covers are permitted, but open flames are not allowed. Grilling under trees and on any parking decks within campus parking garages also is prohibited. Click here to learn more about Oklahoma State University’s tailgating rules and map. Bag PolicyOklahoma State University has a clear-bag policy at all ticketed athletic events. Small clutch purses no larger than 6 inches x 9 inches and clear bags 12 inches x 6 inches x 12 inches are permitted. Fans are limited to one bag per person with a small clutch purse. All allowable items will be checked before entering Boone Pickens Stadium. Diaper bags with an accompanying child and bags larger than approved sized for medical necessities will be searched and tagged upon entry.Prohibited BagsOversized toteChairbackSeat CushionPurseTinted, patterned or mesh bagsDrawstring bagsCamera caseBinoculars caseBackpackFanny packClick here to learn more about Oklahoma State University’s bag policy.

Parents of Texas high school shooter found not liable in civil trial [Video]
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Home Based Business

Parents of Texas high school shooter found not liable in civil trial [Video]

A Texas jury found the parents of a school shooter not liable for negligence on Monday in a civil trial brought in connection with the 2018 shooting at Santa Fe High School.However, the jury found gunman Dimitrios Pagourtzis liable and awarded the plaintiffs more than $300 million.Dimitrios Pagourtzis killed eight children and two adults and wounded over a dozen others at the high school near Galveston in May 2018, when he was 17 years old, authorities said.Survivors and family members of some of those who were gunned down had sued Pagourtzis parents, Antonios Pagourtzis and Rose Marie Kosmetatos, accusing them of failing to properly secure the familys firearms and failing to act on their sons declining mental state leading up to the shooting.Parents of a depressed child should safely store their guns, plaintiffs attorney Clint McGuire said in opening statements. If they dont, and their child commits a school shooting with them, the parents share in the responsibility for those harms and losses.The parents testified they didnt see any warning signs ahead of the shooting, and their attorney argued they could not be held liable for the sons actions.An attorney for Dimitrios Pagourtzis parents said Monday she was overjoyed by the jurys decision.I think the parents needed to be vindicated and (it) needed to happen publicly, the attorney, Lori Laird, said Monday evening.McGuire told reporters Monday evening that he respectfully disagreed with the jurys decision. Parents, he said, play a key role in preventing school shootings.We would have liked to (have) had the parents share in their responsibility for this. Parents should know their kids better than anyone else, and they should be all of our first lines of defense, McGuire said.Laird, in her closing argument, had placed blame on Lucky Gunner, a Tennessee-based online retailer that sold Dimitrios Pagourtzis more than 100 rounds of ammunition without verifying he was old enough to buy it. Lucky Gunner was a defendant in the lawsuit until last year, when it reached a settlement with the families, the Associated Press reported.On Monday, the jury said that of the conduct that led to the shootings, 80% was attributable to Dimitrios Pagourtzis and 20% was attributable to Lucky Gunner.McGuire said the previous settlement was financially final, but the finding of liability was crucial. The important thing from the jury today is that they found that Lucky Gunner failed to use reasonable care by having no age verification for selling deadly ammunition to kids who can then take it and go shoot up a school or commit other types of shootings, said McGuire, who also said he felt fortunate to help provide some closure for the families about what happened and why it happened.In a email to CNN, Lucky Gunners CEO said the company was dismissed from the lawsuit more than two years ago.Lucky Gunner wasnt a party to the trial, so it was easy for the jury to place some of the blame on us because we werent there to defend ourselves, CEO Jake Felde wrote. The company isnt responsible for paying any monetary damages from Mondays verdict, he wrote.The plaintiffs include family members of six of the eight slain students and the family of a slain teacher, along with four survivors injured in the shooting. The shotgun and handgun used in the shooting were both legally owned by Dimitrios Pagourtzis parents.The trial included emotional testimony from victims and their families, as well as Pagourtzis family members.The shooters father testified he didnt realize his son was severely depressed. Sometimes it takes years to recognize that your kids sick, Pagourtzis said.He acknowledged he did not teach his son about gun safety, but he said keeping more than a dozen weapons locked in a display cabinet and a gun safe should have been sufficient.The parents have not been charged with any crime. The criminal trial of Dimitrios Pagourtzis who was 17 at the time of the shooting that killed 10 and wounded 13 was delayed indefinitely after a judge found him mentally incompetent.