SOUTHEAST TEXAS RECORD

Every fisherman's got one, an incredible tale of an almost record catch: the humongous fish that he battled with a small rod or a light line or a baitless hook, that he reeled in, and nearly had netted or in the boat when, suddenly, it broke the line or shook the hook and got away.

He was by himself, of course, so there were no witnesses, and he didn't have a chance to take a picture with his cell phone because every ounce of his being was focused on getting the fish into the boat.

It's a dispiriting situation. You almost did it, but you didn't, and almost doesn't count except in horseshoes and hand grenades. Your friends will just have to take your word for it, but might not, given you have no proof.

Unless another Herman Melville or Ernest Hemingway writes a book about your adventure, people might assume you made the whole thing up.

Paul Ferguson is no Capt. Ahab, but he did land a whale of a settlement, only to see it slip away.

The Provost Umphrey attorney secured a record $32 million judgment against Domino's, et al. on behalf of the estate of a married couple whose vehicle was struck head-on in Beaumont by a pizza delivery boy. This, despite the fact that the delivery boy was driving his own car, with worn tires, in bad weather.

But the triumph wouldn't be complete until an appeals court affirmed the verdict, and that was not to be.

Last week, the Texas Ninth Court of Appeals dismissed Domino’s from the lawsuit, concluding that  “the evidence is legally insufficient to support the jury’s finding that Domino’s controlled or had the right to control the details of the injury-producing acts or omissions of [the franchisee] and its employees.”

Next time you see Ferguson, ask him to tell you his story about the one that got away. At least he has written proof.