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Read the letter fully VIEW the Cease & Desist Letter

The purpose of the C&D letter was two-fold:  kill the all-star program and attack the founders.

Was there really a need for such a formal if not dramatic approach?  Likely a simple phone call or a text message that said something like  - "The board is discontinuing Legion ALl-Stars" or the "Board is discontinuing the Legion Prospect All-Star Series and you are now considered an 'outside entity" so you can't use our stuff anymore" would have been sufficient. 

But a Cease and Desist letter on official Minnesota State Legion letterhead - now THAT is much more dramatic isn't it! 

Who Done It?

Who was the intended audience for such a legalistic letter?

• Internal with the baseball board members as they were each copied.
• Use with state Legion officials as several were sent copies of the letter.

Who authored who authorized and approved the C&D letter and its contents?

• Obviously Tim Engstrom - a state Legion employee who serves on the Legion board as an officer with the title of "secretary".
• The Director and the vice-directors would certainly have to have a hand in the creation and approval of the letter and its content.
• Such a letter would also - it would seem - would need to be approved by all the board members. 
• They ALL  should have been consulted and approvals gotten before sending out the C&D letter. That is assuming that Direcftor Randy Schaub actually runs a democtratioc board as he claimed in his Winter Update.

P:urpose and Content

1. The  C&D letter lays out the premise for the Board's official story - they had to kill all-stars and get rid of the founders because of their heinous and awful acts. They illegally and wrongfully hijacked the Legion brand and Legion materials to the detriment of Legion baseball.  They stole our stuff. They did not have permission to do spo and there is no permission letter on file.
2. The letter’s context refers to the Legion All Star program as if it was some outside or independent operation that stole the Legion name and logo and did various nefarious things. 
3. The letter's author goes further to label the all-star guys "frauds". Wow.  That’s a bit nasty no matter how you spin it. 
4. This C&D letter is aggeressive and forceful and maybe a little bit angry in tone. Dids All Stars rip off the baseball board and Legion baseball? Wow.

The storyline "The Hijacked the Legion Brand"  is a total fabrication and its authors know it. 

Key Distinction - Internal versus External

An external or an outside entity - such as a company selling services - that wants to use copyright protected or trademarked  logos or materials of Legion baseball, MAY be required to sign a contract to define the use and scope of the arrangement. If so a "letter of authorization' for use of Legion branding may be requested and issued. But not always. 

An internal function or entity is never required to obtain a contract or a letter of authorization  for use of Legion branded logos or materials. Why? Because it is or you are Legion Baseball and have the rights to use all the materials including patches on uniform sleeves, logos on websites, logos for ads for tournament programs, and much more.

• Playoff and state tournament hosts are grantred full access and use of Legion branding for displays, for advertising programs, or for printed wearables like tee shirts or hoodies.
• When Bruce Young (a board member) sells advertising and prints a program for use at his substate sites, he does ot sign a contract nor does he get a letter of authorization.
• The Legion All-Star program used Legion branding from Day 1 with the full approval and oversight of the baseball board and its officers. It was never a question.  Legion All-Stars was always an internal fiunction.

Conclusions

The pretense of the Cease and Desist letter penned by Tim Engstorm and later  promoted by State Director Randy Schaub falsely portrayed All-Stars as an external entity that did not have a contract or a letter of authorization. That is False.

The timing of the claim is  odd at best -  November 1 2024. 

Legion All-Stars had been approved and was operational ever since 2020 with full suppport of the basebalal board - and even letter author Tim Engstrom.

The All Star program was conceived, proposed, and adopted as the sole and official all-star program of Minnesota American Legion baseball.  In other words - All Stars was an internal program - that was operated by a committee well known to the board and its officers. 

• All Stars was introduced for board approval by Randy Schaub and his vice-director Brandon Raymo
• All Stars was approved  approved by vote of the board
• The baseball board voted annually concerning sponsorship grant
• All-Stars was a direct report to State Director Randy Schaub who received annual reports.
• The baseball board never questioned or altered the fundamental agreement and foundational understanding that all-stars was a direct internal function of the baseball board 
• The state director and the baseball board relied on the All-Star group to develop the project.
• At the inception of All-Stars, founder Mike Perr was a member of the Baseball Board.
• Five years of history shows constitutes a contractual relationship.

Ain't  no question about it - All Stars was and is internal to Legion baseball. It was always exempt from contract and letter of authorization requirements.

A Deeper Dive -  External Versus Internal: ExternalAn 'external" or outside relationship typically involves an entity that wished to use the Legion brand for its own purposes. The state board drafts a contract to cover the scope of the services that are involved. A 'letter of authorization' to use the Legion branding materials is issued by the State legion to accompany the signed contract.

Everyone on the baseball  board knows this.

Historical Example: The Legion Hub

A local entrepreneur created a company that produced a website devoted exclusively to Legion baseball in Minnesota. 

• Independent articles were authored and published. 
• Team rankings were posted. Individuals were featured and interviewed.
•  Substate and state tournament  brackets were artfully displayed giving people around the state instant updates on teams and scores and tournaments across the entitre state on mobile devices. Over 115,000 websites were recorded in 2018 giving great visibility to American Legion baseball and better sewrving the families and fans.
•  The Hub introduced Game Changer to the D1 state tounrammment so that fans could follow games remotely - a first for Legion.  

The relationship between  Minnesota Legion Baseball and the Huib was articulated in a contract between the parties accompanied by the Letter of Authorization for use of Legion branding and materials.

Many of today's board members including the state and vice-directors were a part of the process with The Legion Hub. It would be the responsibility to educate every new board member with the information as to what is proprietary annd what is not. Mike Perry was the state director at the time. Bruce Barron was assisting the Legion Hub at the time as well.

There is no room for any confusion as to external versus internal.

All of today's Legion baseball board people  know. 

Further History Detail Of The Internal Relationship

• In 2019, Legion All-Stars was proposed to Randy Schaub and Brandon Raymo who approved the project and they took it to the broader board and the board formally pproved Legion All-Stars. It always the official Legion baseball executive function and board function.
• Randy Schaub kept Legion All-Stars as his own portfoilio assignment. 
• The State Director, when asked for a baseball board subcommittee to better work with a fast growing porogram, re[plied - “You guys are my development committee.”
• From inception, All Stars was never an ndependent or wildcat operation. There was never any mention or any consideration for the all-star program to be a licensee. Everyone at the initial meeting and every single board member knew the difference between a board function and an outside operation. It was “we together” not “us versus them”.
• The Board annually discussed and had approved a sponsorship grant
• They wrote checks to the All-Star account 
• The state website included links to the All-Star Prospect Series
• The Minnesota Legion baseball mobile app featured links to the Prospect Series – Legion All-Stars. Tim Engstrom managed that mobile app.
• Many baseball board members or their home programs sent in player nominations
• Secretray Tim Engstorm reviewed our website regularly, or so we were told.
• Mr. Engstrom supplied new Legion branding press packet with logos, ads and badges so we could update our materials and website to the new stuff.  
• All Legion branding clearly identified and properly promoted
• Wed made sure that the Legion brand was not only properly presented, it was presented in a premium fashion that every board member cpould view with pride.
• The American Legion was always presented in the most positive mannerand presented with honor.

The Bottom Line

All-Stars was never subject to contract or letter of authorization requirements.

The entire baseball board knew it then and knows it now.

The officers - Brandon Raymo and Slick Miller both know the system and how it works.

Tim Engstrom, the author of the letter, knew All-Stars to be an internal function of Legion baseball and he supported it as such.

State Baseball Director Randy Schaub, maintained All-Stars as his own personal 'report'. He established All-Stars as much as anyone. Randy - you knew better that what was in Story #1.

Everyone knows the difference between external and internal.

False and Shameful

For you people to promote this false storyline five years later is just plain shameful.

It is unethical a at the least.

What and who were you hiding?

Legion branding was not the cause of anything. 

Legion branding didn't even make a decent excuse.