OK, so we knew it wasn’t over when WVU and the Big 12 had their conference call Friday. And we knew it wouldn’t be over this afternoon when school and league had a reception to really, really announce the membership. And we knew it wouldn’t be over when the janitor locked the door at Touchdown Terrace.

We knew there was going to be a kerfuffle about the 27 months.

I just didn’t expect John Marinatto to be Franz Ferdinand.

Make no mistake: WVU assassinated Marinatto’s reputation. The 14 pages are filled with facts, observations and opinions that make the guy look like a bumbling, inept and thus culpable leader. The one thing I couldn’t shake as I read it was this feeling that WVU was essentially saying, “You have to get us away from that guy. He’s bad for business.” I was kind of wincing as I read it.

Also, don’t get me wrong on this, because a few of you posted or emailed or texted me some sort of condolences. I actually like lawsuits. I’ve gotten quite familiar with them through the years. I get calls from reporters throughout the country. I once got a call from a university. Weird, I know, but law and contracts and lawsuits are definitely parts of sports now and we’ve definitely witnessed those mergers through the years here.

Now, as for this one …

-Probably not that strange that WVU fired first. There had to be some conversations over the weekend in which the Big East dug in about 27 months and WVU felt it had no other choice. And yet, I can’t believe the Big East was fired on first, which really does support WVU’s claim the Big East has poor leadership.

– The Big East could have filed a temporary restraining order that would stop WVU’s immediate exit. Within, the conference could have claimed irreparable damage from the loss of the BCS bid … which WVU says in its filing the Big East will not retain.

– If nothing else, file first because you can imagine the difference if the venue were Providence instead of Morgantown.

– The goal seems to be to expedite the exit. Just get the whole thing started already. That’s the purpose of the injunction: You’re asking the court to do something and WVU is asking a court to look at the leadership and the current state in the Big East, agree with WVU that things have changed so much and in such a detrimental direction that the bylaws should not be applied and WVU should be let out ASAP.

– There are exceptions (WVU v. Rodriguez) but oftentimes you don’t sue to win. You sue to settle. WVU isn’t getting away free and has to know that. Figure the conversation eventually gets to liquidated damages and how the Big East is “harmed” by WVU leaving early. Basically, what money would the Big East make if WVU were in the league? It’s an approximation.

– I’ve seen people aim at WVU’s lack of class or the sad state of affairs in college sports. I get it. I agree with some of it. I also think the Big East was willing to do absolutely nothing but turn the calendar 27 times, whereas  WVU wanted action. This action forces a reaction and brings everyone closer to a resolution … though that may still be off in the distance.

– Seems pretty clear there is a major problem within the conference about the way basketball-only schools were treated as equals in the conference.

– Imagine the meeting today among the Big East presidents. I don’t want to say Marinatto would ever be fired, because I don’t think it happens, but if there were a day it happens …

– Then again, hard to blame Marinatto for the quality of football in the Big East. WVU is linking him to a fiduciary responsibility, but, in theory, Bill Stewart or Dave Wannstedt or Greg Schiano or Skip Holtz would be just as guilty. The product stinks, teams are leaving, the league is in shambles, the AQ is in question and there’s money attached to all that, which then implicates Marinatto, but there comes a point where you have to wonder how involved Marinatto really is in the completed picture.

– Someone told me WVU’s argument that the $2.5 million payment is symbolic of the Big East agreeing to let WVU out was “really weak.” This person allowed one exception: In points Nos. 40-41, the filing says WVU submitted an “offer or proposal” to the Big East with the $2.5 million payment. That offer was, according to WVU, receipt of the money in exchange for WVU’s “immediate withdrawal.”

Now, that could just be a definition, or interpretation, of conference bylaws and Friday Jim Clements said the bylaws required half of the exit fee upon notifying the Big East of your eventual withdrawal. That could also be some sort of a deal WVU made, or had thought it made, with the Big East: “We’ll pay half now and half June 30 (maybe even a little more) as long as you let us go July 1.” Unlikely, my someone said, but don’t rule out anything. Not yet at least.

– I’d love to see these Big East bylaws. I have to assume it is the bylaws that says there is to be an 8:8 ratio of basketball and football schools. Never heard that before.

– Odd that WVU presumptively drags the rest of the Big East members into this and says, either based on fact or belief, everyone was trying to get out. It makes the Big East look less and less tenable and makes WVU look no different than, say, Rutgers, with the exception being WVU was successful. The Mountaineers would rather that not be held against them. Still, you just dragged everyone else into this.

– I wrote a story in December 2007 about WVU filing its lawsuit against Rich Rodriguez. It’s not online because it’s so old and I don’t want to pull the story from the Daily Mail archive and run it here, but the language the general counsel, Alex Macia, used with me then was strikingly similar to what Marinatto used in his statement last night. I mean, the point made and the words used are really similar.

“We are disappointed that West Virginia has adopted this strategy and cannot imagine why it believes it does not have to respect and honor the bylaws it agreed to as a member of the Big East.  Based on an initial review of the lawsuit, it is clear that the allegations and claims in it are false and inaccurate.  Certainly there is nothing in it that would justify WVU’s not fulfilling its obligations.  To put it simply, a contract is a contract.

“Once we have reviewed the filing, we will explore all our legal options and will act vigorously to ensure that WVU lives up to all its obligations to our conference. In the meantime, this lawsuit will not interfere in any way with our ongoing efforts to strengthen and expand the Big East.”

– Contracts are basically worthless. What always got me about them was how buyouts are defined as liquidated damages clauses, but they’re really punitive, which means they exist to prevent or punish someone from breaking the agreement, which isn’t allowed. I don’t know how 27 months isn’t punitive, but this isn’t an employment agreement, either.

– WVU mistakenly says UConn is leaving the Big East, as opposed to Syracuse, and then, in what I have to assume was another mistake, leaves out Pitt as one of the eight Big East schools that “competed in all sports, including Division I football.” Kind of funny, but also a sign this was hurried to the courthouse. Not a knock on the editing — far be it from me to do that — but just a sign of how urgent this was.

– The TCU argument seems pretty thin. For one, TCU wasn’t allowed to vote in anything because it wasn’t a member. WVU voted because it was a member. That should just about settle that.

– The Big East’s counter strikes ought to be revealing and fascinating. If the evidence exists — and the discovery process leaves one side standing naked before the other — then the Big East can make WVU look really, really bad.