The Sock 'Em, Bust 'Em Board Because that's our custom

A final note on P-Rod

July 10, 2008 by Mike Casazza

Unless Marvelous Robon breaks his silence or P-Rod says something indignant and irresistible — and I wouldn’t bet against the latter — it’s probably time to end to our focus on the long-lasting, rapidly-concluded WVU v. Rodriguez lawsuit. Yesterday was fun and funny and wrought with good content and good comments. There was a need to not only present all of those things, but to do it at that moment and get it out of the way. And it was great. Just great.

But before we move on, a few more points:

– If yesterday was a bad day in P-Rod’s office, imagine the mood in John Beilein’s office. Not only is the University of Michigan paying $2.5 million to the buyout, but when A.D. Bill Martin announced he’d hired Beilein two Aprils ago, one of the first things he said was the buyout was Beilein’s responsibility. True, Beilein negotiated $1 million off his sum and Rodriguez and UM will have to pay every penny of the $4 milion, but Beilein and P-Rod are both on the hook for the same amount. Trouble is, Beilein’s $1.5 million was due over three years. Rodriguez has five years.

Continue reading…

The BOG acts but the Blade rules!

July 9, 2008 by Mike Casazza

So WVU’s Board of Governors approved the proposed agreement to end its lawsuit with P-Rod — the University of Michigan pays $2.5 million before the end of the month, the former coach makes the first of three $500,000 payments in January 2010 — and all we need, all we want is a closing statement from Marv Robon.

Of course, Rodriguez’s attorney indirectly gave us one last laugh. Check out the ad (robon_ad.pdf) in the Toledo Blade, the newspaper about 10 miles from where Robon practices his unique brand of law.

Dusty had his opinion, nothing more

by Mike Casazza

The original story for today — the one written yesterday afternoon before the agreement to end the lawsuit really raced toward completion — was about WVU’s court appearance this afternoon as it attempted to depose University of Michigan President Mary Sue Coleman and Athletic Director Bill Martin, but also to stamp out the highly suspicious role of one Dusty Rutledge.

Then, deep in the deposition, came the Hail, Mary. Mary, thy name is Dusty Rutledge.

Rutledge was Rodriguez’s video coordinator at WVU and he followed Rodriguez to the University of Michigan. Seems as if following the leader wasn’t anything new, either. Robon asked Pastilong if Rutledge was at WVU President Mike Garrison’s house Dec. 15, 2007, the night Rodriguez alleges Garrison told the coach WVU would not be fulfilling previous promises. Pastilong was not there, but said he heard Rutledge was.

Robon continued:

Q     Did you know that he overheard the conversation between President Garrison and Coach Rodriguez on (December) 15th, 2007? 

[WVU attorney] MR. FLAHERTY:  Object to the form of the question.

A     No.

So Rutledge was there and apparently overheard the conversation, though one wonders how admissible the idea of Rutledge with his ear to a glass and a glass to the wall will be in court. Then again, he was the video coordinator, so perhaps he put managed a covert recording of the conversation. Who knows?

Well, now we know and we know there was nothing. After all that was made about where Dusty was the night P-Rod met P-Garrison and what he overheard, after all the speculation that he might be able to contradict Garrison’s rendition with something more than a rather biased opinion, WVU attorney Jeff Wakefield said there was nothing.

“We have asked repeatedly in written discovery requests if there are any recordings Mr. Rodriguez and his representatives have or are or aware of and they have repeatedly denied that there are any,” said Wakefield, who added a recording would be inadmissible if one suddenly appeared.

Prelude to a conclusion

by Mike Casazza

Despite what anyone else wrote, said or thought, the order late last month for Team Rodriguez to submit unredacted drafts of the term sheet P-Rod signed with the University of Michigan was a critical moment in the lawsuit. If WVU could prove P-Rod and UM negotiated a way to handle the buyout, then Team Rodriguez couldn’t very well say he shouldn’t have to pay said buyout, could he?

How or why that escaped some people is beyond me.

Even then, one could reasonably assume the ruling by Monongalia County Ciruit Court Judge Robert Stone turned the screws on UM President Mary Sue Coleman and Athletic Director Bill Martin, who were previously dodging deposition requests because they said they didn’t know anything, though in truth they didn’t want their hands to get dirty. The unredacted copies would prove they knew something and today a Michigan judge was probably going to grant a WVU request to serve Coleman and Martin subpoenas and force depositions. It just so happens the copies were due by midnight last night.

Momentum was swelling for WVU. UM decided enough was enough and didn’t want to parade Coleman and Martin through the needless process of a deposition. If nothing else, we can thank the Wolverines for putting an end to this madness. With the midnight deadline in mind and knowing what was in the unredacted copies, Team Rodriguez reached out Monday — it’d done so once before weeks ago, though we hear the offer was disingenuous — and meetings late that night and again Tuesday, as well as constant communication between WVU attorneys and administrators, brought about our conclusion.

Still waiting on an official declaration as well as a comment by Marvelous Robon.

Details coming shortly

by Mike Casazza

There’s no use in talking about anything else today, so let’s get into the … well, it’s hard to call this a settlement because WVU is getting $4 million. Let’s call it the agreement.

The details of the agreement are coming together — actually since I’ve begun typing this, they’ve popped up in publication elsewhere — and should be publicized when the Board of Governors conclude a meeting called to finalize the deal. Expect the University of Michigan to make a significant payment before the end of the month. The balance will then be paid by Rodriguez over three years. WVU will give him at least a year to make the first payment. Sounds a lot like the deal John Beilein worked out when he left for UM. Also, no interest is included and each side will handle its own legal fees.

WVU is obviously pleased with the victory, though still incredulous as to why it went on as long as it did. Said attorney Tom flaherty early this morning, “We don’t really care where the money comes from. All that we’re concerned with is that we have an agreement to receive the full $4 million.”

Coincidence?

by Mike Casazza

On the day P-Rod begged out of the lawsuit with WVU, a new edition of Homes & Land was spotted in the box outside of Sheetz this morning. Take a wild guess whose home and land is featured on the front.

I know, I know. It’s been on the market for quite some time now. That it’s on the cover now and I discovered it today is just too much to ignore. 

Don’t expect Rodriguez to be on the hook for every penny — or even most of the pennies — of the $4 million. Still, for a man in need of some money, the asking price of $2 million goes a long way. Take the tour and if you like what you see, make an offer. You never know…

P-Rod: Proud maker of white flags?

by Mike Casazza

At long last, the beginning of the end.

An agreement to end the legal drama appears near as an informed source said Tuesday night “intense discussions are going on and have been for the last 24 hours.”

The conversations are said to center on a way for Rodriguez end the lawsuit before it heads to trial. The source said the sides have not finalized an agreement.

WVU attorney Tom Flaherty confirmed lawyers representing Rodriguez have made overtures to settle the case and WVU has responded.

The nature of the agreement is not known, though there are strong indications suggesting it would be a victory for WVU.

I should take more vacation days

July 8, 2008 by Mike Casazza

Four posts in one day and this one is pretty significant. A second player has committed to the WVU basketball recruiting class of 2010 and who among us isn’t excited about the Storm Stanley Era?

“Right now he’s a 6-foot-10 athletic kid ready to compete in the Big East,” said Mike Duncan, President/Director of the Ohio Basketball Club, which is Stanley’s AAU organization. “He’s only going to get stronger. He doesn’t graduate for another two years, so he’ll get bigger and better. He’s got a very good upside.”

Stanley, from Saint Francis de Sales High, in Toledo, Ohio, could not be reached for comment. He’s the second player to commit to his recruiting class. Poca guard Noah Cottrill committed last July and is ranked by Rivals.com as the No. 11 point guard and the No. 45 player in the class.

On MSN…

by Mike Casazza

It was mentioned yesterday in the comments — I’m telling you, I don’t do much around here — that a provocative series was running on another paper’s Web site chronicling the Mountaineer Sports Network, which is, as we all know, none too popular among many readers.

Well, said comment wouldn’t dare drive readers to another site, which I appreciated, but the purpose of the blog is, at times, to drive readers to other sites. Here’s a look at the series to date (more will follow):

– Certainly not a revelation, but a succint explanation of how TV controls college athletics. 

– MSN and West Virginia Radio Corporation have a unique and successful relationship.

The highlight, though, is the unapologetic defense of that unique and successful relationship which has brought the people who make news and the people who report news close together. The line separating news and opinion is blurred — especially in times when news breaks or stories are advanced and the benefits of that relationship are quite evident. However, in the opinion of those involved, the blur is justified.

Dale Miller, the general manager of the West Virginia Radio Corp., admits there is little impartiality and doesn’t believe there should be.

“I make no apologies. I mean, in sports, I’m Vince McMahon. Are we cheerleaders? Sure. Are we going to go on the air and destroy the Mountaineers? No. Are we going to get a coach fired? Not really,” he said. “We don’t think it’s our job when we’re working as a vendor to this university to do other than promote their product.”

The truth is that contractually, as an affiliate, they have an obligation to promote WVU athletics and must run a given number of promos per week for events.

“We’re the kind of station that when the coach says ‘Let’s wear gold‚’ we go on the air and say ‘Let’s wear gold’ incessantly for five days. It’s that kind of relationship,” Miller admitted.

Mike Parsons, the deputy director of athletics who runs MSN, understands there is a certain obligation to present the news, but not to the point that it becomes a negative.

“I know the values of journalism. I look at us as more entertainment media rather than journalism media, yet we still have responsibilities. We have to be accurate; we have to be fair. We may be biased. We’re the home team, but we can’t ignore a player who gets suspended. You have to mention it. We just won’t dwell on it,” Parsons said.

Big East in the NFL, but barely

by Mike Casazza

You probably won’t be surprised to learn the SEC has the most “projected starters” for NFL teams this upcoming season. You might be stunned to learn the ACC ranks second. I’m curious to learn how you’d react to news the Big East had the fewest among the BCS conferences … with 104 fewer than the SEC.