Barb McQuade tweets on the TRO

There might not be irreparable harm to the football team, but is there irreparable harm to Harbaugh as an individual? 

They could have proceeded if the focus was on Harbaugh alone, which makes me think that this might actually have been Harbaugh’s decision to settle and not proceed. He wants the focus on the team and not on him. The University leadership has shown they have his back and are loyal to him, so maybe it’s really about him wanting to remove distractions and putting the focus on this great team? 

I posted somewhere else that the University leadership team can regain trust by getting Harbaugh’s extension executed as soon as possible.

I think it is at least possible that after Saturday the BIG backtracks and basically says 2 games was enough Jim can coach on the 25th.

No information to support this, more just hope.

I still don't understand this decision.  I always knew it was going to be an uphill battle on the TRO.  If we lost the hearing today I wouldn't have thought that was a big deal.   We were in the same boat was we are now but at least we stood up for ourselves.  I just don't get the rationale of of giving in.  I don't see how we gained anything unless there is something bad we don't know.  If anything we look more guilty now in my opinion.  I was hoping we turned this hearing into a spectacle just to hurt everyone that was taking shots at us.  I get the analysis from legal experts but I just don't see what we gained by giving in.  

That was line of thinking as well. Michigan dropped it because the attorneys didn’t feel we had a strong chance of winning. Better this than having the courts hand Michigan a defeat.

It is not irreparable harm because Michigan is still going to win

Makes sense to me. The battle will be with the NCAA, potentially.

Here's a thought, though. If the NCAA ultimately says "actually, not a rule violation at all" can M come back and sue the shit out of the B1G for ... something? Reputational harm? I dunno.

One other thing to take into account is the fact that if the school had kept this in litigation with the TRO it could have kept the university and Harbaugh from going after the B10 and the commissioner for failure to follow Conference by-laws, and that I think will be the be the bigger issue and could be part of the reason for letting this go.
 

Sure I am mad about the suspension but I think the bigger fish in this getting rid of the fool that is the commissioner.  He has 2 strikes against him as far as I can see.  

1) the huge mistake with the TV contracts where he double sold content he had no right to sell

2) Failing to adhere to the By-laws when it comes to punishment when there is an ongoing NCAA investigation.

As it is if the TRO had not been granted then strike number 2 becomes a moot talking point when it comes to removing him.  UM and now sit down and point out to all the middle of the pack schools that if he can do this to UM then he can do the same to you with out any chance of being able to defend yourself.  All it takes is a simple majority of schools to want him out to make it happen.

It went from a Monday morning Harbaugh presser saying things like "I plan to talk" and "I just want an opportunity to tell my side of things" to this.... IN THREE DAYS.

Sounds like he was blindsided once again by his university.

It's a damn shame we won't be able to give him one last hurrah at The Big House.

He's gone. 

She is right.  This was the right move by UM.  We did not want to have this distraction during the CFP games. Yes, we are going to CFP.

Michigan did the right thing.

Ruling that there was no irreparable harm and declining the TRO would be ruling that there's no irreparable harm. Not ruling isn't ruling anything. 

The thing that people need to realize is the war isn’t over. The battle is lost, sure, but I highly doubt Michigan just did a 100% about face from the bluster of last week. 
 

Whatever reasons for conceding, I expect Michigan to throw its weight around in the Big Ten more going forward, and seriously threaten to leave if nobody listens to our concerns. 

I love (i.e. hate) all the tea leaf readers trying to find the silver lining.  Michigan dropped it because it's their culture to save face by taking it in the face, control the damage, keep things status quo, don't rock the boat, chase mediocrity and keep it right down the middle to maximize upside and limit downside.  They're cowards.  It's about the brand and maintaining the image as a respected institution of higher learning to an absolute fault.  These people eat plan oatmeal in the morning and enjoy the smell of their own flatulence. They call it flatulence when it happens because the term fart is uncouth. There's no binder or 3D chess.  It's a spineless, sackless, consistent, successfully, boring institution that thinks so highly of itself that it thinks it doesn't need to fight for anything and risk tainting the safety of the status quo. They're fully neutered. That's why no NIL, paying players, advanced recruiting tactics, legal battles, mud slinging. Not externally. The players and others can say Bet and write stern tweets, but that's all just real cute banter at the kid's table. At the end of the day the Michigan culture and those that guard it's mind numbingly boring but consistent success will suffocate and envelop everything in its path. The true boa constrictor. 

McQuade took down Kwame, so I'm all in on whatever she says. 

Theres no way to fix any of this. The big 10 got their way, Ryan Day got what he wanted, and Michigan will forever be known as cheaters to the non fans. I will forever support this team and the coaching staff, but the University was just told to sit down and shut up by the Big10 and Ohio State. 

FU Stallions, Day, and the Big 10. The only thing UM can do is go "scorched earth" on the field 

So lose to Penn State and win the TRO? Is that what we’re saying?

Sounds like this is Regents-driven. Harbaugh extension talks have broken down.

Colossal fuck up by the Regents.

Interesting perspective. 

In most people's minds, we have effectively taken a plea deal and admitted to guilt.  Lawyers will say, technically, that is not true, but that is how the vast majority of people will view this and so we have accepted damage to the university's brand.  It now looks like we have admitted to being cheaters. 

If you doubt that, think about how you would feel if this was happening, to say, Oklahoma or Texas. You'd probably say something like:  Well, it doesn't seem like a big deal but the conference thought it was huge and took a big step to punish them plus they ultimately took a plea deal so there has to be something there.

A brand is an intangible thing and ridiculously easy to damage.  Not being willing to fight this has exacerbated damage to the brand.  It would have been better to have fought and lost the TRO - assuming there isn't some other stuff hidden that would have become public that would have made this worse. 

I have to assume that we're protecting for something else because otherwise, this doesn't make any sense.  Losing the TRO doesn't cost us anything because what else is the B1G going to do?  They aren't going to ban us from the championship game because they've made it clear that they don't want to punish the players and FOX would absolutely push back on that.  Maybe they suspend Harbaugh for the championship game against Iowa, but who cares at that point?  I don't even know if they would have the authority to prevent Harbaugh from coaching in the playoffs and even if they did, why would they do that at that point?  It only potentially hurts the B1G payout and reputation then.

This has shattered the unity of the Michigan community/fan base that we were enjoying over the last few weeks.  There is also the chance that Harbaugh feels railroaded.  Any self-respecting person would take the first exit ramp if this is the case - particularly someone who has already earned generational levels of wealth.  Given the perceived lack of support for the coach, what top 5 coach would want to come here to replace him if he leaves after this season?

To summarize:

SOMEBODY ORGANIZED A PR CAMPAIGN AGAINST MICHIGAN

THE BIG TEN COMMISH EITHER STUPIDLY/MALICIOUSLY BOUGHT IT

THE U OF FUCKING M CAVED IN AND AGREED TO IT

I'm not all that upset about the suspension now, I'm just waiting to see what happens next. The conference acted in bad faith and Michigan should push back on that. I'll take the punishment when we do something wrong, but I won't take someone's fragile ego up my ass and let them call it sportsmanship. 

Of all the takes, this makes the most sense.  Not that I like it but I see the reasoning.

Leaders and Best. Right...

Well, enjoy what we had folks because it's over after this year. I think our chances of three-peating are slimmer now, but I still like our chance. Anyone that thinks Harbaugh will return to this garbage of a situation are the same folks that think that rolling over to this was the right thing to do.

This university is ran by a bunch of cowards, and it's alumni have complacently accepted it. This was a moment for the University to show that being a leader means standing up for what's right. Even in the face of evidence, due process matters for everyone, for my friends as well as my enemies. The University could have shown strength by standing by that message even in the face of a loss. Instead they chose the cowardly way out.

The University of Michigan has become that "too big to fail" and what I mean by that is, it has a huge tradition of past excellence that drives that continues to drive that excellence forward. It doesn't mean what's being done in the present is and continues to be excellent. The University is ran by cowards, and it's alumni are accepting that, and future students will see that too. Rome didn't fall overnight, neither will the University of Michigan, but I challenge that the morals and traditions that made this university great are being diminished regularly and routinely.

Don't call yourself a leader if you're afraid to lead and stand up for what's right.

This sounds right to me.   Today was supposed to be about a TRO, not adjudicating the breach of contract hearing.   If they lose the TRO, there is no case, as the punishment to UM ends next week. Seriously, UM is 6 hours away from this all being behind them with the B1G.  (2 3-hour games.)

If they win the TRO, and this case is heard months from now, it just keeps the story alive for that much longer.

Doing this a) gets this phase over quickly, and b) likely looks like something positive to the NCAA when they get around to their sanctions

A thought here - we may have had a bad case for a TRO, making backing down a better option in the short term (that is, by the time we get relief, the suspension would be over anyway)  

But long term, does anything prevent Michigan from suing again? 
 

“No irreparable harm” just means no basis for a TRO. It doesn’t mean that other (e.g. financial) damages couldn’t be awarded later. 

When the lawsuit was filed, several of us with experience in the legal system pointed out that getting a TRO under these circumstances was truly a long shot. That proved to be the case. 

Also pointed out was that the denial of the TRO made getting a preliminary injunction an even longer shot. It's one of those things that goes from 'maybe' to 'no chance', as soon as a TRO is denied.

So yes, the right legal call was made. Anyone with significant litigation experience would at the very least feel that Michigan's decision not to move forward was reasonable.

My issue is that this was not a problem with a legal solution in the first place.

It's a 'WTF is the conference thinking" problem. Michigan has leverage but, as far as we know (no one knows what's happening behind the curtain), elected not to use its leverage.

Michigan is one of the linchpins of this conference. M was nonetheless lynched by a mob, and a commissioner without the balls to stand up to the mob. For me, that's the worst, most inexcusable thing the Big Ten did.

I think Michigan should use their leverage and explore leaving the conference. Two things might be accomplished:

One, it could be a good idea to go for a variety of inter-institutional reasons - uncooperative and vindictive conference partners, a vague set of conference rules, unfair sharing of money, etc.

Two, in order to keep Michigan and its money machine in the conference, the members of the conference might for economic reasons be willing to satisfy Michigan that nothing like this could happen again, for example, by changing the conference disciplinary rules.

I don't think Harbaugh is likely to get bent out of shape over this and leave because he's pissed about how it was handled. My guess is the contract negotiations were paused because there was an awful lot of other stuff on the plate, and now they'll get back to it.

The other thing I'd point out is that football operations are now essentially professional sports operations. They're complex, and the system in place for supervising staffers might need overhaul. A head coach isn't there to manage lower level personnel. It's downright silly to hold a coach responsible for, and be in charge of, HR of lower level personnel.

EDIT: I just saw the thread about Partridge being let go. That info leads me to believe that the regents made a wise call in dropping the lawsuit.