Interesting information in the Thamel expects Big Ten to act thread
Original OP:
This isn't my information, and I asked the user to post a thread about it, but I feel that it is important enough for its own threat. The information is buried deep in a thread moving down the board and off the front page.
Scroll down to near the end of the Thamel expects the Big Ten to act in the next 48-72 hours thread. When it was originally posted it was on page 3 just before the time change on Saturday night/Sunday morning.
Sorry to be cryptic but since it wasn't my information, I didn't want to post it but again, I feel it's important to draw attention to.
Bluesince89's quite sound retort:
I'm going to call bullshit on the original post.
1) The source is from the law firm working on the case? So the attorney(s) just breached attorney-client privilege and a host of ethics rules in their state (they're all pretty much the same) in addition to firm policy to leak this to their buddy. I've worked on some pretty high-profile, media intense cases in my career and never once have I thought, "let me tell my buddies ahead of time so they know how cool I am." You know why? Because as valuable as I am to my firm, that's a sure fire way to get fired because no clients will trust you after that.
2) "The firm is working this weekend to determine whether to file the suit in local, state, or federal court as reaction time is critical." Ahh yes, so they're debating whether to ask for an injunction against the Big 10 Conference in the 15th District Municipal Court in Ann Arbor? Or in the Rosemont, Illinois equivalent? Yea, no. This suit, if filed, is landing in Federal court (E.D. Mich. or N.D. Ill.), Washtenaw County Circuit Court, or Cook County Circuit Court. Probably E.D. Mich. all things considered. If the firm is seriously debating anything else other than that, they're morons but I know that's not true because UMich hires the absolute best of the best for their biggest cases. The local Big Michigan firms usually don't make the cut unless they're one of the national firms with a Detroit or Ann Arbor Office (Jones Day, Foley, Schiff Harden or whatever their new name is, Troutman Pepper, etc.)
3) An immediate stay of the suspension? It's not an appeal.
4) He's also signaling their strategy so you can share it on a message board? Not just a lawsuit is coming, but this is what we're doing. I could see leaking it to a media outlet, but comon.
None of this passes the smell test of anything reputable.
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MOD EDIT - I will leave the thread for a bit as it is long buried now, but I want everyone to see the reply of an experienced trial attorney to the OP. - LSA
November 5th, 2023 at 9:21 AM ^
Warde has been a disappointment from day 1
November 5th, 2023 at 7:51 AM ^
On the surface, it seems that Michigan would likely win a stay if the B1G violated its own rules in bringing such a sanction.
November 5th, 2023 at 7:54 AM ^
Interesting precedent if true.
November 5th, 2023 at 8:02 AM ^
Suspended indefinitely pending an investigation that'll probably take a year for something nobody's got a shred of evidence on Harbaugh for. Its outrageous and a lawsuit is absolutely warranted. Pettiti is charmin soft if hes caving to the lynch mob and this could unironically put the Big Ten as a league at risk
November 5th, 2023 at 8:03 AM ^
Seriously, fuck this conference and its spineless "leadership."
November 5th, 2023 at 9:02 AM ^
We should have left this conference fuckin years ago. Maybe after the 2016 fiasco in Columbus. Maybe after Rutgers got invited to the conference, lol.
November 5th, 2023 at 9:13 AM ^
I'm glad we didn't. This way everyone's last memory of us will be a 42-3 (or whatever) whooping.
November 5th, 2023 at 8:03 AM ^
If this indeed goes to court then I do hope they bring in the Sparty facial recognition expert to provide testimony. I mean, let's make it a proper clown show
November 5th, 2023 at 8:58 AM ^
I thought a Stapleton v. JUB case going to discovery was the best thing that could possibly happen, but the whole shebang going to discovery??? I don't think the Presidents are fully aware of what that might mean. Especially Carter.
November 5th, 2023 at 8:04 AM ^
The B10 is so fucking shortsighted with this.
Another league member investigation a fellow league member independently will tear this conference apart.
Michigan should leave the B10 over this
November 5th, 2023 at 8:42 AM ^
And when we leave, we'll take all our fans and all the money that comes with that, which is considerable, with us. Sayonara.
November 5th, 2023 at 9:54 AM ^
Exactly Wendy!
November 5th, 2023 at 11:26 AM ^
If this is the outcome, I wish it was without the PAC 12 teams on the cusp of joining, it would really crush the BIG 10 then
November 5th, 2023 at 8:46 AM ^
I think the fans are in near-agreement to leave if something like this happens. University may feel differently, plus who knows how long it takes to get out? Billable hours may be the true winner, here.
November 5th, 2023 at 9:07 AM ^
Yup UM to the ACC end the big ten as they know it Clemson UM Miami Florida state Duke Notre Dame game again end em that’s a lot of good brands still basketball and football.
November 5th, 2023 at 9:26 AM ^
I am liking this more and more. ND and UM are two high academics Football powers. Duke is a pretty good academic school and I believe they also have UVa. Clemson is a little slimy and so is Miami, but it can't be perfect. Good competitive balance. I am sick of OSU and their rivalry has crossed the line.
If this happens, hope OSU fans eventually realize what their coach has done. Tearing apart the greatest rivalry by being petty.
November 5th, 2023 at 10:25 AM ^
We don’t even have to join the ACC. We can do the ND-style independent deal where we join them for scheduling purposes but remain independent to capture more of our revenues. Sign our own independent TV deal.
November 5th, 2023 at 10:36 AM ^
Yeah I’d think that’s the move. Then you keep OSU and MSU on the schedule (I know posters don’t want that but the execs will) like how ND keeps USC and Navy
November 5th, 2023 at 10:55 AM ^
Michigan would still need to be in a conference for the other sports.
November 5th, 2023 at 10:32 AM ^
UNC is a good school regardless of the problems they had a few years ago, NC State, GaTech, Wake, Virginia Tech, Pitt, BC, Cuse..all good schools
I personally don't like any of the other Big 10 schools, never have and have always rooted against them so fuck it..lets leave
November 5th, 2023 at 8:06 AM ^
What's going to be funny is when this blow's up in people's faces. I look forward to Coach Moore or Hart or whomever shaking Franklin's hand, Day's hand, and saying "Jim says hello" after a proper beatdown.
November 5th, 2023 at 8:46 AM ^
Michael Corleone says hello.
November 5th, 2023 at 10:12 AM ^
I know a guy who could put a horse head in Day’s bed.
November 5th, 2023 at 8:14 AM ^
Do we really need the Big10? I think not. Let's start our own super conference and invite only the heavy hitters, no rutgers, maryland, purdue, or MSU bullshit. The media companies would be on their knees willing to offer 100mil to each school
November 5th, 2023 at 8:32 AM ^
At a minimum, if this is true and the conference attempts punishment without due process, Santa Ono should meet with Greg Sankey. The conference's job is to be a fair arbiter, not a lynch mob enabler.
November 5th, 2023 at 8:15 AM ^
If true (seems plausible) it's all kabuki theater. But it's incredibly annoying kabuki theater because it requires actually using lawyers to get through it.
I understand where Petitti is coming from. He has 10 other schools (give or take) telling him to do this. He has only one saying, don't.
He agrees with the one, but he doesn't really care.
He tried to get UM to do it on their own so he wouldn't be setting a precedent. Ono declined.
He knows UM will take it to court. He probably figures UM will win. He's fine with that. Especially since if something like this comes up again, then he can easily say, not possible.
He can tell the other schools he tried, which is more or less all they wanted.
November 5th, 2023 at 8:18 AM ^
this !
November 5th, 2023 at 8:41 AM ^
Yep. Agree. And B1G commissioner is a spineless asshole.
November 5th, 2023 at 8:51 AM ^
If the Kabuki Theater theory is correct then Petitti is not spineless but rather a good politician. He mollifies a braying mob knowing he will lose in court. He tried. I would LOVE to have a transcript of the meeting between Ono and Petitti.
November 5th, 2023 at 9:10 AM ^
Major fuckin props to Ono if this is the way it played out. In the long line of predecessors before him, not many would have taken such a stand.
November 5th, 2023 at 9:36 AM ^
Spot-on analysis, I think.
I've been doing a lot of reading lately on the civil rights movement (Taylor Branch's books on MLK are fantastic; Charles Fager's book on Selma also gets a rec) and it was amazing to me how often this sort of thing was going on in the background. It was clear to one and all what was going to eventually happen at Ole Miss once the federal government got involved; what looked to the public like a spontaneous bloody standoff was in large part a staged enactment of the result of backchannel negotiations to work out just how much violence was necessary for everyone to seem to have satisfied their constituency. Even at the most local level there was stuff like this going on: a store might even welcome integration, but they knew they couldn't do it on their own without getting boycotted by their existing customers. They welcomed a little apparent force from outside.
Of course it wasn't always this way, and when it wasn't things could get bloody indeed. But there was a lot of kabuki going on.
It was an eye-opener for me, beyond that particular time and place and issue.
November 5th, 2023 at 11:06 AM ^
Petitti runs the risk of this blowing up in his face though. Michigan could then present evidence to the B10 regarding the PI firms responsible for hacking Michigan computers and their connection to OSU and demand an immediate response. If the B10 is willing to sidestep due process for mob rule over a minor rules infraction “that someone (Harbaugh) should have known about”, it stands to reason that Day should know his brothers are committing computer crimes in their quest to keep him on his throne and that OSU and Day should be similarly punished. And then you have the B10’s two biggest brands embroiled in controversy/coaching suspensions as we approach season’s end/playoffs with potentially diminished chances of success. None of that is good for the conference and Ono could do one better than conference ADs by demanding action from member school presidents. Just me spitballing…
November 5th, 2023 at 1:23 PM ^
Yes, it's a bad situation. OSU has set off a chain of events that are potentially damaging to the conference.
Petitti's instinct was to let the NCAA do its thing.
He was left with nothing but bad options. Perhaps the correct and righteous path was to have conviction in his initial reaction. But that was more of a guarantee to do him in (have a lot of schools mad at him) than him trying to thread the needle here.
November 5th, 2023 at 8:16 AM ^
Is there any precedent for a conference suspending a coach mid-season like this?
November 5th, 2023 at 8:24 AM ^
Without a formal investigation being started (much less completed)? I can't think of any. I could see a suspension hitting midseason after an investigation wrapped up and formal punishments came down. But the utter disregard for due process is mind blowing and unprecedented as far as I know.
November 5th, 2023 at 8:17 AM ^
My only complaint about this thread: just cut + paste the thing!
Well, also, the news sucks, if true
November 5th, 2023 at 8:19 AM ^
Also, TheresOnlyOneThingToDo-WinTheWholeDamnThing.jpg
November 5th, 2023 at 8:22 AM ^
"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair."
November 5th, 2023 at 8:23 AM ^
It is possible that this is the Big10’s next step and the source intel is good, but from the jump, what exactly is a “local” court relative to “state” and “federal”? Hopefully that is OP’s words and not his sources. If it is his source’s words, more likely this guy works at a Denny’s.
Also, please tell the source to stop talking about the case. Attorney-client privilege is a thing, and discussing it to third-parties breaks it …
November 5th, 2023 at 8:30 AM ^
Very possible that the source isn’t actually working on the case directly. Attorney client privilege is supposed to be a thing, but every associate who watches football at any firm handling this knows about this because lawyers blab their high profile cases to anyone in the office who will listen
November 5th, 2023 at 8:48 AM ^
Yea, no. Discussing the particulars in your firm is fine, even if it's just gossip or bravado. Discussing it with your buddies crosses the line of breaching attorney-client privilege, violates state ethics rules on confidentiality, and breaches your firm's internal policies. You don't need to be working on the case directly for this to apply.
November 5th, 2023 at 3:08 PM ^
The breach of attorney-client privilege is what I thought when I read the item. Why in the world is someone with UM's law firm talking about this outside the firm? It's a firing offense if the firm learns about it, and it's also an ethical violation that could cost the lawyer his or her license.
November 5th, 2023 at 6:38 PM ^
Or maybe letting it leak to a Michigan message board was a scripted shot across the bow.
The best filing is the one you don't end up having to make.
November 5th, 2023 at 8:31 AM ^
If the conference acts before the ncaa is done, I say cover up the B1G logo on the jerseys
November 5th, 2023 at 8:32 AM ^
Technically the NCAA hasn't even started!
November 5th, 2023 at 9:18 AM ^
Take the B1G logo off all uniforms for all sports the rest of the year.
November 5th, 2023 at 8:36 AM ^
Well that's not good news. I hope this is inaccurate.
November 5th, 2023 at 8:36 AM ^
Scrolling down to end.
So you're saying now is the time to buy gold?
November 5th, 2023 at 8:49 AM ^
Careful, you’re revealing your internet tendencies