Lawyer Tom Mars files FOIA against B1G to find out the cancellation process
We're gonna know.
Just saw a FOIA request lawyer Tom Mars has filed with a Big Ten university and it’s ?. Anyone at the Big Ten who thinks he isn’t serious about ferreting out the facts behind the decision to cancel the fall season would be making a big mistake. This request is thorough ????
— angelique (@chengelis) August 19, 2020
August 19th, 2020 at 4:53 PM ^
good, so in 3-5 years this will all be cleared up.
August 19th, 2020 at 10:31 PM ^
And we can be sure that all of the messy realities of the decision were conducted via formal emails that all participants knew would be part of a public record, and not on dozens of phone calls*.
*A plausible exception being those eggheads at Northwestern who unlike real football programs never have anything to hide and meticulously transcribes every conversation in case they need it for their memoirs.
August 20th, 2020 at 8:23 AM ^
Ah that’s funny. Except Northwestern learned a lot from the Rashidi Wheeler situation.
August 20th, 2020 at 11:17 AM ^
I hope it doesn't take that long. Any chance we'll know in 3-5 months? That would be nice. The details will come out and we need to know what the vote count was.
August 19th, 2020 at 4:56 PM ^
As with everything else in life, billable hours are the real winners of any event.
Also throwing in an addition to my comment. On August 12th, Tom Mars gave a quote to Sports Illustrated saying,
Whatever conference(s) decides to play football this fall will be taking a ridiculously high risk they may soon regret. I know and have talked with some of the best plaintiff’s lawyers in the country this week, and they’re praying the SEC, Big 12 and/or the ACC are greedy enough to stay the course.
So yeah, turns out the high priced famous attorney may have ulterior motives behind "get football back".
August 19th, 2020 at 6:09 PM ^
Right - Mars appears to be rather blatantly playing both sides of the coin here.
August 19th, 2020 at 8:01 PM ^
I think there may be some misunderstanding on what's going on here. Mars isn't going to sue universities for choosing to cancel football (good luck with that).
This is going to be used against universities if they try to reverse course and plow ahead with the season anway.
The case is going to be: "Here's all the reasons your own experts said that you should cancel the season and yet you ignored them and decided to move ahead despite their advice."
August 20th, 2020 at 9:57 AM ^
He just wants Big 10's reasoning on the record so he can use their reasoning as a weapon in his inevitable lawsuits on the Southern 3. And obviously the Big 10 doesn't want to look like they were eager to hand lawsuit ammo against their fellow power 5 conferences, even if people in the office probably don't mind that happening given the way the Southern 3 are hanging the Pac 12 and Big 10 out to dry.
i think one of the outcomes of all this is we really need to pump all brakes on the idea that the Power 5 are gonna do a breakaway. There's no evidence of the kind of cooperation necessary to accomplish that.
August 19th, 2020 at 4:57 PM ^
Okay, so?
The facts seem pretty obvious to me--"Most of the University Presidents were freaked out about the potential for liability, and they thought the safe bet was to postpone the season." What other "facts" does anybody think there were?
Whether the decision is a good one or a bad one remains to be seen, or might never be known, but it's not like there are any serious people who are confused about why a group of risk-averse people might have identified some risk that they need to be averse to.
August 19th, 2020 at 5:24 PM ^
Okay, so?
I agree with you, it is definitely too early to tell if it was a good or bad decision to cancel, that's the problem. Warren's back wasn't against a wall... there is still time to determine if a season can be played safely or not. Like it or not, decisions need to be made with some assumption of health risk vs financial and personal costs.. most notably the player's and coaches who have lost that opportunity, and the hundreds of millions in losses the schools and surrounding communities are going to incur due to that decision. If he's going to pull the plug early, he needs to explain to them why... it's really not that hard to understand.
You have Harbaugh, players, and player's families all coming out in support of a season.. and the general sentiment on this board is that anyone who wants to have a season is an irresponsible child, and should be told to sit down and shut up. If you're okay with a group of less than 15 people making a highly contentious, multi-million dollar decision without transparency or explanation... you're the sheep man, not the people seeking answers.
August 19th, 2020 at 5:43 PM ^
...but but BUT FEEEEAAAAARRRRRRRR!!!
ps: you must be a bad person /s
August 19th, 2020 at 6:13 PM ^
You have a very naive & nearsighted view on how big business works. They don't owe you shit.
August 19th, 2020 at 7:02 PM ^
I work in corporate "big business"... you're exactly right, they don't "owe us shit". But I don't think it's unfair to criticize the guy for making the B1G the laughing stock of college football right now, in both local and national media. Coaches, players, player's families, fans...all of them (except MGoBlog) upset and critical of the decision and how it was made.
If my CEO and board made a decision that got both employees and stakeholders this fired up, you bet your ass he'd be feeling pressure to alleviate some of those concerns.. is it unfair to ask the same of Kevin Warren and the B1G presidents?
Or maybe you're just smarter than everyone else. I'll go back to being naive now.
August 19th, 2020 at 10:38 PM ^
WHAT IS GOING ON HERE WHEN A BUCKEYE MAKES MORE SENSE THAN THE MAJORITY OF A MICHIGAN BOARD
August 19th, 2020 at 5:25 PM ^
They should have all announced all on-line classes and nobody moves into the dorms at the same time as cancelling/delaying the football season...if this was really about health and safety for everyone.
But no, we can't have people wandering off with their tuition money unspent, because they'd rather not pay/borrow shitloads of monies to do online classes.
August 19th, 2020 at 5:37 PM ^
100%. Don't hide behind "safety" when you're bringing tens of thousands of kids back on campus.
What's your next excuse, Mr. Warren?
August 19th, 2020 at 5:43 PM ^
I honestly don't think he made any decision, but followed the decision of the 14 presidents/chancellors whatever their titles are.
That's why the FOIA is directed at a specific university and not the entire B1G or Warren.
August 19th, 2020 at 7:25 PM ^
The B1G Conference, from what I understand is not bound by FOIA requests. The 13 public universities of the B1G are. Thus the 13 FOIA requests.
Someone in that meeting took some notes or sent emails explaining the decision.
August 19th, 2020 at 7:44 PM ^
If the cancellation process was as simple as some feelingsball combined with a short deliberation then all of the stakeholders of college football deserve to know about it. People in charge of massive, mutlibillion dollar public institutions work for us and they have to have accountability.
This is a good thing. And the only way that the billable hours will pile up to the sky is if the B1G goes into obstruction mode, and if they do, they are probably hiding something.
August 19th, 2020 at 4:58 PM ^
Good. Whether or not you agree with cancelling the season, transparency regarding that decision from the B1G leadership is NOT too much to ask for.
August 19th, 2020 at 5:02 PM ^
I agree. Step the hell up to the mic Kevin
August 19th, 2020 at 5:24 PM ^
Disagree. No practical good would come from this so-called desired transparency. The people who already think the games should be played will continue to think the games should be played, and vice versa. All it would do is inspire more yelling and the same angry debates discussed on repeat around here. The internet "experts" would be out in force to critique every word and referenced study. It would get political. It would be ugly for the conference.
And it wouldn't change anything.
August 19th, 2020 at 5:27 PM ^
I dont think the games should be played, its the right call. But when there is so much confusion around how it was decided, there was a vote of 12-2, no wait it was actually 8-6....i think clarification is needed.
August 19th, 2020 at 5:33 PM ^
I think part of the reason stuff like who voted for what isn't out there is specifically because Warren is trying to protect some of these schools from negative press either way. Because if it's really 8-6, that's a media firestorm with no positive outcome for the schools or the conference. You'll just have a series of breathless, largely-irrelevant think pieces from writers, heated calls from fans and alumni to various administrators, and a lot of complaining by parents and students. Now, that may be "good" at the societal level (I'm dubious but I get that argument) but from Warren's perspective none of that is a positive and just drags out what is already a contentious circumtance.
August 19th, 2020 at 5:30 PM ^
"You'll get no information and you'll like it"
Transparency is important in a free society. Obfuscation is a tool of totalitarians.
August 19th, 2020 at 10:01 PM ^
Quite the leap to go from "no college football because there's a pandemic" to "totalitarianism".
These aren't the pentagon papers - it's "amateur" sports. Which, as the sometimes excellent and sometimes annoying Sean Doolittle accurately observed, "sports are like the reward of a functioning society". That cancelling sports in the midst of the greatest public health crisis in a hundred years is being treated like a grand conspiracy is proof that our society is not functioning.
August 20th, 2020 at 11:07 AM ^
doesn't mean people shouldn't be able to know the facts and be able to discuss them even if no changes are made. Can't hurt to hear what the actual thought process was so we can all get a better idea what criteria they may be using in the future with this considering it's likely still going to be around to some extent.
August 19th, 2020 at 6:31 PM ^
Here:
https://bigten.org/news/2020/8/19/general-an-open-letter-to-the-big-ten-community.asp
No will you sit down and shut up?
August 19th, 2020 at 5:00 PM ^
Kevin W. has been thrown into the bubbling lava pit of doom. I know shit wont be reversed but he has to at least come out and say/clarify things right?
His silence is is looking ...not great
August 19th, 2020 at 5:09 PM ^
Everybody thinks he's doing a terrible job except for the 14 people who hired him.
So no, he doesn't have to at least come out and clarify things. Not at all. He's doing the job he was hired to do.
August 19th, 2020 at 5:26 PM ^
Are you one of those 14?
EDIT: And now you are hearing rumors of a handful of B1G teams doing a 10 game season...so those 14 changed their mind and going back on his decision?
Help me understand why he cant clarify what the hell is going on
August 19th, 2020 at 5:31 PM ^
Yes. My name is actually Michael McRobbie, and I am President of Indiana University.
I'm sure you are wondering why an Australian-American computer scientist spends so much time posting about Michigan baseball. Well, it's a long story that I will have to save for another time.
August 19th, 2020 at 6:08 PM ^
Rumors. Founded on bullshit. He doesn't need to come out and speak to every stupid fucking rumor because us citizens are bored with not other hobbies.
August 19th, 2020 at 6:11 PM ^
Everybody thinks he's doing a terrible job except for the 14 people who hired him.
I don't get why people don't understand this. It's the same reason Roger Goodell makes fuck you money despite 99.9% of NFL fans thinking he's an incompetent tool. The 32 owners love him--doesn't matter what anyone else thinks.
August 19th, 2020 at 5:05 PM ^
Can we blame that twat Gretchen Whitmer yet seeing how she’s the one basically blocking the B1G from playing this year?
August 19th, 2020 at 5:16 PM ^
Enjoy your banhammer, assuming.
August 19th, 2020 at 5:20 PM ^
Getting banned for speaking the truth? Look at Clay Travis’ twitter. This isn’t trolling. She’s the reason the B1G isn’t playing.
August 19th, 2020 at 5:39 PM ^
The fact you rely on Clay Travis's twitter account as a source of truth is disqualifying on its face.
August 20th, 2020 at 9:28 AM ^
Sir Yacht is a much better source!
August 19th, 2020 at 5:42 PM ^
Good riddance, fuckhead. Your ban was long overdue. Tell the rest of em to stop posting here too.
August 19th, 2020 at 5:46 PM ^
Enough with the language being directed at other posters whether they be local sent elsewhere.
August 19th, 2020 at 5:48 PM ^
What are you mad about you fat fuck? The fact that your team is ass or that your coach has CTE?
August 19th, 2020 at 5:53 PM ^
Same goes for you 'new guy'. The language in your comment is inappropriate and speaks volumes as to the quality of your character.
And I reported you.
August 19th, 2020 at 6:08 PM ^
Lol thanks G. Be sure to call my parents and tell them all about my character as well. WD came at me yesterday and today so I fired back, get your facts straight before you coming at me.
August 19th, 2020 at 6:25 PM ^
Your account was created today. :-)
In any case, I'm sure your parents already know your worth and don't need me to bring them more bad news.
August 19th, 2020 at 6:10 PM ^
I hope you enjoyed your 25 minutes on the MGoBoard.
Bye. And don't come back.
August 19th, 2020 at 6:27 PM ^
@Rob f: is this guy paying $5 each time?
August 19th, 2020 at 6:32 PM ^
Naw. Unless he has a YouTube Premium subscription. I can watch and enjoy Eminem for free.
/s
