B1G Picks Risky Fight With College Football's Most Litigious People
Alex Kirchner on the excellence of Michigan's football team...and vast, deep bench of lawyers.
November 11th, 2023 at 5:53 AM ^
Loved the last three sentences:
It’s nearly all of college sports against Michigan, and in that context, the Wolverines do not have a lot. But they do have two teams capable of getting really pissed off and drawing a lot of blood from their Midwestern adversaries. One of those teams plays football. The other files for injunctions.
November 11th, 2023 at 5:53 AM ^
We don’t go to the mattress very often, at least in a public sense. That dam has burst and we’re going Johnstown on the B1G’s ass. And the village of OSU is just downstream…
November 11th, 2023 at 6:41 AM ^
We’ve been training for years on this message board by attacking each other. We didn’t ask for this fight, they brought it to us. Regulators mount up! Let’s kick some ass today on the field, in the court room and on the internet.
November 11th, 2023 at 6:09 AM ^
Good balanced read. They conclude the BIG is on a 13 team mob witch hunt. Against a fan base with the most lawyers. This blog proves that.
the last sentence is prophetic “The Big Ten’s lawyers are in for hell.”.
November 11th, 2023 at 6:19 AM ^
In my fantasy world, UM sues the B1G, ESPN, and Paul Thamel and wins all cases.
November 11th, 2023 at 7:37 AM ^
This is the way.
November 11th, 2023 at 9:14 AM ^
Not too bad a story but they got some facts wrong. Most notably, that no one is denying that the activity was a violation of the NCAA bylaws. UofM's response clearly challenges the interpretation that Conor's actions constituted "in person scouting". And in a real court they would have a good chance of prevailing on that issue.
November 11th, 2023 at 7:38 AM ^
AND turns over evidence for felony charges against the PI firm.
TRO is just the first step.
November 11th, 2023 at 8:24 AM ^
In mine, based on lil Tony’s rationale, Corum also sues Illinois, the B1G and Walters for using stolen signs to harm him and his future earnings potential.
I’m very interested in seeing all the receipts.
November 11th, 2023 at 10:47 AM ^
Genuine question, what are the quantifiable benefits of having the largest base of legal alumni? I get that there is a higher chance of some of the best lawyers in the country having a Michigan connection. But, the university can't have thousands of lawyers in the courtroom. Would it just be the ability to crowdsource input from a larger pool?
November 11th, 2023 at 6:42 AM ^
The Michigan program has more lawyers per square foot than any P5 program in the country.
Might have been better to pick a legal fight with somebody else.
November 11th, 2023 at 7:41 AM ^
when I was a student there was a legend going around because the University refused to call snow days (in the 90's).
The reason was because a student in the law school filed a lawsuit for one day's worth of tuition because classes were cancelled. U of M no longer granted snow days after that.
IDK if it's true. It's a funny story, and validates your point that legal actions are a part of this university's culture.
November 11th, 2023 at 8:03 AM ^
When I was in undergrad, in 1978, they called a snow day. It was supposed to have been only the 3rd time in school history that classes had been cancelled for snow.
November 11th, 2023 at 8:21 AM ^
Was that the huge blizzard that came through?
I figured my story was only a legend. But no one tended to doubt it when they heard it
November 11th, 2023 at 10:32 AM ^
Yes there was a huge blizzard that year. I remember we were sent home from school and the snow was like 12” deep walking home.
November 11th, 2023 at 10:32 AM ^
Yes there was a huge blizzard that year. I remember we were sent home from school and the snow was like 12” deep walking home.
November 11th, 2023 at 11:40 AM ^
I was there in 78 and remember the cancellation. I seem to remember it may have been the first cancellation or we might have had one in 77.
November 11th, 2023 at 8:30 AM ^
Heard that same rumor as well when I was there. No clue if true or just urban legend.
November 11th, 2023 at 6:52 AM ^
No matter the outcome, I wonder how Michigan and the Big Ten can ever work together again after this.
November 11th, 2023 at 7:10 AM ^
Personally, the only outcome I could tolerate would be one in which revenue sharing is re-formulated to give Michigan its actual fair share. There is no reason to keep subsidizing irrelevant programs who express their gratitude by 1) crying to the commissioner on behalf of Ohio State, and 2) performing illegal in person scouting on us in order to steal our signs......on behalf of Ohio State.
There is no way trust can be rebuilt here short of enormous and permanent financial redress.
November 11th, 2023 at 7:14 AM ^
I agree. But the tea leaves read like Michigan is not going to leave the conference over this event. The regents will talk about it, explore other options, etc., but won’t make a move except to force Petitti out.
November 11th, 2023 at 7:34 AM ^
I don’t know, I think there was going to be a lot of talk between the big money programs about creating a top tier super conference for the next round of TV contracts anyway, and I think this put us a lot more firmly at that table regardless of what happens with the B1G.
November 11th, 2023 at 8:13 AM ^
The PAC-2 would like a word....
November 11th, 2023 at 8:13 AM ^
The PAC-2 would like a word....
November 11th, 2023 at 7:20 AM ^
I don’t think they can, and for some bizarre reason, the Confederacy Of Dunces that is arrayed against Michigan doesn’t seem to care.
November 11th, 2023 at 7:28 AM ^
Opposition to us was foreordained by Swift: "When a true genius appears in the world, you may know him by this sign, that the dunces are all in confederacy against him."
November 11th, 2023 at 7:04 AM ^
I enjoyed this part-
In reply, Michigan is not going to go quietly into the night. Easily the most lawyer-packed fan base of any of college football’s historic powers, there is not a single Michigan fan in the world who has not been girding for war over this story for weeks. These are the most litigious people in college sports, and the lawyers who will represent the school as it wages a holy war are an all-star team of these football-obsessed Juris Doctorates (plus, probably, some expensive outside counsels who have been loyalty-tested). The Big Ten’s lawyers are in for hell.
November 11th, 2023 at 7:19 AM ^
I love the author's sentiment, but I take issue with the notion (or at least the phrasng) of "These are the most litigious people in college sports," which makes it sound as if we are frequent filers who sue folks willy-nilly for fun and profit. If the author means we are the most capable fanbase in the field of litigation, I concur.
November 11th, 2023 at 7:06 AM ^
"The Big Ten’s lawyers are in for hell."
Game on. Go Blue!
November 11th, 2023 at 7:30 AM ^
The author might find the argument being made by Michigan (that three schools colluded to make sure Purdue had our signs before the Big Ten Championship game) to be less laughable if he had understood it and characterized it correctly. No, dimwit, we are not saying that legally obtaining signs is the same as illegally doing it. We are saying that when legally obtained signs are obtained by one staff and given to another, it becomes indistinguishable from advanced scouting. And that the collusion itself probably violates the Big Ten's sportsmanship principles.
November 11th, 2023 at 7:52 AM ^
I took objection to this too. Gave a little too much to the idea that Michigan wantonly and deliberately broke NCAA rules and there’s no evidence that that was the case beyond Stalions himself.
November 11th, 2023 at 8:06 AM ^
Yeah, definitely. The author either doesn't know what happened or is disingenuous in how he describes it.
November 11th, 2023 at 7:38 AM ^
I’m telling you, the ACC would be a much more interesting and competitive conference. The Big 10 sucks outside of the big 3. UCLA, Oregon, USC, and Washington will help, but it’s not worth sticking around for this type of treatment
November 11th, 2023 at 8:23 AM ^
If Michigan ends up leaving, I do wonder if that'll give the new four members some pause. They hold no loyalty to the B1G other than to the hordes of dollars it brings in for them.
If Michigan leaves, that drastically reduces everyone's share of the pie, and who knows? Maybe it forces their hands in wanting to re-evaluate their options.
In any case, this whole situation definitely has to be giving them some pause. I can't imagine this is the kind of stuff they signed up for.
November 11th, 2023 at 8:38 AM ^
Out of those 4, USC can build a team that can beat OSU consistently. If that school is whiny what do you think will happen if USC dominated B1G when OSU again becomes the top dog. USC has to think about this if I were them. The whiny OSU can and will pull similar crap with USC.
November 11th, 2023 at 8:08 AM ^
The Big 10 exists as long as Michigan and Ohio State allow it to continue existing. If i was, say, Purdue and I knew that I get millions of dollars a year in tv money I did absolutely nothing to earn and that the super league is looming over the entire sport…..I would not piss off one of the two schools that holds my balls in their hands.
but this is why the super league is inevitable: a bunch of a parochial dipshits making decisions without any concept of the big picture while the conference “leadership” are just the emptiest suits who ever lived.
November 11th, 2023 at 8:21 AM ^
Pretty fair, level headed article.
I agree that Harbaugh shouldn't necessarily be seen as a martyr, but at the same time, you really do have to wonder why the Big Ten is pushing so hard to enact punishments and enact them now.
I'm just glad that this is not the Michigan of old. The one that would've rolled over and accepted its punishment. This new Michigan is putting up a fight, and it looks like they are ready to go to war. They seem to be willing to take everyone down with them.
November 11th, 2023 at 9:05 AM ^
…but is the TRO ruling coming pretty soon?