Michigan's full legal filings released

Their info on the Judge is outdated.

This whole thing is surreal. We all feel like MgoLawyers now 

I'm too damn drunk, tired and old to read that sumbitch - Cliff Notes from a younger MGoBlogger would be much appreciated...

Yeah, she's going to grant the TRO. 

Petiti = comedian / masturbator

This is a marathon.

Tons of interesting stuff in there.  If Harbaugh wasn't feeling the love before, he certainly is now!

Thought this bit was noteworthy.  We're going to try to keep it local....

This case is not removable to federal court. The University is an arm of the state,
and therefore not a “citizen” of the State of Michigan for purposes of federal diversity
jurisdiction.

Because complete diversity is lacking and there are no federal law claims, federal courts do not
have jurisdiction over this complaint.

The filings are extremely well written and lay the case out beautifully.  Looking up the bios of the Williams & Connolly folks, the two senior attorneys on the case have very impressive bios.

Fingers crossed!

So Tony Baloney had something to do with the creation of the BCS? Interesting. 

This suspension has less chance of holding up than I have of allowing “https://mgoblog.com” to use up to 1.6 GB of storage on my Mac.

The intro, pages 6-8, gives a nice summary (I am not a lawyer):

INTRODUCTION
Sportsmanship is founded upon principles of integrity, respect, and fair play. So it is a poignant irony that The Big Ten Conference, Inc. (“Conference”) invoked its Sportsmanship Policy even as it breached a contract, succumbed to pressure, and threw procedure out the window in pursuit of summary punishment. But when rivals join together to create an athletic conference, each relies upon procedures to ensure fair treatment. Because the Conference has ignored those procedures and breached its contract, the University of Michigan (“University”) and Coach James Harbaugh come to this Court requesting the fair treatment the Conference has denied.
In recent weeks, the University of Michigan’s football program has come under scrutiny for the alleged actions of one of its junior staff members. The University is taking seriously the allegations that the staff member—whom it immediately suspended and who has since resigned—repeatedly violated a prohibition on in-person scouting to record opponents’ signals. The University is cooperating fully with the NCAA’s investigation; and when that investigation concludes, the University will accept its share of responsibility under the rules.

But what the University cannot accept is the Conference’s breach of its obligations to the University, its students, and its staff. Amid the clamoring for punishment by the University’s rivals, the Conference repeatedly threw out the procedures:

First the Conference threw out the procedure that required it to wait until the NCAA’s investigation finished before determining punishment, a rule intended to avoid duplication and prevent inconsistent results.
Then the Conference threw out the procedure requiring an investigation, due process, findings from a multi-member body, and a right to appeal before the Conference imposes punishment for rules violations. The Conference has not interviewed a single witness and has access to at most the NCAA’s incomplete investigation. But the Conference ignored the procedures that would have allowed the University to defend itself.
Then the Conference misguidedly invoked the “Sportsmanship Policy,” which it claims permits the Commissioner unilateral and unreviewable authority to find “sportsmanship” violations and impose any punishment he chooses—with essentially no process. But the Conference’s own notice of inquiry confirms that the supposed “sportsmanship” violations are the alleged rules violations. So it appears, in the Conference’s world, member universities’ contractual rights to address allegations of rules violations apply only at the whim of the Commissioner.

Confoundingly, the rush to judgment is unexplained and unnecessary. The staff member who allegedly broke the rules is gone, and the Conference cites no evidence that the University continues to rely upon (or indeed ever relied upon) his scouting reports. The Conference instead has suspended the head coach, Jim Harbaugh, despite citing no evidence whatsoever that Coach Harbaugh knew about, directed, or tolerated the alleged wrongdoing (and even though this form of penalty accordingly is not even authorized under the rules).

There was therefore no justification for the Conference to act now, before the facts are found and the University is afforded the due process to which it is entitled. There is no evidence of an ongoing threat to the integrity of the competition, or any explanation why removing the head coach would address such a threat. Instead, the Conference’s punitive action threatens the integrity of competition by improperly depriving a nationally-ranked football program of its leader on the eve of critical games, just as the season approaches the playoffs. The Sportsmanship Policy’s focus on the integrity of competition is intended to prevent such imbalances—not create them.

In its misguided attempt to satisfy the University’s critics, the Conference has betrayed its promises to the University, its students, and its staff, imposed quintessentially irreparable harm, and set a dangerous precedent for future process deprivations against the University and other member schools. Sportsmanship is at issue in this case, but not in the way the Conference thinks.
This Court should grant the motion and preserve the status quo.

219 pages worth, plus whatever opposing counsel can muster. It will be very late before a ruling is handed down. There's an outside chance it doesn't happen before the game tomorrow.

Pardon my ignorance, but what's the expected legal process moving forward assuming a TRO is issued? Does a judge order arbitration? Tell the league to stand down and await any NCAA findings? Does Michigan file an actual lawsuit against the league?

Just read the whole thing, and it’s going to come down to the interpretation of the sportsmanship clause and how much power that grants the commissioner.  

I like this part:

There is no evidence of an ongoing threat to the integrity of the competition, or any explanation why removing the head coach would address such a threat. Instead, the Conference’s punitive action threatens the integrity of competition by improperly depriving a nationally-ranked football program of its leader on the eve of critical games, just as the season approaches the playoffs. The Sportsmanship Policy’s focus on the integrity of competition is intended to prevent such imbalances—not create them.

This is compelling because suspending Harbaugh only creates disadvantage to Michigan. It creates an inherent imbalance rather than preserve sportsmanship/fairness.  It's a penalty. And the conference cant penalize the university before Michigan is given due process. It's a breach of contract.  Unless they interpret the sportsmanship clause to mean the commissioner can do whatever he wants whenever he wants.  If that's true then I think the conference has bigger problems and other teams should take issues with that. I would if I was USC, Oregon, or Washington.