OT: Seriously though, Sparty No.
I suppose this isn't really all that surprising. But more evidence that Dantonio is not a good man. And MSU a cesspool:
September 19th, 2019 at 3:52 PM ^
That's the he said...now where's the she said? It'll be interesting to see how Staee responds to this.
September 19th, 2019 at 3:56 PM ^
No matter what their response is, the idea that the head coach has no responsibility over these incidents is insupportable.
September 19th, 2019 at 3:57 PM ^
I'm honestly surprised this even got to a deposition phase without being settled. But I guess Blackwell probably has a lot to gain from this lawsuit if he wants to work in an athletic department again.
September 19th, 2019 at 3:55 PM ^
I guess the "philosophical differences" between Dantonio and Blackwell is that Blackwell cares about rape.
September 19th, 2019 at 3:55 PM ^
I wonder if MSU tried to settle this out of court to prevent Blackwell from airing this and other potential dirty laundry.
September 19th, 2019 at 3:57 PM ^
I wonder if MSU tried to get this into court so that Blackwell could air Dantonio's dirty laundry so that they could fire him.
September 19th, 2019 at 5:05 PM ^
On a practical level, why would they want to fire him? He's given them their best football since Duffy Daughtery (granted, he piggybacked on a down Michigan program as a boost, but still...).
September 20th, 2019 at 1:32 AM ^
Serious question...
I understand the point of "settling out of court" and why most parties do it: avoiding time in court and huge attorney fees, getting the issue over with, trying to avoid public scrutiny and possible embarrassment, etc.
But if a public university does it, as it was references in your post, can we legally find out the details? Really, if my taxes are going toward some settlement, I'd like to know the details of it. In all seriousness I like knowing where my money is spent in all cases. But if this university is hiding more than we know regarding payments, then I'd be more than upset.
I know this is likely a wish that won't become reality, but I really think it isn't beyond my rights to know everything that is happening with these settlements.
September 20th, 2019 at 12:33 PM ^
Serious answer...
The goal is to do it early so as to avoid creating any public record of any kind. If you make it into discovery (which they did here), all sorts of things can come out. Once things are in a public record that MSU does not control (i.e. court records), they can be found but anyone who digs hard enough unless the judge agrees to seal the case. You can even follow along online with everything filed at the court if you have access to the court docket system as most lawyers do (not that a deposition needs to be filed with the court unless submitted into evidence).
If there were a settlement, and we had access to it, it would not likely tell you anything. MSU does not admit guilt on any charge, but we are giving you this much money to go away and promise never to tell anyone about what happened or bother us about this again.
Thus, the best policy is to kill it early and admit nothing.
If you wanted to find out more after that, you would have to FOIA information from MSU on it or somehow break the attorney client privilege between MSU and their lawyers (an extreme long shot unless someone was incredibly stupid). The FOIA request could only supply written records of which Sparty would go to great lengths not to have created in the first place or give you the run around if they actually had them to give you.
TL;DR - if they settled out of court, your likelihood of finding out what happened is extremely low.
September 19th, 2019 at 3:55 PM ^
What are the odds that this is his last year? This, along with his performance over the last few years, might be enough for MSU to move on from him.
September 19th, 2019 at 4:00 PM ^
Remember when we said that a year or two ago w/r/t Dantoni and Izzo when things really went sideways? Looks like they're still there.
September 19th, 2019 at 3:56 PM ^
You know, the guy saying this was fired for covering up sexual misconduct and he is now suing the school, claiming he was made a scapegoat. He claims Jones Day, a highly reputable firm, was hired to investigate and whitewash the matter. But he refused to speak with the Jones Day lawyers doing the investigation, all as reported in the article. I have no love for Dantonio, but color me skeptical about self interested testimony from a litigant; even decent people who are litigants shade the truth in depositions, and scumbags outright lie. When the other coaches are deposed, we may get a fairer picture of what actually happened.
September 19th, 2019 at 4:06 PM ^
This is a fair take.
September 19th, 2019 at 4:11 PM ^
Declining to speak with the police is one thing, declining to cooperate in MSU's cover up is quite another.
September 19th, 2019 at 4:12 PM ^
So, this guy is obviously shading it to make himself look good. What happens if the other coaches, all employed by MSU, go the opposite direction to make themselves and MSU look good? How do you determine who is telling the truth and who is not?
Also, how do you factor in to this discussion ALL of the sexual misconduct allegations throw at MSU and obviously the results of the Nasser trial into this discussion. To say this stuff seems pervasive at MSU would be an understatement, no?
I believe this guy.....even though he is obviously self interested here.
September 19th, 2019 at 3:56 PM ^
Jesus Christ, if Blackwell is telling the truth, and Defensive Line Coach Ron Burton did tell Dantonio he didn't want Robertson on the same campus as his daughter, and Dantonio just ignored him, that's incredibly gross and despicable. The fact Blackwell was willing to name drop these convos under oath is not a great sign for Michigan State, and Dantonio very well may be in his last season in East Lansing. This is absolutely fucking gross and horrible all the way around.
September 19th, 2019 at 4:12 PM ^
...Dantonio very well may be in his last season in East Lansing.
Sadly, I'll believe it when I see it. Bad guys pretty much get away with everything nowadays.
September 19th, 2019 at 4:34 PM ^
Coaches who go 22-19 in their last 3.5 seasons don't get away with everything. If he was 32-9 I'd agree with you.
September 19th, 2019 at 6:14 PM ^
If the attention to this story grows, and Sparty has another mediocre at best season, coupled with a loss to Michigan, Mork's seat will stsrt growing hot.
September 19th, 2019 at 3:59 PM ^
Bring Dantonio to court and put him on the stand.
But MSU will circle the wagons once more and everyone will lie their way out of the situation.
September 19th, 2019 at 4:32 PM ^
Or pay their way out.
September 19th, 2019 at 4:05 PM ^
That whole institution is a farty dirt patch. I can't decide who is worse them or PSU, at least PSU accepted some responsibility.
September 19th, 2019 at 4:13 PM ^
little kids were sexually assaulted at PSU....this is not a question that needs asking when the obvious is obvious.
September 19th, 2019 at 5:01 PM ^
Uh, what exactly would you call what Larry Nasser did to gymnasts of a wide range of ages?
September 19th, 2019 at 5:09 PM ^
And kids were assaulted by Nassir at MSU.
September 19th, 2019 at 4:28 PM ^
As is to be expected, they're already saying this is a continuation of the conspiracy theory that Paula Lavigne and ESPN are out to get them and MSU & Mork are totally innocent....
<Insert Sure Jan gif>
September 19th, 2019 at 4:36 PM ^
At any other school they would fire the head coach. But at state they will just sweep it under the rug and forget about it. That’s the Sparty way.
September 20th, 2019 at 12:51 AM ^
This was the first of three posts about this story but it’s the worst and has the fewest responses because of the stupid uninformative title.