You owe more than you have? Better grab a shovel and head down to the mine, son.Story from Detroit
Rodriguez will pay $1.5 million, spread over three years, beginning in 2010. U-M said it will pay the balance of the sum, $2.5 million, immediately and cover Rodriguez’s legal fees later.A little disappointing in that most West Virginia fans would rather know that the total amount was coming straight out of RRod's pocket. But we'll take it. Right?
Why settle now? Apparently someone was not in the mood for being deposed or releasing documents.
Either someone just agreed to pay for him (unlikely as he probably has had at least partial backing all along), Michigan finally told him to pay (more likely since the upcoming depositions of Michigan President and A.D. were finally going to drag them into this), or Rodriguez wanted to settle for personnel reasons such as the upcoming season/wanting it to end/wanting to make West Viginians happy (no).What's the net gain for West Virginia after all this is said and done? Don't look for a link to be appearing anytime soon. I have no idea, but I'll be talking with someone tomorrow that might know. Or at least have a good idea.
And who's the most pissed off person in Michigan right now? Probably John Beilein!
Beilein's first payment was made this past spring, and at the time he added a letter warning he might still contest it at a later date. A very obvious statement that if Rich Rodriguez was able to get out of his buyout, he would use that precedent to fight.Sucks to be at a football school, huh?
Rodriguez agreeing to pay, removes that possibility for Beilein. The fact that Michigan is also going to pay for over half the buyout plus Rodriguez's legal fees also has to gnaw at Beilein just a bit. It is just human nature. That total paid by Michigan could be close to $3 million by the time the billable hours are tallied, or nearly double Beilein's own negotiated buyout.
Michigan refused to pay any of Beilein's buyout to WVU, stating that was not their problem.
There's a blog for pretty much everything, including the Rodriguez vs. WVU case. Wish I would have seen that sooner. But maybe my answer will come from there if things don't pan out tomorrow.
So now that this all seems to be in the bag, is this the end?
My biggest question is whether West Virginians will finally let this go. One headline today read: "Rich Rod Will Pay!" A degree of bitterness is understandable, but a football coach leaving for a higher-profile job should never be the top news story in the state for months on end. There will no doubt be celebration today, but it's time for everyone, from Gov. Joe Manchin on down, to move on already.I agree whole heartedly with that statement. This whole mess has been painful to watch. I'm 100% glad we got the money, and I suppose it's worth it. But I hope we learned something from it. Not just as West Virginia fans, but as fans of college football. I hope that we never put someone, be it a coach or a player, on such a high perch again. So we don't become so emotionally attached to anything but the school we root for again. I hope also that Arkansas, Alabama, and yes Michigan were taking notes. Because the silliness coaches have been getting away with over the past decade needs to end. I know at least someone in Tennessee was watching.
I applaud West Virginia for going after Rodriguez for breaking a contract extension that he’d signed just a year before bouncing for Ann Arbor. More universities need to follow West Virginia’s lead. I’ve long found it grossly unfair that players are held to their commitments and lose a year of eligibility for transferring schools, while coaches are basically mercenaries and are free to take any job they chose, regardless of contracts they’ve signed. West Virginia took this as a personal affront and they decided to go after their money and I don’t blame them.OK, let's all go back to being fans of the game now!
Let's Go!.....................Mountaineers!
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