AD Bill Martin’s motion to dismiss the case brought against him by former WTKA morning show host Dave Shand was denied today. U.S. District Court Judge Julian Abele Cook, Jr. published the following decision today: “Martin’s motion to dismiss must be, and is, denied. The Court finds that Martin is not entitled to qualified immunity at this stage of the proceeding. Furthermore, Shand’s First Amended Complaint has sufficiently set forth a claim upon which relief may be granted. Martin’s motion for summary judgment must also be, and is, denied in its entirety. The Court finds genuine issues of a material fact exist with regard to each of Shand’s claims.” Shand’s complaint against Martin is summarized in the order as such: The complaint, as amended, alleges that Martin informed the management at WTKA on April 19, 2007 that “he would not allow” the radio station to cover a charity golf match at the University of Michigan if Shand was assigned to cover the event as a broadcaster. Shand also contends that Martin threatened to terminate WTKA’s right to broadcast the University of Michigan football games unless he was fired as a broadcaster with the radio station. Several days later (April 23, 2007), Shand was relieved of his duties at WTKA. The court order provides a view into some of the documentation…
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Results of Academic Investigation released by News
It was the worst kept secret in town: Jim Carty and the Ann Arbor News were investigating the academic practices and policies within the athletic department. What we didn’t know was when or if it would be released. It’s out and it’ll be released in four pieces starting this morning. To get to this point the News spoke “to athletes and former athletic department employees as part of a seven-month investigation that included interviewing 87 people and reviewing more than 3,500 pages of internal documents”. Here’s the full story. The News even produced a little video piece talking about today’s article. It’s pretty funny because they ran it as a Q&A but it is an Ann Arbor News guy “interviewing” another Ann Arbor News guy. It’s like me asking my wife this morning, ‘So what did we have for dinner last night?’. Mrs MVictors: ‘Umm, you were there, numbnuts.’ Early this morning a few Michigan bloggers were even notified by MLive that this went to the presses, welcoming the reaction from the nerdosphere. No major reaction from here yet other than, “Thanks for nothing Rodriguez!”. Here’s a summary of the findings presented in Part I: – Michigan athletes described being steered to [Psychology professor John] Hagen’s courses by their athletic department academic counselors and, in some cases, earning three or…
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Dave Shand Case delayed once again…
A quick update on Dave Shand’s suit against Bill Martin Per Shand’s attorney Nick Roumel, Martin’s motion to dismiss the case that was originally scheduled for late November then moved to January 23rd then moved to today (February 26th) was moved again, this time to March but that too may need to be shuffled. What is going on here? Must I call upon the MVictors legal correspondent once again for an explanation of this madness? For all the posts related to Shand, click here.
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Shand vs. Martin delayed again
A quick update on Dave Shand’s suit against Bill Martin Per Shand’s attorney Nick Roumel, Martin’s motion to dismiss the case that was originally scheduled for late November then moved to January 23rd has been moved again – to February 26th. For all the posts related to Shand, click here.
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Shand v. Martin update
As if Bill Martin didn’t have enough on his plate, he’s still in the midst of working through the suit filed by former WTKA morning host Dave Shand, who claims Martin had him fired. Per Shand’s attorney Nick Roumel, Martin’s motion to dismiss the case that was originally scheduled for late November has moved to January 23rd. For all the posts related to Shand, click here.
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Bo Region Round II: Cowher v Cameron
The second round of the ‘Death March Madness’ tournament (current bracket HERE – background here). Here’s a printable version. Bill Cowher (CBS analyst) vs. Cam Cameron (Miami Dolphins) How they got here: Former Steelers head coach Bill Cowher received a bye in the first round as the #2 seed in the region while Cam Camerson absolutely crushed Mike DeBord in the first round. Bill Cowher [bio from CBS] is of course the former Steelers headman who’s last game was the victory in Super Bowl XL just up the road in Detroit. Many see Cowher as a great fit for the college game. He’s emotional and seems to have a good rapport with his players (despite the allegations in Jerome Bettis’s book). The question for NFL coaches always seems to come down to whether they’d be willing to do the other things that come with the job, that is, not just call plays and review film, but recruit, do charitable work, represent the community, turn boys into men. Cowher is one of those NFL coaches that seems to be worth a shot. My question on Cowher is why would he take a college gig? Yes, NFL jobs are more work but couldn’t he name his price if and when he decides to return to coaching? Who wouldn’t shell out $6M for…
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Shand vs. Martin Update
Not much news with former WTKA morning host Dave Shand and his case against Michigan athletic director Bill Martin. Latest I’ve heard from Shand’s legal team is that Martin has filed a motion to dismiss the suit and that this is going to be heard on November 28. As I understand it, Martin is claiming he is immune from the suit because he’s a government official. Umm…ok. I’ve seen some harsh comments directed at the athletic department lately in light of the Artis Chambers mess. Perhaps Martin & company should have spent more time worrying about tracking eligibility and less time worrying about talk show hosts? Meanwhile the morning show has been taken over by Gobluewolverine’s Sam Webb with sidekick Andy Evans. Their show, “The Michigan Insider with Sam Webb” has a long way to go. They certainly benefit from this being football season and as usual, there’s never a dull moment in covering Lloyd Carr’s camp. It’ll be interesting to see what happens to Webb’s show after the regular season and especially after the bowls. Love or hate Shand, I think his show had the ability to draw in the occasional non-Wolverine fanatic, and I’m not sure if Webb and Evans can pull that off. We’ve also seen the return of Shand’s original show on Sunday mornings- Off The…
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Big House Cleaning
A few quick takes and updates for you: Shand vs. Martin: Bill Martin was served with papers and they were accepted by the University. The school hired the firm of Butzel Long to defend Martin in the case. [More on the Shand firing here] Tickets Arrive. Ahh, always a great day. Season ticket holders have their tickets in their greasy hands. This year is definitely special with an incredible home slate including Oregon, Penn State, Notre Dame and Ohio State. Dantonio Shines at JDRF Walk. Most of you know that MVictors.com is a huge supporter of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF). The JDRF recently added a charity “walk” in East Lansing after years of having big walks in Ann Arbor and Warren. Former MSU coach John L. Smith was a big supporter of JDRF and new head man Mark Dantonio really impressed over 1,000 walkers on the banks of the Red Cedar on Saturday by not only showing, but walking and taking some time for a few pictures. More on Hart vs. Harbaugh. I spoke to a former M player at a wedding this weekend in west Michigan. He actually hadn’t heard all the details of Harbaugh’s comments and Hart’s blast back, so I broke it down for him. While he acknowledged he had a lot of respect for…