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…
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Assessing Shand vs. Martin
I’ve read the federal complaint filed by former WTKA morning host Dave Shand against Michigan AD Bill Martin. The MVictors legal team consulted on the matter over a few beers at Fraser’s Pub in Ann Arbor & here’s the assessment: One of the factors that makes this case difficult is that Shand’s employment relationship with WTKA presumably was at-will, meaning he could have quit, or WTKA could have fired him, at any time for no reason. There is somewhat of a split in Michigan over whether a former employee can sue another person for interfering with an at-will employment relationship, but recent case law suggests that the at-will nature alone does not invalidate a claim – that is, we have an expectation that our at-will employment relationship with our employer will not be wrongfully undermined by an outsider. More importantly, the at-will nature of the relationship makes it difficult to prove damages and this issue would likely be hotly contested by the parties just to determine whether the case should even go to a jury. Martin would argue that the damages are overly speculative so the case shouldn’t go to a jury, while Shand would have to argue that there is a reasonable basis to compute his damages. Another point that Martin’s side might argue is that he had a…
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Shand vs. Bill Martin: Complete Federal Complaint
MVictors obtained a copy of the complaint filed yesterday in federal court against Michigan athletic director Bill Martin. Here’s a full version of the complaint in .pdf format we requested and received from Shand’s legal team. MVictors.com exclusive legal correspondent from the firm of Charleys, Ricks and Frasers is reviewing the complaint right now and we’ll be posting a few comments soon. Here’s an excerpt from the complaint, where things get interesting: 19. This relationship [between WTKA and Michigan athletics] became threatened when defendant Martin became increasingly irritated with plaintiff’s occasional outspoken criticisms of the UM athletic program, and possibly other on-air comments. 20. On April 19, 2007, Martin communicated both indirectly and directly with Bolak and Cowen, and informed them that he would not allow WTKA to participate in a planned coverage of a UM charity golf event if they permitted plaintiff to broadcast it. 21. Martin further indicated that he wanted the station to fire the plaintiff, and stated that if they did not, he would no longer allow WTKA to carry University of Michigan football games. 22. Martin had no supervisory authority whatsoever over WTKA, Bolak, Cowen or plaintiff, and he and the UM Athletic Department were completely independent of the radio station except for the license to broadcast football games and related programming. 23. Martin’s interference…