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Rich Rodriguez (official thread of last laughs)

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Aloha from Kaanapali Beach. While we are waiting for Mike Brown's deposition to be released and Rita's deposition to take place, enjoy this article that appears in today's WV Metro News.


Hoppy's Commentary For Wednesday

Case No. 33524 of the January term of the West Virginia Supreme Court is hardly the stuff of headline news. It?s essentially a contract dispute between two Harrison County residents and their real estate agent.

I'll get to why this case is relevant in a moment, but first the background:

The couple sued their agent and others claiming they were defrauded because a provision they thought was in their contract, in fact, was not. But the couple lost, first in circuit court and most recently in the state Supreme Court.

The high court?s decision last week is short?8 pages?and to the point; you can?t break a contract after you sign it just because you don?t like what?s in it.

Although this case is about a real estate transaction, in some ways it closely matches the current argument between WVU and former football coach Rich Rodriguez.

Rodriguez claims he was told by WVU President Mike Garrison not to worry about the $4-million buyout, that it would not be enforced if he decided to leave. (That?s a claim that Garrison refutes). Rodriguez also maintains he was promised that after Garrison took office some of his other needs for the football program would be met.

Rodriguez has already admitted in his deposition that these other items--such as allowing his players to sell their textbooks and keep the money, more money for his assistance coaches, his own website and other things?were not in the contract he signed.

So, goes the Rodriguez logic, he was duped into signing the contract, which includes the $4-million dollar buyout he?s working feverishly to avoid paying.

And that brings us back to the high court?s finding in the Harrison County real estate case.

The court said if the Harrison County couple didn?t like what was in the contract ?they could have amended the contract before signing it.? Notably, during his deposition Rodriguez admitted he knew how to change a contract and had done it before, but he didn?t make any major changes to the final version he signed in August 2007.

The Supreme Court also said in the Harrison County case that barring any disability, it?s understood that an adult has the ability to read and comprehend the terms of a contract. In the Rodriguez case there?s plenty of evidence he and others consulting with him understood the contract.

And finally, the court referenced ?Reddy v. Community Health Foundation of Man? which said, ?contracts are reduced to writing so there can be no subsequent argument concerning the terms of the agreement.? That?s the parol evidence rule which says the written document represents the complete agreement.

What someone said, may have said, or promised, generally isn?t relevant.

Charleston attorney Harvey Peyton tells me the Harrison County case is not landmark material, but rather a restatement of an old and familiar law.

But, as Peyton points out, ?the timing of this opinion should give WVU?s lawyers some fresh ammunition, fresh authority from the Court that should be persuasive? with a judge.

Barring any extraordinary circumstances, the contract is the contract.
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WVU waiting to hear Rita speak - and seeking to get an answer on who would pay the $4 Million buy-out.

MORGANTOWN - West Virginia University attorneys want to depose the wife of former football coach Rich Rodriguez.

Jaclyn Bryk of Charleston wrote May 27 that the university has requested deposition dates for Rita Rodriguez since early April, by letter and in person, to no avail.

Bryk did not ask Monongalia Circuit Judge Robert Stone for a subpoena, but she dropped the hint.

"Counsel for the University is continuing to seek the voluntary appearance of Mrs. Rodriguez to avoid the publicity and embarrassment that would surround the issuance of a subpoena," Bryk wrote.
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The other part is potentially more interesting - who pays the buy-out.

University attorneys won't need to depose Rita Rodriguez or anybody else if they prevail on another point that came up in Rich Rodriguez's deposition.

Rodriguez, on advice of attorney Marvin Robon of Maumee, Ohio, refused three times to say who might pay the $4 million buyout for him.

He already had objected in writing to questions about who might cover his loss.

Agent Brown, in a May 9 deposition, also refused to answer.

Now Bryk wants Stone to compel answers.

"If arrangements for the outside payment of the liquidated damages exist," she wrote, "then it is misleading for Rodriguez to argue that the liquidated damages payment is an unlawful penalty that was to prevent him from freely leaving his employment or, in leaving employment, bear an onerous financial burden he cannot pay.

"Rodriguez projects an image that the amount of liquidated damages is an unenforceable penalty because he, personally, could not pay the contractually enumerated amount of liquidated damages if he wanted to leave West Virginia University."

She urged Stone to override his April 3 order holding that how Rodriguez would pay a judgment would not be an issue.

"Rodriguez has made this issue relevant by testifying, in his own words, that he was held 'hostage' by the liquidated damages provision to the extent it prohibited him from freely leaving West Virginia University and taking other employment of face onerous financial consequences," she wrote.
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At some point RR may want to have the judge declare a win for the plaintiff just to get on with life - and then let the TSUN boosters pay the $4 Million freight.
 
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toledoblade.com -- Toledo reception features Wolverines coach Rodriguez

"It took me 40 minutes to get here, and obviously Michigan has a big following in Toledo," Rodriguez said. "Now I'll be able to come down here not just for business, but for pleasure too."
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God help us...

"My financial adviser's here and my lawyer's here. I'm funding the whole tax base of Toledo," Rodriguez joked while addressing the crowd. "And Carty, if I get a speeding ticket, you owe me one."
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Toledo's diminishing tax base he could use some of RR's windfall, maybe Carty is looking for a loan to fix this ailing city.

Finkbeiner has a picture of himself, Rodriguez and family, Palmer and Palmer's wife taken at Wilcox's house on Dec. 16 - the night UM hired Rodriguez. He presented Rodriguez, Magee and Gibson with small gifts last night, including the book When Pride Still Mattered, chronicling the life of legendary coach Vince Lombardi.

Rodriguez spoke of that December eve at Wilcox's home - "it was snowy, dark, and a lot was going on" - and said of his very public fight with West Virginia: "I feel like Britney Spears without the drugs."
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WTF, I think he could have picked a better role model for comparison. This is a very strange comment besides Britney has a reason for being the way she is, stupid, blonde, and money (which later bought her a pantry full of drugs). Why compare himself to Britney Spears? Didn't she lose her kids because of improper care, unfit mother etc. Oh maybe, he see's Boren and Mallet as his kids. That's it!
 
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usatoday

West Virginia lawsuit against Rodriguez set for mediation

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) ? West Virginia University's $4 million lawsuit against ex-football coach Rich Rodriguez is headed for mediation, with the goal of resolving the dispute by Aug. 1.

But West Virginia University attorney Jeff Wakefield says Judge Robert Stone's order is standard, and he thinks it's unlikely mediation will help.

Wakefield says the university remains firm in its position that Rodriguez owes $4 million under the contract in place when he resigned in December to take Michigan's head coaching job.

If mediation doesn't end the dispute, Stone will hear motions on Nov. 10.

Cont'd ...
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Rodriguez, on advice of attorney Marvin Robon of Maumee, Ohio, refused three times to say who might pay the $4 million buyout for him.
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anyone else like the idea that his lawyer is from ohio? court date seems interesting me thinks...

utgrad73;1172775; said:
WTF, I think he could have picked a better role model for comparison. This is a very strange comment besides Britney has a reason for being the way she is, stupid, blonde, and money (which later bought her a pantry full of drugs). Why compare himself to Britney Spears? Didn't she lose her kids because of improper care, unfit mother etc. Oh maybe, he see's Boren and Mallet as his kids. That's it!
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really? i thought it was pretty much spot on. by my estimation he's a crotch shot away from being the male version of britney spears.
 
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