I was just getting ready to post this Don. Seems things might get ugly between Rodriguez and WVU. I hope there is a reasonable explanation for this for both W. Virginia and Michigan's sake.
I do not ever recall any thing of this nature in the past. On the surface there are many unanswered questions, so I am going to reserve making any quick conclusions. Don
If true it will cast a huge shadow over RR's credibility, will hurt his recruiting, and the story will overshadow anything he tries to do at Michigan to get ready for next season. On top of all that it will drill a huge hole in his legal fight over his contract termination penalty.
:shock: Sure seems like a boneheaded move for based on the newspapers accounts, many of the documents he destroyed were university property, not his. If WVA wanted to play hardball, they probably could press criminal charges against him.
Anyone thought about the possibility that this is not true? It is possible that the contract issue has caused West Virginia to make this up. Possible? Yes... Probable? Absolutely not.
I'd think there would have been a more immediate and vehement denial by Rodriguez if that were the case. His people appear to be more focused on downplaying it.
Here's another side of the story. Rodriguez: 'There seems to be a campaign to try to smear me' A quote from the article I have not seen that reported elsewhere.
I've got problems with this whole incident. First of all, the only reason I can see to destroy files is to cover up or be vindictive. There's nothing I've read to indicate that there was anything in those files to cover up anything. On the other hand, I find it kind of hard to believe that Rod would be vindictive enough to destroy important files. After all, he wants to avoid the 4 mil. buyout provision. Destroying files is just asking for it. I smell a rat. Come to think of it, when it comes to WVa, I smell something else. Something is just not right in this whole mess.
You sure did say that Tom! Gipper, that's a good question. Also after the original article appeared I don't remember seeing anything different until this article. Sounds like a mess to me.
West Virginia Situation Keeps Getting Worse <r><URL url="http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/columns/story?id=3205142"><s></s>It Gets Worse At West Virginia<e></e></URL></r>
I wouldn't be surprised if Magee was lying through his teeth and that the objective is to take the heat off of his client and try to put it on WVU.
While this is not directly related to the topic, I am beginning to wonder what is going on in West Virginia? Sounds like a lot of political turmoil involving the state and West Virgina University. http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/national_world/stories/2008/01/22/wva.
Here is the article from Today's Columbus Dispatch: WEST VIRGINIA Questions raised over whether governor's daughter earned degree Tuesday, January 22, 2008 12:29 AM By IAN URBINA The New York Times MORGANTOWN, W.Va.—It started with a phone call from a newspaper reporter in October seeking to verify the academic credentials of Gov. Joe Manchin III's daughter Heather Bresch. But in less than three months, the inquiry has mushroomed into a controversy that risks casting a shadow of cronyism over this state's flagship university. Officials at the college, West Virginia University, have been accused of rewriting records last fall to document that Bresch had earned an executive master of business administration degree in 1998. An investigation by The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette concluded that she had completed only 22 of the required 48 credit hours. The university has begun an investigation of its own into the matter. Bresch, 38, works for Mylan Inc., the world's third-largest generic drug company, which employs 2,000 people in Morgantown. The company's chairman, Milan Puskar, is a major campaign contributor to Manchin, a Democrat, and is the university's largest donor, having given it $20 million in 2003. Bresch has insisted that she earned her degree, and university officials have blamed a failure to transfer records for nearly half of her course work to the appropriate office for the situation, as documents were moved to electronic format from paper. But so far, the university and Bresch have not produced copies of her transcripts, receipts or other proof of her having paid for course work, or documents from the courses where grades seemed to have been entered years after "incompletes" were given. In a state with about 1.8 million residents, untangling the mess has been slowed by the tight web of personal ties between state political leaders and campus administrators and between the people involved in the controversy and those investigating it. For example, the university's president, Mike Garrison, is a high school classmate of Bresch's and a longtime friend of the Manchin family. He served as chief of staff to former Gov. Bob Wise, a Democrat, and was a consultant and a lobbyist for Mylan. His connections, including business ties to members of the university board, led many critics to charge that the presidential search that began in 2006 had been rigged in his favor. The Faculty Senate took the rare step last April of voting no confidence in him, even before he was appointed. University officials have called for any faculty members, graduates, administrators or students who know anything about the case to step forward. There may be reluctance, however, to speak out against the university or Mylan, for fear of being blackballed by two of the state's largest employers.