TSSAA vs. BA - Round 587

[tnsddeveloper]

Wouldn't you think that this was a pro bono case by the lawyers, possibly BA grads or supporters, if BA lost and a keep enough to cover expenses and donate the rest of what BA gets from the TSSAA back to BA in case of a win? Wouldn't that be about as "in-your-face" to the TSSAA as it could get and isn't that what this is about, anyway?

BA and their alum base are paying the fees. Err ... I mean the TSSAA will be paying those fees.

[larry]

I would assume that the lawyers had hard costs, and

expect to be paid or have been paid.

 

Surely Bass, Berry & Sims have better uses of their

philanthropic services. This firm has handled this

case to simply "stick it to the TSSAA?"

Try checking out the law firm and seeing how many examples you find, like the following: In 1974 Mike received his J.D. degree from Vanderbilt School of Law, where he served as a member of the editorial board of the Vanderbilt Law Review . Mike has served as a member of the Vanderbilt Law School Alumni Board. He is a former member of the Board of Trustees of Brentwood Academy....

[VolunteerGeneral]

This firm has handled this

case to simply "stick it to the TSSAA?"

 

I guess that`s a matter of opinon. I think the TSSAA was talked into all this by member schools who simply wanted to stick it to BA.

 

So if BA and other private schools do not want to abide by this rule that was put in place it own member schools (board of control) than its an obvious slap in the face to every public and/or private school that does abide by its own rules.

 

ROBERTO...You are rather new to this board. Would you care to explain the undue influence BA used.

[ROBERTO]

"...undue influence BA used"? Please elaborate on what you are asking me to explain.

[tnsddeveloper]

"...undue influence BA used"? Please elaborate on what you are asking me to explain.

I think you just answered the question there ROBERTO (said like Adam Sandler in "The Waterboy"). That is the "rule" that the TSSAA used in sanctioning BA ... that they applied "undue influence". That is the $10,000 question ... what does "undue influence" mean?

Edited July 7, 2006 by tnsddeveloper

[uncfan13]

I would assume that the lawyers had hard costs, and

expect to be paid or have been paid.

 

Surely Bass, Berry & Sims have better uses of their

philanthropic services. This firm has handled this

case to simply "stick it to the TSSAA?"

 

BB&S has over 100 partners (owners) and 200 attorneys. If you're saying that the other 99 partners are going to allow a client of one of the partners to incur $2 million + of legal fees just to "stick it to the TSSAA" you're nuts! BA hired one of the best law firms in the state and incurred millions of dollars of legal expenses to prove that they had rights under the first amendment that the TSSAA had attempted to abridge. Another perspective on this issue is the TSSAA had inferior legal representation that should should have realized several million dollars ago that their client was wrong. The TSSAA's stradegy seems to have been to use the appeals process as a crap shoot to attempt to find some court some place that would save their butts from paying BA's enormous legal bill.

[big red big blue]

 

 

privates do have their grievances, and cant be blamed for feeling like they are in the driver's seat right now.

but the term "pyrrhic victory" hasnt stuck around for millenia for nothing.

 

be careful what you ask for, you just might get it.

 

I don't understand...from the perspective of DII private schools like us, how can anything possibly get worse? No public schools will play us, including those within spitting distance with whom we have decades of history. In order to fill out a regular season schedule, we have to travel literally thousands of miles every season.

 

The TSSAA, and specifically RC, who have treated us like red headed step children for the past 10 years, are finally reaping what they have sown. If there isn't a plan for some sort of meaningful reconciliation in light of this, then I'm all for BA demanding the full amount of its legal fees and our forming a privates only league and abandoning the TSSAA once and for all.

[Antwan]

I don't understand...from the perspective of DII private schools like us, how can anything possibly get worse? No public schools will play us, including those within spitting distance with whom we have decades of history. In order to fill out a regular season schedule, we have to travel literally thousands of miles every season.

 

The TSSAA, and specifically RC, who have treated us like red headed step children for the past 10 years, are finally reaping what they have sown. If there isn't a plan for some sort of meaningful reconciliation in light of this, then I'm all for BA demanding the full amount of its legal fees and our forming a privates only league and abandoning the TSSAA once and for all.

 

I think that would suit most public schools just fine.

 

I don't think a reconciliation is what this lawsuit is about. Isn't it really about recruiting? BA broke the rules as they were written. They did not think the rule was a just rule. They invited some junior high kids to spring practice. Those kids were already signed up to attend BA. Personally...I didn't see the harm in that. I do think there is more to the story. I do think this is akin to a case like Al Capone going to jail for tax evasion. The tssaa thought BA was recruiting...but this is the way they could get them. What that has done...is hurt everyone else in the tssaa.

There will be no winner in this...besides the lawyers fattening their wallets.

Edited July 7, 2006 by Antwan

[big red big blue]

I think that would suit most public schools just fine.

 

I don't think a reconciliation is what this lawsuit is about. Isn't it really about recruiting? BA broke the rules as they were written. They did not think the rule was a just rule. They invited some junior high kids to spring practice. Those kids were already signed up to attend BA. Personally...I didn't see the harm in that. I do think there is more to the story. I do think this is akin to a case like Al Capone going to jail for tax evasion. The tssaa thought BA was recruiting...but this is the way they could get them. What that has done...is hurt everyone else in the tssaa.

There will be no winner in this...besides the lawyers fattening their wallets.

 

reconciliation wasn't the crux of the case, but it arose when BA's lawyers argued in one of the proceedings that the TSSAA, as a state actor, didn't have the right to discriminate against financial aid-granting private schools by banishing them to DII. Some of their language indicates that they may soften their stance on the legal fees if there is some change in the TSSAA's treatment of the DII privates.

 

I doubt any lawyers are getting rich over this. When Lee Barfield took this case up on BA's behalf when it first started, I'm sure it wasn't in order to receive a huge payday. There are certainly more lucrative uses of his time than this. They will get some recompense but for a firm like BB&S this will be a pro bono cost center.

 

personally I don't think they "violated a rule because they found it unjust." The rule--"no undue influence--was ambiguous and left to one individual's interpretation. Both sides could have avoided this whole mess by simply communicating with one another. I don't think BA is totally innocent but the punishment imposed did not fit the crime, imo.

[Antwan]

reconciliation wasn't the crux of the case, but it arose when BA's lawyers argued in one of the proceedings that the TSSAA, as a state actor, didn't have the right to discriminate against financial aid-granting private schools by banishing them to DII. Some of their language indicates that they may soften their stance on the legal fees if there is some change in the TSSAA's treatment of the DII privates.

 

I doubt any lawyers are getting rich over this. When Lee Barfield took this case up on BA's behalf when it first started, I'm sure it wasn't in order to receive a huge payday. There are certainly more lucrative uses of his time than this. They will get some recompense but for a firm like BB&S this will be a pro bono cost center.

 

personally I don't think they "violated a rule because they found it unjust." The rule--"no undue influence--was ambiguous and left to one individual's interpretation. Both sides could have avoided this whole mess by simply communicating with one another. I don't think BA is totally innocent but the punishment imposed did not fit the crime, imo.

 

I didn't say BA violated the rule because they found it unjust. I said they did not think the rule was a just rule....hence the lawsuit. Do I think they challenged the tssaa to test the recruiting rules? Probably. Isn't that what this is all about...a p' ing contest between BA and the tssaa? The bad thing is that no matter the outcome....all the rest of us lose.

[big red big blue]

I didn't say BA violated the rule because they found it unjust. I said they did not think the rule was a just rule....hence the lawsuit. Do I think they challenged the tssaa to test the recruiting rules? Probably. Isn't that what this is all about...a p' ing contest between BA and the tssaa? The bad thing is that no matter the outcome....all the rest of us lose.

 

 

I agree with you. I think for the most part what sent this thing over the edge was the absence of some sort of check and balance on RC's authority. BA had no recourse (as I recall) once the verdict was handed down. No one to make their case to outside of RC. If RC is to be the sole arbiter of what constitutes "undue influence" then he needs to be far more careful with his enforcement of the rule, and extremely clear about how he will use that authority. And their clearly needs to be some sort of independent panel to review his decisions. I'm not sure what the appeal process was, but I really doubt it was any sort of fair hearing. Likewise, BA should have just asked if what it was doing was acceptable and if not, just stop doing it.

 

 

either way, as you say, everyone will be picking up the pieces from this for years to come...

[ROBERTO]

Not to say that it can't be done... however, does anyone else think that it is weird that a school with 300 students won back to back football state titles in the largest classification of schools in 1995 and 1996 (3A)? Maybe it's just me.