For those that don't know...Larry Aschebrook was the head of the Moutaineer Athletic Club which is a fund raising organization. Yesterday, former assistant coach Cavlin Magee said it was Aschebrook who made the rascist statement about WVU and an Africian American head caoch. In response, Mr. Aschebrook lawyers have released his sworn statement in the case.

This is great reading!

Most interesting part is when RR and Magee openly say they will feed info to be printed to Chuck Finder of the Pittsburgh Post Gazette. Finder has recently written several articles that attacked WVU on the RR issue. Many assumed that he was mearly a mouthpiece for the RR camp, but this seems to confirm everything

http://dailymail.com/static/AschebrookAff.pdf


Jackson

This is all he said/she said at this point. The lawyers will sort it out.

Bottom line is RRod is an ass that thought he was going to win it all at WVU and he wiffed.

Now he is trying to blame everyone and pull anyone into it that can make it seem like he did all he could do.

He has gone from from a hero in the State to a zero - he will never get that back and he knows it.

May Michigan regret their hire.

You signed it RR and the interest is accruing. Pay your debt and quit being a liar, RR!

Jackson1011 Wrote:For those that don't know...Larry Aschebrook was the head of the Moutaineer Athletic Club which is a fund raising organization. Yesterday, former assistant coach Cavlin Magee said it was Aschebrook who made the rascist statement about WVU and an Africian American head caoch. In response, Mr. Aschebrook lawyers have released his sworn statement in the case.

This is great reading!

Most interesting part is when RR and Magee openly say they will feed info to be printed to Chuck Finder of the Pittsburgh Post Gazette. Finder has recently written several articles that attacked WVU on the RR issue. Many assumed that he was mearly a mouthpiece for the RR camp, but this seems to confirm everything

http://dailymail.com/static/AschebrookAff.pdf


Jackson

Thanks for posting it Jackson! Certainly some intersting info in there - especially about Chuck Finder.

Not only that, but the WVU Foundation wants Rodriguez to pay $30,000 for dragging them into the lawsuit over his buyout...
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=3351570

And here's another little tidbit on the story...
Affidavit: Accused worker says Rodriguez offered job assistance

If what Larry Aschebrook says is true, the Rich Rodriguez camp stooped to a new low, and that was already pretty difficult. Accusing someone of making a racist remark he says he did not make and then telling him "not to worry because they will find him another job" is a terribly immoral thing to do.

Rich Rodriguez obviously did not appreciate Larry Aschebrook "being loyal" one iota if he was so willing to use him as a pawn in his public relations campaign against WVU and throw his career under the bus so easily. Allegations of racism, even if later proven untrue, can damage a reputation forever.

So now both Greg Frey and Calvin Magee, two coaches that Rodriguez hired away from USF, are implicated in this. I think a little karma might be at play here...

USFFan

What goes around, comes around...

I have a picture of RR:

Nah. He ain't that good lookin'

:youmoron: :clap2: :uberbow:

Interesting Opinion from CFN:

Last week I remarked that West Virginia fans need to just let it go about Rich Rodriguez leaving for West Virginia. The responses were, well, interesting.

Let it go? Let it go?! The guy owes us $4 million dollars and stabbed us in the back? Pay us our money and live up to your contract with YOU signed. He’s a weasel and he’s trying to get out of paying what’s rightly ours. Let me guess, if it was the other way around you’d be screaming the WVU owes him. – SL

You obviously don't know West Virginia and what it means to be a West Virginian. The way Rich left was horrible. He lied to all of us. He called Terrell Pryor and told him he was going to Michigan before he told his own players, his boss and the West Virginia fans. Many of us got together and scraped up a lot of money to keep him here and he said he was here for a long time. He signed a contract. He crapped on us. He turned his back on his own state. He could have been up front with everything. No. He decided to be a lying snake, secure another job, tell recruits and attempt to get them headed to Michigan on WVU's time, before he tells a soul here in West Virginia. The same West Virginia who ponied up and met his demands just a year prior. He cries about the buyout? If he had stayed, the buyout was scheduled to drop to 2 million in August of this year. Well, if he would just pay WVU what it is owed, then that would give me some personal satisfaction, knowing how bad that hurts him to part with that kind of cash. Let him feel that pain. If or when he does, he can multiply that by 10 and then he will know how this state felt when he did what he did to this state, our school, our players and the fans. - CC

You don’t get West Virginia and you obviously never will. It takes something special to live here. It’s a special place. We don't have much here, so the football program means everything. Of course, you’d never get that. You probably wouldn’t understand a tough life. Your a joke and so is your anti-Mountaineer bias. – FK

You outsiders should just keep your thoughts about West Virginia to yourself. This is a hard place and our football program is our identity and our passion. We don’t have the lifestyle here other places have. So you better show West Virginia some respect or I wouldn’t show my face around here if I were you. And if you do, you’d better look both ways before crossing the street. - Anonymous

You have no idea of the pride of West Virginians and what it means to live in West Virginia. But that isn't what this is about. Unless you're a West Virginian, or you've lived here, you'll never get it anyway. - KG

First of all, did I say anything about the state of West Virginia? Analyzing the football program and saying something about the place are two completely different things (yes, they are), even though fans like to tie the two together.

Second, don’t give me this line about it being West Virginia and somehow West Virginians have some sort of toughness and honor that no outsider could comprehend. Everyone from every state thinks that way. You’re proud of where you’re from. So are Iowans and New Yorkers and Hawaiians and Californians. The excitement is fine, but you can’t thump your chest with this “you wouldn’t understand it” state pride and then keep complaining that it’s a rough place to live. You can’t have it both ways.

And finally, I’m not saying whether or not Rich Rodriguez is right or wrong or whether he’s a good guy or bad. I’m not defending him and I’m not taking his side. He’s a terrific football coach. Period. That’s all he is. Everything else is just corporate legal BS and it really doesn’t matter in your world, even if you think it does.

This has nothing to do with the money. You can use that as something tangible for your anger, but that’s not why you’re having problems with this.

Rodriguez doesn’t owe you. It’s not your money, and spare me the self-righteous garbage about being a tax payer blah, blah, blah. You’d be dead from a stroke if you really cared this much about every bad government or university contract that eats away at your tax dollars. Even if Rodriguez paid back every cent with a smile, you’d still be upset that one of your own rejected you. If you’re angry at the snipping, that’s another story.

Here was a coach who took what Don Nehlen had started and made it better. I know, Mountaineer football had its moments under Nehlen and had chances to win national titles in 1988 and 1993, but that ’88 team beat one team with a pulse (Syracuse) before losing to Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl, and the ’93 team barely got by its four good games before getting blasted by Florida in the Sugar Bowl. No one actually respected West Virginia football since it got rocked every time the bowls kicked in.

Rodriguez changed that.

With the 2006 Sugar Bowl win over Georgia, in Atlanta no less, the Mountaineers joined the world of the truly big-time programs. That wasn’t just any team WVU beat; that was the SEC champ in its own house. Now the program really was a national title contender and wasn’t just in the hunt based on a fat record against mediocre competition. The entire state had something to get really fired up about, and its fan base, who’s not used to the scrutiny that comes with the spotlight (ask me sometime about the time spent trying to keep Marshall fans in check when they thought their team was of national title stock) went crazy at anyone who dared speak in anything other than glowing terms when it came to their pride and joy.

Then Rodriguez, who had the program on the cusp of playing for the national championship before blowing it against Pitt, leaves for Michigan. It’s not like he pulled a Dennis Franchione and left Alabama for Texas A&M, at best a lateral move. Whether or not you believe it, the Michigan job is one of the biggest in all of sports and one of the crown jewels among coaches.

WVU fans, you have to understand that no coach ever, EVER leaves gracefully, and no coach ever, EVER knows how to handle it right. Sure, it would’ve been nice if Rodriguez was up front and honest about everything, but coaches can’t be … to a point. They can’t talk about another job and then be all smiles and happiness when it doesn’t work out (cough, Glen Mason at Minnesota when he wanted the Ohio State job, cough). That kills recruiting and becomes a mega-distraction and a ridiculous circus (cough, Les Miles, cough).


Had LSU not played for the national title, Miles would’ve ended up being the Michigan head football coach, Rodriguez would’ve stayed at West Virginia, and none of this would’ve happened. But it did, you have a new head man, and while the program might not be as good over the long haul, it’ll be fine for now.

Fine, so you wish Rodriguez handled everything better and showed more respect to the University and to West Virginia. Now be the better man, or fans, and take the high road. Instead of getting all hot and bothered, you should be happy Rodriguez made your program matter. You should be happy that West Virginia football is such a big deal. You should be happy at all the fun memories you had when he was the head man. You should realize that this is big business and that your company lost its CEO and replaced him with another good one who should be able to keep the train rolling. You should wish Rodriguez well at Michigan, because for better or worse, he still represents you. You should let it all go and enjoy what should be a fantastic 2008 season.

Feel better? No? Fine, you may now commence with your usual barrage of grouchy and misguided “CFN hates West Virginia” e-mails.

The writer obviously just singled out those letters that he felt would put his side of the story in the best light. He was diplomatic enough not to choose the more antagonistic letters, which I'm sure there were a plenty. But still, the letters he choose, and the sequence in which they were laid in within the story, leads the reader to forget the points raised in the first 2 letters. The writer then proceeds to attack his main point, and later tries to tell us that the contract signed by Rodriguez, and his dishonorable method of exit from Morgantown are irrelevant because he's such a good coach and without him WVU is nothing.

Screw him.

Just read the latest update on ESPN.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=3351487

At this point "Who gives a hoot?" I back WVU but DickRod is so crazy I might let him keep the $4 million just to not associate with HIM. I think Rod just ended his career when he left WVU. I think the school is better off without him. This guy is like in his own world crazy. banannas and in way over his head. Michigan fans must be scratching their heads. Read the comments posted by ESPN readers at the end of this story.[/i]

Jackson1011 Wrote:Most interesting part is when RR and Magee openly say they will feed info to be printed to Chuck Finder of the Pittsburgh Post Gazette. Finder has recently written several articles that attacked WVU on the RR issue. Many assumed that he was mearly a mouthpiece for the RR camp, but this seems to confirm everything

http://dailymail.com/static/AschebrookAff.pdf


Jackson

That's not totally unusual.

Many teams have their selected paper/reporter they feed info to first...either be it because of a business relationship (i.e. some papers are the "official" papers of the Athletic Dept...like the St Pete Times is the "official" paper of USF Athletics and the St Pete Times PAYS USF $$$$$ each year).

Other times...its because of previous relationships...i.e. like former Jax Times Union reporter and current Orlando Sentinel columnist Mike Bianchi and his old pal, Steve Spurrier.

This goes on at most big schools...nothing too unusual about it.

papers use schools to gain readers...and schools in return sometimes "use" the papers by getting their message across.

Chuck Finder may have some serious issues coming up, however, because he constantly used Mike Brown, the agent for Rich Rodriguez, as a primary source and was blatantly lied to several times. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette is not too happy about how that piece of information has come out in the midst of this mess.

Chuck Finder is about to be sued. Bet on it.

A lot of the stuff he's been fed from Rodriguez is erroneous, or untrue, and he knows it. It won't be long before the rope he's being fed is yanked, and he'll be in deep doo doo.

Calvin McGhee may have ended his career too with his false accusation against Aschebrooke. Coach Frey may have done so as well. I ran across this...

The Daily Atheneum Wrote:Another piece to the endless saga
Patrick Southern, Sports Writer
Date: Friday April 18, 2008

I’m a West Virginia fan just like the majority of my readers, so I empathize with those who are tired of hearing about the latest news in the Rich Rodriguez saga.

After all, I’ve been sick of it, too. It’s been in the headlines for five months now. It’s needlessly tarnished the good name of both Rodriguez and West Virginia University.

But the $4 million on the line makes the legal proceedings a necessary evil for WVU, and the public’s fixation on the case is an unavoidable by-product of these dramatic happenings.

I’ve tried to do my part in keeping the focus on the future of Mountaineer football, which appears plenty bright from all accounts. There are facilities upgrades in the works, a stellar coaching staff in place and top recruits squarely in the sights of those new coaches.

I planned on keeping the focus on the field in this space today by writing about head coach Bill Stewart’s intelligent ideas when it comes to scheduling.

After all, the field has (finally) become the point of focus for most WVU fans as tomorrow’s annual Gold-Blue Spring Game has approached.

But the latest bombshells in the Rodriguez case are simply too telling. They are too stunning to not receive the attention today.

It came to light this week that Larry Aschebrook was the member of the WVU administration who allegedly told former offensive coordinator Calvin Magee he had no chance to take over for the departing Rodriguez because of his race.

Aschebrook was the executive director of the Mountaineer Athletic Club, which serves as the fundraising arm of the West Virginia athletic department.

It appeared the allegations may have had some legs, as Aschebrook curiously resigned from his position the same day his name surfaced in connection to the Magee story to take a position in athletic development at Arizona State.

But that was before Aschebrook’s signed affidavit surfaced Thursday, chock-full of stunning allegations that damn both Rodriguez and Magee while drawing a notable member of the media into the fray.

Aschebrook begins his sworn testimony by “categorically deny(ing) all of the allegations of Mr. Magee.”

That in and of itself was a slight surprise, considering the strange timing of the release of the affidavit and how closely it coincided with Aschebrook’s resignation at WVU.

But it was the nature of Aschebrook’s expletive-laden testimony that is particularly eyebrow-raising.

Aschebrook said he called Rodriguez while in New York City for the Big East Basketball Tournament. From the lobby of a Macy’s department store, Aschebrook aired his complaints to both Rodriguez and Magee.

Magee allegedly acknowledged that former WVU and current Michigan offensive line coach Greg Frey lied on Magee’s behalf by backing up Magee’s assertion that Aschebrook had made the racist remarks.

Magee allegedly told Aschebrook over the phone, while Rodriguez listened, that “...Frey didn’t want (Mr. Magee) to look like a liar,” and Frey “knows the way WVU is.”

After Aschebrook pressed Magee as to why he was singled out when he had no place to fall back financially like Rodriguez and Magee did, the former head coach interjected.

“This isn’t about you, Larry,” Rodriguez allegedly said. “It’s about me. You can’t afford it, I can’t afford it. I don’t have $200,000 in the bank.”

Rodriguez went on to reassure Aschebrook that he would “tell the press it had nothing to do with (Aschebrook) ... so will (Magee).”

Magee then said Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reporter Chuck Finder, who covers Mountaineer athletics and has extensively covered the Rodriguez saga, “will help us.”

After Aschebrook again complained that his career was being ruined, Rodriguez told him, “I’ll get you a job up here. You’ve been loyal to me, I’ll be loyal to you.”

Another heated exchange followed before Aschebrook said he hung up the phone.

It’s a jaw-dropping set of allegations that paints all of the parties on the Michigan side in a very bad light.

Certainly Rodriguez, Magee, Frey and even Finder are likely to have rebuttals to the accusations. But if the affidavit, a sworn legal document, is to be taken at face-value, it appears the worst of this situation may just be beginning.

I’ve not been a member of the camp that felt WVU was better off without Rodriguez until now.

If any of this conversation is to be believed, Rodriguez and Magee come across as nothing better than liars. At worst, they come across as attempting to blackmail a potential witness against them.

So much of this saga has been much ado about nothing.

At least reaction to this affidavit is much ado about something.

This is how sex with an intern almost gets a president impeached or how trading stocks gets Martha Stewart time in the big house.
Where there is a court case pending and you lie or you tell other people to lie that's called obstruction of justice. Talking the media is not the crime but lying and filling out false complaints and causing justice to investigate a complaint you know is false is how McGee, Brown, RR and a bunch of other people can all find themselves in front of a judge some day talking about wh said what and who told whom to say what. This is how a $4 million fine over a buyout clause becomes something bigger and before you know it, $4 million is the least of RR's problems.

RR's whole camp need to just shut up. Don't say another word about anything. I don't like him already but I'd hate to see this fool get in more trouble than even he deserves.

The never-ending story continues...

The Charleston Gazette Wrote:Rodriguez saga is tiresome
...and far from finished
By Dave Hickman Staff writer
April 24, 2008

MORGANTOWN - I like a good Rich Rodriguez vs. West Virginia story as much as the next guy. Well, at least as much as the next guy who doesn't live in Michigan.

But the more this thing drags out, the more tiresome it becomes. Especially when almost every new nugget of information leaked out by either side drags us seemingly deeper and deeper into an abyss.

And face it, that's what most of this is - leaked information designed by either side to make the other look bad. There are exceptions, of course. Perhaps the e-mail correspondence between the various parties and last week's Larry Aschebrook affidavit weren't actually leaks, given that both were unearthed by Freedom of Information Act filings by the Associated Press. But don't you have to believe that given the nature of both they would eventually - sooner rather than later, no doubt - have been tossed out there as fuel for the fire?

And certainly there is more to come - much, much more before this thing is resolved, either in a courtroom or, grudgingly, by whichever party finally finds itself so deep in either mud or debt that it has no choice.

We here in West Virginia seem to have no doubt that the side that eventually either loses or caves will be that of WVU's former football coach. The preponderance of evidence to date leaves little doubt to our tainted eyes. Try as I might to look at this thing rationally and objectively, I can't escape the thought that Rodriguez is in way, way over his head on this one. And for the life of me I can't understand why no one at Michigan has yet to go to Rodriguez with a simple edict:

Get this over with. Now. Period. End of discussion. We don't care if you're right or wrong, but this is dragging us through the mud and we won't put up with that. Have a nice day.

Then again, I'm not privy to the inner workings of the Rodriguez side of this. Neither are you. And despite that preponderance of evidence that seems to us to make him culpable in almost every aspect of wrongdoing here, remember that until all the evidence is in we can't be sure.

Think of it in a rope-a-dope manner: George Foreman pounded Muhammad Ali all night in the Rumble in the Jungle in 1974, only to realize too late that it was merely a ploy. Just when it appeared Ali had been beaten into submission, he got off the ropes and made quick work of Foreman with his full arsenal.

Now, I don't for a moment think Rodriguez and his handlers are that cunning or that patient. After all, the guy is getting pounded at every turn, and it's not like him to stand there and take it if he has anything at all with which to counter.

But neither should we write off the possibility that there are at least some juicy pieces to this pie still waiting for public consumption - pieces which paint Rodriguez in a different light and are best saved for when a judge or jury is listening and it matters most. What those might be I have no idea, but then who a week ago ever would have thought little-known Larry Aschebrook would become a player in all of this? You just never know.

Still, from this end of things, the stink just seems to keep piling on Rodriguez. The latest is some of the most curious:

It was Rodriguez's people that approached Michigan about becoming that school's head coach, not the other way around. He did it on Dec. 11, 10 days after West Virginia's loss to Pitt and six days before accepting the job. That comes from documents filed in response to WVU's granted court request to have Rodriguez turn over any and all documents related to his dealings with Michigan in the days leading up to his resignation at West Virginia.

And most interesting of all, according to Rodriguez's recent deposition by WVU attorneys, he was initially asked by Michigan to agree to a contract that included a $2 million buyout. He asked that it be increased to $4 million, the same amount in his WVU contract, which he now contends is punitive and to which his lawyer likened to a form of slavery.

Damning stuff, indeed. The first I doubt is all that critical to either case because Rodriguez contends he was forced to leave WVU when the school failed to work with him in the manner he felt right. Whether that meant entertaining other offers or seeking them out just doesn't seem all that significant in the broader picture.

The buyout thing, though, is baffling. If true, the obvious reason Rodriguez wanted the buyout increased was to protect himself. It works both ways, remember, and that's a nice parachute to have in the event things don't work out. But no matter what you think of him, certainly he or his handlers could see past his own security and envision what agreeing to the same buyout at Michigan would do to the argument he had already decided to make that owing WVU $4 million was ludicrous.

Again, though, that's no doubt only part of the story, one of those juicy tidbits thrown out there by WVU's attorneys. Rodriguez's side hasn't revealed anything of substance, really, since early in the process, when it was alleged that WVU president Mike Garrison had promised to reduce or eliminate Rodriguez's buyout, accused the school of all sorts of other failed promises and threw in a racial discrimination claim for good measure.

Does that mean they have nothing else or they have just refused to push out - or leak out - as many cards as has WVU's side?

Who knows?

I tend to think it's the former, and that as this thing drags out and gets uglier with each passing day, Rodriguez is going to have to start thinking about brokering some sort of settlement. But what do I know? And the trouble with making a deal is that his actions of the past months and even before he left - the demands of he and his agent and their threats to entertain other coaching offers - have put WVU in a position of not wanting to settle for anything less than the full $4 million. In the school's mind, it's not about losing a coach. It never was. It's about being dumped on by a guy who was so arrogant as to think he could demand and receive anything he wanted and hold his employer hostage to do so. About the only thing negotiable to them now is perhaps the interest that WVU officials insist is already accumulating on payments missed.

If this thing isn't settled, though, it means one of two things. Either Rodriguez has a much better case than he's let on so far, or he's in a deep sense of denial (not to mention growing debt).

And that means an eventual trial would be either one of the most interesting ever or one of the shortest.

To contact staff writer Dave Hickman, call 348-1734 or send e-mail to dphickman1@aol.com.

Rodriguez should pay up now, while he can.

If Rod apraoched Michigan 10 day after the Pitt loss in December, that means Michigan was not really looking at Rod. Rod probably saw the opportunity because Mich wanted the LSU coach but now that coach was playing for the national title Rod should have been playing for.
It's funny to hear the michicgan fans sing the praises of Rod when the truth is they really didn't want him at all. He was a snap judgment that fell into their lap. Now he may have been on their short list- but it seems that they would not have called him prior to WVU's Bowl game against Okl. I say this because I believe Mich has some class.
Rod has none.
Rod may not last the year at Mich. He has no quarterback and this lawsuit is going to damage his reputation beyond repair.


The buyout works both ways so that means that while WVU was holding Rod in "slavery", Rod was holding WVU in "slavery"- Go figure.

Jugnaut: It's good that you got all the WVU fans figured out. So why do you care? Wha'ts your concern if WVU collects what they are owed or not. Personally, I think you analysis is pure B.S. WVU has a right to collect $4 million and the interest. The law is the law and a deal is a deal. Let's see what the courts say.