One of my all-time favorite clients was an MSU Grad and huge booster. Chartered a private plane to take friends and family to every game, home or away. It didn’t matter if there was a blizzard. One time the weather wouldn’t allow them to fly to Minneapolis for the game with Minnesota. They flew to Indianapolis and had a couple of big 4-wheel units with snow tires and chains to take them the rest of the way. That’s a long trip, but he didn’t care. His average contribution to MSU in a year was probably 5 times more than I made in a year back then. He wasn’t quite at the level of T.Boone Pickens, but he wasn’t far from it. ( He died about 10 years ago. I saw his son about two years ago, and he told me he was almost relieved that his dad didn’t live to see the Nassar scandal because it would have depressed him so much.)
We were in trial when Saban left MSU for LSU. I thought he would be devastated but he actually was happy. Saban didn’t like dealing with boosters and didn’t treat them with the respect Ed thought they were entitled to. “We pay most of his salary,” he would say, “and he treats us like sh*t.”
Anyway, in trial that Thursday we had his wife on the stand and were cross-examining her on what was the key issue in the divorce: was his magazine publishing business community property or his separate property since he had owned it prior to marriage?
It was a $50 Million issue. That afternoon, Jerry Goldberg, the lead attorney, was shredding his wife’s credibility, catching her in one inconsistent statement and/or provable lie after another. The wife’s attorney asked for a 15 minute recess. It was around 2:30 pm and the court usually took an afternoon recess at 3:00 pm. The judge knew she wanted the recess to try to coach her client and minimize the disaster, so she denied the request. On her way back to the counsel table, the wife’s attorney “fainted.” It was an obvious ploy, but what could the judge do? She took a recess and sent the bailiff to get medical attention for the attorney. After she recovered consciousness, the attorney asked the court to continue the trial until Monday so she could see a doctor, etc. Again, it was an obvious ploy, but what could the court do? She asked if we objected and Jerry started to object, but Ed stopped him. He said Monday was fine. He wanted to go to East Lansing as soon as possible to discuss a new coach with MSU bigwigs. We told him that the attorney would use the three days to try to coach and rehabilitate his wife and reminded him that $50 Million was at stake.
His response: The new coach is more important to me. Besides, she is not going to be any smarter Monday than she is today. So, he chartered a private plane and flew to Michigan.
He was right about his wife though. She wasn’t any better on the stand on Monday. The business was confirmed as Ed’s separate property, All $100 Million of it.
As for the “more important” thing, he thought the new coach, whose name I can’t recall (Washington?) would be great. Of course, he was a disaster.
He thought Saban would fail at LSU because their boosters were ten times more powerful than at MSU. When Saban won a national championship there, Ed was really upset.
Of course, escaping from those boosters was one reason Saban left for Alabama and it seems clear that he has some arrangement with the school that limits his availability to them. Now, I’m sure he is so powerful that he can deal with the boosters however he pleases, just as Bryant did.
Beano Cook used to tell the story about how Roone Arledge wanted a college football game in Birmingham played at night so ABC could televise it. I believe it was a game between two then black colleges. But, Legion Field didn’t have lights back then and the mayor of Birmingham balked at letting ABC install temporary ones or putting in permanent ones. He didn’t want black colleges getting any public exposure.
Roone was angry and told Beano he would take care of it. A few hours later, he told Beano that they would have lights. Beano asked how he did it. “I called the most powerful man in the State of Alabama,” Roone replied.
“Governor George Wallace?” Beano asked.
“Hell no” said Roone. “Bear Bryant.”
We were in trial when Saban left MSU for LSU. I thought he would be devastated but he actually was happy. Saban didn’t like dealing with boosters and didn’t treat them with the respect Ed thought they were entitled to. “We pay most of his salary,” he would say, “and he treats us like sh*t.”
Anyway, in trial that Thursday we had his wife on the stand and were cross-examining her on what was the key issue in the divorce: was his magazine publishing business community property or his separate property since he had owned it prior to marriage?
It was a $50 Million issue. That afternoon, Jerry Goldberg, the lead attorney, was shredding his wife’s credibility, catching her in one inconsistent statement and/or provable lie after another. The wife’s attorney asked for a 15 minute recess. It was around 2:30 pm and the court usually took an afternoon recess at 3:00 pm. The judge knew she wanted the recess to try to coach her client and minimize the disaster, so she denied the request. On her way back to the counsel table, the wife’s attorney “fainted.” It was an obvious ploy, but what could the judge do? She took a recess and sent the bailiff to get medical attention for the attorney. After she recovered consciousness, the attorney asked the court to continue the trial until Monday so she could see a doctor, etc. Again, it was an obvious ploy, but what could the court do? She asked if we objected and Jerry started to object, but Ed stopped him. He said Monday was fine. He wanted to go to East Lansing as soon as possible to discuss a new coach with MSU bigwigs. We told him that the attorney would use the three days to try to coach and rehabilitate his wife and reminded him that $50 Million was at stake.
His response: The new coach is more important to me. Besides, she is not going to be any smarter Monday than she is today. So, he chartered a private plane and flew to Michigan.
He was right about his wife though. She wasn’t any better on the stand on Monday. The business was confirmed as Ed’s separate property, All $100 Million of it.
As for the “more important” thing, he thought the new coach, whose name I can’t recall (Washington?) would be great. Of course, he was a disaster.
He thought Saban would fail at LSU because their boosters were ten times more powerful than at MSU. When Saban won a national championship there, Ed was really upset.
Of course, escaping from those boosters was one reason Saban left for Alabama and it seems clear that he has some arrangement with the school that limits his availability to them. Now, I’m sure he is so powerful that he can deal with the boosters however he pleases, just as Bryant did.
Beano Cook used to tell the story about how Roone Arledge wanted a college football game in Birmingham played at night so ABC could televise it. I believe it was a game between two then black colleges. But, Legion Field didn’t have lights back then and the mayor of Birmingham balked at letting ABC install temporary ones or putting in permanent ones. He didn’t want black colleges getting any public exposure.
Roone was angry and told Beano he would take care of it. A few hours later, he told Beano that they would have lights. Beano asked how he did it. “I called the most powerful man in the State of Alabama,” Roone replied.
“Governor George Wallace?” Beano asked.
“Hell no” said Roone. “Bear Bryant.”
