Judge buys Duke’s case that it stinks at football

One can only imagine the recruiting implications that astute competitors can find in a University ADMITTING that they are the worst football program in all of America.

The contract called for a penalty of $150,000 per game if a date with a “team of similar stature” could not be arranged.Duke’s lawyers argued that the Blue Devils, who are 6-45 the past five seasons, are so bad that any team would be a suitable replacement.Judge Shepherd agreed in his summary:

“At oral argument, Duke (with a candor perhaps more attributable to good legal strategy than to institutional modesty) persuasively asserted that this is a threshold that could not be any lower. Duke’s argument on this point cannot be reasonably disputed by Louisville.”

According to Shepherd, finding a suitable replacement literally meant any NCAA Division I team would suffice — including those in the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly known as Division I-AA).

After the teams played their initial game in 2002 — a 40-3 U of L win in Durham, N.C. — Duke opted out of the remaining games in 2007, 2008 and 2009.

Once I read this I realize that either (a) the judge really whiffed or (b) Louisville was represented by moron’s.

Duke’s point in the case was that ‘we are the worst, so anyone that L’ville scheduled would be a ‘better’ replacement’.

Louisville’s point should have been that the goal was not to schedule a good team…the goal was to schedule a guaranteed win in Division One’ (against a recognizable name from a BCS conference).

Duke’s admission of their program’s lowly stature would have actually proved Louisville’s case — there is NO OTHER program as bad as Duke’s in Division One that would have provided L’ville the sure win.

buy an ultrasound machine today.

About StateFans

'StateFansNation' is the shared profile used by any/all of the dozen or so authors that contribute to the blog. You may not always agree with us, but you will have little doubt about where we stand on most issues. Please follow us on Twitter and FaceBook

NCS Football

10 Responses to Judge buys Duke’s case that it stinks at football

  1. jasondeans 06/20/2008 at 10:01 AM #

    I missed something…what is this story about?

  2. PackMan97 06/20/2008 at 10:17 AM #

    Duke and Louisville had a 4 game series. Duke lost bad the first game and bailed on the other three. Louisville wanted the $150,000 penalty per game enforced since it would be difficult to find an opponent of the same stature on such short notice.

    Duke’s argument to avoid the penalty boils down to, “We suck so bad that ANY team, even FCS (Div 1AA) team, would be a suitable replacement”. Louisville was able to schedule fill the schedule, therefore no penalty should be applied. The Judge agreed.

    Louisville apparently did not use the counter argument that they wanted to play a team that was bad and were unable to find a team that sucked as much as Duke.

  3. WolftownVA81 06/20/2008 at 11:29 AM #

    I can see Lville’s point. Where else could they find a guaranteed win? The Judges comments could be used to support the paying the $150K. Like he said, the threshold is so low it can’t be disputed – so they would have to find another team so bad that it could subsitute for Duke.

  4. WolftownVA81 06/20/2008 at 11:31 AM #

    Here’s a thought, Duke can pay us half the $150K and we can give Lville our game with ECU. 🙂

  5. PacknSack 06/20/2008 at 12:27 PM #

    I like the ECU game. Despite what they think, we can put it down as a W pretty much from here on out.

  6. packpigskinfan23 06/20/2008 at 12:48 PM #

    ^your living in a dream land PacknSack. I know that TOB is a great coach… but Skip Holtz is no pushover. I would take TOB ANY day, but ECU is not on a decline.

  7. StateFans 06/20/2008 at 12:56 PM #

    I agree with WolftownVA81,

    I think the judge has it backwards —

    Duke’s point was that ‘we are the worst, so anyone that L’ville scheduled would be a ‘better’ replacement’.

    Louisville’s point should have been that the goal was not to schedule a good team…the goal was to schedule a sure win in Division One’

    Duke’s admitting of their stature would prove Louisville’s case — there is NO OTHER program that bad that would have provided L’ville the sure win.

  8. SuperStuff 06/20/2008 at 2:50 PM #

    I still think it sucks for a football team to back out of a game because they know they are going to get kicked in the nuts hard. Lame!

  9. highstick 06/20/2008 at 5:14 PM #

    I don’t know what it is, but there’s something about the use of that term “Football Championship Subdivision (formerly known as Division I-AA).” It’s almost like the term “Prince, formerly known as the Artist”. Football Championship Subdivision was a term invented by the “PC Crowd” to avoid 2nd class status!

    Despite the freak accidents of nature, like App and Mich, the typical result is App and a bad State team and State wins!

    Lee, why are we playing App and ECTC???

  10. Noah 06/23/2008 at 8:20 AM #

    I think Dook’s argument is that Louisville can’t demonstrate how it was damaged. They’ll be able to find a repalcement and that replacement will give them a good contest.

    I don’t think Louisville can argue that they were seeking an automatic “W,” since no such thing actually exists.

Leave a Reply