The suit, filed yesterday in Vernon Superior Court, alleges that
the ACC and Boston College conspired to weaken the Big East. Boston
College announced Sunday that it would follow the University of
Miami and Virginia Tech, which are leaving the Big East to join the
ACC.
"We just got off a conference call," Blumenthal said early
Monday evening. "All the presidents have authorized this
lawsuit."
The suit names Boston College athletic director Gene DeFilippo,
ACC Commissioner John Swofford, ACC President Carolyn Callahan, ACC
Vice President Donn Ward and ACC Treasurer Cecil Huey, Blumenthal
said.
Connecticut, Rutgers, Pittsburgh and West Virginia already are
suing Miami. A judge last week threw out a case against the ACC on
jurisdictional grounds.
"I suspect the same will happen to those of us who, by virtue of
our rotation, happen to be officers," Ward said. "And I suspect the
people of Connecticut want their attorney general to chase far more
important issues."
The case against the ACC was thrown out because attorneys could
not prove the conference did enough business in Connecticut to
warrant a state suit. By suing the conference directors as
individuals, Big East schools hope they can get around the
jurisdiction issue.
"We are not required to show they are transacting business,"
Blumenthal said. "If they have violated the law and have damaged
Connecticut or its citizens, they can be sued."
Messages seeking comment were left at the homes and offices of
the other school and conference officials. Hugh Keefe, an attorney
who represented the ACC, did not return a page.
Miami and Virginia Tech will join the ACC next year. Boston
College might not change conferences until 2006.
The suit makes several tort claims, including unfair trade
practices, civil conspiracy and breach of contract, Blumenthal
said. As in the suit against Miami, the Big East schools seek
unspecified damages.
The suit singles out DeFilippo for allegedly using his role as a
conference director with Big East to manipulate discussions between
BC, Miami and the ACC, Blumenthal said.
"One of the key reasons that BC and DeFilippo were able to
engage in this secret scheme with Miami and the ACC is that they
had access to sensitive and confidential information from the Big
East and its member schools," Blumenthal said.
He said Boston College's defection strengthened the case.
"The more we learn, the more appalled and astonished we are by
the depth and breadth of the illegality," Blumenthal said.
Look, we'll go round and round. This was a complete PR disaster for the University of Connecticut, and Blumenthal, is a first class , and an embarrassment to people in this state that actually have scruples and morals.
The activities that UCONN took the point on legally, in 2003, are far different than any legal proceedings around intercollegiate athletics that occurred both before and after (and UCONN officials were involved in the most important of which that happened in the mid 1980s) and those MULTIPLE courses of legal action, created many, many enemies up and down the eastern seaboard of the United States. THe other presidents were more than happy to let Connecticut take the point on this, and Austin was a fool.
You want to bury your head in the sand about that, it's fine with me. I hope that our current University leadership does not.