Something really interesting to keep our eye on. I am sure some of you have been following the story about the stadium renovation effort up in Berkeley. Yesterday, a superior court judge from Alameda County issued a preliminary injunction thwarting (for now) Cal’s plans to build a training center next to its football stadium. This was a victory (well, a temporary one) for a group of environmental activists, who apparently for week have been camping out in old trees that would need to be chopped down in order to build Cal’s sports complex. [Insert Stanford Trees jokes here]:
Berkeley Vibes (Photo Credit: SF Chronicle/Lea Suzuki)
Well, how does all this relate to Tedford’s status in Berkeley? Here is the Wizard:
A judge's preliminary injunction stopping the construction of a training center adjacent to California's Memorial Stadium was considered a victory to a group of environmentalists who have been camping for weeks in old oak trees that would have to be cut down for the project. But the ruling could be a blow to the long-term success of Cal football and to keeping coach Jeff Tedford happy. The facilities situation is so important to Tedford that the buyout in his current contract is tied to the project. Currently, his buyout is $150,000. Once the project is started, his buyout goes to $300,000.
For a sober/analytical take on this drama up in Strawberry Canyon, here is our friend from Tightwad Hill:
Judges grant preliminary injunctions stopping the actions of a defendant for two reasons:
1. The relevant law suggests that a suit against the defendant is likely to succeed
2. The politics surrounding the case make it advisable to grant the injunction (and the law is murky at best)
It's a reasonable bet that Superior Court Judge Barbara Miller was working off of option #2 this morning. Think about her constituency (and yes, superior court judges are elected with six-year terms). The professional protesting class would have done their level best to knock her out if she had prevented their cases from even going to trial.
Her ruling hasn't been released to the public, but the Chronicle report suggests that she found a likelihood that the stadium project would violate the Alquist-Priolo Act, which forbids the state from building new buildings on active earthquake faults. The University submitted a number of tests to the court, some of which showed no seismic activity under the project and others that were inconclusive. So, in essence, the judge has assigned homework to all parties to do more testing and come up with a conclusive result.
Make sure to read his entire post.1. The relevant law suggests that a suit against the defendant is likely to succeed
2. The politics surrounding the case make it advisable to grant the injunction (and the law is murky at best)
It's a reasonable bet that Superior Court Judge Barbara Miller was working off of option #2 this morning. Think about her constituency (and yes, superior court judges are elected with six-year terms). The professional protesting class would have done their level best to knock her out if she had prevented their cases from even going to trial.
Her ruling hasn't been released to the public, but the Chronicle report suggests that she found a likelihood that the stadium project would violate the Alquist-Priolo Act, which forbids the state from building new buildings on active earthquake faults. The University submitted a number of tests to the court, some of which showed no seismic activity under the project and others that were inconclusive. So, in essence, the judge has assigned homework to all parties to do more testing and come up with a conclusive result.
Why am I writing about this? Well, I always wonder what kind of program Tedford would build in Westwood if he had access to same talent pool, which Dorrell underachieves with year after year.
Something tells me Tedford wouldn’t have to settle for Holiday Bowls in Bruin blue and gold [Relax Cal fans, j/k here]. Anyways, as Tightwad pointed out in the post linked above, there is a long way to go in this drama. After all is said and done, Cal administrators may find a way to resolve the situation. As of right now though, it seems Tedford’s future as the long term Cal head coach may be a little murky. Just something to keep an eye on.
GO BRUINS.