Rodriguez and Michigan pay WVU, Mountaineers rejoice

Dick Rod: Yeah, remember all that stuff I said before forget that, here's your money.

Rodriguez will pay $1.5 million of the buyout from his own pocket -- in $500,000 payments over the next three years -- according to a statement released by Michigan. The remaining $2.5 million will come from the reserves of UM's athletic department, which is financially self-sufficient.

People in Morgantown are rejoicing.

Kevin Gilson says he taught anatomy and physiology for 40 years at West Virginia University. In 30 of those years, he also coached men's and women's swimming. And never in those decades had something around Morgantown turned his stomach as much as Rich Rodriguez abandoning the Mountaineers and hightailing it to Michigan.

So news that Rodriguez, with some help from the Wolverines' athletic department, would pay WVU the $4 million buyout in his contract brought a smile to Gilson.

God, the intense feeling of schadenfreude in me wants to see the Michigan/Dick Rod marriage end in a really, really bad way. I'm talking a large public/legal battle that would make the WVU thing look like a walk in the park. He's basically in the very same situation with Michigan that he was with West Virginia and yet Michigan fans don't seem to mind. The perfect scenario would go something like this: Michigan has a great year in a year or two, wins the Big Ten title goes to a BCS bowl and some pro team offers Dick Rod an offer he can't refuse. Rodriguez then bolts to said pro team like two weeks before signing day leaving Michigan in the lurch. Enter the lawyers and hilarity ensues. Of course karma hates me so this will probably never happen but its fun to think it might. Congrats Michigan you've got your man.