Jim Delany reinforced plaintiffs' key points in O'Bannon v. NC

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OAKLAND, Calif. -- One influential college athletics leader left the witness stand Friday after nearly five total hours of cross examination only to be replaced by a guy who probably wields even more power. When plaintiffs' attorneys in O'Bannon v. NCAA finally tired of battering NCAA president Mark Emmert, they excused him and waited patiently for their turn to cross examine Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany as they try to convince the judge that the NCAA and schools have engaged in a conspiracy to deny athletes the chance to sell their name, image and likeness rights.

In terms of sheer courtroom fun, the matchup of Delany and plaintiffs' lead attorney Michael Hausfeld felt like the Texas-USC Rose Bowl. On one side sat Delany, the man with the stones to launch the first conference cable network and the gumption to block a college football playoff for years. On the other side stood Hausfeld, who has taken on Exxon, Texaco and the ghosts of the Nazi party. The clash would be epic.

Except it wasn't.

Hausfeld's cross lasted 52 minutes -- 20 fewer than NCAA outside counsel Luis Li's direct examination. Other than a few moments, it was quite cordial. Delany, expected to be a challenging witness to say the least, made one of the plaintiffs' key points during Li's direct exam. Hausfeld didn't even need to ask all the questions he had prepared. "He provided all the information that Michael wanted to bring out in cross examination," fellow plaintiffs' attorney Bill Isaacson said. "So it became unnecessary."

Read More: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/college-football/news/20140620/ed-o-bannon-jim-delany-mark-emmert-ncaa-big-ten/#ixzz35Ekpq1M1