Tuesday, January 25, 2011

UConn Booster Gets P.O'd At School's AD

Burton Football Complex//Courtesy: cbssports.com
And Robert Burton is pissed off enough, that he wants his $3 million that he donated for the "Burton Family Football Complex" on campus, back.

The main reason. The schools Athletic Director Jeff Hathaway didn't seek his input before making the un-inspired coaching hire of Paul Pasqualoni.

Read more from CBSSports.com RIGHT HERE

Burton swears he just wanted to be in the loop, that he didn't want "Veto Power" over the decision. Hathaway told him about it, but not until the hire had been made.

Burton says he's also canceling his luxury suite at the football stadium and other contributions he makes to the schools teams as well.

While this is pretty funny on one level. It's kind of scary on the other. Are there really that many strings attached to donations these days. If boosters want a say on a coaching hire, something done already in many places, then why have an Athletic Director?

No, I'm not stupid and fully realize the "Big Business" that NCAA sports are require lots of donations and fundraising. And no, I'm not naive enough to think there aren't strings attached. It is just disappointing that whiny bitches like Robert Burton can decide that if he's not treated as the all knowing, he'll just grab his pail and move on to another sandbox.

For those who didn't see it, here's the Paul Pasqualoni Presser from January 14th. Sorry the audio ain't great:



And here's the letter from Burton, thanks to ctnow.com...
It's a piece of work...


And here's coverage from Bob Wilson and our friends at WTNH-TV

UConn donor demands return of $3M donation: wtnh.com



Here's the UConn letter in response...

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