Bad sports, good sports: Football donor wants his money back from UConn

Posted on January 31st, 2011 by Alan Spoll

The world of college sports walks a fine line between amateur athletics, with which it is intended to be associated, and professional sports, which it far more closely resembles. Football and basketball, in particular, seem to be in real danger of crossing that line on a regular basis. From players breaking rules by receiving various kinds of benefits from schools or program boosters, to the schools themselves committing recruiting violations, the environment is rife with problems. One of the areas that gets a bit less attention is fundraising. It is far more interesting to talk about the player who got a car from a local car dealer or the college that offered money to recruits than it is to talk about the long list of donors to a major college sports program. Every once in a while, though, a story about this usually anonymous topic sticks out and grabs your attention. One of these happened this week at the University of Connecticut. A man who had donated three million dollars to the school’s football program has demanded his money back because he is unhappy with some recent decisions involving the team’s coaching position.

Robert Burton, a Connecticut businessman, and his family have donated over seven million dollars to the school, making him their largest donor. Burton clearly feels that his money should buy him a level of influence with which no fan of college sports could be comfortable. The recent hiring of Paul Pasqualoni as head football coach, replacing the outgoing Randy Edsall, is what set Burton’s recent demands in motion. Burton disapproves of the choice, and clearly has a less than positive opinion of current Athletic Director Jeff Hathaway. I guess Burton wanted the final word on the new coach, and when he didn’t get it, he demanded the return of his money and also wants his name taken off of the school’s football complex, which has been named the Burton Family Football Complex since it came into existence in 2002, in large part due to Burton’s money.

The school is in a very tough spot here. They need money from Burton and others like him to remain competitive in the big money universe of college football. At the same time, they can’t allow those donors to run the program. Giving in to Burton would be a very bad idea, but returning the money would be equally difficult. Joe Paterno, the legendary Penn State coach, has been quoted as saying to boosters, “I want your money, but not your two cents.” As always, Paterno knows his stuff. If it really comes to a choice, I hope Connecticut gives back the money and moves on. Especially with this situation having become as public as it has, doing anything to smooth things over with Burton will look to the world like the school is allowing its donors far more influence than any reasonable person would think they should have.

Bad sports, continued:

2) Thirteen University of Iowa football players were hospitalized this week with rhabdomyolysis, a muscle condition that can come from extremely strenuous workouts and can cause permanent kidney damage. All thirteen have since been released from the hospital, and an investigation into how this occurred is ongoing.

3) A man who lives in Chicago but is a fan of the Green Bay Packers was fired from his job this week after wearing a Packers tie to work on Monday, following the NFC Championship game in which the Packers beat the Chicago Bears. John Stone, a car salesman, was fired after he refused to remove his tie after being directed to do so by the dealership’s general manager. Seems a bit harsh, don’t you think?

4) Everything at the Super Bowl is expensive, but things are getting ridiculous. A parking spot that is within a tenth of a mile of Cowboys Stadium is selling for $990, giving the purchaser a parking space, access to a bathroom, security, and the ability to use the spot for tailgating. Wow.

Good sports:

1) In general, I think New York Jets cornerback Antonio Cromartie is a bit of an idiot. His derogatory comments about Tom Brady a few weeks back sounded pretty stupid and petty. This week, though, I rather appreciated his mouthy comments about the current labor dispute between the NFL Players Association and the league’s team owners. Rather than spouting the party line, Cromartie called out both the players and the owners for the lack of progress in the negotiations that could lead to a lockout in the next month or two, jeopardizing the 2011 season. Any kind of work stoppage would be unimaginably stupid, in my opinion, considering the incredible popularity of the sport and the enormous sums of money that both sides have been making for years. Why risk turning off the fans, which a lockout or strike is guaranteed to do? Cromartie is right when he says that the two sides should quit talking about what they are going to do and just do it.

2) I can always appreciate good coaching and strategy. Plano West High School’s basketball team, knowing it was overmatched in its game against Flower Mound, used as much time as they could on nearly every possession they had, slowing the game to a snail’s pace. Despite the fact that the game went to triple-overtime, only 68 total points were scored. Flower Mound won the game, but Plano West had several opportunities to steal the victory but could not convert them. Still, it was an amazing effort and an awesome strategy.

3) The fantastically-named Torstein Horgmo completed an even-more-fantastic stunt at the Winter X games, landing something called a Triple Cork on Friday night in Aspen, Colorado. Check out the video. Oh yeah, he also had broken ribs at the time.

Bad Sports, Good Sports appears every Monday.

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Alan Spoll

Alan Spoll is a software quality assurance director from the suburbs of Philadelphia where he lives with his wonderful wife and children. He has spent his entire life as a passionate fan of the Eagles, Phillies, Sixers, Flyers, and Penn State. Recent Phillies success aside, you will understand his natural negativity. Follow me on Twitter - @DocAlan02