This week's installment of "Ridiculous Happenings in College Sports" comes from the University of Connecticut, where Robert Burton, a major benefactor of the Huskies football program, wrote an angry six-page letter demanding the return of a $3 million gift he gave, along with removal of his family name from the football complex.
Why? Because UConn Athletic Director Jeff Hathaway did not include him in the loop during the recent coaching search. Burton found out from ESPN.
Before you jump to judgment, however, let me just say this - Robert Burton is a fan, just like any one of us.
Well, maybe not like us - I certainly don't have $7 million to drop on a mediocre football program - but a fan nevertheless.
Burton's letter and demand represent an honest assessment not just of where the sport is, but also of why people still continue to love it.
Burton's letter also says a lot about the state of college football at this moment. It's abundantly clear, or at least it should be now, that boosters have a strong, strong influence on athletic departments.\nSome people, in reacting to this story, seem to have a strong problem with that. They're shocked, shocked to find that boosters seem to have influence over hiring decisions.
It's time for people to wake up and smell the roses - this is what college football is and has been for quite a while. For an athletic director to simply ignore someone after whom he named the building that houses his office is pretty ridiculous.
"Your lack of response ... tells me that you do not respect my point of view or value my opinion," Burton stated in his letter, and he could not be more right.
But beyond that, the anger expressed in Burton's six-page rant - what someone on Twitter called "the ultimate drunk text" - reveals, or at least illustrates, one of the basic truths about the sport.
College football is ultimately about a personal relationship. More than any other sport in the country, people root for a college football team because of time spent at an institution rather than just geographic proximity. I may move away from Charlottesville, but I still went to the University of Virginia. I will be a fan of the Orange and Blue for a long time.
Burton was a UConn booster and fan because his son went there, his daughter-in-law went there and he received an honorary doctorate degree from there. Burton felt strongly that giving to the athletic department was important because of his own experiences with football.
"I was raised in a small coal mining town where most families lived from week to week," Burton wrote in his letter. "I was very fortunate to be offered a football scholarship and a free ride to college. Without that scholarship, I would have worked in the coal mines all of my life."
At the end of the day, Burton is a fan scorned. We've all rooted for teams that have seemingly made terrible decisions and been unable to do anything other than curse the owner or the coach or the GM.
Burton stood up and said he wants his money back. You may not like it, but you at least have to understand where he's coming from.
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