UConn Booster Has Had Enough

In case you missed this little gem, UConn's number one football booster, Robert Burton, lost his cool a little bit when he sent this long-winded email cutting all ties with Connecticut football.  If you don't feel like taking the time to read the five page letter, let me just sum it up for you: the university slighted Burton when they ignored his opinion on the hiring of new head coach, Paul Pasqualoni, and consequently, Burton was finished with Connecticut.

Look, I'll be the first to admit it: Burton's brash response to a seemingly small infraction is reminiscent to Dan Gilbert's infamous comic sans letter.  To me, and most sports fans, this is an overreaction of the worst kind.  But couldn't this event have been avoided entirely?

Robert Burton is your number one booster.  He has given more than seven million dollars of his own money to the football program.  The athletic facility is named after him.  He's provided scholarships for athletes and students.  He received an honorary PhD from UConn.  Now, all he is asking is that he is able to give his opinion on the head coaching search.  That is a pretty small request given his commitment to the program.

A simple conference call could have solved all of this.  The AD could listen to his opinion, pretend to care about it, tell him they will consider his thoughts, still hire Pasqualoni and they would maintain their top booster.  Instead, his calls were ignored and he heard of the hire from other sources before UConn attempted to contact him.  What is the point of having a booster like Burton if you ignore not only his opinion on the matter, but his existence as the top booster?  UConn's program is not strong as it is; it can hardly afford to lose a man who donates as much money as Burton.

The other part of this that confuses me is this cannot be the first time that Burton voiced displeasure with the program.  He has supported UConn over the past decade and I cannot imagine he's never shown any instability like this.  UConn showed extreme irresponsibility when they ignored his simple request, whether or not his reaction was justifiable or not.

UConn's program is no more or less impressive than BC.  And the reason that I think this story holds significance for smaller programs like ours is that I can only hope that this isn't how we treat our boosters (if we even have any).  I'd be furious too if I gave that kind of money and they brushed my voice aside, marking it equivalent to the average fan.

Burton's ultimate decision to cut all ties with UConn may seem brash; one can hardly blame him for being upset, however, when his voice and more importantly, his wallet, were ignored.