Uconn football donor wants money back

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highwayman said:
Craig James, with money.
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They sound like completely different situations. Craig James gave nothing to Texas Tech and appeared to just be a father trying to get his son playing time. This is a man that gave $3 million to a program that he supported and now it has gone in a direction that he doesn't support. It isn't like Mr. Burton still has sons at the program which is a key difference between the situations.

Mr. Burton likely knows Mr. Pasqualoni better than anybody at UConn (from having been around him and his program for 4 years) and despite being the largest donor to UConn football and having this knowledge of Pasqualoni he was not brought in to the loop or used as a reference. That does seem pretty stupid on the UConn AD's part. I'm not saying that the donor should have veto power but I understand him getting pissed and wanting to take back his support for something he no longer supports.
 


Seems like if his money was actually put to use, it'd be kinda hard to give him his money back lol.
 



I find this to be a disgusting story. At least there is now one tangible piece of evidence that boosters do, in fact, run the show. Maybe if Burton gives enough money, they will just make him the AD.
 

Why in the world would this guy be in the loop for hiring a new football coach?
 

What a jerk, fairweather fan, and terrible booster this guy is. If you're pissy about the way a coaching search was handled then stop donating. It's your right. Makes you kind of a fairweather supporter in my book to remove ALL support from the program but whatever. That's not to say he should keep giving lots of money if he's unhappy...that would be stupid. But to pull all support from the program because they didn't stroke his ego is not the sign of a good fan/supporter. This dude is just showing that he's only a fan so long as his needs are being met. I feel the same way about the average joe whose sole reason for not renewing seats is that he isn't happy with that Coach A was hired or that the team isn't winning.

But to go the extra mile and threaten legal action to recover a DONATION? That moves you into self-centered dbag territory. "You didn't make me feel special or appreciated so let me kneecap the dept in return." Full of class, this guy.
 



And we thought it was bad to have a former punter pissed at not having a say in the search :D
 

Bob Knight was on Mike & Mike this morning and he said this guy should start his own university called Ego Tech and their nickname could be the Big Heads. Made me chuckle.
 

guy has an ego but as an AD you have to smooth relations with boosters. Dont take the blood money and run. If you expect someone to donate millions and then have no say in anything then that is also a joke.
 

If he is that ticked about the hiring, he can discontinue donating, but he should just write off the rest on his taxes.

My impression was ego as well, btw.
 



He runs a financial firm, but what about that makes him an expert on hiring football coaches? It's the AD and the President who are accountable for hiring the coaches, if the coach is a bust, the boosters who supported that hire aren't likely to say "oops, I really picked the wrong guy!" Generally, people like this want more than just input.
 

RodentRampage said:
He runs a financial firm, but what about that makes him an expert on hiring football coaches? It's the AD and the President who are accountable for hiring the coaches, if the coach is a bust, the boosters who supported that hire aren't likely to say "oops, I really picked the wrong guy!" Generally, people like this want more than just input.
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As was stated earlier, he probably has more experience with Pasqualoni in particular than many of the people within the athletic department at UCONN. He stated he didn't want veto power, wanted to be kept in the loop. We don't know the specifics of his donation and the stipulations under which he gave it to the university. If it was under the stipulation that he be kept in the loop on major athletic department decisions and the university agreed to these when accepting the donation then he has a right to ask for it back. I do not think he should have veto power however, but do not think it is to much to ask for a major booster to get his email and or voicemail returned in a timely fashion.
 

GopherGod said:
As was stated earlier, he probably has more experience with Pasqualoni in particular than many of the people within the athletic department at UCONN. He stated he didn't want veto power, wanted to be kept in the loop. We don't know the specifics of his donation and the stipulations under which he gave it to the university. If it was under the stipulation that he be kept in the loop on major athletic department decisions and the university agreed to these when accepting the donation then he has a right to ask for it back. I do not think he should have veto power however, but do not think it is to much to ask for a major booster to get his email and or voicemail returned in a timely fashion.
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I agree with your last statement but I also think it's ridiculous if there was some kind of stipulation. If that was the case, then the money he gave was not truly a donation since he wanted something in return.
 

GophersInIowa said:
I agree with your last statement but I also think it's ridiculous if there was some kind of stipulation. If that was the case, then the money he gave was not truly a donation since he wanted something in return.
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Maybe not, but if those stipulations of wanting regular communication were spelled out when he wrote out the check and the athletic department agreed by accepting the check then they have to uphold their end of the deal.
 


GopherGod said:
Maybe not, but if those stipulations of wanting regular communication were spelled out when he wrote out the check and the athletic department agreed by accepting the check then they have to uphold their end of the deal.
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This is speculation though. The guy isn't claiming that stipulations in his donation weren't upheld. He's simply saying he wanted to be more in the loop and since he wasn't he wants his money back. I'm guessing that if he had put conditions on the money he'd be making that part of his potential lawsuit and would have mentioned it to the press.
 

GopherGod said:
Maybe not, but if those stipulations of wanting regular communication were spelled out when he wrote out the check and the athletic department agreed by accepting the check then they have to uphold their end of the deal.
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I understand that. I guess I just think it's ridiculous that he may have done that. It's understandable to be upset if you donate money for a certain purpose and it not being used like you intended, but that's not this situation. If he wanted to be in the loop, then he should start his own college.

Of course this is still all speculation.
 

My father is one of the hundred's of VP's for R.R. Donnelly, the biggest competitor of Cenveo, where Burton is the CEO and Chairman. From his dealings with Burton the guy is a total ass. He made his two sons executives right out of college without asking the board and is a whiny little s.o.b. when he doesn't get his way(when they tried to bey NEC). The fact that this guy wants his money back shouldn't come as a surprise to anybody.
 

highwayman said:
Craig James, with money.
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grunkiejr said:
They sound like completely different situations. Craig James gave nothing to Texas Tech and appeared to just be a father trying to get his son playing time. This is a man that gave $3 million to a program that he supported and now it has gone in a direction that he doesn't support. It isn't like Mr. Burton still has sons at the program which is a key difference between the situations.

Mr. Burton likely knows Mr. Pasqualoni better than anybody at UConn (from having been around him and his program for 4 years) and despite being the largest donor to UConn football and having this knowledge of Pasqualoni he was not brought in to the loop or used as a reference. That does seem pretty stupid on the UConn AD's part. I'm not saying that the donor should have veto power but I understand him getting pissed and wanting to take back his support for something he no longer supports.
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You are dead wrong. This is a little boy with a big wallet. You donate the money and walk away. If you don't like what they are doing, don't donate any more money. This guy is a petulant little a$$ with money. Better analogy?
 

Having a stipulation tied to the donation that the donor gets to be involved in hiring decisions would be an unusual thing, and certainly would be been mentioned. When people like this say they want to have input, they generally want a little bit more than just input.
 

goldygo4 said:
My father is one of the hundred's of VP's for R.R. Donnelly, the biggest competitor of Cenveo, where Burton is the CEO and Chairman. From his dealings with Burton the guy is a total ass. He made his two sons executives right out of college without asking the board and is a whiny little s.o.b. when he doesn't get his way(when they tried to bey NEC). The fact that this guy wants his money back shouldn't come as a surprise to anybody.
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Now THAT would be shocking.... A guy who is successful in business being a total ass. Even more shocking that this analysis came from a primary competitor.

Regarding the matter at hand, wasn't it Leslie Nielsen who said in "Airplane"; "Irony can be pretty ironic"?

The irony here is that how many Gopher fans on here during the football coaching search (or the last several years for that matter) have basically said they considered withholding their donation pennies, by comparison, if Maturi wasn't fired or if other various things during the coaching search didn't happen the way they thought it should?

This guy is THE primary booster for their program, he's expressing his frustration with the athletic department and he's a complete ass?

Does anybody REALLY think he wants his money back? My guess is he's trying to bring light to the fact that there are likley major issues with the athletic department at UConn, and/or that he thinks the AD is incompetent. I guess this is the way he chose to express that.
 

It's crap like this and the Iowa tragedy that make me think the Apocalypse is around the corner.
 

Ogee Oglethorpe said:
The irony here is that how many Gopher fans on here during the football coaching search (or the last several years for that matter) have basically said they considered withholding their donation pennies, by comparison, if Maturi wasn't fired or if other various things during the coaching search didn't happen the way they thought it should?
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There's no irony. There is a vast difference between saying that you will not donate if you don't get what you want, and demanding your money back that you already donated.
 

RodentRampage said:
There's no irony. There is a vast difference between saying that you will not donate if you don't get what you want, and demanding your money back that you already donated.
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Vast difference? Are not both individuals intent on depriving the athletic department of their funds if they don't get what they want? I fail to see a lot of difference.

And like I said, I highly doubt this guy thinks he's getting any money back or even wants it back. He's trying (pretty damn successfully it appears) to shed light on something he and possibly many others are concerned about; the state of the UConn Athletic Department

Aren't people who threatened to not renew their season tickets or stop donating money because they're upset with Maturi doing the SAME THING?

I must be missing something...
 

Ogee Oglethorpe said:
Vast difference? Are not both individuals intent on depriving the athletic department of their funds if they don't get what they want? I fail to see a lot of difference.

And like I said, I highly doubt this guy thinks he's getting any money back or even wants it back. He's trying (pretty damn successfully it appears) to shed light on something he and possibly many others are concerned about; the state of the UConn Athletic Department

Aren't people who threatened to not renew their season tickets or stop donating money because they're upset with Maturi doing the SAME THING?

I must be missing something...
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You're definitely missing something. No difference? In one example you've given money but give no more. In the second, you give no more AND you take back a big some. Which way hurts the department more? Just because he's unlikely to win doesn't make his choice the same. People threatening to stop donating or buy tickets here at MN are example one, provide no more assistance. Unless your average joe season ticket holder is planning to take back 3 million dollars I'm not sure how they are even close to the same thing.

I do think they are equally dumb and fairweather however.

I doubt he gets it back either but the fact is that he's actually trying to and that he's airing this all out in public. This is Adam Kelly behavior from a guy with money and actual influence. All he's shedding light on is the fact that A) he's a dbag and B) that the UConn AD is an idiot for not finding a way to stroke this guy's ego.
 

Ogee Oglethorpe said:
Vast difference? Are not both individuals intent on depriving the athletic department of their funds if they don't get what they want? I fail to see a lot of difference.

And like I said, I highly doubt this guy thinks he's getting any money back or even wants it back. He's trying (pretty damn successfully it appears) to shed light on something he and possibly many others are concerned about; the state of the UConn Athletic Department

Aren't people who threatened to not renew their season tickets or stop donating money because they're upset with Maturi doing the SAME THING?

I must be missing something...
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Yes, the difference is vast. It's still my money until I donate it. Once I donate it, it is no longer my money. One is declining to give more of your money, and the other is insisting that someone else give you somebody else's money.
 

GoAUpher said:
You're definitely missing something. No difference? In one example you've given money but give no more. In the second, you give no more AND you take back a big some. Which way hurts the department more? Just because he's unlikely to win doesn't make his choice the same. People threatening to stop donating or buy tickets here at MN are example one, provide no more assistance. Unless your average joe season ticket holder is planning to take back 3 million dollars I'm not sure how they are even close to the same thing.

I do think they are equally dumb and fairweather however.

I doubt he gets it back either but the fact is that he's actually trying to and that he's airing this all out in public. This is Adam Kelly behavior from a guy with money and actual influence. All he's shedding light on is the fact that A) he's a dbag and B) that the UConn AD is an idiot for not finding a way to stroke this guy's ego.
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Ding, ding, ding.... This is the point I was trying to make in the first place. I wasn't defending the guy in any respect. Just thought it was amusing how many Gopher "fans" were on here during the season threatening this and threatening that and how many of the same may have been jumping all over this guy.

Bottom line; both behaviors were pretty childish and self-righteous IMO. "You did something I don't agree with and therefore I'm going to withhold something from you."

I still think there is much more at play here than most people are seeing. There's no way in the world this guy actually thinks he's getting a penny back. It's not going to happen and he knows this full well. Right or wrong, dbag or not, he has motives I would imagine that stretch far beyond making himself look bad.

It would not surprise me if this has played out in the media EXAXTLY how he planned when he originally opened up his mouth.
 

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