The News Tribune (Lite) - Booster e-mails show seamy side of Huskydom

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Section: Opinion

Booster e-mails show seamy side of Huskydom

THE NEWS TRIBUNE
Who would have guessed that the state’s public records law would yield such a startling glimpse of another planet – the sometimes ugly world of fanatic Husky boosters who measure the quality of their lives by the success of Husky football?

Thanks to a Seattle Times public records request, the University of Washington has turned over hundreds of e-mail messages sent recently to UW President Mark Emmert, athletic director Todd Turner and football Coach Ty Willingham.

One of those messages was so shocking as to take your breath away. Sent by Ed Hansen, a former mayor of Everett and a multimillionaire booster, it offered huge bounties for the firings of Willingham and Turner, who’ve had three consecutive losing seasons.

“By this letter,” he wrote, “I hereby pledge to contribute a minimum of $100,000 toward a law school scholarship within 90 days, conditioned upon the termination of Ty Willingham as football coach.”

He offered another $100,000 carrot for Turner’s firing. Then a stick:

“Also, I do not intend to contribute any further funds to the athletic department as long as these two gentlemen are employed by the University.”

Hansen sent it Nov. 29, a few days after the Huskies were humiliated by the stumblebum Cougars in the Apple Cup. Does a losing season hurt that bad?

Although Emmert did subsequently fire Turner, Hansen’s baldfaced threat and offer don’t seem to have had anything to do with it.

It’s common for a booster to try to buy influence over a college team – heck, big-time collegiate football might not exist without the Hansens of this country. But his willingness to stealthily throw his fortune around evokes the under-the-table gifts boosters were giving to players in the early 1990s – producing the 1993 scandal that ended the legendary Don James era.

Hansen isn’t the only fan with more fervor than a tent meeting preacher. There was also the Seattle man who would no longer attend games until Willingham was gone “because now Husky Saturdays are days of sadness.”

And the fan who described the losing 2007 season as “another year of my life lost.” And the one who wrote that “keeping Tyrone Willingham is a slap to my face.” And the 100 or more boosters who threatened – like Hansen – to deny the team financial support unless two particular heads rolled.

Crazy stuff – but, apparently, nothing illegal. But if Emmert had taken Hansen up on his offer, the public would have every right to know. Without a public records law, Hansen’s secret offer might have remained just that: secret.