Seattle ? It’s kind of assumed: Big-money boosters will, from time to time, try to influence the direction of their favorite college teams, however discreetly. But when Ed Hansen – lawyer, multimillionaire, University of Washington alumnus and former three-term Everett mayor – wrote UW President Mark Emmert six weeks ago, he abandoned all sense of delicacy.
Hansen, unhappy with the state of Huskies football, placed a price upon the head of the football coach and the school’s athletic director. His e-mail said:
“By this letter I hereby pledge to contribute a minimum of $100,000 towards a law school scholarship within 90 days, conditioned upon the termination of Ty Willingham as football coach.”