21st century Washington football in pictures.

Fired Washington AD Todd Turner–who “resigned” suddenly in a coupish tilt with boosters at the university–didn’t leave quietly, and bully for him for that. When you’re fired, you should take a few things with you, like paper clips, some stationery, a quickie with a co-worker in the bathroom, or half the building taken when you detonate the belt of C4 you’ve got wrapped around your penis for just such occasions. (Be prepared!)

Turner opted for the simple letter, where he bemoans the creep of boosters into the sport.

Frankly, I’ve grown concerned recently over the growing imbalance between what the public (i.e. fans) expects and the true purpose of intercollegiate athletics. It’s a frightening time to be in your positions if you truly believe in the ideal of the student-athlete within the framework of higher education…In recent days, I’ve seen a side of athletics that sickens me with the incessant interloping of uninformed, unenlightened, self-anointed experts who look upon intercollegiate athletics solely as entertainment to satisfy their own self interests.

…the same boosters who help pay your $325,000 salary as Athletic Director, a salary with bonuses built in to take it up to $425,000. Football pays for most other sports at big universities, and the Faustian deal you make when soliciting donations remains true across the board: when someone writes a check, they buy a share. And shareholders are cranky bitches when they don’t get wins or the proper funding for a stadium renovation, something UW needs for the octogenerian Husky Stadium.

Martin insists his firing has nothing to do with the vouchsafing of Ty Willingham’s job last week, and went to great lengths to say this in his interview.

“There will be a number of folks who will want to, I’m sure, integrate this somehow around coach Willingham. And that’s not the case at all,” Emmert said Tuesday. “I’m completely comfortable and confident in our decisions surrounding coach Willingham, and I look forward to him being our coach next fall.”

Using the recent standards for football/public relations as shorthand, this means it has everything to do with Willingham, and that boosters pitched an unholy fit when the news came down that Willingham was getting one more year.