Somebody remind me again why Allen sold off the rights to the Rose Garden? I forgot, it can't be because he ran out of money or was it a Whitsitt screw-up?

It just seems that is the 2nd way (after TV revenues) these guys make money on teams.

I don't fully understand what-the-hell happened with that stadium default deal, but it sure does smell like Paul Allen was playing high-stakes p0ker, went all in, and only then discovered he was holding junk cards.

Yep. Like everything else he's done.

After DOS, of course. 8c)

Let this be a lesson to all, never buy an over-milked sports team from a Glickman.

If we're asking questions, in the AP story of 2/24 (a PR job) Allen's people said he lost $12 billion dollars on various enterprises in the past decade.

Man - that's a big number even if you're El Jefe in Baghdad. Gotta be some sort of record. $12 billion and about $975 dollars of that was MY MONEY. Damnit. Damnit. Where's that Linux book...

C

Mr. Allen: [on phone] Hello, Vegas? Put $10 billion on red. [pause] What? D'oh! Ok, I'll send you a check.

Paul Allen with a TIN CUP on the public highway.
Does he have a CARDBOARD sign "Will stay for public subsidy"?

The best part is David Stern saying "Don't panic." O.k., Dave, when we wake up, we won't panic.

I don't believe the Malloofs (owners of the Kings and the Palms Hotel/Casino) would allow Allen to beat them to Sin City. More likely, even though Stern denies it, Allen sells the Blazers and buys the Sonics with the proviso they build him a new arena. New owners then come into Portland, buy the arena(s) and an NHL team. Everybody wins.

I hope so. Maybe Peter Kohler can run it for them. 8c)

Didn't Paul Allen screw over a bunch of people when he filed bankruptcy? I thought I heard that a lot of people lost their pension, when he filed.

He should have to repay double to everyone who lost money from him, and maybe he will be able to buy back the Rose Garden.

Maybe.

He won't move them because he can't get out of his lease... and once he sells them, the NBA will NEVER, EVER let him back in the club as far as the Sonics are concerned... he's an embarrassment to them, too

New owners' due diligence will include taking a sober look at the way the local media have treated the current ownership and the team's most recent stars. One big question: The Blazers pulled their advertising from The bOregonion? What's the story with that?

And what about our Legislature? The Baseball stadium deal - a players' salary tax deal to fund infrastructure bonds - is going to look bad, as it should. Because it's no great leap to imagine the income surtax being extended to NBA players - and the rest of us residing or working here for that matter.

And then there's the local unpredictability factor: with the cast of characters we have running the public trough here, who knows what other unfathomable money-for-nothing scheme would be dished up for a deep-pocketed owner as some form of subsidy.

It would be, you know, just one component of a vaunted public-private partnership where everyone in the community would sacrifice in order to save professional sports in Portland.

Kinda like how the Tram is saving biotech - and that public investment value is incalculable.

Maybe the new Rose Garden owner will buy the team for pennies on the dollar.

I don't understand why owners of professional sports franchises feel it is their God-given right to turn a profit. If you run your franchise into the ground with a steady stream of poor business decisions, then you lose money and it isn't the responsibility of the community to put you back in black figures. Am I missing something?

How much money has he really even lost? IIRC he bought the team for less than 100 mil and they are now worth upwards of 300 mil, so even if he has lost the 100 mil he claims the last few years he is still ahead.

The Seattle weekly notices the similarity in the problems claimed by the Sonics and Blazers and has a few novel ideas, here is one:

1. Merger. Starting next season, the Seattle and Portland clubs could combine resources and play as one team: the SeaPort SuperBlazers, perhaps, or the West Cascade TrailSonics. Home games could be played halfway to Portland on Interstate 5, in a gymnasium in Centralia or Chehalis. Most school gyms can easily handle the kinds of crowds the Allen and Schultz teams have been drawing. Many fans from both the Seattle and Portland areas could commute to games via Amtrak. This would save them money because such train tickets actually cost less than parking near the Rose Garden or Seattle's KeyArena. Plus, the 90-minute railroad commute to games would be a breeze compared with the two hours it presently takes to, say, drive from Bellevue to Lower Queen Anne for a Sonics game. Another advantage: Combining the roster talent of the two teams might result in an NBA team that could place as high as third in the league's Northworst Division.