Is it just me, or does the announcement that the Seahawks are for sale seem poorly timed, like running out of beer and pizza at a game-watching party before halftime?
It seems like only a few days ago that the Seahawks won the Super Bowl because, hey, it was only a few days ago. Yet, now, fans — the vaunted 12s — are faced with the uncertainty of a new owner coming to town; a new owner who might have no ties to Seattle, might want to run the team on the cheap, might even want to move the whole operation to another city.
Talk about getting doused by a cold barrel of Gatorade just when we were still feeling the warm glow of victory.
Paul Allen was, perhaps, the best possible owner for our local footballers. He grew up here. He spent happy Saturdays with his dad watching games in Husky stadium, which made him insist on an open-air stadium for the Seahawks instead of another colossal closet like the Kingdome. He had more money than he could ever spend, so he was never going to be a miserly owner. When he died, the team was entrusted to his sister, Jody, who continued to oversee the operation in the Allen way.
Paul Allen stipulated in his will that the team would eventually be sold, with proceeds of the sale given to charity. That is a noble philanthropic legacy. But what about his football legacy? Will the next owner sustain it or tear it down?
The one thing fans should loudly demand (as if they have any power in the financial machinations of the NFL, but still …) is that the next owner be a local guy, gal or group — preferably someone who knows how to pronounce Puyallup and where to find a Dick’s Drive-In hamburger. We’ve got plenty of billionaires around here, so which one of them wants to buy a football team that just happens to be in possession of the Lombardi trophy?
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