Is Paul Allen planning to sell the team?

Should Ben — or someone with similar access — write a detailed article on what the president of business operations does for a professional sports franchise?

It may educate some people, as well as clear up the rampant ignorance concerning the job description and what it entails.

Well, I never want to jump ship as far as the Blazers are concerned, but the problem I have is that I have been a faithful, loyal, hard core fan since I was five in ‘74. When I could change the channel, I was changing it to some hoops game, whether it be the nba, or ncaa. I was watching hoops.
Back then you couldn’t get but maybe 15 games a year due to the unavailability of cable and/or internet.
I watched as many games as I could. I hated the L@kers then as I do now. I even purchased Blazer cable ten years ago at over $200 a pop. That’s how dedicated I was.
I bought a house this last year in Gervais, which is between Salem and Woodburn. It is a beautiful house. The problem is there is no comcast out here and it is still within the blackout area. The only games I get to enjoy are local televised games and games such as that TNT L@ker telecast debacle. About 12, I think. Streaming is blacked out too because of my zip code. I would have to get creative,I guess, to watch a game or drive almost an hour and spend a ton of money to go to a game. I have tickets to the Atlanta game, the only ones I will have this season, and a set of Globetrotter tickets this weekend.
I suppose if I lived in Peru I would be able to watch more, or I could just become a fan of another team. Yikes.
So I agree with the idea that it, in my case, is becoming increasingly difficult to be a fan of something you are not allowed watch. I get a feeling that they do not care for my fierce loyalty or many other fans’ as well. Sigh.
So take my feeble advice and enjoy what you can, because I can only watch less than a sixth of the games (or less).

“Because there are no available GM candidates who satisfy Allen’s criteria”

Well, I wonder just what his criteria might be? I may well be over thinking this, but I have to wonder if Allen isn’t doing the same thing. I wonder how he ever hires anyone in his myriad businesses? Or, maybe he delegates most hiring decisions? At some point, he’s got to seriously weight whether not having the “perfect GM” (at least in his opinion) isn’t better than the current situation.

“He’s the president of business operations. Every professional sports franchise has one on staff”

In a post elsewhere you suggest that Dave or Ben write something explaining just what the Pres. of B.O. does. I, for one, think that’s a great idea. Just because pro franchise has one doesn’t particularly answer the question nor impress me. Would it be so far fetched that a person in such a position might actually see that a GM is hired, either by taking it upon themselves or working their buns off to convince the owner than he needs one. If you’re saying that every pro organization needs a figurehead that essentially does nothing, that would be pretty sad. Of course, it may well also be true. I only care about the Blazers having people who are actually productive and functional. The other teams can have all the moss growing amongst them they want.

“Nate acts like someone who’s just waiting to be fired, but no one can even make a decision to do that”

Let me explain. I’m probably projecting a lot of myself into this comment. If I were the head coach and my team was failing, I would be very concerned about the situation and about my role in it. I would also be expecting my boss to be breathing down my neck, telling me to either produce or I’m gone. I’d also be seriously considering looking for work elsewhere. Whatever the cause, whatever the excuses, the team’s success needs to be everyone’s number one objective. Now, maybe winning isn’t Allen’s number one objective anymore. Maybe as long as he can continue to sell a lot of tickets, then that’s what he really cares about. I know there are owners in pro sports who seem to have that attitude, and it makes me very sad for us sappy fans who continue to spend our money and our passion on what is a sham.

“There’s not enough talent, pure and simple”

I can’t disagree with you there-although I’d love to give this assemblage a run for it with a different coach-just to see what would happen. After all, what do we have to lose at this point? In any case, we can simply go back to square one-without an owner willing to do what it takes to win (including hiring the best available GM-not necessarily THEIR perfect GM)-then we’re out of luck. The only thing Blazer fans can do is settle for continued mediocrity, spend our money, and pretend that the team’s really trying to go in the right direction, OR, just kick the habit and quit caring unless there’s something to care about…

Dallas was a pretty weird assembly of talent last year and surprised to win it all. Remember, Portland was everyone’s favorite pick going into that series. I could still see Portland become a roster similar to Dallas’ last year. Cuban just kept tweaking, and tweaking that roster, got some vets who really wanted it and wallah, title town. I’d say we’ll need a GM for this dream to come true though!

Someone with deep pockets who isn’t also a micro-manager.

I like Paul Allen as Blazer owner. I appreciate his sacrifice and years of investment into the team. I think he has been an excellent owner. I’m only NOT wedded to the idea of Allen owning the Blazers from the P.O.V. that if for any reason he has or does decide he no longer wants to own The Blazers, then You, I or almost everyone won’t be able to stop him from selling.

I sincerely hope we are just misreading Paul Allens comments, I’d hope for a fully engaged Paul Allen who still cares and enjoys Blazer Ownership.

More than what we might hear from Larry Miller or even Paul Allen himself, I think the truth will be vetted out by the actions of the franchise. How we handle this summer should be very enlightening. There should be a clear difference in many of the upcoming decisions if Paul Allen is grooming The Blazers for a sale…as opposed to decisions if Paul Allen is still a motivated and dedicated owner.

But basically? If Paul Allen has lost interest? Probably nobody can change that. A Paul Allen that cares? I think is an excellent Owner. A Paul Allen that simply is viewing The Blazers as a financial Albatross, and no longer takes any pleasure in Blazer Ownership? Might as well sell The Blazers.

Paul Allen brings this type of speculation upon himself with his rare and sometime vague commentary. All it would take from Allen to end this type of speculation is the declaration that he is still a motivated and engaged owner, and that he has no longterm or shorterm plans on selling.

Of course I’m speculating…speculating a lot. But I too was concerned with his comment that he wasn’t up for another rebuilding cycle. Could I be reading way too much into this comment? Certainly. But since we are unlikely to get a flat, clear answer from either Paul Allen or Larry “Company Line” Miller…these concerns whether well founded or not are inevitably going to rise.