Once again, Helen "Don't Call Me Carl" Jung has shined the light upon us, though my reaction to said enlightenment is similar to the reaction a prisoner in solitary confinement feels when seeing the sun for the first time in years: It burns. According to HJ's article in the Oregonian today, the suits at Vulcan (definitely not the most logical species in the universe) are claiming that those darn bond holders just won't play fair, declaring "negotiations have reached an impasse that may not be resolved," which have "forced (Vulcan) to look more seriously at our other options." I think we all know what those "other options" entail.
You know the negotiations aren't going well when one group, in this case Portland Arena Management, thinks that talks are at least progressing, and the other group, in this case Paulie Walnuts and Vulcan, believe negotiations to be dead in the water. I love having my emotions toyed with.
The more I think about it, the more I've come to believe that maybe it's not necessary for the Blazers to be packaged with the Rose Garden. The bridges between Paul Allen and PAM are so burned that there's no way the bondholders are going to go out of their way to help Allen out, but they may be so inclined to give a better deal to a new, untainted ownership group. Besides, with the ass-backwards way Vulcan operates, I wouldn't be surprised if they were pushing an offer that is simply infeasible for PAM, especially if Allen is deadest on recouping some of his massive losses.
If the Blazers weren't so damn vilified in the area, this would be a perfect issue for the local politicos to get involved with in a election year, but alas, not many votes are likely to be swayed when the only people who care whether this team stays or goes are we dwindling hard-core.
With Terry Porter seemingly out of the picture (I question how much of an influence he could have in the first place) it seems to me that there is only one person left who can save this thing: Tyler Assmus. Come on Assmus, work your magic, get this thing fixed, post ricky-tick!
Update: Dave, Henry, and Dwight also have good insight on ownership today. It always comes in three's.