August 4, 2026 • 39 mins
In the second hour, Oregon's best sports journalist, John Canzano joins the show for a full hour! He and Softy talk about UW vs Oregon and how it is now bigger than the Apple Cup and Civil War, look at the Mariners after the trade deadline, whether Dan Wilson is to blame for this season, the latest on the Trailblazers, is Oregon running away from Washington in football and thoughts on Jody Allen in Seattle vs Portland.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Now from the Star Renels Sports to us Jordan ninety
three point three KJRFM sports headlines height.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Here we go on a busy Tuesday afternoon, live from
the Virginia Mason Athletics Center. A big thanks for our
friends at the Boeing Classic for sponsoring this thing all
camp long, live right here on ninety three to three
KJRFM headlines, of course, are brought to you by our
friends at Frostbrewed Corps.
Speaker 3 (00:22):
Light as cold as the Rockies. He's son of them.
I sat there go is this nine.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
Mariner is starting a three game series with the Tigers tonight.
They need some wins in badly. Fifty five and fifty eight,
two and a half games out in the West, and
lots of moves made today. Brendan Donovan activated. He will
start at third base tonight. The M's also releasing rob
Refsneider and Mitch Garver, Johnny Pareda called up from Triple
A Tacoma, and Luke Rayley expected to.
Speaker 3 (00:48):
Miss the rest of the year. Lots of news in
the NFL.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
Bejon Robinson Atlanta now the highest paid running back in
the history of the NFL. Three years, seventy five million,
dollars with fifty one million dollars guaranteed. And how about
Zay Flowers Ravens wide receiver four years, one hundred and
forty million, thirty five million bucks a year makes them
the fourth highest paid receiver in the NFL. And the
Coaches Poll College Football Coaches Poll came out today. Ohio
State number one, Oregon Ducks number two, Georgia, Texas Notre Dame.
(01:15):
The Huskies ranked after being unranked to start the year
last season, they debut at number nineteen this year. Well, Travis,
I'll tell you what as we continue here from the
Virginia Masa Athletics Center, and again big thanks from our
friends at the Boeing Classic. Take us start at twenty
bucks and kids get in for free. August fourteenth through
the sixteenth. We have confirmed that Freddie Boomboom Couples will
(01:38):
be playing in the Boeing Classic against then't Calomme Ridge
next weekend. So fun for the whole family. Jump on
the website Boweingclassic dot com. We are back at the
vMac and Travis, I gotta tell you a lot of
things that I'd like to cross off my bucket list
in my radio career before it's all said and done.
Speaker 3 (01:55):
Doing a radio show with John Gonzano was.
Speaker 2 (01:57):
Not on the list, but he's here right now, so
we welcome him to the program for the next hour.
Speaker 3 (02:03):
My friend John Gonzano with us, Johnny Hew.
Speaker 4 (02:05):
I love how you wrap your arms around me every
time I come on your show. You wrap it every
time you come on my show. You wrap your arms
around me, softy.
Speaker 5 (02:12):
Great to be on.
Speaker 3 (02:13):
Well, it's great to have you. Man.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
We got to have a little bit of friction from
Seattle to Portland. We can't all be buddy buddy all
the time. But you know how much I love you. You
know how much I respect the work that you do
down there in Oregon. Man, what you've established down there
is amazing. And I thought, you know what with with
dick out today, Uh, why not do this right, Let's
let's let's get you on, let's have some fun, let's
(02:36):
host an hour radio. If it's gonna come, we gonna
say if we think it's miserable and painful, that we
can just scrap it. We won't podcast it, Nobody will
know whatever happened. We'll never do it again, no harm,
no foul, and you move on. But if there's some
magic there. Who knows, maybe one day we'll have you
back on.
Speaker 4 (02:53):
So keep thinking about I keep thinking about Wally Pip,
and we'll end up like the infamous Pip and two
thousand games later, two thousand shows later, I'm with su.
Speaker 3 (03:04):
Right, that's right, you're the new lou gerrig Man.
Speaker 2 (03:07):
Dick is out. This is the last we ever heard
of Dick Fane. By the way, Well, why don't we
just kind of jump into it, man? I mean, we
got the Mariners up here with their deal, we got
the Seahawks starting their Super Bowl run. And I know
you guys are all Blazer fans and Duck fans and
Beaver fans and Thorn fans down there, but there's a
lot of Mariner fans running around that town. There's a
lot of Seahawk fans running around Oregon. How much of
(03:30):
all this is being discussed down there in your parts, man.
Speaker 3 (03:33):
Quite a bit.
Speaker 4 (03:33):
I mean, as much as people will not want to
admit it. In Portland, there is a lot of looking
towards Seattle. And when you go through the parking lot,
you've been at Mariners games.
Speaker 5 (03:42):
Go through the.
Speaker 4 (03:42):
Parking lot, look at the license plates in the parking lot.
You're gonna see a lot of organ license plates up
there for Seahawks games. You're gonna see a lot of
organ license plates for Mariners games. There's animosity, I think,
probably more so than ever because we've stopped pretending that
the Apple Cup and the Silvil War are the more
important rivalries to the two other schools, and now I
(04:04):
think it's more about whatever we're calling.
Speaker 5 (04:05):
What do we call that thing? The Husky duck white rivalry?
What do we call it?
Speaker 3 (04:09):
I have no idea, man.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
We've had all kinds of different names thrown around the
Border War.
Speaker 3 (04:15):
I have no idea.
Speaker 2 (04:16):
There's been a lot of opportunities to name it. Nobody's
ever done it. But yeah, you're right, man, I mean
the Apple Cup. Dude, I got I got Cougar friends
of mine, lots of Cougar buddies of mine. I'm playing
golf with the guy over the weekend who's a big Cougar.
Fans like, Hey, are you going to the Apple Cup?
His response is wins the game? He has no idea.
It's the first game of the year. You have no idea, John,
how hurt Cougar fans are? And I'm not saying this
(04:37):
to be an a hole by the way, like I
actually mean this.
Speaker 3 (04:39):
I get it. I'd be pissed off if I were
them too.
Speaker 2 (04:41):
They are hurt, they are heartbroken, they are despondent, and
a lot of them, including your buddy Ian Furness.
Speaker 3 (04:47):
Want nothing to do with the Apple Cup. They're done.
Speaker 5 (04:50):
Yeah, why would they?
Speaker 4 (04:51):
Because you look at the disparity and what these teams
can spend, and you know, like everybody talks about the
Big ten in the SEC running away from the Big
twelve in the a SEC, and that's going happen over time.
When you were funding at like twenty million dollars a
year more inside your programs, over eight or ten years,
you start to lose sight of those those conferences from
the front windshield. But how about Oregon State and Washington State.
(05:12):
You know you're getting what you're getting three point six
million dollars from the CFP distributions, and you're looking over
at Washington and Oregon and when they are fully funded
and you know, beleeve vested members of the Big ten,
we're talking about twenty million plus. You can't keep up.
It's not sustainable. It's not even a one off opportunity.
So the hope is that maybe some of this new
legislation will level the playing field a little bit for everybody,
(05:35):
But those rivalries and tradition have been trampled.
Speaker 3 (05:39):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (05:39):
Well, let me go back to the to the Mariner
Seahawk thing, because we're feeling it up here in Seattle, John,
with this Mariner baseball team.
Speaker 3 (05:45):
I mean, people.
Speaker 2 (05:46):
Are they're starting to get pissed off, right, I mean
they'll get really pissed if this thing goes south in
a hurry. They got the Tigers this week, but then
they got the Astros, they got the Yankees, they got Milwaukee'
so they got a run from hell coming up here
in the next couple weeks. And if they all behind
they wake up six seven games out, Uh, they're gonna
start hearing it. Man, And they're and they're kind of
hearing it already. Do you see that same passion though
(06:08):
down there? Like I don't know how much sports talk
radio you listen to, you do your deal, people tweeting you,
emailing you, do you have pissed off Mariner fans down
there that are just as passionate down there as we
are up here.
Speaker 4 (06:19):
That mean there's yeah, there's more angst right now because
of the Blazer situation around that, that's what people are
talking about. But I'll tell you the Mariners last year
getting to the ALCS did something with expectations.
Speaker 5 (06:33):
And you know we're talking.
Speaker 4 (06:34):
You know, this is a team that had had some
bad years, right, but you look at the last four seasons,
you get you had two couple of playoff runs, expectations rose,
You had a manager get fired because of the expectations rose.
Speaker 5 (06:46):
And so I think too, I think it's good.
Speaker 4 (06:48):
I think it's good that people are passionate and upset,
and the executives with a team will say, well, it
just means that they care about, you know, what happens
with this team, and that's good for their business.
Speaker 6 (06:57):
But in the end, you have to deliver. You met
you were talking about the Dodgers on the other side
of the break.
Speaker 4 (07:02):
You have to deliver. You have to keep raising the ceiling.
And that's where the Mariners are.
Speaker 3 (07:06):
Yeah, I just I don't know, man.
Speaker 2 (07:07):
I mean, most of the Yanks has been directed towards
Dan Wilson up here, and look, I mean I kind
of separate the player from the manager. His reputation up
here as a player is set in Stone. It's in granted,
he was a member of that ninety five team, ninety
seven playoff team two thousand, two thousand and one, so
he's got nothing to worry about it. And I think
(07:28):
he really fell on the sword for this baseball team.
They got rid of Scott's service, it was going to
be hard to bring in anybody there and hire them
from the outside unless they promised them the full time gig.
And the only guy that Stanton felt comfortable with is
Dan Wilson.
Speaker 3 (07:41):
So in some ways I kind of feel bad for Danny.
Speaker 2 (07:44):
But if you want to whack him and go with
somebody else over the offseason, then whack him and go
with somebody else. But I don't know, man, I just
the collapse of guys like cal Rawley, right, like Josh
Naylor is on a twenty four game on Bay streak,
but he hasn't hit a home run for seven weeks.
Speaker 3 (07:57):
John his last home run at Tea Mobile Park was
the first of June. It's unbelievable how these guys have
fallen off.
Speaker 2 (08:03):
So how much do you think we should be ripping
the manager versus ripping the players up here?
Speaker 4 (08:09):
I look at the roster first, but if the roster
construction is there, and you tell me I thought it
was there at the end of last season. I didn't
start for Dan Wilson in the playoffs, didn't the postseason start.
Sort of the the criticism always too reliant on analytics,
so he made some bad decisions. And the other thing is,
when you're frustrated as a fan, you want to see
(08:30):
the coach or the manager frustrated, and some of his
easy going, calm kind of demeanor I think flies in
the face of that. I know Nate McMillan suffered with
that with the Blazers, Like when Blazer fans were upset
and wanted better results, watching Nate poised and calm on
the bench was not what you wanted to see. You
wanted to see a guy who's in it with you.
(08:51):
And I wonder if that's the big criticism of Dan Wilson.
Does it go back to the postseason last year, and
does it really center around the idea that when fans
are frustrated, they want to know the manager's frustrated.
Speaker 2 (09:02):
Right, But that's not his personality and it never has
been his personality, right, Like, who.
Speaker 3 (09:06):
Knows what he's doing behind the scenes?
Speaker 2 (09:08):
Who knows what he's doing when he watched on his
front door after a game, and I think fans would
see right through that. Do you remember John McClaren, the
old Mariner Skipper had like the worst prescripted rant of
all time. It was like his reading off a telepropter.
Speaker 3 (09:21):
It was terrible.
Speaker 2 (09:22):
I mean, I mean, that's exactly what Dan Wilson would
sound like. And nobody really says anything about this kind
of stuff when you're winning games and you're in Game
seven of the Alcs, But when you lose, all this
stuff comes.
Speaker 3 (09:34):
To the forefront.
Speaker 2 (09:34):
So I don't know, John, I mean, this is fifty
years now of this. They got the top fifty thing
on Saturday, they got a home run derby after the
game on Friday. All of it seems kind of odd
from a timing perspective, especially now with Tampa Bay coming
into town. But you got to know that there's dudes
like me that have been doing this for a long time.
I'll be fifty three years old in a week and
I'm starting to wonder if I'm ever going to live
(09:56):
to see a World Series in my life.
Speaker 4 (09:59):
Well, is it like people try to overcomplicate things? I
was talking with someone today, where about the Blazers situation?
And you know, and I was thinking about other things.
But you know, there's a principle that says, when there
are multiple explanations for something, it's usually the one.
Speaker 5 (10:13):
That is the simplest.
Speaker 4 (10:14):
It's Okham's razor, right, It's the simplest explanation that you
have to fall back on.
Speaker 3 (10:18):
Isn't the simplest.
Speaker 4 (10:19):
Explanation that the Mariner's roster isn't good enough? And that maybe, yes,
the manager is a guy who goes a little bit
too much on analytics, and he feels a little scripted
at times, and he's not emotional. But isn't the simplest
explanation that his players aren't as good as the other teams?
Speaker 5 (10:34):
Isn't that?
Speaker 2 (10:35):
I mean Kyl Riley obviously isn't last year. That's not
what he is. I mean, it took one hundred years
for a catcher to hit sixty home runs and to
expect that to happen again it is ridiculous. But could
he have been the guy we saw in twenty twenty
four in twenty twenty three? Can he be a twenty
five home run ninety RBI guy? I mean, he's nowhere
near that.
Speaker 3 (10:53):
Man. I mean, this dude's getting the he's.
Speaker 2 (10:55):
Getting the Brady Anderson treatment from people up here. People
were starting to wonder, man was the last year? I mean, like,
what the hell is going on with this dude? The
drop off is insane.
Speaker 4 (11:05):
I think the explanation for Raleigh is, look at the
position he played. There was a reason why catchers didn't
do this. Look at the long season they had with
the postseason, Look at the World Baseball Classic. Did Dan
Wilson get this guy a break? I mean, did Kyle
Rally do himself a disservice by playing too much into
the postseason? Did he need some time off? There's a
reason why catchers don't hit fifty bombs.
Speaker 3 (11:28):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (11:28):
Well, and then Josh Naylor is not the guy that
he was when he came here and was red hot
in the months of August and September last year, when
all the vibes are good because you had Aohanio, there's
no doubt. You know, Munno's never had the kind of
bump that he had this year. So I get all that,
But you know what, man, I mean, when you have
an American League West, it is this piss poor as
this one is right now. That's the thing, Like, they're
(11:49):
not even taking advantage of their talent. They're not even
taking advantage of a terrible division. They're bad no matter
what division they play in in Major League Baseball. They
played in the AL East, the L East, it'd be done.
They'd be eight or nine games out. We're not even
talking about this, John, So that's the rub for me.
That's the disappointment that you've been given this gift. Right,
like three years ago, they missed the playoffs with the
(12:11):
number one ERA in baseball in a year where they
expanded the postseason and it was it was easy as
ever to make the playoffs, and they can't do it
with the number one ERA in Major League Baseball. So
they're getting all these gifts and they're just giving them
right back.
Speaker 4 (12:25):
And I think, if you're a Maritors fan, you've got
to ask yourself how much of your disappointment right now
hinges on last year? And you started this segment and
I forgive you because you're you're a lifelong Mariners fan,
but you started this segment talking about how potentially dire
this next stretch is for the Mariners, Right, isn't the
isn't the truer narrative that this is the opportunity for
(12:46):
a pivot point for a team that's played around five
hundred ball, like we always see, a team that catches
fire late in the season gets into the playoffs.
Speaker 5 (12:55):
Wild card teams traditionally in this era have done very well.
Speaker 4 (12:59):
Isn't the mayor aren't the meritiths positioned here to kind
of pivot? Don't they have Don't they have a little
bit of magic from last year? Haven't they underachieved at
this point where you might expect, you might expect.
Speaker 5 (13:09):
A little bit of a breakout here.
Speaker 2 (13:10):
I've been saying that for two weeks that this is
it's coming, It's coming, It's coming, and it hasn't come yet.
Speaker 3 (13:16):
I've been saying it with Cal Rowley. It's gonna come.
Speaker 2 (13:19):
There's just gotta be a little bit of a of
a burp, right, I mean, if were hooked up to
the uh what's the machine they use to measure your
heart rate or whatever it's called when you're in the
EKG or whatever.
Speaker 3 (13:30):
Yeah, there's gotta be a bleep.
Speaker 2 (13:32):
There's gotta be a couple of bleeps coming on the
EKG for this baseball team. And it just doesn't happen.
So look, I mean, the schedule is a schedule. I'm
not as worried about the opponent as much as I
am them. When you're playing bad baseball, it doesn't really
matter who you're playing for crying out loud. They've lost
some series against some pretty bad teams. But I would
say this series against the Tigers is a giant one
for them, no doubt, because of two things. Number One,
(13:55):
the Tigers are waving the white flag. There are a
half game out behind the Mariners in the Wildcard. They're
waving white flag by giving away Schooble. And number two,
I would assume that there is some shell shock in
that clubhouse because their best pitcher just got traded and
the Tiger ownership basically told them, we don't care if
you're two and a half games out.
Speaker 3 (14:12):
You're not going anywhere. We don't believe in you. You're done.
Speaker 2 (14:15):
So I'm really curious John to see if they can
take advantage of that starting tonight.
Speaker 4 (14:19):
Well, that's what happens this time of year. The Mariners
make seven roster moves. They're getting ready for the postseason.
You have other teams that are cutting bait, cutting salary,
but and you know, and you've got a team in
Detroit that.
Speaker 5 (14:30):
Is not a very good team.
Speaker 4 (14:32):
You know, they're middle they're very mediocre, and you're right,
they're waving the white flag. So this should be a
This is a golden opportunity for you. You've been asking
for that heartbeat. The heartbeat starts. Now, Why am I
stilling all the optimism? Why am I the ray of
sunshine on this show?
Speaker 2 (14:46):
Because you don't have to live with this every single
damn day of your life. All Right, you can pivot
and talk about the ducks or the Blazer situation, or
the fire or the thorns, whatever the hell you call
them down there. You're not staring this misery right in
the face John, the way we are. But John Gonzano's
in for us for the next hour or so on
the radio show. And look, man, you mentioned it, the
(15:08):
Blazer situation. We've been talking a lot about it up
here in Seattle. We're very selfish from that perspective, because
I think the majority of our conversations about what's happening
in Portland have nothing to do with the way it
impacts you guys down there, but how it.
Speaker 3 (15:23):
Impacts us here in Seattle.
Speaker 2 (15:25):
And I was on your show a couple days ago, right,
we talked about this, and I just got to hope
and just think that people in Portland will realize that
if you lose this basketball team. Number one, there's a
chance they're never coming back. Number two, there's a chance
you're never ever getting another major league caliber team of
any sport in your town. And number three, did you
bozos not learn a lesson by what happened two hundred
(15:48):
miles north twenty years ago?
Speaker 3 (15:50):
Does anybody care? Is anybody there remember any of that whatsoever?
Down there?
Speaker 4 (15:55):
The Tom Dundon thing is fascinating because Portland seemingly could
get out everything right here and still not keep the team. Dundon,
on his very first week on the job, fired the
consulting firm that Jody Allen had brought in. He fired
the lobbyists she had hired, He fired the franchise attorneys.
You know that Trio had led the charge in getting
(16:16):
Oregon to loosen its grip on that first piece of
that six hundred million dollar arena funding that they got
from the state, and now now the county and the
city are the other two pieces there, and the county
and the city this week, the county should free up
the money that they were going to put towards the renovations.
Next week, the city will do it. I'm telling you,
softy that the crazies here that run the city, the
(16:40):
leadership that is normally crazy in the vocal minority, the
yahoos that are in charge in the city are mostly
getting this right. And Dundon is still not at the
table negotiating because I think down deep he may have
bought the Blazers at four point twenty five billion dollars
with the idea that hey, I'm not paying seven or
eight or nine billion for an expansion team. I'm just
(17:02):
gonna grab the Blazers at four and a quarter and
I'm gonna move them somewhere else and they'll be worth
more because of that.
Speaker 5 (17:07):
This guy doesn't care about Portland. He does. He's Clay
Bennett two point zero.
Speaker 2 (17:12):
Well, go back to what you said there about the
crazies that are running Portland, because I'm curious about that,
because there is a there's a perception that we've got
up here in Seattle.
Speaker 3 (17:21):
I was there.
Speaker 2 (17:21):
Last time I was down there was I think a
year ago. I was there for a bachelor party, went downtown,
had a great time, dinner, golf, the whole thing, fun whatever.
It seemed to be fair to clean where we were staying,
so I enjoyed it. But I don't live there. I'm not,
you know, taking the tour of the suburbs and the
entire city the way you are. There's a perception about
Portland that there's left wing lunatics in charge of everything.
Speaker 3 (17:44):
Right, purple haired weirdos. Yep.
Speaker 2 (17:46):
That would you know, rather go out and build a
you know, giant wicker basket for people to sleep in,
then throw a penny at the Blazers to keep the
NBA in town.
Speaker 3 (17:57):
Am I getting that right?
Speaker 5 (17:58):
Or am I winning rights? It's a hard place to
do business.
Speaker 4 (18:02):
I'll tell you about a lunch meeting I had with
Tim Boyle, who's the CEO of Columbia Sportswear. He, you know,
Portland based company, big time company aside from Nike or Adidas,
Columbia's that that next piece there, that tenth pole in
the region. Well, he wanted to have his company headquartered
in Portland. He you know, he wanted to identified a
building in Portland, said we're gonna buy this building. We're
(18:24):
going to headquarter there, We're gonna be a Portland company.
And when he began that process to purchase the building,
the city stepped in and said, hold on, we have
plans for that building. We are going to take that
building over eminent domain. You can't have the building.
Speaker 3 (18:38):
Uh.
Speaker 4 (18:38):
He ended up in unincorporated Washington County, where Nike is.
Speaker 5 (18:42):
The city never.
Speaker 4 (18:43):
Developed the building that it took from underneath Columbia sportswear.
They lost out on tens of millions of dollars in
tax revenue per year. They lost out on having a
company be able to have a Portland zip code. They
blew it in the same way that they drove Nike off.
They drove Columbia Sports.
Speaker 3 (19:01):
We're off.
Speaker 5 (19:01):
Dutch Bros. Has relocated out of the state.
Speaker 4 (19:03):
There are a number of other companies that have said
it's too hard to do business in Portland. It's too
hard to do business in the state of Oregon. We're
going across the border into Washington or other places to
headquarter our companies.
Speaker 5 (19:13):
So it is a lousy place to do business.
Speaker 3 (19:16):
It's hard well.
Speaker 4 (19:17):
Tim Boyle told me this when he brings in executives
to interview for jobs at Columbia.
Speaker 5 (19:22):
He brings them in at night.
Speaker 4 (19:23):
He brings them in so they don't have to see
the four h five freeway as they go, you know,
from the airport to his headquarters out in Washington County.
Because for a while there, people know what it looked like.
It was tents and tarps. It wasn't somewhere anybody wanted
to live or call home. And so what Boyle did
is he said he wrote a check to the city.
He sent the city one hundred thousand dollars and said,
(19:43):
clean up that corridor.
Speaker 5 (19:45):
I'll pay for it. The city sent him back the check.
Speaker 6 (19:48):
The blue haired, purple haired weirdos with you know, they
send him back the check because they said, hey, we
don't know how to do this, and so they've had
to outsource and hire private companies to come and clean
things up.
Speaker 4 (20:02):
That's just part of doing business in Portland. And so
what happens is when you go to make a deal
with the city and the Blazers know it's a tough
place to do business. It's tough for sponsorships. Probably that's
probably the key piece. Is you drive away spot, you
drive away businesses, you're driving away sponsors and so all
of a sudden you don't have it as easy from
a corporate sponsorship standpoint, and it was hard to begin with.
(20:24):
And so the Blazers are near the bottom of the
league in corp corporate sponsorships, near the bottom of the
league in ticket prices. But they have this rabid fan
base that will support and support and support you know
it in Seattle. But the leadership in Portland limited, limited
bandwidth when it comes to normalcy and getting things done.
Speaker 6 (20:43):
But I give them credit to this point. They're at
the table, They've got a term sheet.
Speaker 4 (20:47):
Yeah, and Dundon, the new owner, is the guy going
I'm just not interested in negotiating, And so I don't
know what's gonna happen here.
Speaker 5 (20:54):
If Adam Silver doesn't step in.
Speaker 2 (20:56):
Right, well, let's got to break John Gonzano in until
five o'clock. Your podcast partner, Johnny Wilner, will join us.
By the way, at five, we're gonna hear I think
from Jetfish as well at five point thirty today. I
want to come back and discuss a comment that you
made on your show the other day with me regarding
where the duck dog rivalry is out is at, because
(21:16):
I thought you were way off base. I want to
give you a chance to redeem yourself, all right, and
prove me wrong. Convince me that you were right and
I was wrong. We'll explain that next on ninety three
three KJRFM.
Speaker 1 (21:29):
Now back to Sufdie and Dick at the Virginia Mason
Athletics Center and our special coverage of Seahawks training camp,
brought to you by the Boeing Classic BUN Sports Radio
ninety three point three kJ r FM.
Speaker 2 (21:44):
All right, John Wilner will join us at five o'clock tonight.
We're gonna hear from Jetfish as well, I believe in
the five pm hour after you Media day this afternoon,
Safty Dick Jackson with you with no Dick and Jackson.
Travis Theogermoger is back in the studio, by the way,
which means we have a special co host, John Gonzano
(22:05):
Johnkonzono dot com, Bald Face Truth Podcast on YouTube. Great watch,
great listen. Guy knows what he's talking about, unlike us.
So it's good to have you here with us to
spread some actual intelligent information. Looking to Wallypip Dick Fane,
don't stoop there, and so we'll see at the end
of this hour what people think about that. But last
(22:26):
time I was on your show, God, was it two
days ago?
Speaker 3 (22:30):
Was it yesterday? What was I on with you?
Speaker 4 (22:31):
By the way, two days ago? Early morning we had
an early morning encounter. You're not a morning person. I'm
not a morning person, and yeah.
Speaker 2 (22:38):
Really, which is why I was shocked that you asked
me to do it. But we had fun. We talked
some sonics, we talked some dogs and ducks, and you
you hit me with a comment that I immediately was like,
wait a minute, that doesn't make any sense to me.
But you know what, a lot of stuff, John doesn't
make sense to me. So it's not, you know, really
a big surprise. You said, hey, it looks like the
Ducks are starting to run away from the dogs again.
And I'm thinking, wait a minute. Washington won three games
(23:01):
in a row, including the biggest game in their rival's
history twice when they were both in the top ten
in twenty twenty three in Seattle, and then I remember
after that loss to the Huskies in twenty twenty three,
people like you would say things like, oh, Oregon's piss man.
Speaker 3 (23:17):
They're coming, they're fired up, they're angry about what happened.
Speaker 2 (23:20):
Then guess what They lost again in Vegas in the
second maybe the biggest game in rivalry history at that
point in time. Then the program gets blown to Kingdom.
Come with Kaitlin de Boor leaving what Oregon hammers you
dub kicks their ass. I mean, the final score wasn't
even close to showing how badly the Huskies were dominated
by the way of that day in Eugene with a
(23:42):
terrible roster. Then Jedfish comes in, does a little you know,
cosmetic work, does this, does that, and with eight minutes
to go in the fourth quarter last year, Huskies are
within five points. So when you say Oregon's running away
from U DUB, what are you talking about?
Speaker 3 (23:58):
Man?
Speaker 4 (23:58):
I'm I'm I'm recognizing that something changed in college football.
Speaker 5 (24:02):
A couple of years ago.
Speaker 4 (24:03):
Kaylin de Bort left Washington, not just for Alabama, but
I think he left Washington because he saw what was happening.
I think I think the Pac twelve teams and coaches
were all kind of looking around, going, this is not sustainable.
This is not going to be what it once was.
The ground beneath their feet shifted, the sands shifted.
Speaker 5 (24:23):
Dan Lanning and the Ducks.
Speaker 4 (24:25):
Have been planning for this thing for twenty years and
it really happened before long before Landing got there, Oregon
was doing some things with Uncle Phil that nobody else
was doing, and they're in better position because of it.
Why is Oregon succeeding in this era? Why are they
in the top two teams in the preseason poll today?
They're there because they have been positioned for this nil
(24:46):
transfer portal wild West World better than anybody. And unfortunately,
and this is no real knock on Washington, because Washington's
like a lot of other schools that are really good
and they're trying, but.
Speaker 5 (24:57):
Washington doesn't have Uncle Phil. Washington doesn't have an angle.
Speaker 4 (25:00):
Washington doesn't have an inside track to getting to the
top of the Big Ten Conference, which means you got
a path to the top of the CFP. So what
I looked at last year's game and I was there
in Seattle. Yeah, it was twenty six to fourteen. Here's
your final on paper. That looks like a decent game.
I at no point of that game, Softy thought that
(25:20):
Washington could win that game. It was zero zero and
there was no chats for Washington to win that game.
I just thought it was a matter of Oregon sort
of exerting its will, making enough plays and then going
into a shell, kind of waiting for the game to end.
And that is the way that, like, I think superior
teams and programs play in this era. And I just
(25:41):
wonder I would look at the next five games between
these two teams, and I think, if it doesn't happen
this year for Jedfish and Washington, like if they can't
decisively close that gap and look like they belong on
the same field as Organ because the last two times,
I don't think they looked like they belonged. Even though
you say it was four points in the third four
points of the you still lost the all right, So
(26:01):
if Washington can't win with Demon Williams Junior in five
returning offensive linemen and your three of Jedfish supposed to
be this breakout year, I don't think it's gonna happen
in the next five years.
Speaker 5 (26:11):
I think Oregon's gonna win the next five.
Speaker 2 (26:13):
Well, I think the gap in talent is closing in
favor of you Dub. Is it closing in favor of
you Dub where they're passing Oregon? Not yet, but it's
getting closer. I mean, John, I kind of throw out. Honestly,
I throw out what happened two years ago. I mean
that was an absolute disgrace. Washington did not have one
starter back on offense.
Speaker 3 (26:32):
Not one.
Speaker 2 (26:33):
They lost everybody, tire line, the whole thing. They were
horrible roster wise. Now they're way better. So look, I'm
with you that I'm curious to see what happens in
the next couple of years here. I'm really curious to
see what happens this year down in Eugene. But I
would also say to Oregon fans, and you tell me
if I'm nuts, that this is the era of college
(26:53):
football where Oregon needs to take advantage of this and
win a title because this is potentially gonna change one day,
free Willie spending whatever you want, you know, nil out
of control. At one point, this is gonna maybe get
under control and they're gonna corral this. But until they do, right,
there's a window here for Oregon where if we're gonna
talk about how great Phil Knight is and the facilities
(27:15):
and blah blah blah. Okay, then this is the window
before this thing all changes where the Ducks have to
win a championship.
Speaker 4 (27:21):
Right, Phil Knight has poured a billion dollars into his
alma mater and between you know, the library and the
law school and research and the football program, and we
all know he wants to return on his investment, even
though he's not gonna say it, and I think they
want to give it to him. But he's eighty eight.
You know, I was watching him last year. I rode
the press box elevator with him. He's getting on there,
he's with his grandson, and you know, he's still got it.
Speaker 5 (27:42):
Between the years, but he's eighty eight.
Speaker 4 (27:44):
Every day is a blessing when you're eighty eight, right,
you know one day he's not gonna be there to
root for his team.
Speaker 5 (27:50):
And so I think that window is now.
Speaker 4 (27:52):
I think you're right on that for Oregon, because you know,
we look at the stuff the legislation they're trying to
pass in Washington, d c.
Speaker 5 (27:58):
And it puts people to sleep.
Speaker 4 (27:59):
But the truth is there's a five year sort of
window here where it's going to exist in this current form,
where the conferences will continue to exist and they're gonna
try to put some caps on what you can spend
and how much you can spend to retain and how
often you can transfer, and they're gonna try to get
that all done. But Oregon's advantage is now, this is it.
Speaker 5 (28:19):
This is now. You can play with a straight face.
Speaker 4 (28:22):
You can play on the same level as Ohio State
and Miami and everybody else. And that's why at the
end of last year, I was at hard Rock Stadium
for the National Championship game and it was I looked
over at Mario Cristabal in Miami, and then I kind
of looked at Oregon and I thought, I think Oregon's
gonna get to the title game. I think it's Oregon
in Miami. Why not because they have the best two
coaching staffs. Neither one of those coaches. You saw him
(28:43):
up close at Washington. Mario Cristobal was not a great
game manager.
Speaker 5 (28:46):
He was terrible.
Speaker 4 (28:47):
But he's got better players, and Dan Lanny's got better players.
They're winning games in the off season, not during, you know,
the actual season.
Speaker 2 (28:55):
Yeah, I'm not convinced that Dan Lanning is an elite
football mind. He might be a great recruiter, but he's
also got, you know, an unbelievable war chest backing him up.
I mean, I've said the same thing for years about
the Oregon Ducks. If you're the Oregon Ducks football coach
and you can't win at a decent level, then you
can't win anywhere. I mean, I actually like Mark Halfrich
(29:16):
as a guy, but the fact that he struggled down
there in Eugene unbelievable. Free Willy Taggart, all those guys
down there, man, I mean, you could.
Speaker 3 (29:24):
You should be able to throw weekend at.
Speaker 2 (29:26):
Bernie's out there on that sideline and at least win
some games as the head coach of the Oregon Ducks.
But you mentioned Phil Knight, and I want to just
wrap it up with this before the break. And I'm
trying to be as sensitive here as I can be,
because you're right, he's He's eighty eight years old. Who
knows how much time the guy's got left on this rock.
I've met him a couple of times, and I think
he's a hell of a guy to hang out with.
(29:47):
I actually had a story about making a bet with
him at a UW Orgon game about fifteen years ago,
and he lost and sent me a pair of Nikes
in the mail. Right didn't even need to ask me
what size shoe that I wore. He gets ten and
a half and I got a box and a you
know hands I know from Phil so whatever, good dude,
Salter the Earth guy. But Forbes is saying he's worth
thirty five billion, whatever that is. Maybe that number is
(30:08):
off when he is no longer with us. Does all
that money go to Oregon? Does the train keep rolling
when Phil Knight's no longer around or when he goes?
Is that honestly going to be a big blow to
Oregon's chances.
Speaker 4 (30:22):
I think you have to view him not just as
the benefactor who's writing the checks, but he is the
person who is applying sort of the vision and the pressure.
Speaker 3 (30:29):
Right.
Speaker 4 (30:30):
We all know you see CEOs that leave companies and
the company loses something. Oh I'm retiring, but nothing's going
to change. We're just promoting the next guy. It happens
with football coaching staffs as well. You lose something when
Chip Kelly walks out the door and Mark Helfritch takes over.
Speaker 5 (30:44):
So I don't care.
Speaker 4 (30:45):
If if Phil Knight's money's there, I think it'll continue
to be there. But we're watching with his legislation as
they're trying to cap how much money you can put in,
there's going to be a number of teams that can spend.
Which you lose when Phil Knight goes away, is you
lose vision, you lose the expectation, You lose somebody who
has applied that pressure in the room. And I think
Nike is suffering this as a company right now, as
(31:06):
you you know, as you look at the competition they're
having with Adidas and others. But I think Nike's lost
some edge because Phil's not in the room making the decisions.
He's not there applying that pressure. Nobody loved it like
he does. And I think when that goes away at Oregon,
I think it's not just somebody right in a check.
And I know his grandson appears to be the person
who's kind of in line to make decisions and be
(31:28):
that person.
Speaker 6 (31:28):
And I know he's at the game, but I'm gonna
tell you something. He was at the Oregon Indiana game.
Speaker 4 (31:32):
I rode the elevator with Phil Knight and his grandson
up from the bottom up to the top press box,
and the door closed, and I looked over at the
grandson and he had.
Speaker 5 (31:40):
A Milwaukee Brewer's hat on. You didn't have an Orgon
duckt hat on.
Speaker 4 (31:43):
And I thought to myself, Oh, that's interesting, like you know,
like you wouldn't see Phil with a Milwaukee Brewers hat
in the elevator. But it just made me think, and
so I think, this is it for Oregon. You win now,
you try to win it for Phil this season. I
think the window for Oregon is much or than others say.
Everybody talks about four or five, six years. I think
(32:04):
it's one or two. I think if they don't win
in one or two, they take a step back and
they just become it becomes one of the great travesties
in the Pacific Northwest. It Oregon got that close, got
to the title game twice and didn't win it. This
is it for Oregon.
Speaker 2 (32:18):
See, that's why we have you on the air for
breaking news like that. Okay, Belle Knight's grandson not a
big Duck fan, according to John Gonzano, we'll have more's
that's the clip ninety three to three kJ RFM.
Speaker 1 (32:35):
Now back to SOUTHI and Dick at the Virginia Mason
Athletics Center and our special coverage of Seahawks training camp,
brought to you by the Boeing Classic on Sports ninety
three foot three kJ r FM.
Speaker 2 (32:48):
Right last segment with John Gonzano. I don't think it's
gone pretty well. Hasn't been a total disaster, right, I mean,
we can put poke in prod, you know, Poke Holls
and anything, but I haven't been fun.
Speaker 3 (33:00):
How about you? Are you actually enjoying it?
Speaker 6 (33:01):
Finally you're finally gonna get some ratings. I mean, I'm
happy for you people finally listening. My phone's blowing up
with with.
Speaker 4 (33:08):
With your listeners that that I know in the Seattle
area saying, man, finally listen to this show.
Speaker 2 (33:13):
Yeah, it's funny. I got, I got. I got one text,
by the way from somebody saying that they love having
you on the air, and it's a mutual friend of ours.
By the way, Well Marinis tonight against the Tigers, Brendan
Donovan's back starting at third base, hitting seventh, UH Taylor Ward,
who the m's just got from Baltimore, d H hitting
eighth tonight, UH Dom Ken Zone's and right field.
Speaker 3 (33:31):
So we'll see how that works out.
Speaker 2 (33:32):
I thought they'd take the worst of the of the
three outfielders with Raleigh or excuse me, Randy a Rose
Arena Canzone and and Ward and put that guy at
d H but clearly they haven't done that because Randy
a Rose Arena, who stinks, by the way, defensively, is
still in left field.
Speaker 3 (33:47):
So we'll see what happens tonight.
Speaker 2 (33:48):
But before you go, I want to get your thoughts
on Jody Allen because it is it is incredible to
me the difference in how she's viewed down there in
Portland where you live, versus up here in Seattle where
I live.
Speaker 3 (34:01):
I mean, when they.
Speaker 2 (34:02):
Won the Super Bowl, people were like, hey, man, is
there any way she can stay on as the owner?
Like when Paul died, we were all, you know, of
course nervous. Right, this is a new person. She's never
run a sports team before.
Speaker 3 (34:15):
How will she do?
Speaker 2 (34:16):
And she was marvelous. She should have seen the video
the night the Seahawks got their rings. They had him
come down on tractor beams from the ceiling.
Speaker 3 (34:24):
High class stuff. Man, this is awesome.
Speaker 2 (34:26):
So we love her up here in Seattle, but I
know it's the exact opposite down there.
Speaker 4 (34:30):
Was she marvelous though, because I thought when she got
on the stage when they won the NFC championship, she
might give a nod to her late brother. Yeah, and
how somewhere in the heavens he might be enjoying this
or would they win the Super Bowl toisting the Lombardi Trophy.
Aren't you really talking about the difference between the NFL
and the NBA That in the NFL, yes, if you've
(34:50):
got you know, the league that is designed for parody.
The draft is designed for that. The salary cap is
a hard salary cap executive who's phenomenal.
Speaker 5 (35:01):
In John Schneider.
Speaker 4 (35:02):
You let him work, You step out of the way,
you raise a flag, you eat some rice, peelof in
the suite, and mind your own business as an owner,
you're terrific.
Speaker 3 (35:10):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (35:11):
But then the talent, though, that is a talent you know,
knowing what you don't know, then that's fine.
Speaker 4 (35:17):
And Paul did that too, didn't he like? But I
remember Paul when the when the Seahawks went to the
Super Bowl. The first time he did this interview, I
think was in Detroit, right, And so he did this
interview and he tells the New York Times, Hey, I
don't really know football. He let my football people run
the operation. And I thought for years that was a
problem because Paul fashioned himself as a as a want
to be scout, you know, and and he loved the team.
(35:38):
And I think when you own the team, you do
reserve the right to go Hey with a second round
draft pick. I want to take Patty Mills.
Speaker 5 (35:45):
I like that kid. I liked him during the workout.
You and you deserve that as an NBA owner.
Speaker 4 (35:50):
But in the NFL, you don't. You stand out of
the way. It's a meritocracy. You let the players decide
who makes the roster. You let the coach make the decisions.
Speaker 6 (35:57):
You hire and fire the GM and the coach, and
I think Jody did a good job there.
Speaker 4 (36:00):
I also think there's a difference between Seattle and Portland.
And when you grow up in the Wedgwood neighborhood and
you graduate from Lakeside School and you and you know
you're a Washington kid through and through, and your brother
goes on to be the accidental billionaire and you're along
for the ride. As Queen Bee, Jody Allen was u
and some of my hostility for hers coming out here.
But as Jody Allen is writing the coattails of her
(36:22):
brother into this billionaire lifestyle, she's looking around at her friends.
Her friends are Seahawks fans, her friends are going to
the games, her friends are probably telling her, Oh, we
love the way you looked when you were raising the flag.
You look so enthusiastic. Now, let's put her in Portland,
three hours away, sitting courtside at a game. She looks
at and goes, what am I doing here? This was
my brother's hobby. This NBA team, She looks as disinterested
(36:45):
as you know, a kid sitting at the library on
a summer day.
Speaker 5 (36:48):
I mean, it was just a stark difference.
Speaker 4 (36:51):
Between Jody Allen, trustee of the NBA team and Jody Allen,
trustee of the Seahawks team. She looked far more interested
and engaged had and her her aloof sort of distanced
demeanor with the NFL team with John Schneider around was great.
But in Portland they had no infrastructure. Neil O'Shea was
running around that that Portland uh you know front office,
(37:13):
you know, a hostile work environment.
Speaker 5 (37:15):
It was broken in Portland.
Speaker 4 (37:16):
And I think a lot of people looked at her
and said, she is detached, she's not interested.
Speaker 5 (37:21):
It's a rudderless franchise.
Speaker 4 (37:22):
And then you know, look, this team's gonna sell and
she needs to do right as her job as a trustee.
Speaker 5 (37:29):
She needs to do right and has a fiduciary duty.
Speaker 4 (37:31):
But you know, you had an NBA team in Minnesota,
and the Taylor family that they knew they were selling
the team. They extended the lease and made sure that
the Timberwolves were staying in Minneapolis.
Speaker 5 (37:43):
You had you had a team in Milwaukee, did the
same thing.
Speaker 4 (37:45):
The family's selling the team, they know that, you know,
investors are gonna come in and they're gonna rip it
out of Milwaukee.
Speaker 5 (37:50):
What do they do.
Speaker 4 (37:51):
They extend the lease, They make sure it stays. Jody
has the Blazers, what.
Speaker 3 (37:55):
Does she do.
Speaker 4 (37:56):
She signs only a five year bridge lease with the city.
She sells the potential portability of the Blazers and uses
that as a selling point, which attracts an investment group
led by Tom Dundan who's got no connection to Portland.
And you end up in a situation where it looks
a lot to me suspiciously like Jody Allen maybe just
(38:18):
didn't give a rip about Portland. And I don't think
Portland cares about her either.
Speaker 3 (38:21):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (38:22):
Well, here's the funny thing about that. Nobody up here
cares that Jody didn't care about Portland, right, I mean,
there's only been three people that have won a major
professional sports championship in this town. One is Sam Shulman.
The others are Paul and Jody Allen. So there's room
for one more on the Mount Rushmore, and I wonder
who that next person will be. Hey, John, this was
(38:42):
great man. This will make up for all the times
they came on your show.
Speaker 3 (38:46):
We are now officially.
Speaker 2 (38:47):
Even, yes, so let's reset. We'll reset the scoreboard now.
Great stuff, man, love having you on. Let's do it again.
Speaker 3 (38:56):
Soon, big guy.
Speaker 5 (38:56):
All right, seea you bet man.
Speaker 3 (38:58):
John Canzana with us for the last hour. Fun having
him on.
Speaker 2 (39:01):
We're gonna break his podcast partner, John Wilner is gonna
join us, and then Jed Fish. We're gonna hear from
Jed around five point twenty tonight, right here on ninety
three three KJRFM.
Now from the Star Renels Sports to us Jordan ninety
three point three KJRFM sports headlines height.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Here we go on a busy Tuesday afternoon, live from
the Virginia Mason Athletics Center. A big thanks for our
friends at the Boeing Classic for sponsoring this thing all
camp long, live right here on ninety three to three
KJRFM headlines, of course, are brought to you by our
friends at Frostbrewed Corps.
Speaker 3 (00:22):
Light as cold as the Rockies. He's son of them.
I sat there go is this nine.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
Mariner is starting a three game series with the Tigers tonight.
They need some wins in badly. Fifty five and fifty eight,
two and a half games out in the West, and
lots of moves made today. Brendan Donovan activated. He will
start at third base tonight. The M's also releasing rob
Refsneider and Mitch Garver, Johnny Pareda called up from Triple
A Tacoma, and Luke Rayley expected to.
Speaker 3 (00:48):
Miss the rest of the year. Lots of news in
the NFL.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
Bejon Robinson Atlanta now the highest paid running back in
the history of the NFL. Three years, seventy five million,
dollars with fifty one million dollars guaranteed. And how about
Zay Flowers Ravens wide receiver four years, one hundred and
forty million, thirty five million bucks a year makes them
the fourth highest paid receiver in the NFL. And the
Coaches Poll College Football Coaches Poll came out today. Ohio
State number one, Oregon Ducks number two, Georgia, Texas Notre Dame.
(01:15):
The Huskies ranked after being unranked to start the year
last season, they debut at number nineteen this year. Well, Travis,
I'll tell you what as we continue here from the
Virginia Masa Athletics Center, and again big thanks from our
friends at the Boeing Classic. Take us start at twenty
bucks and kids get in for free. August fourteenth through
the sixteenth. We have confirmed that Freddie Boomboom Couples will
(01:38):
be playing in the Boeing Classic against then't Calomme Ridge
next weekend. So fun for the whole family. Jump on
the website Boweingclassic dot com. We are back at the
vMac and Travis, I gotta tell you a lot of
things that I'd like to cross off my bucket list
in my radio career before it's all said and done.
Speaker 3 (01:55):
Doing a radio show with John Gonzano was.
Speaker 2 (01:57):
Not on the list, but he's here right now, so
we welcome him to the program for the next hour.
Speaker 3 (02:03):
My friend John Gonzano with us, Johnny Hew.
Speaker 4 (02:05):
I love how you wrap your arms around me every
time I come on your show. You wrap it every
time you come on my show. You wrap your arms
around me, softy.
Speaker 5 (02:12):
Great to be on.
Speaker 3 (02:13):
Well, it's great to have you. Man.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
We got to have a little bit of friction from
Seattle to Portland. We can't all be buddy buddy all
the time. But you know how much I love you. You
know how much I respect the work that you do
down there in Oregon. Man, what you've established down there
is amazing. And I thought, you know what with with
dick out today, Uh, why not do this right, Let's
let's let's get you on, let's have some fun, let's
(02:36):
host an hour radio. If it's gonna come, we gonna
say if we think it's miserable and painful, that we
can just scrap it. We won't podcast it, Nobody will
know whatever happened. We'll never do it again, no harm,
no foul, and you move on. But if there's some
magic there. Who knows, maybe one day we'll have you
back on.
Speaker 4 (02:53):
So keep thinking about I keep thinking about Wally Pip,
and we'll end up like the infamous Pip and two
thousand games later, two thousand shows later, I'm with su.
Speaker 3 (03:04):
Right, that's right, you're the new lou gerrig Man.
Speaker 2 (03:07):
Dick is out. This is the last we ever heard
of Dick Fane. By the way, Well, why don't we
just kind of jump into it, man? I mean, we
got the Mariners up here with their deal, we got
the Seahawks starting their Super Bowl run. And I know
you guys are all Blazer fans and Duck fans and
Beaver fans and Thorn fans down there, but there's a
lot of Mariner fans running around that town. There's a
lot of Seahawk fans running around Oregon. How much of
(03:30):
all this is being discussed down there in your parts, man.
Speaker 3 (03:33):
Quite a bit.
Speaker 4 (03:33):
I mean, as much as people will not want to
admit it. In Portland, there is a lot of looking
towards Seattle. And when you go through the parking lot,
you've been at Mariners games.
Speaker 5 (03:42):
Go through the.
Speaker 4 (03:42):
Parking lot, look at the license plates in the parking lot.
You're gonna see a lot of organ license plates up
there for Seahawks games. You're gonna see a lot of
organ license plates for Mariners games. There's animosity, I think,
probably more so than ever because we've stopped pretending that
the Apple Cup and the Silvil War are the more
important rivalries to the two other schools, and now I
(04:04):
think it's more about whatever we're calling.
Speaker 5 (04:05):
What do we call that thing? The Husky duck white rivalry?
What do we call it?
Speaker 3 (04:09):
I have no idea, man.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
We've had all kinds of different names thrown around the
Border War.
Speaker 3 (04:15):
I have no idea.
Speaker 2 (04:16):
There's been a lot of opportunities to name it. Nobody's
ever done it. But yeah, you're right, man, I mean
the Apple Cup. Dude, I got I got Cougar friends
of mine, lots of Cougar buddies of mine. I'm playing
golf with the guy over the weekend who's a big Cougar.
Fans like, Hey, are you going to the Apple Cup?
His response is wins the game? He has no idea.
It's the first game of the year. You have no idea, John,
how hurt Cougar fans are? And I'm not saying this
(04:37):
to be an a hole by the way, like I
actually mean this.
Speaker 3 (04:39):
I get it. I'd be pissed off if I were
them too.
Speaker 2 (04:41):
They are hurt, they are heartbroken, they are despondent, and
a lot of them, including your buddy Ian Furness.
Speaker 3 (04:47):
Want nothing to do with the Apple Cup. They're done.
Speaker 5 (04:50):
Yeah, why would they?
Speaker 4 (04:51):
Because you look at the disparity and what these teams
can spend, and you know, like everybody talks about the
Big ten in the SEC running away from the Big
twelve in the a SEC, and that's going happen over time.
When you were funding at like twenty million dollars a
year more inside your programs, over eight or ten years,
you start to lose sight of those those conferences from
the front windshield. But how about Oregon State and Washington State.
(05:12):
You know you're getting what you're getting three point six
million dollars from the CFP distributions, and you're looking over
at Washington and Oregon and when they are fully funded
and you know, beleeve vested members of the Big ten,
we're talking about twenty million plus. You can't keep up.
It's not sustainable. It's not even a one off opportunity.
So the hope is that maybe some of this new
legislation will level the playing field a little bit for everybody,
(05:35):
But those rivalries and tradition have been trampled.
Speaker 3 (05:39):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (05:39):
Well, let me go back to the to the Mariner
Seahawk thing, because we're feeling it up here in Seattle, John,
with this Mariner baseball team.
Speaker 3 (05:45):
I mean, people.
Speaker 2 (05:46):
Are they're starting to get pissed off, right, I mean
they'll get really pissed if this thing goes south in
a hurry. They got the Tigers this week, but then
they got the Astros, they got the Yankees, they got Milwaukee'
so they got a run from hell coming up here
in the next couple weeks. And if they all behind
they wake up six seven games out, Uh, they're gonna
start hearing it. Man, And they're and they're kind of
hearing it already. Do you see that same passion though
(06:08):
down there? Like I don't know how much sports talk
radio you listen to, you do your deal, people tweeting you,
emailing you, do you have pissed off Mariner fans down
there that are just as passionate down there as we
are up here.
Speaker 4 (06:19):
That mean there's yeah, there's more angst right now because
of the Blazer situation around that, that's what people are
talking about. But I'll tell you the Mariners last year
getting to the ALCS did something with expectations.
Speaker 5 (06:33):
And you know we're talking.
Speaker 4 (06:34):
You know, this is a team that had had some
bad years, right, but you look at the last four seasons,
you get you had two couple of playoff runs, expectations rose,
You had a manager get fired because of the expectations rose.
Speaker 5 (06:46):
And so I think too, I think it's good.
Speaker 4 (06:48):
I think it's good that people are passionate and upset,
and the executives with a team will say, well, it
just means that they care about, you know, what happens
with this team, and that's good for their business.
Speaker 6 (06:57):
But in the end, you have to deliver. You met
you were talking about the Dodgers on the other side
of the break.
Speaker 4 (07:02):
You have to deliver. You have to keep raising the ceiling.
And that's where the Mariners are.
Speaker 3 (07:06):
Yeah, I just I don't know, man.
Speaker 2 (07:07):
I mean, most of the Yanks has been directed towards
Dan Wilson up here, and look, I mean I kind
of separate the player from the manager. His reputation up
here as a player is set in Stone. It's in granted,
he was a member of that ninety five team, ninety
seven playoff team two thousand, two thousand and one, so
he's got nothing to worry about it. And I think
(07:28):
he really fell on the sword for this baseball team.
They got rid of Scott's service, it was going to
be hard to bring in anybody there and hire them
from the outside unless they promised them the full time gig.
And the only guy that Stanton felt comfortable with is
Dan Wilson.
Speaker 3 (07:41):
So in some ways I kind of feel bad for Danny.
Speaker 2 (07:44):
But if you want to whack him and go with
somebody else over the offseason, then whack him and go
with somebody else. But I don't know, man, I just
the collapse of guys like cal Rawley, right, like Josh
Naylor is on a twenty four game on Bay streak,
but he hasn't hit a home run for seven weeks.
Speaker 3 (07:57):
John his last home run at Tea Mobile Park was
the first of June. It's unbelievable how these guys have
fallen off.
Speaker 2 (08:03):
So how much do you think we should be ripping
the manager versus ripping the players up here?
Speaker 4 (08:09):
I look at the roster first, but if the roster
construction is there, and you tell me I thought it
was there at the end of last season. I didn't
start for Dan Wilson in the playoffs, didn't the postseason start.
Sort of the the criticism always too reliant on analytics,
so he made some bad decisions. And the other thing is,
when you're frustrated as a fan, you want to see
(08:30):
the coach or the manager frustrated, and some of his
easy going, calm kind of demeanor I think flies in
the face of that. I know Nate McMillan suffered with
that with the Blazers, Like when Blazer fans were upset
and wanted better results, watching Nate poised and calm on
the bench was not what you wanted to see. You
wanted to see a guy who's in it with you.
(08:51):
And I wonder if that's the big criticism of Dan Wilson.
Does it go back to the postseason last year, and
does it really center around the idea that when fans
are frustrated, they want to know the manager's frustrated.
Speaker 2 (09:02):
Right, But that's not his personality and it never has
been his personality, right, Like, who.
Speaker 3 (09:06):
Knows what he's doing behind the scenes?
Speaker 2 (09:08):
Who knows what he's doing when he watched on his
front door after a game, and I think fans would
see right through that. Do you remember John McClaren, the
old Mariner Skipper had like the worst prescripted rant of
all time. It was like his reading off a telepropter.
Speaker 3 (09:21):
It was terrible.
Speaker 2 (09:22):
I mean, I mean, that's exactly what Dan Wilson would
sound like. And nobody really says anything about this kind
of stuff when you're winning games and you're in Game
seven of the Alcs, But when you lose, all this
stuff comes.
Speaker 3 (09:34):
To the forefront.
Speaker 2 (09:34):
So I don't know, John, I mean, this is fifty
years now of this. They got the top fifty thing
on Saturday, they got a home run derby after the
game on Friday. All of it seems kind of odd
from a timing perspective, especially now with Tampa Bay coming
into town. But you got to know that there's dudes
like me that have been doing this for a long time.
I'll be fifty three years old in a week and
I'm starting to wonder if I'm ever going to live
(09:56):
to see a World Series in my life.
Speaker 4 (09:59):
Well, is it like people try to overcomplicate things? I
was talking with someone today, where about the Blazers situation?
And you know, and I was thinking about other things.
But you know, there's a principle that says, when there
are multiple explanations for something, it's usually the one.
Speaker 5 (10:13):
That is the simplest.
Speaker 4 (10:14):
It's Okham's razor, right, It's the simplest explanation that you
have to fall back on.
Speaker 3 (10:18):
Isn't the simplest.
Speaker 4 (10:19):
Explanation that the Mariner's roster isn't good enough? And that maybe, yes,
the manager is a guy who goes a little bit
too much on analytics, and he feels a little scripted
at times, and he's not emotional. But isn't the simplest
explanation that his players aren't as good as the other teams?
Speaker 5 (10:34):
Isn't that?
Speaker 2 (10:35):
I mean Kyl Riley obviously isn't last year. That's not
what he is. I mean, it took one hundred years
for a catcher to hit sixty home runs and to
expect that to happen again it is ridiculous. But could
he have been the guy we saw in twenty twenty
four in twenty twenty three? Can he be a twenty
five home run ninety RBI guy? I mean, he's nowhere
near that.
Speaker 3 (10:53):
Man. I mean, this dude's getting the he's.
Speaker 2 (10:55):
Getting the Brady Anderson treatment from people up here. People
were starting to wonder, man was the last year? I mean, like,
what the hell is going on with this dude? The
drop off is insane.
Speaker 4 (11:05):
I think the explanation for Raleigh is, look at the
position he played. There was a reason why catchers didn't
do this. Look at the long season they had with
the postseason, Look at the World Baseball Classic. Did Dan
Wilson get this guy a break? I mean, did Kyle
Rally do himself a disservice by playing too much into
the postseason? Did he need some time off? There's a
reason why catchers don't hit fifty bombs.
Speaker 3 (11:28):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (11:28):
Well, and then Josh Naylor is not the guy that
he was when he came here and was red hot
in the months of August and September last year, when
all the vibes are good because you had Aohanio, there's
no doubt. You know, Munno's never had the kind of
bump that he had this year. So I get all that,
But you know what, man, I mean, when you have
an American League West, it is this piss poor as
this one is right now. That's the thing, Like, they're
(11:49):
not even taking advantage of their talent. They're not even
taking advantage of a terrible division. They're bad no matter
what division they play in in Major League Baseball. They
played in the AL East, the L East, it'd be done.
They'd be eight or nine games out. We're not even
talking about this, John, So that's the rub for me.
That's the disappointment that you've been given this gift. Right,
like three years ago, they missed the playoffs with the
(12:11):
number one ERA in baseball in a year where they
expanded the postseason and it was it was easy as
ever to make the playoffs, and they can't do it
with the number one ERA in Major League Baseball. So
they're getting all these gifts and they're just giving them
right back.
Speaker 4 (12:25):
And I think, if you're a Maritors fan, you've got
to ask yourself how much of your disappointment right now
hinges on last year? And you started this segment and
I forgive you because you're you're a lifelong Mariners fan,
but you started this segment talking about how potentially dire
this next stretch is for the Mariners, Right, isn't the
isn't the truer narrative that this is the opportunity for
(12:46):
a pivot point for a team that's played around five
hundred ball, like we always see, a team that catches
fire late in the season gets into the playoffs.
Speaker 5 (12:55):
Wild card teams traditionally in this era have done very well.
Speaker 4 (12:59):
Isn't the mayor aren't the meritiths positioned here to kind
of pivot? Don't they have Don't they have a little
bit of magic from last year? Haven't they underachieved at
this point where you might expect, you might expect.
Speaker 5 (13:09):
A little bit of a breakout here.
Speaker 2 (13:10):
I've been saying that for two weeks that this is
it's coming, It's coming, It's coming, and it hasn't come yet.
Speaker 3 (13:16):
I've been saying it with Cal Rowley. It's gonna come.
Speaker 2 (13:19):
There's just gotta be a little bit of a of
a burp, right, I mean, if were hooked up to
the uh what's the machine they use to measure your
heart rate or whatever it's called when you're in the
EKG or whatever.
Speaker 3 (13:30):
Yeah, there's gotta be a bleep.
Speaker 2 (13:32):
There's gotta be a couple of bleeps coming on the
EKG for this baseball team. And it just doesn't happen.
So look, I mean, the schedule is a schedule. I'm
not as worried about the opponent as much as I
am them. When you're playing bad baseball, it doesn't really
matter who you're playing for crying out loud. They've lost
some series against some pretty bad teams. But I would
say this series against the Tigers is a giant one
for them, no doubt, because of two things. Number One,
(13:55):
the Tigers are waving the white flag. There are a
half game out behind the Mariners in the Wildcard. They're
waving white flag by giving away Schooble. And number two,
I would assume that there is some shell shock in
that clubhouse because their best pitcher just got traded and
the Tiger ownership basically told them, we don't care if
you're two and a half games out.
Speaker 3 (14:12):
You're not going anywhere. We don't believe in you. You're done.
Speaker 2 (14:15):
So I'm really curious John to see if they can
take advantage of that starting tonight.
Speaker 4 (14:19):
Well, that's what happens this time of year. The Mariners
make seven roster moves. They're getting ready for the postseason.
You have other teams that are cutting bait, cutting salary,
but and you know, and you've got a team in
Detroit that.
Speaker 5 (14:30):
Is not a very good team.
Speaker 4 (14:32):
You know, they're middle they're very mediocre, and you're right,
they're waving the white flag. So this should be a
This is a golden opportunity for you. You've been asking
for that heartbeat. The heartbeat starts. Now, Why am I
stilling all the optimism? Why am I the ray of
sunshine on this show?
Speaker 2 (14:46):
Because you don't have to live with this every single
damn day of your life. All Right, you can pivot
and talk about the ducks or the Blazer situation, or
the fire or the thorns, whatever the hell you call
them down there. You're not staring this misery right in
the face John, the way we are. But John Gonzano's
in for us for the next hour or so on
the radio show. And look, man, you mentioned it, the
(15:08):
Blazer situation. We've been talking a lot about it up
here in Seattle. We're very selfish from that perspective, because
I think the majority of our conversations about what's happening
in Portland have nothing to do with the way it
impacts you guys down there, but how it.
Speaker 3 (15:23):
Impacts us here in Seattle.
Speaker 2 (15:25):
And I was on your show a couple days ago, right,
we talked about this, and I just got to hope
and just think that people in Portland will realize that
if you lose this basketball team. Number one, there's a
chance they're never coming back. Number two, there's a chance
you're never ever getting another major league caliber team of
any sport in your town. And number three, did you
bozos not learn a lesson by what happened two hundred
(15:48):
miles north twenty years ago?
Speaker 3 (15:50):
Does anybody care? Is anybody there remember any of that whatsoever?
Down there?
Speaker 4 (15:55):
The Tom Dundon thing is fascinating because Portland seemingly could
get out everything right here and still not keep the team. Dundon,
on his very first week on the job, fired the
consulting firm that Jody Allen had brought in. He fired
the lobbyists she had hired, He fired the franchise attorneys.
You know that Trio had led the charge in getting
(16:16):
Oregon to loosen its grip on that first piece of
that six hundred million dollar arena funding that they got
from the state, and now now the county and the
city are the other two pieces there, and the county
and the city this week, the county should free up
the money that they were going to put towards the renovations.
Next week, the city will do it. I'm telling you,
softy that the crazies here that run the city, the
(16:40):
leadership that is normally crazy in the vocal minority, the
yahoos that are in charge in the city are mostly
getting this right. And Dundon is still not at the
table negotiating because I think down deep he may have
bought the Blazers at four point twenty five billion dollars
with the idea that hey, I'm not paying seven or
eight or nine billion for an expansion team. I'm just
(17:02):
gonna grab the Blazers at four and a quarter and
I'm gonna move them somewhere else and they'll be worth
more because of that.
Speaker 5 (17:07):
This guy doesn't care about Portland. He does. He's Clay
Bennett two point zero.
Speaker 2 (17:12):
Well, go back to what you said there about the
crazies that are running Portland, because I'm curious about that,
because there is a there's a perception that we've got
up here in Seattle.
Speaker 3 (17:21):
I was there.
Speaker 2 (17:21):
Last time I was down there was I think a
year ago. I was there for a bachelor party, went downtown,
had a great time, dinner, golf, the whole thing, fun whatever.
It seemed to be fair to clean where we were staying,
so I enjoyed it. But I don't live there. I'm not,
you know, taking the tour of the suburbs and the
entire city the way you are. There's a perception about
Portland that there's left wing lunatics in charge of everything.
Speaker 3 (17:44):
Right, purple haired weirdos. Yep.
Speaker 2 (17:46):
That would you know, rather go out and build a
you know, giant wicker basket for people to sleep in,
then throw a penny at the Blazers to keep the
NBA in town.
Speaker 3 (17:57):
Am I getting that right?
Speaker 5 (17:58):
Or am I winning rights? It's a hard place to
do business.
Speaker 4 (18:02):
I'll tell you about a lunch meeting I had with
Tim Boyle, who's the CEO of Columbia Sportswear. He, you know,
Portland based company, big time company aside from Nike or Adidas,
Columbia's that that next piece there, that tenth pole in
the region. Well, he wanted to have his company headquartered
in Portland. He you know, he wanted to identified a
building in Portland, said we're gonna buy this building. We're
(18:24):
going to headquarter there, We're gonna be a Portland company.
And when he began that process to purchase the building,
the city stepped in and said, hold on, we have
plans for that building. We are going to take that
building over eminent domain. You can't have the building.
Speaker 3 (18:38):
Uh.
Speaker 4 (18:38):
He ended up in unincorporated Washington County, where Nike is.
Speaker 5 (18:42):
The city never.
Speaker 4 (18:43):
Developed the building that it took from underneath Columbia sportswear.
They lost out on tens of millions of dollars in
tax revenue per year. They lost out on having a
company be able to have a Portland zip code. They
blew it in the same way that they drove Nike off.
They drove Columbia Sports.
Speaker 3 (19:01):
We're off.
Speaker 5 (19:01):
Dutch Bros. Has relocated out of the state.
Speaker 4 (19:03):
There are a number of other companies that have said
it's too hard to do business in Portland. It's too
hard to do business in the state of Oregon. We're
going across the border into Washington or other places to
headquarter our companies.
Speaker 5 (19:13):
So it is a lousy place to do business.
Speaker 3 (19:16):
It's hard well.
Speaker 4 (19:17):
Tim Boyle told me this when he brings in executives
to interview for jobs at Columbia.
Speaker 5 (19:22):
He brings them in at night.
Speaker 4 (19:23):
He brings them in so they don't have to see
the four h five freeway as they go, you know,
from the airport to his headquarters out in Washington County.
Because for a while there, people know what it looked like.
It was tents and tarps. It wasn't somewhere anybody wanted
to live or call home. And so what Boyle did
is he said he wrote a check to the city.
He sent the city one hundred thousand dollars and said,
(19:43):
clean up that corridor.
Speaker 5 (19:45):
I'll pay for it. The city sent him back the check.
Speaker 6 (19:48):
The blue haired, purple haired weirdos with you know, they
send him back the check because they said, hey, we
don't know how to do this, and so they've had
to outsource and hire private companies to come and clean
things up.
Speaker 4 (20:02):
That's just part of doing business in Portland. And so
what happens is when you go to make a deal
with the city and the Blazers know it's a tough
place to do business. It's tough for sponsorships. Probably that's
probably the key piece. Is you drive away spot, you
drive away businesses, you're driving away sponsors and so all
of a sudden you don't have it as easy from
a corporate sponsorship standpoint, and it was hard to begin with.
(20:24):
And so the Blazers are near the bottom of the
league in corp corporate sponsorships, near the bottom of the
league in ticket prices. But they have this rabid fan
base that will support and support and support you know
it in Seattle. But the leadership in Portland limited, limited
bandwidth when it comes to normalcy and getting things done.
Speaker 6 (20:43):
But I give them credit to this point. They're at
the table, They've got a term sheet.
Speaker 4 (20:47):
Yeah, and Dundon, the new owner, is the guy going
I'm just not interested in negotiating, And so I don't
know what's gonna happen here.
Speaker 5 (20:54):
If Adam Silver doesn't step in.
Speaker 2 (20:56):
Right, well, let's got to break John Gonzano in until
five o'clock. Your podcast partner, Johnny Wilner, will join us.
By the way, at five, we're gonna hear I think
from Jetfish as well at five point thirty today. I
want to come back and discuss a comment that you
made on your show the other day with me regarding
where the duck dog rivalry is out is at, because
(21:16):
I thought you were way off base. I want to
give you a chance to redeem yourself, all right, and
prove me wrong. Convince me that you were right and
I was wrong. We'll explain that next on ninety three
three KJRFM.
Speaker 1 (21:29):
Now back to Sufdie and Dick at the Virginia Mason
Athletics Center and our special coverage of Seahawks training camp,
brought to you by the Boeing Classic BUN Sports Radio
ninety three point three kJ r FM.
Speaker 2 (21:44):
All right, John Wilner will join us at five o'clock tonight.
We're gonna hear from Jetfish as well, I believe in
the five pm hour after you Media day this afternoon,
Safty Dick Jackson with you with no Dick and Jackson.
Travis Theogermoger is back in the studio, by the way,
which means we have a special co host, John Gonzano
(22:05):
Johnkonzono dot com, Bald Face Truth Podcast on YouTube. Great watch,
great listen. Guy knows what he's talking about, unlike us.
So it's good to have you here with us to
spread some actual intelligent information. Looking to Wallypip Dick Fane,
don't stoop there, and so we'll see at the end
of this hour what people think about that. But last
(22:26):
time I was on your show, God, was it two
days ago?
Speaker 3 (22:30):
Was it yesterday? What was I on with you?
Speaker 4 (22:31):
By the way, two days ago? Early morning we had
an early morning encounter. You're not a morning person. I'm
not a morning person, and yeah.
Speaker 2 (22:38):
Really, which is why I was shocked that you asked
me to do it. But we had fun. We talked
some sonics, we talked some dogs and ducks, and you
you hit me with a comment that I immediately was like,
wait a minute, that doesn't make any sense to me.
But you know what, a lot of stuff, John doesn't
make sense to me. So it's not, you know, really
a big surprise. You said, hey, it looks like the
Ducks are starting to run away from the dogs again.
And I'm thinking, wait a minute. Washington won three games
(23:01):
in a row, including the biggest game in their rival's
history twice when they were both in the top ten
in twenty twenty three in Seattle, and then I remember
after that loss to the Huskies in twenty twenty three,
people like you would say things like, oh, Oregon's piss man.
Speaker 3 (23:17):
They're coming, they're fired up, they're angry about what happened.
Speaker 2 (23:20):
Then guess what They lost again in Vegas in the
second maybe the biggest game in rivalry history at that
point in time. Then the program gets blown to Kingdom.
Come with Kaitlin de Boor leaving what Oregon hammers you
dub kicks their ass. I mean, the final score wasn't
even close to showing how badly the Huskies were dominated
by the way of that day in Eugene with a
(23:42):
terrible roster. Then Jedfish comes in, does a little you know,
cosmetic work, does this, does that, and with eight minutes
to go in the fourth quarter last year, Huskies are
within five points. So when you say Oregon's running away
from U DUB, what are you talking about?
Speaker 3 (23:58):
Man?
Speaker 4 (23:58):
I'm I'm I'm recognizing that something changed in college football.
Speaker 5 (24:02):
A couple of years ago.
Speaker 4 (24:03):
Kaylin de Bort left Washington, not just for Alabama, but
I think he left Washington because he saw what was happening.
I think I think the Pac twelve teams and coaches
were all kind of looking around, going, this is not sustainable.
This is not going to be what it once was.
The ground beneath their feet shifted, the sands shifted.
Speaker 5 (24:23):
Dan Lanning and the Ducks.
Speaker 4 (24:25):
Have been planning for this thing for twenty years and
it really happened before long before Landing got there, Oregon
was doing some things with Uncle Phil that nobody else
was doing, and they're in better position because of it.
Why is Oregon succeeding in this era? Why are they
in the top two teams in the preseason poll today?
They're there because they have been positioned for this nil
(24:46):
transfer portal wild West World better than anybody. And unfortunately,
and this is no real knock on Washington, because Washington's
like a lot of other schools that are really good
and they're trying, but.
Speaker 5 (24:57):
Washington doesn't have Uncle Phil. Washington doesn't have an angle.
Speaker 4 (25:00):
Washington doesn't have an inside track to getting to the
top of the Big Ten Conference, which means you got
a path to the top of the CFP. So what
I looked at last year's game and I was there
in Seattle. Yeah, it was twenty six to fourteen. Here's
your final on paper. That looks like a decent game.
I at no point of that game, Softy thought that
(25:20):
Washington could win that game. It was zero zero and
there was no chats for Washington to win that game.
I just thought it was a matter of Oregon sort
of exerting its will, making enough plays and then going
into a shell, kind of waiting for the game to end.
And that is the way that, like, I think superior
teams and programs play in this era. And I just
(25:41):
wonder I would look at the next five games between
these two teams, and I think, if it doesn't happen
this year for Jedfish and Washington, like if they can't
decisively close that gap and look like they belong on
the same field as Organ because the last two times,
I don't think they looked like they belonged. Even though
you say it was four points in the third four
points of the you still lost the all right, So
(26:01):
if Washington can't win with Demon Williams Junior in five
returning offensive linemen and your three of Jedfish supposed to
be this breakout year, I don't think it's gonna happen
in the next five years.
Speaker 5 (26:11):
I think Oregon's gonna win the next five.
Speaker 2 (26:13):
Well, I think the gap in talent is closing in
favor of you Dub. Is it closing in favor of
you Dub where they're passing Oregon? Not yet, but it's
getting closer. I mean, John, I kind of throw out. Honestly,
I throw out what happened two years ago. I mean
that was an absolute disgrace. Washington did not have one
starter back on offense.
Speaker 3 (26:32):
Not one.
Speaker 2 (26:33):
They lost everybody, tire line, the whole thing. They were
horrible roster wise. Now they're way better. So look, I'm
with you that I'm curious to see what happens in
the next couple of years here. I'm really curious to
see what happens this year down in Eugene. But I
would also say to Oregon fans, and you tell me
if I'm nuts, that this is the era of college
(26:53):
football where Oregon needs to take advantage of this and
win a title because this is potentially gonna change one day,
free Willie spending whatever you want, you know, nil out
of control. At one point, this is gonna maybe get
under control and they're gonna corral this. But until they do, right,
there's a window here for Oregon where if we're gonna
talk about how great Phil Knight is and the facilities
(27:15):
and blah blah blah. Okay, then this is the window
before this thing all changes where the Ducks have to
win a championship.
Speaker 4 (27:21):
Right, Phil Knight has poured a billion dollars into his
alma mater and between you know, the library and the
law school and research and the football program, and we
all know he wants to return on his investment, even
though he's not gonna say it, and I think they
want to give it to him. But he's eighty eight.
You know, I was watching him last year. I rode
the press box elevator with him. He's getting on there,
he's with his grandson, and you know, he's still got it.
Speaker 5 (27:42):
Between the years, but he's eighty eight.
Speaker 4 (27:44):
Every day is a blessing when you're eighty eight, right,
you know one day he's not gonna be there to
root for his team.
Speaker 5 (27:50):
And so I think that window is now.
Speaker 4 (27:52):
I think you're right on that for Oregon, because you know,
we look at the stuff the legislation they're trying to
pass in Washington, d c.
Speaker 5 (27:58):
And it puts people to sleep.
Speaker 4 (27:59):
But the truth is there's a five year sort of
window here where it's going to exist in this current form,
where the conferences will continue to exist and they're gonna
try to put some caps on what you can spend
and how much you can spend to retain and how
often you can transfer, and they're gonna try to get
that all done. But Oregon's advantage is now, this is it.
Speaker 5 (28:19):
This is now. You can play with a straight face.
Speaker 4 (28:22):
You can play on the same level as Ohio State
and Miami and everybody else. And that's why at the
end of last year, I was at hard Rock Stadium
for the National Championship game and it was I looked
over at Mario Cristabal in Miami, and then I kind
of looked at Oregon and I thought, I think Oregon's
gonna get to the title game. I think it's Oregon
in Miami. Why not because they have the best two
coaching staffs. Neither one of those coaches. You saw him
(28:43):
up close at Washington. Mario Cristobal was not a great
game manager.
Speaker 5 (28:46):
He was terrible.
Speaker 4 (28:47):
But he's got better players, and Dan Lanny's got better players.
They're winning games in the off season, not during, you know,
the actual season.
Speaker 2 (28:55):
Yeah, I'm not convinced that Dan Lanning is an elite
football mind. He might be a great recruiter, but he's
also got, you know, an unbelievable war chest backing him up.
I mean, I've said the same thing for years about
the Oregon Ducks. If you're the Oregon Ducks football coach
and you can't win at a decent level, then you
can't win anywhere. I mean, I actually like Mark Halfrich
(29:16):
as a guy, but the fact that he struggled down
there in Eugene unbelievable. Free Willy Taggart, all those guys
down there, man, I mean, you could.
Speaker 3 (29:24):
You should be able to throw weekend at.
Speaker 2 (29:26):
Bernie's out there on that sideline and at least win
some games as the head coach of the Oregon Ducks.
But you mentioned Phil Knight, and I want to just
wrap it up with this before the break. And I'm
trying to be as sensitive here as I can be,
because you're right, he's He's eighty eight years old. Who
knows how much time the guy's got left on this rock.
I've met him a couple of times, and I think
he's a hell of a guy to hang out with.
(29:47):
I actually had a story about making a bet with
him at a UW Orgon game about fifteen years ago,
and he lost and sent me a pair of Nikes
in the mail. Right didn't even need to ask me
what size shoe that I wore. He gets ten and
a half and I got a box and a you
know hands I know from Phil so whatever, good dude,
Salter the Earth guy. But Forbes is saying he's worth
thirty five billion, whatever that is. Maybe that number is
(30:08):
off when he is no longer with us. Does all
that money go to Oregon? Does the train keep rolling
when Phil Knight's no longer around or when he goes?
Is that honestly going to be a big blow to
Oregon's chances.
Speaker 4 (30:22):
I think you have to view him not just as
the benefactor who's writing the checks, but he is the
person who is applying sort of the vision and the pressure.
Speaker 3 (30:29):
Right.
Speaker 4 (30:30):
We all know you see CEOs that leave companies and
the company loses something. Oh I'm retiring, but nothing's going
to change. We're just promoting the next guy. It happens
with football coaching staffs as well. You lose something when
Chip Kelly walks out the door and Mark Helfritch takes over.
Speaker 5 (30:44):
So I don't care.
Speaker 4 (30:45):
If if Phil Knight's money's there, I think it'll continue
to be there. But we're watching with his legislation as
they're trying to cap how much money you can put in,
there's going to be a number of teams that can spend.
Which you lose when Phil Knight goes away, is you
lose vision, you lose the expectation, You lose somebody who
has applied that pressure in the room. And I think
Nike is suffering this as a company right now, as
(31:06):
you you know, as you look at the competition they're
having with Adidas and others. But I think Nike's lost
some edge because Phil's not in the room making the decisions.
He's not there applying that pressure. Nobody loved it like
he does. And I think when that goes away at Oregon,
I think it's not just somebody right in a check.
And I know his grandson appears to be the person
who's kind of in line to make decisions and be
(31:28):
that person.
Speaker 6 (31:28):
And I know he's at the game, but I'm gonna
tell you something. He was at the Oregon Indiana game.
Speaker 4 (31:32):
I rode the elevator with Phil Knight and his grandson
up from the bottom up to the top press box,
and the door closed, and I looked over at the
grandson and he had.
Speaker 5 (31:40):
A Milwaukee Brewer's hat on. You didn't have an Orgon
duckt hat on.
Speaker 4 (31:43):
And I thought to myself, Oh, that's interesting, like you know,
like you wouldn't see Phil with a Milwaukee Brewers hat
in the elevator. But it just made me think, and
so I think, this is it for Oregon. You win now,
you try to win it for Phil this season. I
think the window for Oregon is much or than others say.
Everybody talks about four or five, six years. I think
(32:04):
it's one or two. I think if they don't win
in one or two, they take a step back and
they just become it becomes one of the great travesties
in the Pacific Northwest. It Oregon got that close, got
to the title game twice and didn't win it. This
is it for Oregon.
Speaker 2 (32:18):
See, that's why we have you on the air for
breaking news like that. Okay, Belle Knight's grandson not a
big Duck fan, according to John Gonzano, we'll have more's
that's the clip ninety three to three kJ RFM.
Speaker 1 (32:35):
Now back to SOUTHI and Dick at the Virginia Mason
Athletics Center and our special coverage of Seahawks training camp,
brought to you by the Boeing Classic on Sports ninety
three foot three kJ r FM.
Speaker 2 (32:48):
Right last segment with John Gonzano. I don't think it's
gone pretty well. Hasn't been a total disaster, right, I mean,
we can put poke in prod, you know, Poke Holls
and anything, but I haven't been fun.
Speaker 3 (33:00):
How about you? Are you actually enjoying it?
Speaker 6 (33:01):
Finally you're finally gonna get some ratings. I mean, I'm
happy for you people finally listening. My phone's blowing up
with with.
Speaker 4 (33:08):
With your listeners that that I know in the Seattle
area saying, man, finally listen to this show.
Speaker 2 (33:13):
Yeah, it's funny. I got, I got. I got one text,
by the way from somebody saying that they love having
you on the air, and it's a mutual friend of ours.
By the way, Well Marinis tonight against the Tigers, Brendan
Donovan's back starting at third base, hitting seventh, UH Taylor Ward,
who the m's just got from Baltimore, d H hitting
eighth tonight, UH Dom Ken Zone's and right field.
Speaker 3 (33:31):
So we'll see how that works out.
Speaker 2 (33:32):
I thought they'd take the worst of the of the
three outfielders with Raleigh or excuse me, Randy a Rose
Arena Canzone and and Ward and put that guy at
d H but clearly they haven't done that because Randy
a Rose Arena, who stinks, by the way, defensively, is
still in left field.
Speaker 3 (33:47):
So we'll see what happens tonight.
Speaker 2 (33:48):
But before you go, I want to get your thoughts
on Jody Allen because it is it is incredible to
me the difference in how she's viewed down there in
Portland where you live, versus up here in Seattle where
I live.
Speaker 3 (34:01):
I mean, when they.
Speaker 2 (34:02):
Won the Super Bowl, people were like, hey, man, is
there any way she can stay on as the owner?
Like when Paul died, we were all, you know, of
course nervous. Right, this is a new person. She's never
run a sports team before.
Speaker 3 (34:15):
How will she do?
Speaker 2 (34:16):
And she was marvelous. She should have seen the video
the night the Seahawks got their rings. They had him
come down on tractor beams from the ceiling.
Speaker 3 (34:24):
High class stuff. Man, this is awesome.
Speaker 2 (34:26):
So we love her up here in Seattle, but I
know it's the exact opposite down there.
Speaker 4 (34:30):
Was she marvelous though, because I thought when she got
on the stage when they won the NFC championship, she
might give a nod to her late brother. Yeah, and
how somewhere in the heavens he might be enjoying this
or would they win the Super Bowl toisting the Lombardi Trophy.
Aren't you really talking about the difference between the NFL
and the NBA That in the NFL, yes, if you've
(34:50):
got you know, the league that is designed for parody.
The draft is designed for that. The salary cap is
a hard salary cap executive who's phenomenal.
Speaker 5 (35:01):
In John Schneider.
Speaker 4 (35:02):
You let him work, You step out of the way,
you raise a flag, you eat some rice, peelof in
the suite, and mind your own business as an owner,
you're terrific.
Speaker 3 (35:10):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (35:11):
But then the talent, though, that is a talent you know,
knowing what you don't know, then that's fine.
Speaker 4 (35:17):
And Paul did that too, didn't he like? But I
remember Paul when the when the Seahawks went to the
Super Bowl. The first time he did this interview, I
think was in Detroit, right, And so he did this
interview and he tells the New York Times, Hey, I
don't really know football. He let my football people run
the operation. And I thought for years that was a
problem because Paul fashioned himself as a as a want
to be scout, you know, and and he loved the team.
(35:38):
And I think when you own the team, you do
reserve the right to go Hey with a second round
draft pick. I want to take Patty Mills.
Speaker 5 (35:45):
I like that kid. I liked him during the workout.
You and you deserve that as an NBA owner.
Speaker 4 (35:50):
But in the NFL, you don't. You stand out of
the way. It's a meritocracy. You let the players decide
who makes the roster. You let the coach make the decisions.
Speaker 6 (35:57):
You hire and fire the GM and the coach, and
I think Jody did a good job there.
Speaker 4 (36:00):
I also think there's a difference between Seattle and Portland.
And when you grow up in the Wedgwood neighborhood and
you graduate from Lakeside School and you and you know
you're a Washington kid through and through, and your brother
goes on to be the accidental billionaire and you're along
for the ride. As Queen Bee, Jody Allen was u
and some of my hostility for hers coming out here.
But as Jody Allen is writing the coattails of her
(36:22):
brother into this billionaire lifestyle, she's looking around at her friends.
Her friends are Seahawks fans, her friends are going to
the games, her friends are probably telling her, Oh, we
love the way you looked when you were raising the flag.
You look so enthusiastic. Now, let's put her in Portland,
three hours away, sitting courtside at a game. She looks
at and goes, what am I doing here? This was
my brother's hobby. This NBA team, She looks as disinterested
(36:45):
as you know, a kid sitting at the library on
a summer day.
Speaker 5 (36:48):
I mean, it was just a stark difference.
Speaker 4 (36:51):
Between Jody Allen, trustee of the NBA team and Jody Allen,
trustee of the Seahawks team. She looked far more interested
and engaged had and her her aloof sort of distanced
demeanor with the NFL team with John Schneider around was great.
But in Portland they had no infrastructure. Neil O'Shea was
running around that that Portland uh you know front office,
(37:13):
you know, a hostile work environment.
Speaker 5 (37:15):
It was broken in Portland.
Speaker 4 (37:16):
And I think a lot of people looked at her
and said, she is detached, she's not interested.
Speaker 5 (37:21):
It's a rudderless franchise.
Speaker 4 (37:22):
And then you know, look, this team's gonna sell and
she needs to do right as her job as a trustee.
Speaker 5 (37:29):
She needs to do right and has a fiduciary duty.
Speaker 4 (37:31):
But you know, you had an NBA team in Minnesota,
and the Taylor family that they knew they were selling
the team. They extended the lease and made sure that
the Timberwolves were staying in Minneapolis.
Speaker 5 (37:43):
You had you had a team in Milwaukee, did the
same thing.
Speaker 4 (37:45):
The family's selling the team, they know that, you know,
investors are gonna come in and they're gonna rip it
out of Milwaukee.
Speaker 5 (37:50):
What do they do.
Speaker 4 (37:51):
They extend the lease, They make sure it stays. Jody
has the Blazers, what.
Speaker 3 (37:55):
Does she do.
Speaker 4 (37:56):
She signs only a five year bridge lease with the city.
She sells the potential portability of the Blazers and uses
that as a selling point, which attracts an investment group
led by Tom Dundan who's got no connection to Portland.
And you end up in a situation where it looks
a lot to me suspiciously like Jody Allen maybe just
(38:18):
didn't give a rip about Portland. And I don't think
Portland cares about her either.
Speaker 3 (38:21):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (38:22):
Well, here's the funny thing about that. Nobody up here
cares that Jody didn't care about Portland, right, I mean,
there's only been three people that have won a major
professional sports championship in this town. One is Sam Shulman.
The others are Paul and Jody Allen. So there's room
for one more on the Mount Rushmore, and I wonder
who that next person will be. Hey, John, this was
(38:42):
great man. This will make up for all the times
they came on your show.
Speaker 3 (38:46):
We are now officially.
Speaker 2 (38:47):
Even, yes, so let's reset. We'll reset the scoreboard now.
Great stuff, man, love having you on. Let's do it again.
Speaker 3 (38:56):
Soon, big guy.
Speaker 5 (38:56):
All right, seea you bet man.
Speaker 3 (38:58):
John Canzana with us for the last hour. Fun having
him on.
Speaker 2 (39:01):
We're gonna break his podcast partner, John Wilner is gonna
join us, and then Jed Fish. We're gonna hear from
Jed around five point twenty tonight, right here on ninety
three three KJRFM.
Dave 'Softy' Mahler and Dick Fain News
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