July 13, 2026 • 20 mins
Hugh Millen joins Dick Fain and Alyssa Charlston-Smith to talk about the sale of the Seahawks to the family of Vinod Khosla, Neeru Khosla, and Neal Khosla including the feelings of nervousness that come with this major leadership change, a math equation that computes his level of nervousness, and what the future of the organization may be.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
Ah, Yes, it's four o'clock on a Monday. It's time
for a little more at four with home Hugh Breed
Love million mill and we're gonna talk a lot at
Seahawks sale here, Hugh.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
But what do you think about? What do you think
about a.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
Guy that's gonna turn down the Major League Baseball All
Star Game just because he wasn't high enough on the
pecking order to be selected, and the ones he eventually
got selected, he's like, Nope, not gonna do it, not
gonna play.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
What do you think? Uh, I'm I'm cool with people
turning that down. I mean I can't simultaneously rip Russell
Wilson for playing, you know, as the seventh alternate in
the program backed up this Pro Bowl. Uh you know
that's true. I don't rip him for that him that So, No,
(00:46):
you know what I do, I rip what I would
term the lazy reporting involved in that that they and
good to be with you, Dick and Alyssa. But that
would be my charges. That is that at some point
if you're gonna take the I'm in the space in
your article to write that he's that he's a ten
time pro bowler, right at least just put in a
(01:08):
in a dash or in parenthesis, parenthetically, just just say
voted to five. How you know that doesn't take a
lot of characters on a keyboard and in the space
and this website stuff now, so it's not even inches
in a newspaper. So so I think that it's just
the idea that Russ Russell Wilson promulgates it, uh that
(01:28):
that he's a ten time pro bowler, and nobody challenges it. Gotcha?
Five is a lot.
Speaker 1 (01:33):
Five is a lot, but it's not but it's not ten.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
But it's not it's not ten, uh Hugh.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
Before we talk about Cosla, let's let's rewind a little
bit and talk about the Allens and evaluate for me
now that it's over the Jody Allen run. And can
you separate what Jody Allen accomplished versus what Paul accomplished
or was it just in your mind just a one
(02:00):
twenty five year reign.
Speaker 2 (02:02):
Well, I think a lot of credit has been given
to Paul Allen. We could, we could discuss him, might
be happy to do it. I think a lot of
Seahawk fans would be happy to marinate in all of
that because it was wonderful particularly when you consider for
those who can remember the Ken Barring years and you know,
the moving trucks to la and what have you. So
(02:23):
NFL football was, you know, dangling by a thin thread
prior to the emergence of Paul Allen. And and he
just did everything right. I mean, he spent money, and
he held his tongue, which is exactly what you'd want
billionaires to do. And so so I think enough has
been said to that for me, you know, in looking
(02:43):
at Jody Allen Alyssa, I'll be interested in your take
on this. You know, Paul Allen passed in October of
twenty eighteen, shortly thereafter. Had you asked me about Jody Allen,
I would have said, well, the number one bullet on
her resume is she's in the Lucky Sperm Club. She's
(03:04):
a sister of Paul Allen and and and I wouldn't
have thought much beyond that. But I think now that
I have seen what she's done, uh, I have a
different take. I would say, first of all, let's this
is gonna be obviously self evident, but maybe it's a
(03:24):
little bit more profound than it initially sounds. Every single employee,
coach player on that Super Bowl winning team was either
hired or retained by Jodie Allen, or hired or retained
by somebody that she hired or retained. Does that make sense?
I know that sounds like a tautology, that the truth
(03:45):
is packed inside the definition UH. And obviously ownership is
the root of an ORG chart. But I think that
that just the fact, you know, you know, the the uh,
the orchestration of of her duties UH through all of that,
and in a way, I think she, in a way
she deserves arguably greater admiration than even Paul Allen because
(04:08):
she performed her caretaker duties without the consolation of ownership.
She knew this date was coming, and I think there's
three key times, three key points in her ownership. February
of twenty twenty two, Russell Wilson comes to her and says,
fire Pete Carroll, let's get Sean Payton in here, and
(04:30):
and by the way, fire Schneider while you're at it.
That must have been hard for her when Russell Wilson,
the star that he was, you know, for her to say, no, actually,
it's going to be you that I kicked to the current.
And so the loyalty was to Carol, and then a
year later, in January twenty twenty three, she actually does
the opposite. She now she boots Pete Carroll out for
(04:54):
entirely different reasons. And then and then you could add
a third component to her, you know, critical aspect of
her leadership. She hires Mike McDonald. I mean, it would
have been easy to say, hey, let's just get a retread.
It's a safer pick. Mike McDonald's thirty six years old.
But you know she was willing to be either persuaded
(05:14):
or by her own intuition to be bold. And so
I think those are three incredibly decisive pieces of decision
making and leadership. And I would just say this, every
single hand of the Seattle sex that touch that Lombardi
(05:34):
can be traced back to Jody Allen. So I just
I tip my hat. Hell of a job. I'd certainly
changed my opinion about her over the course of the
years in the manner I describe.
Speaker 3 (05:43):
Yeah, I'm with you, Hugh, in terms of not just
settling for mediocrity. She truly elevated the franchise to another
Super Bowl. I mean, to continue to keep John Schneider,
He's the common denominator as well, right from the carryover
from all Paul Allen to Jody. The decisions, the hard
decisions to really take the hit. I think a lot
(06:06):
of people did realize. I mean, yes, John Schneider was
heavily involved in the Pete Carroll firing, but partly taking
the hit for letting go of a beloved Seahawks character
and face of Seattle who brought them to the first
two Super Bowls and got one within I think making
those hard decisions and also knowing what her brother wanted,
it was impressive the way that she stayed behind the
(06:28):
scenes but also took some of the heat while also
continuing to retain some of the most important characters. What
I want to know from your perspective, why is it
important for this announcement for Neru, the wife of the node,
to be named the controlling owner in this whole situation.
And she's got what three two Stanford degrees molecular biology,
(06:50):
like her background is interesting, So why do you think
it was important to name her the controlling owner?
Speaker 2 (06:55):
That's obviously a family matter. I'd be speaking from ignorance
on on you know why, uh, you know how that's
divvied up what role she wants to play, and and
you know that really uh you know the soun obviously
now he's he's hasn't just sat sat around. I use
the term lucky sperm club, and I would have been
(07:15):
inclined to inclined to use that about the Sun. But
but you know, he he to his credit. Uh you know,
he he formed a business on his own and and
uh and has thrived. So I think that the the
entire family is remarkably high achievers. But you know that's
in in areas other than professional sports ownership. I mean, uh,
(07:37):
you know, there's there's a there's a great deal of
concern for me. Jackson. I don't know if you're there.
If if you can be the secretary here for a second,
please can you write down this formula Jackson formula? Yeah,
I was never gonna math this. He times equals see
(07:58):
all right, times m equals c probability times magnitude equals concern.
So what I'm about to say, I don't want to
to be misconstrued that I that I haven't considered the probability. Okay,
a probability can be low, but a magnitude can be high,
(08:20):
and that elevates your concern. Obviously, we all have home insurance.
None of us really think our home is going to
catch on fire. Now you know, obviously your lender requires
it if you've got a mortgage. But even if you
don't have a mortgage, you probably have home insurance. Okay,
because because low probability times high magnitude is a concern,
(08:42):
and everything about the ownership to me has high magnitude.
I don't know what these guys are going to I
don't know the nature of how that, How could anybody know?
Now they were at the forty nine ers. We know
that Eddie de Barbelow was famously one of the best
owner and his daughter Denise married John York, So John
(09:04):
York and Jed there's there's at least there's a DNA
in the forty nine ers that this ownership group was
briefly exposed to. So maybe that's a good thing. But
that would just be uh possibly even wishful thinking. There's
no proof to that. So I I I look and
say all the things, what are the things I would
be concerned about? They might have low probability. Well, let's
(09:25):
let's start with moving the franchise. I doubt that will happen.
I think it's a low probability, but the magnitude is
is that's that's a nuclear option to me in the
sports world, you know, And then how are they gonna
interact with the principles? I mean, we got John sni
who got Mike McDonald. Mike McDonald's a happy coach here.
(09:46):
I don't in five years from now, could I see
something the way they meddle that Mike McDonald all of
a sudden, you know, doesn't really want to uh be
involved with the leaders. I'll tell you one thing. If
you don't think that happened with Kaitlin boor uh, then
you you're you're just ignorant of the facts, because that's
(10:08):
that exactly, you know, the Troy Dan did not hire him, right,
and so he he liked his boss at one point
by the time he left Washington, he didn't like his boss, right,
And so could could something like that happen again? Probably not,
probably not, But the magnitude of some of these same
you know, same thing could uh maybe maybe Snyder doesn't
(10:31):
want to work with them. So so I would assume
what is the most probable would be that these guys
are gonna come in. Understand, you know, stay out, stay out.
Everything's gonna be fine. But we've got enough examples. We
can be here all day. Uh uh. You know, even
even the moving of the team. I mean, is there
some probability greater than zero that here here, these guys
(10:54):
are from the Bay Area that let's suppose this is
very unlikely to happen. But if the you know, Oakland,
they say, well, hey, we lost all these teams, we
want a new team. Let's say that five ten years
from now, and these guys are from the Bay Area,
and now of a sudden Oakland wants to bend over.
They've got a new site or something, or new financier
or whatever thing's changed there. And now all of a sudden,
(11:15):
we're getting leveraged because they want to move to Oakland.
You think that can't happen. Al Davis went from Oakland
to LA to Oakland and and every time the owners
tried to say, no, we're not gonna let you move,
you know, he sued them and won and got trouble damages.
Look at the charges going into LA to you know,
two teams in the same market, like they know damn
well from an anti trust perspective. You can't stop an
(11:36):
owner once he gets a team from moving a team.
Is it likely to happen? Probability low. But I'll tell
you one thing. You multiply the small by the enormous,
and you don't get nothing, right, you get something a
lot more than nothing. And so yeah, this to me
is just, you know, just kind of a time I
(11:59):
bite some fingernail and everything will probably be okay. But
until we go a few years and we confirm that
everything's okay, I think there's reason for concern.
Speaker 1 (12:07):
Okay, so you would vote like the poll that I
that I put out a few hours ago and I
mentioned on the air last last hour, what are your
emotions of the Seahawks sale. I don't think excited would
fit the Hughes. I don't think depressed would fit Hugh.
But the other two which were the two highest response,
nervous or curious? Are you more nervous or are you
(12:28):
more curious as to what's going to happen? Because Alyssa
and I voted for curious and Jackson is firmly on
the nervous side.
Speaker 2 (12:35):
Well, I'm I'm lining square with Jackson. Okay, I think
that nervous I think it should dwarf curious if you
really my feeling. I'm trying to understand how curious would
override nervous for somebody who's truly a Seahawk fan.
Speaker 3 (12:55):
That's yeah, that's the word.
Speaker 2 (12:57):
If you if you are, if you're really like like
you're is in it.
Speaker 1 (13:01):
Yeah. I was just saying, I would faciously optimistic would
be more curious side than it would on the nervous side.
Speaker 2 (13:07):
And that's what I am. I'm cautiously optimistic, and that's fair.
You know. I think, you know, if we had the
time to develop this over a pitch of beer, you know,
just talking asks, you know, seatleites and and friends and
what have you, I would probably try and persuade you.
I'd probably say, Dick, I know, I know you are
a passionate Seahawks fan, so that that that box is
(13:29):
already checked. But I would challenge you, are you really can?
Have you really thought about this formula? Pee times amic
we'll see, like I would challenge you that that maybe
on first place, you haven't given that enough thought. That's
what I would say to anybody who says, oh, I'm
just merely curious. Guess what I'll be honest, I'll raise
my hand. I'd be curious about the Sounders with a
(13:51):
new owner because that my heart isn't into it like
the Sea Hawks, but because it's the Seahawks and I
have much more passion and that them that am in
that equation. The magnitude of any of these events, uh,
elevating exponentially the concern uh to me, I would say, yeah,
nervous until probably and again, I want to say it
(14:13):
for like the fourth time. I acknowledge the probabilities low.
They're probably gonna be wonderful. They're probably gonna come in
and they're gonna uh and and five years from now
they're gonna be writing these stories in the Athletic about
how how what a great transition it was, and Paul,
you know, and there's these photos with Mike McDonald's arming
arm with these guys. It's probably gonna be fine, but
it might not be. And we know damn well. If
(14:33):
you look at the history of owners throughout all the sports,
there are scores of examples where one would think, oh,
everything's gonna be hunky dory, guess what, and it wasn't. Yeah,
so uh, anyway, I think, Okay, nervous in my opinion, nervous.
Speaker 3 (14:53):
Now I want to start talking about that. That and
that does make a lot of sense, and from honest perspective,
like because I've talked about the Seahawks on TV for
a while and I didn't play for the Seahawks. I
wasn't in the organization. I didn't play football full disclosure,
as might shock some people. I'm curious because I'm not
as as steadfast as a fan because I've pulled out
my fandom a little bit, And that is why I'm curious.
(15:15):
So you nailed it. I think that is I'm curious
because I'm like, oh, we'll see how it goes. Like
I'm not gonna be heartbroken either way, to be honest,
like I've kind of pulled out of the fandom a
little bit by being in the media.
Speaker 2 (15:25):
Whether you want to say it's a one percent, a
point one, a five percent, Yeah, moving the team would
would be that.
Speaker 3 (15:32):
Heart That would be heartbreaking. Yeah for some reason that
that absolutely like that because that's just the Sonics. That
is where my heart has been forever. So that would
be trauma unloading itself again. But Hugh, I am curious
what would be a move if this ownership group in
the next two three years were to make that would
put a big red flag out there for you. That
(15:53):
would be like, oh oh, like here we go, Like
is there something with this ownership group that even in
the next year, if something happens that is like that
would be take you from nervous to depressed.
Speaker 2 (16:03):
Well okay, well, first of all, the first things, if
we start hearing a little trickling of information that that
they're trying to you know, to cut corners and the
you know, the players are used to a certain standard
on this and you know, if they're if they can't somebody,
if they don't have the cash, uh, you know, to
(16:24):
sign somebody, and I don't think that's gonna happen. But
if we start hearing their kind of chintzing here and there,
I mean, because because this is now their their number
one asset if you look at their their bouns you know, yeah,
you know, and so so we've seen particularly and by
the way, on the level of concern, if you were
then to say the ones that that have as their
(16:45):
primary source of income, uh, the NFL, you know, whether
it's art model, you know, moving the team to Baltimore
like that, there there there's a higher level of concern
with owners that have less money. And you know, so
I would say, if we're hearing anything about you know,
(17:07):
cheapness parsimonious, I wouldn't like that. I would say that
that's gonna that's gonna hurt the the energy, the foundation internally.
And then you know, if we hear rumors that that
any of the three of them emphasize three because we
got the kid involved two, that that maybe he's interested
in you know, I've read that they're really into data
(17:29):
and uh analytics and what have you. What an irony, right,
because on a relative scale, I'm into data and analytics
as well. But but if they were to be you know,
somehow forcing data and analytics to take a greater share
of the decision making and and maybe meddling with Schneider
(17:49):
in any way, you know, just just upsetting the Apple card.
Isn't that a term?
Speaker 1 (17:53):
Yes?
Speaker 2 (17:53):
You know, like the apples cart's going fine right now.
All the apples are stacked, you know, they're fine. They're
not rolling anywhere. Like, don't push the damn apple cart
over a curb, just roll it on the nice smooth paveway.
It's right in front of you. It's right in front
of it there, Just stay away from the curb. And
so that would be you know, I'd start there. Uh
(18:13):
you know, but I think it's important, as I said,
what do we say, Paul, Paul Allen did spend the money,
held his tongue do that? And and then and then
have John Schneider and Mike McDonald just speak as glowingly
about you as they do about working for first Paul,
and of course Mike McDonald didn't. But but but the
(18:33):
way Mike McDonald talks about his interaction with Jody Allen.
And and again, man, those three decisions she made good
on you girl? What I mean that that had to
be tough, and she went three for three. She she's
batting a thousand on the really tough positions where the
alternative decision would have been either easy or even you know,
(18:56):
more intuitive. So uh so, yeah, I can't. I can't
tell you how much i'm I'm I'm impressing how I
changed my opinion on Jody Allen. And so so now, yeah,
I'm nervous to hell. Well, I'm a Seahawk fan and
I have been. I went to the very first game. Sorry,
I don't know if that's relevant, went very first game
of the Seahawks in the Kingdom against the Saint Louis Cardinals,
(19:16):
and Jim Hart, you know, been a Seyawk fan ever
from that time for it, even when I played against him,
there was a weird part of me that was a
Sea Oawk fan. So yeah, no, I don't want any
any apples falling off the cart, Hugh.
Speaker 1 (19:28):
We'll talk more about it tomorrow early start tomorrow after
soccer on about two thirty tomorrow, so we'll be rocking
and ready.
Speaker 2 (19:35):
All right, great to have you on the team here today,
A Lissa looking forward to your stuff.
Speaker 1 (19:39):
Appreciate it, Okay, now you breed love Mellon. He'll co
host tomorrow and Wednesday as well as Friday this week.
And we can't don't possibly have a franchise in the
city that over uses analytics, Dowie. I'm trying to think,
is there is there a team that is I know, yeah,
oh wait, oh there is And we're going to talk
about that team next because they're one game under five
(20:01):
hundred and our morning show host just called for the
manager to be fired. You'll hear that next on ninety
three point three KJFM.
Ah, Yes, it's four o'clock on a Monday. It's time
for a little more at four with home Hugh Breed
Love million mill and we're gonna talk a lot at
Seahawks sale here, Hugh.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
But what do you think about? What do you think
about a.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
Guy that's gonna turn down the Major League Baseball All
Star Game just because he wasn't high enough on the
pecking order to be selected, and the ones he eventually
got selected, he's like, Nope, not gonna do it, not
gonna play.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
What do you think? Uh, I'm I'm cool with people
turning that down. I mean I can't simultaneously rip Russell
Wilson for playing, you know, as the seventh alternate in
the program backed up this Pro Bowl. Uh you know
that's true. I don't rip him for that him that So, No,
(00:46):
you know what I do, I rip what I would
term the lazy reporting involved in that that they and
good to be with you, Dick and Alyssa. But that
would be my charges. That is that at some point
if you're gonna take the I'm in the space in
your article to write that he's that he's a ten
time pro bowler, right at least just put in a
(01:08):
in a dash or in parenthesis, parenthetically, just just say
voted to five. How you know that doesn't take a
lot of characters on a keyboard and in the space
and this website stuff now, so it's not even inches
in a newspaper. So so I think that it's just
the idea that Russ Russell Wilson promulgates it, uh that
(01:28):
that he's a ten time pro bowler, and nobody challenges it. Gotcha?
Five is a lot.
Speaker 1 (01:33):
Five is a lot, but it's not but it's not ten.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
But it's not it's not ten, uh Hugh.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
Before we talk about Cosla, let's let's rewind a little
bit and talk about the Allens and evaluate for me
now that it's over the Jody Allen run. And can
you separate what Jody Allen accomplished versus what Paul accomplished
or was it just in your mind just a one
(02:00):
twenty five year reign.
Speaker 2 (02:02):
Well, I think a lot of credit has been given
to Paul Allen. We could, we could discuss him, might
be happy to do it. I think a lot of
Seahawk fans would be happy to marinate in all of
that because it was wonderful particularly when you consider for
those who can remember the Ken Barring years and you know,
the moving trucks to la and what have you. So
(02:23):
NFL football was, you know, dangling by a thin thread
prior to the emergence of Paul Allen. And and he
just did everything right. I mean, he spent money, and
he held his tongue, which is exactly what you'd want
billionaires to do. And so so I think enough has
been said to that for me, you know, in looking
(02:43):
at Jody Allen Alyssa, I'll be interested in your take
on this. You know, Paul Allen passed in October of
twenty eighteen, shortly thereafter. Had you asked me about Jody Allen,
I would have said, well, the number one bullet on
her resume is she's in the Lucky Sperm Club. She's
(03:04):
a sister of Paul Allen and and and I wouldn't
have thought much beyond that. But I think now that
I have seen what she's done, uh, I have a
different take. I would say, first of all, let's this
is gonna be obviously self evident, but maybe it's a
(03:24):
little bit more profound than it initially sounds. Every single employee,
coach player on that Super Bowl winning team was either
hired or retained by Jodie Allen, or hired or retained
by somebody that she hired or retained. Does that make sense?
I know that sounds like a tautology, that the truth
(03:45):
is packed inside the definition UH. And obviously ownership is
the root of an ORG chart. But I think that
that just the fact, you know, you know, the the uh,
the orchestration of of her duties UH through all of that,
and in a way, I think she, in a way
she deserves arguably greater admiration than even Paul Allen because
(04:08):
she performed her caretaker duties without the consolation of ownership.
She knew this date was coming, and I think there's
three key times, three key points in her ownership. February
of twenty twenty two, Russell Wilson comes to her and says,
fire Pete Carroll, let's get Sean Payton in here, and
(04:30):
and by the way, fire Schneider while you're at it.
That must have been hard for her when Russell Wilson,
the star that he was, you know, for her to say, no, actually,
it's going to be you that I kicked to the current.
And so the loyalty was to Carol, and then a
year later, in January twenty twenty three, she actually does
the opposite. She now she boots Pete Carroll out for
(04:54):
entirely different reasons. And then and then you could add
a third component to her, you know, critical aspect of
her leadership. She hires Mike McDonald. I mean, it would
have been easy to say, hey, let's just get a retread.
It's a safer pick. Mike McDonald's thirty six years old.
But you know she was willing to be either persuaded
(05:14):
or by her own intuition to be bold. And so
I think those are three incredibly decisive pieces of decision
making and leadership. And I would just say this, every
single hand of the Seattle sex that touch that Lombardi
(05:34):
can be traced back to Jody Allen. So I just
I tip my hat. Hell of a job. I'd certainly
changed my opinion about her over the course of the
years in the manner I describe.
Speaker 3 (05:43):
Yeah, I'm with you, Hugh, in terms of not just
settling for mediocrity. She truly elevated the franchise to another
Super Bowl. I mean, to continue to keep John Schneider,
He's the common denominator as well, right from the carryover
from all Paul Allen to Jody. The decisions, the hard
decisions to really take the hit. I think a lot
(06:06):
of people did realize. I mean, yes, John Schneider was
heavily involved in the Pete Carroll firing, but partly taking
the hit for letting go of a beloved Seahawks character
and face of Seattle who brought them to the first
two Super Bowls and got one within I think making
those hard decisions and also knowing what her brother wanted,
it was impressive the way that she stayed behind the
(06:28):
scenes but also took some of the heat while also
continuing to retain some of the most important characters. What
I want to know from your perspective, why is it
important for this announcement for Neru, the wife of the node,
to be named the controlling owner in this whole situation.
And she's got what three two Stanford degrees molecular biology,
(06:50):
like her background is interesting, So why do you think
it was important to name her the controlling owner?
Speaker 2 (06:55):
That's obviously a family matter. I'd be speaking from ignorance
on on you know why, uh, you know how that's
divvied up what role she wants to play, and and
you know that really uh you know the soun obviously
now he's he's hasn't just sat sat around. I use
the term lucky sperm club, and I would have been
(07:15):
inclined to inclined to use that about the Sun. But
but you know, he he to his credit. Uh you know,
he he formed a business on his own and and
uh and has thrived. So I think that the the
entire family is remarkably high achievers. But you know that's
in in areas other than professional sports ownership. I mean, uh,
(07:37):
you know, there's there's a there's a great deal of
concern for me. Jackson. I don't know if you're there.
If if you can be the secretary here for a second,
please can you write down this formula Jackson formula? Yeah,
I was never gonna math this. He times equals see
(07:58):
all right, times m equals c probability times magnitude equals concern.
So what I'm about to say, I don't want to
to be misconstrued that I that I haven't considered the probability. Okay,
a probability can be low, but a magnitude can be high,
(08:20):
and that elevates your concern. Obviously, we all have home insurance.
None of us really think our home is going to
catch on fire. Now you know, obviously your lender requires
it if you've got a mortgage. But even if you
don't have a mortgage, you probably have home insurance. Okay,
because because low probability times high magnitude is a concern,
(08:42):
and everything about the ownership to me has high magnitude.
I don't know what these guys are going to I
don't know the nature of how that, How could anybody know?
Now they were at the forty nine ers. We know
that Eddie de Barbelow was famously one of the best
owner and his daughter Denise married John York, So John
(09:04):
York and Jed there's there's at least there's a DNA
in the forty nine ers that this ownership group was
briefly exposed to. So maybe that's a good thing. But
that would just be uh possibly even wishful thinking. There's
no proof to that. So I I I look and
say all the things, what are the things I would
be concerned about? They might have low probability. Well, let's
(09:25):
let's start with moving the franchise. I doubt that will happen.
I think it's a low probability, but the magnitude is
is that's that's a nuclear option to me in the
sports world, you know, And then how are they gonna
interact with the principles? I mean, we got John sni
who got Mike McDonald. Mike McDonald's a happy coach here.
(09:46):
I don't in five years from now, could I see
something the way they meddle that Mike McDonald all of
a sudden, you know, doesn't really want to uh be
involved with the leaders. I'll tell you one thing. If
you don't think that happened with Kaitlin boor uh, then
you you're you're just ignorant of the facts, because that's
(10:08):
that exactly, you know, the Troy Dan did not hire him, right,
and so he he liked his boss at one point
by the time he left Washington, he didn't like his boss, right,
And so could could something like that happen again? Probably not,
probably not, But the magnitude of some of these same
you know, same thing could uh maybe maybe Snyder doesn't
(10:31):
want to work with them. So so I would assume
what is the most probable would be that these guys
are gonna come in. Understand, you know, stay out, stay out.
Everything's gonna be fine. But we've got enough examples. We
can be here all day. Uh uh. You know, even
even the moving of the team. I mean, is there
some probability greater than zero that here here, these guys
(10:54):
are from the Bay Area that let's suppose this is
very unlikely to happen. But if the you know, Oakland,
they say, well, hey, we lost all these teams, we
want a new team. Let's say that five ten years
from now, and these guys are from the Bay Area,
and now of a sudden Oakland wants to bend over.
They've got a new site or something, or new financier
or whatever thing's changed there. And now all of a sudden,
(11:15):
we're getting leveraged because they want to move to Oakland.
You think that can't happen. Al Davis went from Oakland
to LA to Oakland and and every time the owners
tried to say, no, we're not gonna let you move,
you know, he sued them and won and got trouble damages.
Look at the charges going into LA to you know,
two teams in the same market, like they know damn
well from an anti trust perspective. You can't stop an
(11:36):
owner once he gets a team from moving a team.
Is it likely to happen? Probability low. But I'll tell
you one thing. You multiply the small by the enormous,
and you don't get nothing, right, you get something a
lot more than nothing. And so yeah, this to me
is just, you know, just kind of a time I
(11:59):
bite some fingernail and everything will probably be okay. But
until we go a few years and we confirm that
everything's okay, I think there's reason for concern.
Speaker 1 (12:07):
Okay, so you would vote like the poll that I
that I put out a few hours ago and I
mentioned on the air last last hour, what are your
emotions of the Seahawks sale. I don't think excited would
fit the Hughes. I don't think depressed would fit Hugh.
But the other two which were the two highest response,
nervous or curious? Are you more nervous or are you
(12:28):
more curious as to what's going to happen? Because Alyssa
and I voted for curious and Jackson is firmly on
the nervous side.
Speaker 2 (12:35):
Well, I'm I'm lining square with Jackson. Okay, I think
that nervous I think it should dwarf curious if you
really my feeling. I'm trying to understand how curious would
override nervous for somebody who's truly a Seahawk fan.
Speaker 3 (12:55):
That's yeah, that's the word.
Speaker 2 (12:57):
If you if you are, if you're really like like
you're is in it.
Speaker 1 (13:01):
Yeah. I was just saying, I would faciously optimistic would
be more curious side than it would on the nervous side.
Speaker 2 (13:07):
And that's what I am. I'm cautiously optimistic, and that's fair.
You know. I think, you know, if we had the
time to develop this over a pitch of beer, you know,
just talking asks, you know, seatleites and and friends and
what have you, I would probably try and persuade you.
I'd probably say, Dick, I know, I know you are
a passionate Seahawks fan, so that that that box is
(13:29):
already checked. But I would challenge you, are you really can?
Have you really thought about this formula? Pee times amic
we'll see, like I would challenge you that that maybe
on first place, you haven't given that enough thought. That's
what I would say to anybody who says, oh, I'm
just merely curious. Guess what I'll be honest, I'll raise
my hand. I'd be curious about the Sounders with a
(13:51):
new owner because that my heart isn't into it like
the Sea Hawks, but because it's the Seahawks and I
have much more passion and that them that am in
that equation. The magnitude of any of these events, uh,
elevating exponentially the concern uh to me, I would say, yeah,
nervous until probably and again, I want to say it
(14:13):
for like the fourth time. I acknowledge the probabilities low.
They're probably gonna be wonderful. They're probably gonna come in
and they're gonna uh and and five years from now
they're gonna be writing these stories in the Athletic about
how how what a great transition it was, and Paul,
you know, and there's these photos with Mike McDonald's arming
arm with these guys. It's probably gonna be fine, but
it might not be. And we know damn well. If
(14:33):
you look at the history of owners throughout all the sports,
there are scores of examples where one would think, oh,
everything's gonna be hunky dory, guess what, and it wasn't. Yeah,
so uh, anyway, I think, Okay, nervous in my opinion, nervous.
Speaker 3 (14:53):
Now I want to start talking about that. That and
that does make a lot of sense, and from honest perspective,
like because I've talked about the Seahawks on TV for
a while and I didn't play for the Seahawks. I
wasn't in the organization. I didn't play football full disclosure,
as might shock some people. I'm curious because I'm not
as as steadfast as a fan because I've pulled out
my fandom a little bit, And that is why I'm curious.
(15:15):
So you nailed it. I think that is I'm curious
because I'm like, oh, we'll see how it goes. Like
I'm not gonna be heartbroken either way, to be honest,
like I've kind of pulled out of the fandom a
little bit by being in the media.
Speaker 2 (15:25):
Whether you want to say it's a one percent, a
point one, a five percent, Yeah, moving the team would
would be that.
Speaker 3 (15:32):
Heart That would be heartbreaking. Yeah for some reason that
that absolutely like that because that's just the Sonics. That
is where my heart has been forever. So that would
be trauma unloading itself again. But Hugh, I am curious
what would be a move if this ownership group in
the next two three years were to make that would
put a big red flag out there for you. That
(15:53):
would be like, oh oh, like here we go, Like
is there something with this ownership group that even in
the next year, if something happens that is like that
would be take you from nervous to depressed.
Speaker 2 (16:03):
Well okay, well, first of all, the first things, if
we start hearing a little trickling of information that that
they're trying to you know, to cut corners and the
you know, the players are used to a certain standard
on this and you know, if they're if they can't somebody,
if they don't have the cash, uh, you know, to
(16:24):
sign somebody, and I don't think that's gonna happen. But
if we start hearing their kind of chintzing here and there,
I mean, because because this is now their their number
one asset if you look at their their bouns you know, yeah,
you know, and so so we've seen particularly and by
the way, on the level of concern, if you were
then to say the ones that that have as their
(16:45):
primary source of income, uh, the NFL, you know, whether
it's art model, you know, moving the team to Baltimore
like that, there there there's a higher level of concern
with owners that have less money. And you know, so
I would say, if we're hearing anything about you know,
(17:07):
cheapness parsimonious, I wouldn't like that. I would say that
that's gonna that's gonna hurt the the energy, the foundation internally.
And then you know, if we hear rumors that that
any of the three of them emphasize three because we
got the kid involved two, that that maybe he's interested
in you know, I've read that they're really into data
(17:29):
and uh analytics and what have you. What an irony, right,
because on a relative scale, I'm into data and analytics
as well. But but if they were to be you know,
somehow forcing data and analytics to take a greater share
of the decision making and and maybe meddling with Schneider
(17:49):
in any way, you know, just just upsetting the Apple card.
Isn't that a term?
Speaker 1 (17:53):
Yes?
Speaker 2 (17:53):
You know, like the apples cart's going fine right now.
All the apples are stacked, you know, they're fine. They're
not rolling anywhere. Like, don't push the damn apple cart
over a curb, just roll it on the nice smooth paveway.
It's right in front of you. It's right in front
of it there, Just stay away from the curb. And
so that would be you know, I'd start there. Uh
(18:13):
you know, but I think it's important, as I said,
what do we say, Paul, Paul Allen did spend the money,
held his tongue do that? And and then and then
have John Schneider and Mike McDonald just speak as glowingly
about you as they do about working for first Paul,
and of course Mike McDonald didn't. But but but the
(18:33):
way Mike McDonald talks about his interaction with Jody Allen.
And and again, man, those three decisions she made good
on you girl? What I mean that that had to
be tough, and she went three for three. She she's
batting a thousand on the really tough positions where the
alternative decision would have been either easy or even you know,
(18:56):
more intuitive. So uh so, yeah, I can't. I can't
tell you how much i'm I'm I'm impressing how I
changed my opinion on Jody Allen. And so so now, yeah,
I'm nervous to hell. Well, I'm a Seahawk fan and
I have been. I went to the very first game. Sorry,
I don't know if that's relevant, went very first game
of the Seahawks in the Kingdom against the Saint Louis Cardinals,
(19:16):
and Jim Hart, you know, been a Seyawk fan ever
from that time for it, even when I played against him,
there was a weird part of me that was a
Sea Oawk fan. So yeah, no, I don't want any
any apples falling off the cart, Hugh.
Speaker 1 (19:28):
We'll talk more about it tomorrow early start tomorrow after
soccer on about two thirty tomorrow, so we'll be rocking
and ready.
Speaker 2 (19:35):
All right, great to have you on the team here today,
A Lissa looking forward to your stuff.
Speaker 1 (19:39):
Appreciate it, Okay, now you breed love Mellon. He'll co
host tomorrow and Wednesday as well as Friday this week.
And we can't don't possibly have a franchise in the
city that over uses analytics, Dowie. I'm trying to think,
is there is there a team that is I know, yeah,
oh wait, oh there is And we're going to talk
about that team next because they're one game under five
(20:01):
hundred and our morning show host just called for the
manager to be fired. You'll hear that next on ninety
three point three KJFM.
Popular Podcasts
Betrayal Weekly
Betrayal Weekly is back for a new season. Every Thursday, Betrayal Weekly shares first-hand accounts of broken trust, shocking deceptions, and the trail of destruction they leave behind. Hosted by Andrea Gunning, this weekly ongoing series digs into real-life stories of betrayal and the aftermath. From stories of double lives to dark discoveries, these are cautionary tales and accounts of resilience against all odds. From the producers of the critically acclaimed Betrayal series, Betrayal Weekly drops new episodes every Thursday. If you would like to share your story, you can reach out to the Betrayal Team by emailing them at betrayalpod@gmail.com and follow us on Instagram at @betrayalpod and @glasspodcasts. Please join our Substack for additional exclusive content, curated book recommendations, and community discussions. Sign up FREE by clicking this link Beyond Betrayal Substack. Join our community dedicated to truth, resilience, and healing. Your voice matters! Be a part of our Betrayal journey on Substack.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com