Paul Allen’s owner cred takes a hit with the firing of Kevin Pritchard

It’s hard to question the actions of a guy who’s won big at the game of life the way Paul Allen has.  He helped build Microsoft, cashed in, bought two pro sports teams (Seattle in the NFL and Portland in the NBA) and has given away more money to charity than the entire populations of some small towns will make in their lifetimes.

As a sports owner, he’s avoiding being branded a total douchenozzle, something that can’t be said for guys like Daniel Snyder and Donald Sterling.  In Seattle he nearly brought the city a Super Bowl title a few years back, but his greatest achievement might be the fact that he kept the Trail Blazers in Portland.

You see, the citizens of Portland love them some Blazers.  But the powers that be in the city have always been reluctant to do anything to help the franchise out.  Without a penny of public funding or even naming-rights revenue, Allen spent over $250 million to build the Rose Garden, which was the NBA’s Taj Mahal of arenas when it opened in 1995.

For a reminder of what can happen when both a city and a team’s ownership can’t get a new arena funded, refer to what happened in Seattle with the Sonics.  I don’t think Allen’s contribution to the sports culture of Rip City should ever be shortchanged, the guy saved pro basketball in Portland.

Which is why I kind of hate to take him to task over the firing of GM Kevin Prichard, but that’s exactly what I’m going to do. By cutting ties with one of the sport’s brightest minds, Allen has made what amounts to be a Steinbrenner-esque move.

Remember a few years ago when the Trail Blazers were known as the Jail Blazers? Fans in Portland didn’t know whether to cheer those teams or run in fear from them. Think about this: earlier this decade, Portland decided to put Ruben Patterson, ‘Sheed Wallace and Damon Stoudemire ON THE SAME ROSTER. That’s the equivalent of putting the Joker, the Penguin and Catwoman on the same cell block in Arkham Asylum.

Starting in 2006 as assistant GM, Pritchard unloaded the dead weight and replenished the roster with guys like Brandon Roy, LaMarcus Aldridge and Rudy Fernandez. In 2006-07, the Blazers won 32 games, but have won 104 the last two seasons combined, making the playoffs both times.

And now he’s out of a job.  How did it come to this?  The whole affair is confusing because there doesn’t appear to be a specific HR misstep or rumor of tyrannical behavior to explain the firing.  There has to be some dirty laundry here, but the famously low key Allen isn’t airing it.  Hell, he didn’t even attend the the post-firing press conference, that chore was left to team president Larry Miller.

I’m guessing that no dirty laundry will be aired by Pritchard, either, not after he released this syrupy sweet open letter:

Portlanders take great pride in their basketball team and it’s great to see that love and passion back. I’m glad I was able to play a small part in making that happen, but understand our comeback was a total team effort led by our owner and not me.

Speaking of Portlanders, I want to thank our great fans. Everywhere I went for the past seven years I received nothing but the most positive feedback about how much this city loves its team. I knew every night that we stepped on the court at the Rose Garden that our fans would make the difference and without question having the best fans in the NBA is a huge advantage.

I’ll always look back fondly on Portland and the many great memories and all the lasting relationships I made here. Yes, ultimately, I’m tearfully sad to be leaving Portland and incredibly disappointed that I won’t be able to help see this thing through to the end. But rest-assured wherever I end up I’ll be keeping a close eye on Portland and cheering the team on because I will always consider myself a Trail Blazer.

Thank you, Portland. You’re the best. You have a great owner, great players, a great coach, a great team president, a great president emeritus and a great front office. In other words, you have a great team and I mean that from the bottom of my heart. (The Oregonian)

With nothing specific to point to, I can only speculate, so here goes.  Stories of Allen’s social awkwardness abound, so did Pritchard’s reputation as the organization’s golden boy get to be too much for the owner to take?

If  pettiness like this was at the heart of the firing, then that’s pretty worrisome for Blazer fans.  They’re 22 years deep into the Allen regime, and the guy might be drifting into Howard Hughes territory.  For the record, Hughes never owned any teams that won championships.

The Stanley Cup goes where it has never gone before

This week Chicago Sun-Times columnist Michael Sneed confirmed that the Chicago Blackhawks will be taking the Stanley Cup to tomorrow’s Gay Pride Parade:

Sneed has learned Blackhawks President John McDonough is rerouting the Stanley Cup from the NHL draft in L.A. to the parade Sunday . . . and Blackhawk defenseman Brent Sopel has volunteered to represent the team.

“I am honored to do it,” said Sopel, who will be accompanied by wife, Kelly, and his four kids, Jacob, 12, Lyla, 8, Jayla, 6, and Paul, 20, whom they adopted three years ago after Paul’s parents died within six months of each other.

“The power of the Cup is incomprehensible, and we recognize the importance of doing this,” said McDonough, who has arranged for the Stanley Cup to be flown back from the National Hockey League draft in Los Angeles 15 hours early. “It’s important for the city and important for the franchise.” (Chicago Sun-Times)

Mark Schlereth stumps for his barely dressed daughter on Twitter

Fellow ESPNers Mark Schlereth and Jim Rome had the following exchange earlier today on Twitter:

schlereth_girl is Mark’s daugther Alexandria, whom IMDB credits as having been in 51 episodes of some TV show called “Desire.”  I gotta admit, I can’t remember that damn show to save my life, but here’s what the site said it’s about:

Two brothers, Alex and Louis Thomas, open a small restaurant in New Jersey with their mother, Rita. On their opening night, Louis sleeps with the daughter of a notorious and very ruthless mafia boss, who burns down their home and restaurant, forcing the Thomas family to flee to Los Angeles. There, Alex and Louis find work at a prestigious Beverly Hills restaurant, where they both fall in love with the same woman, Andrea, the beautiful daughter of the restaurant’s wealthy owner. This sets off a chain of events and now their lives will never be the same again. As the intrigue mounts, and the mafia is hot on their trail, Alex and Louis are faced with added danger, as the bonds of brotherly love are threatened by betrayal. (IMDB)

I guess Mark’s trying to drum up some awareness of his little girl, whose Twitter profile pic just happens to be the following:

Maybe part of my mind is stuck in Mayberry, but I if I saw my daughter dressed and posed like that in a profile picture on Twitter, it would be GAME ON.  On my watch, I’d better not see her on the internet in anything less than a parka and thick ski pants.

Wow, Reggie Bush really is an a-hole

As if we needed even more evidence that Reggie Bush’s narcissism knows no bounds, SportsByBrooks.com dug through the NCAA’s files related to its investigation of USC and found this interesting nugget:

Bush was to host a recruit after the Oct. 29, 2005 USC-Washington State game considered the nation’s top high school prospect.

(USC assistant coach Todd) McNair made repeated attempts to contact Bush in regards to the top recruit’s official visit. But Bush, on a post-game outing with family and friends, including (Lloyd) Lake and (Michael) Michaels, left the recruit waiting in his hotel room while they ate dinner. The recruit would later verify that timeline.

Among the numerous calls McNair placed to Bush and the recruit that night, three were to a 619 area code that was not Bush’s number. That number, cited from McNair’s USC phone records, belonged to Lake.  (SportsByBrooks.com)

Basically, Bush blew off his duties as a player host and went and had dinner with Lake and Michaels, the guys who were supplying he and his family with cash and gifts. When McNair realized that the recruit in question had been abandoned by Bush, the assistant coach called a guy whom he thought would know Bush’s whereabouts, that person being Lake.

One of the revelations here is the establishment of a direct link between McNair and Lake. In the NCAA’s eyes, how could USC’s coaching staff say they didn’t have any knowledge of Lake’s improper dealings with Bush when they in fact had the dude on speed dial?

But an even bigger revelation to me is who the recruit who was: Percy Harvin. Yup, Reggie Bush basically blew off the nation’s top high school prospect, a guy who would go on to make play after dynamic play for the Florida Gators.

How friggin’ selfish can one dude be?  Sure, Bush was just using USC as a springboard to the NFL, but I’m dumbfounded that he didn’t think enough of his school to give Harvin his undivided attention.  Hell, Ndamukong Suh is giving $2 million to Nebraska, but Bush couldn’t give USC one night of his time?  What a prick.

Miami’s Jacory Harris might beat Kat Von D in an ink off

Damn, looks like Miami quarterback Jacory Harris has been busy this offseason adding some tattoos to his collection. This recent shot that he shared on Twitter shows that he’s getting into the Kat Von D category in terms of body coverage:

In case you run into him on the street and don’t recognize him in the face, he’s added some ink that will help jar your memory:

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