Paul Allen, RIP

Myth · Post #41 » by **Myth** » Tue Oct 16, 2018 2:45 am

I have so many actions to this. I'm sad for him, his family, and the Blazers/Seahawks community. The world lost somebody who made huge improvements to technology, which is also sad. As a Blazer fan, I'm sad that we lost an owner who was a fan first and business man 2nd for the Blazers. He was willing to spend money when it made sense for competition, or even draft picks. Obviously the biggest worry would be a new owner taking the Blazers away. But even on a smaller scale, I worry about an owner that is not willing to go into luxury tax to put us over the top if we are close. Hopefully we will luck out with an owner who even somewhat compares to Paul Allen.

rasta_marley · Post #42 » by **rasta_marley** » Tue Oct 16, 2018 3:30 am

Damn hopefully blazers stay in Portland. That's sad he passed away, blazers won't be the same. Good thoughts out to his family.

Jsun947 · Post #43 » by **Jsun947** » Tue Oct 16, 2018 4:55 am

Paul Allen has impacted nearly every life on planet earth. What he's done goes far beyond sports, far beyond Portland, Seattle, the Pacific Northwest, and the United States Of America. The world is a better place because of him and he's going to be missed.

RIP Paul Allen

Joshumitsu · Post #44 » by **Joshumitsu** » Tue Oct 16, 2018 5:07 am

Very sad news.

This was an owner who was a true fan of his teams. He would show up to preseason games, Summer League, as many home games as he could. If he couldn't make it, I heard he would stream games from his yacht and planes (even before streaming became as big as it is now). He saved his teams from being moved, constructed stadiums, would be active on draft nights in the Blazer war room, and congratulated his players all the time.

Even if his tenure here wasn't 100% perfect, not a lot of owners gave as much time, passion, and money (even to a loss) as he did.

RIP to a great owner.

Epicurus · Post #45 » by **Epicurus** » Tue Oct 16, 2018 5:44 am

If a society must have billionaires, then Paul Allen was a good one to have. On a personal note, I am grateful that he gave a job to a close friend of mine and was fair in their dealings.

GreenRiddler · Post #46 » by **GreenRiddler** » Tue Oct 16, 2018 5:54 am

Probably the only billionaire I'll be sad to see go. Will make for a circus few years for this franchise.

Post #47 » by **Moonbeam** » Tue Oct 16, 2018 9:29 am

Very sad to hear this news. I feel sad for many reasons, especially for his family and close friends. He meant a lot to so many people. It feels a bit crass right now to speculate about how this impacts the Blazers, but that will surely come. All I can say as a Blazer fan is that I am very grateful for Paul Allen and the Blazermania he helped foster. It was under his ownership that this orphan Piston fan came to love the Blazers, and it has been under his ownership that that love has continued to grow year after year.

Wizenheimer · Post #48 » by **Wizenheimer** » Tue Oct 16, 2018 3:14 pm

Olive has done a pictorial timeline of PA and the Blazers here:

http://photos.oregonlive.com/4450/gallery/photo_timeline_of_paul_allen_p/index.html

some of them....

early days at MicroSoft (hairy days):

with Clyde:

sad to think that 3 of the 5 in this picture are gone:

JasonStern · Post #49 » by **JasonStern** » Tue Oct 16, 2018 5:13 pm

on the positive side, hopefully something game-changing can come from his estate fulfilling the giving pledge:

https://givingpledge.org/Pledger.aspx?id=160

Village Idiot · Post #50 » by **Village Idiot** » Tue Oct 16, 2018 5:22 pm

Paul Allen will be missed. He made so many contributions to interests and institutions that I cherish. The Trailblazers, Seahawks, MLS, University of Washington, science fiction, Jimi Hendrix, and so on. If all billionaires were like Paul Allen the world would be a much better place.

Agenda42 · Post #51 » by **Agenda42** » Tue Oct 16, 2018 5:36 pm

That happened so quickly. He was a very impressive man and the world is worse off for his passing.

zero24gravity · Post #52 » by **zero24gravity** » Wed Oct 17, 2018 6:45 pm

Jazz fan swinging by to share condolences.

When Jazz owner Larry Miller passed away a few years ago, I remember it not only being sad, but concerning as a fan that the team might suffer or even move. The Miller family stepped up in a huge way to ensure the stability of the franchise, and I wish you the same in Portland.

RIP Mr. Allen

Shem · Post #53 » by **Shem** » Wed Oct 17, 2018 9:41 pm

Watch on YouTube

monopoman · Post #54 » by **monopoman** » Fri Oct 19, 2018 6:41 pm

I was on vacation when this story hit, extremely sad day for the Blazers and Seahawks teams and fans, and of course Paul Allen's friends and families. I am glad to see that a huge chunk of his fortune will be used to make the world a better place. Hopefully the Blazers are sold to someone that values the team as much as he did.

Drewskickinit · Post #55 » by **Drewskickinit** » Thu Feb 21, 2019 9:52 pm

When Allen passed away I have to admit I became very worried about the future of the Blazers staying in Portland. The way the Sonics were moved out of Seattle in one season is an indicator that the same could happen here. Blazers do have a ton of history in the NBA and are one of the better known teams but that probably isn't as important as the money aspect in this new day and age. Brings me back to what we missed out on with Oden and Roy. If that team became what we all thought it would we wouldn't have any worries but it didn't pan out for us and now we could be on the chopping block. Only time will tell.

Shem · Post #56 » by **Shem** » Fri Feb 22, 2019 6:51 am

Drewskickinit wrote:When Allen passed away I have to admit I became very worried about the future of the Blazers staying in Portland. The way the Sonics were moved out of Seattle in one season is an indicator that the same could happen here. Blazers do have a ton of history in the NBA and are one of the better known teams but that probably isn't as important as the money aspect in this new day and age. Brings me back to what we missed out on with Oden and Roy. If that team became what we all thought it would we wouldn't have any worries but it didn't pan out for us and now we could be on the chopping block. Only time will tell.

The Blazers still have good attendance.

http://www.espn.com/nba/attendance

The Blazers have a lease with the Moda Center until 2025.

Drewskickinit · Post #57 » by **Drewskickinit** » Fri Feb 22, 2019 10:32 pm

Shem wrote:
Drewskickinit wrote:When Allen passed away I have to admit I became very worried about the future of the Blazers staying in Portland. The way the Sonics were moved out of Seattle in one season is an indicator that the same could happen here. Blazers do have a ton of history in the NBA and are one of the better known teams but that probably isn't as important as the money aspect in this new day and age. Brings me back to what we missed out on with Oden and Roy. If that team became what we all thought it would we wouldn't have any worries but it didn't pan out for us and now we could be on the chopping block. Only time will tell.

The Blazers still have good attendance.

http://www.espn.com/nba/attendance

The Blazers have a lease with the Moda Center until 2025.

Blazers still have great attendance so that's a plus for them staying. Do we think attendance truly matters in a billionaires mind that would want to take them somewhere else or to his own city like the Sonics were.? What billionaires do we have that live in the Oregon area that would be interested in buying the Blazers.?

Shem · Post #58 » by **Shem** » Sat Feb 23, 2019 12:55 am

Drewskickinit wrote:
Shem wrote:
Drewskickinit wrote:When Allen passed away I have to admit I became very worried about the future of the Blazers staying in Portland. The way the Sonics were moved out of Seattle in one season is an indicator that the same could happen here. Blazers do have a ton of history in the NBA and are one of the better known teams but that probably isn't as important as the money aspect in this new day and age. Brings me back to what we missed out on with Oden and Roy. If that team became what we all thought it would we wouldn't have any worries but it didn't pan out for us and now we could be on the chopping block. Only time will tell.

The Blazers still have good attendance.

http://www.espn.com/nba/attendance

The Blazers have a lease with the Moda Center until 2025.

Blazers still have great attendance so that's a plus for them staying. Do we think attendance truly matters in a billionaires mind that would want to take them somewhere else or to his own city like the Sonics were.? What billionaires do we have that live in the Oregon area that would be interested in buying the Blazers.?

The Sonics were able to move because of getting a new arena issue. That's not going to be the case for the Blazers.

monopoman · Post #59 » by **monopoman** » Sat Feb 23, 2019 3:49 am

Drewskickinit wrote:
Shem wrote:
Drewskickinit wrote:When Allen passed away I have to admit I became very worried about the future of the Blazers staying in Portland. The way the Sonics were moved out of Seattle in one season is an indicator that the same could happen here. Blazers do have a ton of history in the NBA and are one of the better known teams but that probably isn't as important as the money aspect in this new day and age. Brings me back to what we missed out on with Oden and Roy. If that team became what we all thought it would we wouldn't have any worries but it didn't pan out for us and now we could be on the chopping block. Only time will tell.

The Blazers still have good attendance.

http://www.espn.com/nba/attendance

The Blazers have a lease with the Moda Center until 2025.

Blazers still have great attendance so that's a plus for them staying. Do we think attendance truly matters in a billionaires mind that would want to take them somewhere else or to his own city like the Sonics were.? What billionaires do we have that live in the Oregon area that would be interested in buying the Blazers.?

Also the perspective on moving teams in the NBA have been forever tarnished because of that Sonics move. I mean the Kings were primed to be moved also and that never happened, they had a much stronger reason to move and even they didn't. If the Pels and Kings can stay put the Blazers sure can also.

Now if some Billionaire bought the team and was dead set on moving it no matter the cost then sure it could happen. Keep in mind that whoever buys this team is also buying Moda Center on top of it. So basically moving the team means that he would then have to sell the building and find someone willing to buy it. The building sure loses a lot of its use when the Blazers are taken out of the equation, though of course it still has concerts and other sporting events. Basically it would be someone that had no intention of profiting from the purchase in the short term because he is giving up on a city that loves this team and buying a building that will lose value when the Blazers no longer occupy it.

I can also give you the name of someone who is a Portland local that is rich enough to straight up buy this team Phil Knight or his son. I could envision other potential buyers from locals, but that would mostly be a group buying it like 5-6 millionaires throwing their money together or something.

Drewskickinit · Post #60 » by **Drewskickinit** » Sat Feb 23, 2019 9:58 pm

monopoman wrote:
Drewskickinit wrote:
Shem wrote:The Blazers still have good attendance.

http://www.espn.com/nba/attendance

The Blazers have a lease with the Moda Center until 2025.

Blazers still have great attendance so that's a plus for them staying. Do we think attendance truly matters in a billionaires mind that would want to take them somewhere else or to his own city like the Sonics were.? What billionaires do we have that live in the Oregon area that would be interested in buying the Blazers.?

Also the perspective on moving teams in the NBA have been forever tarnished because of that Sonics move. I mean the Kings were primed to be moved also and that never happened, they had a much stronger reason to move and even they didn't. If the Pels and Kings can stay put the Blazers sure can also.

Now if some Billionaire bought the team and was dead set on moving it no matter the cost then sure it could happen. Keep in mind that whoever buys this team is also buying Moda Center on top of it. So basically moving the team means that he would then have to sell the building and find someone willing to buy it. The building sure loses a lot of its use when the Blazers are taken out of the equation, though of course it still has concerts and other sporting events. Basically it would be someone that had no intention of profiting from the purchase in the short term because he is giving up on a city that loves this team and buying a building that will lose value when the Blazers no longer occupy it.

I can also give you the name of someone who is a Portland local that is rich enough to straight up buy this team Phil Knight or his son. I could envision other potential buyers from locals, but that would mostly be a group buying it like 5-6 millionaires throwing their money together or something.

Yeah I thought about Phil Knight but for some reason I thought that since Nike was connected to the NBA already it made it some sort of "No compete clause" situation where he would be unable to own an NFL or NBA team.