As the Mariners further alienated their fan base this week, I wondered - where are the leaders? The guys who see an opportunity and take action to make something happen. Or, the guys who WANT something and are willing to do anything to make it happen? You know, like Mark Cuban? A guy who has money from other things, then uses that money to fund a dream of theirs - like buying a pro sports team. And then, they run that sports team not like a business, but to win. Period. Yeah, those guys. Where are they?
While I wondered this, Chris Hansen made his claim. After boldly declaring his intentions to fund an arena to bring an NBA and NHL team to Seattle (which already established him as a visionary compared to other leaders in this city), he countered the Mariner's PR nightmare of a letter by saying, "Ok, you don't think this will work? I'll fund a study to show you that it will."
Plain and simple. A C T I ON, action boys, action.
So I got ambitious, and did a bit of research. I Googled Chris Hansen. Turns out he's a helluva guy. He has hosted a really popular TV show about catching pedophiles.
Obviously, this is the wrong Chris Hansen. But it's still awesome.
OUR Chris Hansen is, in the most basic terms, a guy who made a ton of money and likes sports - specifically Seattle sports. So he came up with a plan to build and fund an arena that would, in theory, attract an NBA and NHL team and be able to host world class events, concerts, NCAA Tournament games, etc. He bought the land, agreed to finance almost $300 million of the arena and found a way to generate the rest of the money in a way that is not implementing new taxes on the community.
ACTION.
I don't know the specific details of any of this, nor do I pretend to. I don't know if this is actually going to happen, if teams will be available to move here, or if this will fall apart and up and vanish like a fart in the wind. The point is this - in a town known for its leaders sitting on their hands and hemming and hawing about getting anything done with any kind of immediacy (Frank Chop, Seattle City Council, State Legislature, Seattle Mariners, Sound Transit, need I go on?), someone finally stepped up and did something.
We need more Chris Hansens. And more Chris Hansens.
While I wondered this, Chris Hansen made his claim. After boldly declaring his intentions to fund an arena to bring an NBA and NHL team to Seattle (which already established him as a visionary compared to other leaders in this city), he countered the Mariner's PR nightmare of a letter by saying, "Ok, you don't think this will work? I'll fund a study to show you that it will."
Plain and simple. A C T I ON, action boys, action.
So I got ambitious, and did a bit of research. I Googled Chris Hansen. Turns out he's a helluva guy. He has hosted a really popular TV show about catching pedophiles.
Obviously, this is the wrong Chris Hansen. But it's still awesome.
OUR Chris Hansen is, in the most basic terms, a guy who made a ton of money and likes sports - specifically Seattle sports. So he came up with a plan to build and fund an arena that would, in theory, attract an NBA and NHL team and be able to host world class events, concerts, NCAA Tournament games, etc. He bought the land, agreed to finance almost $300 million of the arena and found a way to generate the rest of the money in a way that is not implementing new taxes on the community.
ACTION.
I don't know the specific details of any of this, nor do I pretend to. I don't know if this is actually going to happen, if teams will be available to move here, or if this will fall apart and up and vanish like a fart in the wind. The point is this - in a town known for its leaders sitting on their hands and hemming and hawing about getting anything done with any kind of immediacy (Frank Chop, Seattle City Council, State Legislature, Seattle Mariners, Sound Transit, need I go on?), someone finally stepped up and did something.
We need more Chris Hansens. And more Chris Hansens.
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