Mike and Mike are OUT? Same with 'Tone.

Highlights of the McGowan interview on 1080 The Fan.

1080: Surprising decision to say the least. A lot of fans are rather outraged....what is the message to the fanbase?

CM: Obviously I see the comments and understand there are a lot of fans that are upset. Hopefully our fans will bear with us and hopefully they will be excited with the replacements.

1080: In a season of passing expectations on the court, why this?

CM: Fans want answers but out of respect to those we let go I'm not going to get into that . I don't think it would be fair to talk about publicly. They all did a lot of great things for our organization but hopefully our fans understand when we let them know what we are doing going forward.

1080: Did this catch the 3 of them off guard?

CM: I'm sure it did. We are trying to do this in a compassionate manner but we are making a transition and we have to focus on that as well. You are talking about their lives and livelyhood and it is not easy and certainly not the fun part of the job.

1080: When you look the future, any specifics in what you are looking for?

CM: Not at this time. Once we make announcements on who we are bringing in I think it will be pretty clear as to why. It's not a lot about what they did or didn't do but more about the direction we are going in moving forward.

We are going through a broader transition with out broadcasts and it forced me to look at the creative parts of our broadcasts and started looking at it over the course of the season. It is ultimately me who makes the decisions but I spoke with others to get feedback and council.

1080: This sounds like you know who you are going to talk to.

CM: Yeah....you would never do something this drastic without knowing where you want to go. This is pretty unprecedented and we'll have some announcements pretty soon.

1080: We couldn't help but come to the conclusion that there is more to this.

CM: From a broader perspective it is. It just forced me to look at it even more closely but it was really more from a creative standpoint.

1080: Because you just signed these guys, people jump to conclusions.

CM: Sure....but then to you wait a year or give them a year to look while they are still getting paid? This gives them a soft landing and the best chance to see what their best move is without a financial impact.

We should have the entire team in place within a month or maybe even before that.

1080: Obviously a ton of tweets and your name was in a lot of these. (reads tweets....) What do you say to those that feel alienated?

CM: Just work really hard to earn their trust back again. I understand my role won't always be the most popular one but I am motivated to bring in people they can connect with. I do operate with a keen awareness that fans are fired up and that motivates me to do a good job to prove this will be good in the long run.

(Not exact....typed as fast as I could without it coming out looking like a foreign language.)

 

Clyde, but he sucks at it

 

I prefer what you did over Stren's volcano venting!

 

I'm going to save my blood pressure and not freak out until I see what they do to replace them. Honestly I'm not a huge fan of the Mikes anyway though I prefer to watch National broadcasts given the opportunity. I think Barrett became decent over time, but he's still pretty vanilla to me. And Rice is entertaining for sure, but really doesn't offer much in terms of analytical commentary.

 

Dwight James seems to think a Seattle-centric team of Kevin Calabro and PJ Carlisimo would make sense for the TV side.

 

Wow! I've been trying to catch up on this thread. I used to be more active on the old forum, I've mostly just lurked here. I agree with those that have said this wasn't done the way it should have been, if at all. Yeah, I can see loosing Tone and maybe it was time for Rice to retire. Barrett, no way. Yes, they are kind of homers. But they are our homers and certainly way less so than any other team in the league's announcers. Still, it's a huge shock. Going in a new direction is one thing, but how do you know what direction you are going if you don't have a replacement crew already lined up?

 

If we end up with say Kevin Calabro and Steve Smith I doubt anyone here would be complaining very long. BTW it sounds like they basically have someone hired and the ink isn't quite dry yet.

 

Reserving judgment until I hear the replacements during the regular season.

My ideal replacements: funny personality with knowledge bomb dropping ability. Make it so!

 

He's piqued my interest with this... I'm excited to see who they're bringing in! I am obviously in the minority here but I was really ready for a change.

 

I do really like SS.

 

Yes please!!!!!

 

I'm a fan and I don't have a problem with this move at all. They kept the one guy I'm attached to..

 

Look, they fired Schonz, which was handled horribly. If Schonz can get fired, anyone can. However, out of that we got Brian Wheeler. It sucks, but it aint the end of the world and we might like the new team just as well or better. While I find it surprising and unexpected, I am surprised at the nuclear response of some on here. Change happens. It's the only thing that stays the same.

 

Yeah, Calabro makes the move to Seattle easier.

 

Basically, I think Mike and Mike weren't "corporate enough". They appealed to a lot of die-hard Blazer fans, were a bit of loose cannons and didn't fit corporate middle management culture.

I think the organization is going the way of the Seahawks, in trying to make the fanbase a bunch of homogenous bandwagon suburban goons, hard to do with guys as loose and reckless at Mike Rice. Games will start looking like the middle management fuckboi convention at a Tech Company.

We'll see some new fake and lame marketing to appeal to people who eat at the Cheesecake Factory.

 

Where I can watch them more? YaY!