<span style="font-size:10pt;line-height:100%">Seahawks CEO Leiweke named interim GM of Blazers</span>TUALATIN, Ore. -- With the Portland Trail Blazers headed in a positive direction, billionaire owner Paul Allen shook off one more remnant of the team's recent -- albeit troubled -- past.Team president and general manager Steve Patterson abruptly resigned Thursday after Allen refused to renew his contract.Tod Leiweke, chief executive officer of the Seattle Seahawks, will take over while a full-time replacement is found. Allen, the co-founder of Microsoft, also owns the Seahawks.Leiweke will also head a new company that will oversee both teams.The move comes as part of an ongoing process to recapture "Rip City" and Portland's fervor for its team. Leiweke praised Patterson for his work in righting the Blazers, but suggested there was more work to be done."I have a mandate to work with this management to find someone to push this franchise to where it once was," Leiweke said.Patterson had been the team president since 2003 and became the GM after John Nash was fired last May. The resignation came hours before the Trail Blazers (24-34) hosted Charlotte.The Blazers, fourth in the Northwest Division, have regrouped after finishing an NBA-worst 21-61 last season. The improvement has been sparked by a flurry of draft-day trades and an infusion of young talent, including Brandon Roy.Patterson took over a franchise that was burdened with a high payroll and a sullied reputation from a chain of player arrests and bad behavior.Fans turned away from the once-beloved team that had won the NBA championship in 1977.He said he was proud of the Blazers' turnaround under his watch."Now we got a young exciting club of folks that represent the community well and want to live here as opposed to a number of the guys that didn't share this community's values and didn't represent it well," Patterson said.Read Rest Here
