Dori’s interview with Paul Allen at the 2006 Super Bowl

With the news of Microsoft co-founder, Seahawks owner, and prominent Seattle philanthropist Paul Allen on Monday, Dori remembered the time he got to interview Allen at Super Bowl XL in Detroit, the first Super Bowl in which the Seahawks participated.

Dori noted that, as Paul Allen was a private person, he felt especially fortunate to have gotten the interview.

“I don’t know how many local radio interviews he ever did, but the fact that I got to talk with Paul Allen was one of the many great gifts that I’ve had in this gig,” Dori said.

RELATED: Pete Carroll calls Paul Allen ‘a hero of the Northwest’

Dori: Talk about this week. This has to be something else for you, to be part of the Super Bowl week with your team.

Paul Allen: It’s just amazing. The people out here in Detroit have been so welcoming. Today, I was fortunate enough to go out to practice and watch the team prepare. It was the last full practice — we have a run-through tomorrow and a team photo tomorrow. Just how focused the guys are out there — just that quiet confidence they have — it was great talking to some of the coaching staff, and it’s going to be exciting on Sunday. I know everyone in the Northwest will probably be watching.

Dori: One of the things you were talking about with me was growing up, going to Husky Stadium, wanting to feel that kind of sentiment surrounding a team. At noon today we carried live the rally at Westlake Center. The city is feeling that passion now.

Allen: You know, that’s been one of the most incredibly heart-warming things about this year for me is to see — all the Seahawks fans have been patiently waiting for years for a season like this. And to have it really happen and to be here in the Super Bowl — I’m still pinching myself this week and I’m sure a lot of the fans are out there, too. Just to see the community support, the blue everywhere, the 12s that have appeared all over the city, the rallies that have taken place — it’s just wonderful.

Dori: Everyone thought of you as a basketball guy. Has football replaced basketball as a passion, has it equaled basketball as a passion for you?

Allen: The first point I would make is that I went to football games as a kid, I think before I ever went to a basketball game, and I became a big NBA fan when the Sonics won the championship back in the late ’70s, when we first moved Microsoft up to Seattle from Albuquerque. Obviously, in basketball, you have a lot more games than football. Especially these playoff games are so intense, because it’s one game up or down — either you keep going in the playoffs, or in this last game, advance to the Super Bowl. The games are incredibly intense, and there’s nothing like the Super Bowl in sports in the U.S. — it’s the pinnacle of press coverage, fan enthusiasm, and all that. It’s just amazing to be here with the team.

Dori: What I’ve said about the Super Bowl, Paul, and I’m sure you’re feeling some of this now, is that it is like a laser beam of energy. There is all of this buildup and anticipation, and once that ball is kicked on Sunday, it is going to unleash this torrent of pent-up anticipation and energy. And as you just said, there really isn’t too much like this in the American landscape.

Allen: Yeah, and the coaches are even mentioning today that the practices this week, as the week has worn on, have been a little extra-intense. The players certainly feel that, if you’re involved in team management, everybody feels that energy and the attention that the whole country brings to this game. This is a country-wide event, and people around the world follow the game, too. It’s something everybody should just savor and enjoy, and boy, I’m looking forward to that kickoff. I wish kickoff was right around the corner, actually.

Dori: We’re doing the countdown — about 49 hours plus now, and we’re eager for that countdown. Are you enjoying this? It was obvious, the emotion that you exhibited when you raised the 12th Man flag at that NFC Championship game — do you enjoy the other things that surround it, like sitting down with me right now? Everyone thought of you as someone who didn’t like doing interviews — why have you chosen to embrace this aspect?

Allen: I think this is such a special year, and people do want to hear from the team owner what it’s like to be involved with the franchise and helping the franchise succeed. What a special year this has been, and it was just great to be up there raising the 12th Man flag, and to hear all the thank-yous and the fan support. You put a lot of hard work into getting a franchise to the point we’re at this year, and it’s very rewarding to hear the positive fan support for what you’ve been trying to accomplish, and for the franchise. To hear the roar of the crowd in Qwest Field at kickoff and just the celebration when the game was over — how amazing that was. I’m just very hopeful on Sunday, and then Monday when we come back to Seattle, we’ll have something greater.

Dori: I think two days ago was the 10-year anniversary of when the moving vans packed up for Anaheim. Were you brought into this reluctantly, into the ownership? Talk a little bit about the genesis of you with this team.

Allen: That was a situation where, obviously, I wasn’t the owner of the team at that point, and the previous owner, Mr. Behring, was in the process of trying to move the team to Anaheim. Some civic leaders came to me and said, “The league has basically told us they don’t want the move to happen, we don’t want it to happen — would you consider being the owner?” Anytime you think about owning a professional sports franchise, it’s a real commitment of time, energy, and enthusiasm, and I already owned one … Also at that point I had enjoyed some Seahawks football, and I thought, “God, it’d be great to be able to help the franchise succeed in Seattle.” So I got excited about it, but I knew we needed a new facility to really make the economics work. We were able to have a public referendum on that and got approval for that by a very thin margin — if anybody remembers, I think it was half a percent or less — and we had a big celebration when that happened. It’s been — in one way, it seems a long time ago, 10 years ago, but in another way, it doesn’t seem that long ago, that we just had the vote to approve Qwest Field.

Dori: Yeah, and Qwest Field has played such a huge role in this team’s success. Now we’re on the road — we’re in a stadium where there are going to be more Steeler fans than Seahawk fans. What’s that going to be like for you now?

Allen: Well that’s the rumor, more Steelers fans, although I hear a lot of independent fans saying, when the game starts, they’re going to root for the Seahawks. And I don’t think anybody should underestimate the loudness of the Seahawks fans that are going to be there. So it’s going to be really interesting to see that unfold.

Dori: Paul, it’s been a pleasure, I’m glad to finally meet you in person. I’ve enjoyed the couple opportunities we’ve had to have you on the show. Thanks so much.