Sound familiar? Seattle GM's poor decisions hurt franchise

Once upon a time in Seattle a new general manager was hired to run one of the city's professional sports franchises.

This GM was extremely fortunate, because he inherited a team that was knocking at the door of destiny.

Players already were smartly put in place by his predecessor, and all the GM had to do was tweak the roster and put his mark, ever-so-subtly, on his new team.

The right coach already was on the sideline, a coach who had the team's respect, the league's respect and understood what was needed for the team to get to the championship game.

In the GM's early years, his team won big in the regular season. It won the conference championship on a weekend game that still lives in the hearts of the city's sports fans.

It went all the way to the league championship and played one of the most storied franchises in the game. But, although it played remarkably well in spots, it wasn't able to bring a title home to Seattle.

The team remained good for several more years. It continued to make runs into the postseason, but the general manager never quite was able to duplicate the success he inherited in those first years.

The GM began making bad personnel decisions and even worse draft picks. His long-standing feud with the coach grew under the team's surface like some malignancy.

Eventually, as often happens in these situations, the feud cost the coach his job and the losses began to pool like so much standing water in the hours after an intense day of rain.

Eventually, the general manager lost favor with the good sports fans of Seattle. Thousands of accusing fingers pointed uncomfortably at him.

The GM fought hard to keep the team and his reputation together. He reminded fans of all the team's success in his early years. He promised Seattle that the franchise had a plan that would work.

But that message never resonated with the city. The GM never recaptured the magic he inherited.

That team? That general manager?

Wally Walker inherited from Bob Whitsitt a team on the brink of a championship. He added Hersey Hawkins and the Sonics went to the 1996 NBA Finals where they lost to Michael Jordan and his supporting cast of Chicago Bulls in six games.

But Walker feuded openly with coach George Karl and he signed a free-agent center, Jim McIlvaine, who couldn't play a lick. He alienated All-Star Shawn Kemp and traded for troubled forward Vin Baker.

After losing in the conference semifinals in 1998, Walker didn't renew Karl's contract. And the franchise went into a death spiral.

He probably will be remembered most for the poor decisions he made with his centers. From McIlvaine to Robert Swift to Johan Petro to Mohammed Sene, Walker couldn't get it right.

The Sonics fell hard and never got back up.

Is history repeating itself with another Seattle team in another sport?

When Tim Ruskell came to town, the Seahawks had one of the best offenses in the NFL under Hall of Fame-to-be coach Mike Holmgren. All the team needed for a run to the Super Bowl was some polishing of the defense.

In 2005, his first season as GM, Ruskell was a maestro. He drafted linebackers Lofa Tatupu and Leroy Hill. He brought in defensive linemen Bryce Fisher and Chuck Darby and defensive back Kelly Herndon. If there would have been such an award, he would have been the unanimous choice for Rookie GM of the Year.

In Ruskell's first season, the Seahawks beat Carolina in the NFC title game at Qwest Field, then lost the Super Bowl to Pittsburgh.

For two more years, the Hawks stayed in the playoff hunt, almost making it back to the NFC Championship Game in the 2007 season.

But Ruskell made some sketchy personnel moves. Many of his draft picks didn't or haven't delivered.

He angered Holmgren by trading wide receiver Darrell Jackson and getting only a fourth-round pick in return. He was snake-bitten by his trade for oft-injured wide receiver Deion Branch.

He lost free-agent guard Steve Hutchinson to Minnesota. He re-signed running back Shaun Alexander then, just as Walker tried to do at center, Ruskell continued making mistake after mistake at running back in an attempt to make up for his original sin.

His relationship with Holmgren chilled and after a year as a lame-duck coach, Holmgren left and, as preordained, was replaced by Ruskell's protégée Jim Mora.

And now the Seahawks are a mess. They are in the midst of a rebuilding program they never warned us was coming. They are 3-6 this season, on their way to a Sunday mismatch against the Minnesota Vikings.

This summer Ruskell didn't have a viable alternative for Pro Bowl left tackle Walter Jones, who was 35 and coming off microfracture surgery. It was as if Ruskell clung too tightly to the belief that Jones would be fine.

When injuries forced left guard Mike Wahle to retire, Ruskell didn't have a good answer. And he waited too long to cut ties with running back T.J. Duckett.

Now he is rewriting history, admitting that it was "probably not realistic" considering offseason coaching changes, to think the Seahawks could compete for a title this season.

Now, Walker-like, he is reminding Seattle of everything good that happened to the Seahawks in his first years in town. Now he is preaching patience and promising a better tomorrow.

Unlike Walker, however, Ruskell still can fix the damage he's done.

Because he drafted well in April and because he needs more than one year with Mora, Ruskell, whose contract runs out at the end of this season, almost certainly will get a two-year extension.

But owner Paul Allen should put him on notice and remind him that those who don't pay attention to Wally Walker's mistakes are doomed to repeat them.

Steve Kelley: 206-464-2176 or skelley@seattletimes.com