Each week on The Newsfeed, host Paris Jackson and a team of veteran journalists dive deep into one topic and provide impactful reporting, interviews and community insights from sources you can trust. Each day this week, this post will be updated with a new story from the team.
In early June, the Cascade PBS Ideas Festival brought together newsmakers and journalists from across the country to talk about the issues shaping our communities and world.
During one session, host Paris Jackson sat down with former ESPN anchor Kenny Mayne, who grew up in Kent and has deep roots in the Pacific Northwest.
All this week, we’ll be bringing you segments from that conversation.
By Paris Jackson
Kenny Mayne: My friend Chris Cashman always says, Kent is where people from Seattle store their things. But we're proud of Star Lake, anybody South 272? So I was born in Tacoma, as were you.
Paris Jackson, Cascade PBS: Same.
I mean, I'm so old, you know, God bless Lenny Wilkins, rest in peace. I grew up watching him. He was my favorite player. My dad used to work at United at the airport, and he'd make friends with the different travelers. So we would drive some of the NBA officials to the game, they’d save their taxi money, we’d get free tickets.
People know you from your ESPN 27-year career run, but you could have been Kenny Mayne of PBS. Tell us about your journey starting out with PBS.
Well, I went to, first I walked on at (the University of) Washington... then I walked off. I wasn't gonna beat out Warren Moon that year, okay? Or Tom Flick for that matter.
Then I went to Wenatchee (Valley) College, and then I went to UNLV. I actually had a tryout with the Seahawks. I signed outta college, but I failed the physical.
But right before that, um, I was finishing at UNLV. (Studying) broadcasting, political science journalism. I was gonna be all serious. I wanted to work for PBS, I didn't want to do what I ended up doing, it just kind of happened.
And I worked for the PBS station, KLVX (in Las Vegas). Lee Winston, you know, the moderator of the three o'clock Sunday show that you all loyal viewers watch wherever you live. And I would do the setup story, not very good, by the way. Like if we looked at that now, it would be very funny to play it back.
We all gotta start somewhere.
Oh yeah.
Mayne on why women’s sports thrive in Seattle
Mayne has had a front-row seat as professional women’s sports leagues have built their foundations. We spoke with him about why he thinks Seattle specifically has seen such success.
Paris Jackson, Cascade PBS: When we talk about the evolution of women's sports, this is also the city where we've seen, in the last couple of decades, it really take off. From the Sue Birds to the Megan Rapinoes... how have you seen it from the analyst’s side to, to now?
Mayne: I think it's just grown and grown, not just Seattle, but nationally. You know, when I was in high school, how many women sports or girls sports, right? It wasn't even a full roster. And through time, you know, partly Title IX and partly people just like [realizing]: it's a pretty good thing. It's a healthy thing, it's team building, you know, gives you mentors to follow. It gives you confidence, all sorts of reasons why athletics are good. And it's just grown in that respect.
We’ve also got rugby. We got a lot of good [women’s teams]. How about the University of Washington women? The Western Washington women? You know, all over. So, yeah, it's grown. And the leadership, those models you talked about Rapinoe and Sue.
And again, having that base [Climate Pledge Arena]. What a what a great place to go watch anything. I saw Springsteen there. Seen the Kraken there. I love them, and the women's sports there as well. So it's a perfect venue and they've treated it just right. So it looks like the old Coliseum to some extent.
“Run Freely” Foundation utilizes Gig Harbor prosthetics expert’s work
Mayne also told us how he turned his personal experience with an injury into an opportunity to help veterans with their recovery - and partnered with a local prosthetics expert.
Paris Jackson, Cascade PBS: Tell us about why you’re so passionate about (your) foundation.
Mayne: I wrecked my ankle my junior year at UNLV. We were playing at Oregon. I was in at the end of the game, we were getting killed. I threw one long pass, some idiot stuck his helmet onto my ankle. So I had a fracture - dislocation. Really fun. But then I got surgeries and arthritis and old age, and so I wasn't moving around so great. But I found this guy down in Gig Harbor named Ryan Blanck at Hanger Clinic - free advertisement. And he makes insane devices for every kind of disability.
But basically, you wear it - it goes way up here above your knee - and it displaces the pressure off your joint. So, I can play golf. I played flag football at the Super Bowl. I can run - not very far, not very fast - but I can run. And I can’t if I just wear regular shoes, right?
So Gretchen, my wife, we wanted to do something good about it.
And they had made these for veterans in the first place. Right? (The veterans) sort of like, did the R&D for me, for the injuries they's suffered. So, we immediately started this this thing called Run Freely; runfreely.org. Tell your rich friends. And we just basically raise the money and then buy the next device. There's no building, we're not the Red Cross.
We've had amazing support. Jamal (Crawford). Gary Payton, Steve Largent, Jerry Rice, Lenny Wilkens, who else? Dale Earnhardt (Jr.) helped us, Steve Kerr, Joe Montana, Mike Penix (Jr.). I'm leaving out some names. Chris Long. They've all either given their time or their name or their money and helped us raise, you know, the next dollar to give the next vet. So basically, Ryan keeps a list; here’s the ones who've been waiting the longest, here's the one with the most need.
Mayne weighs in on media’s role in U.S. politics
Since leaving ESPN as a host in 2021, Mayne hasn’t shied away from weighing in on US politics, specifically the Trump administration.
Mayne worked in national media for nearly three decades, so he shared his thoughts on how news organizations have handled their political coverage.
Mayne: We're seeing just wanton, open corruption seven days a week... We can go through any category. We have the worst people in charge of every department... It looks like an intentional destruction of the country. For what good?
Daily, just like what we see like on social media... it's so beyond the pale. Like, we've now normalized, ‘oh yeah, that happened. It's Tuesday, of course that happened.’ Right? Like, even those of us who are against it.
But I blame - a lot of the media has capitulated. Look at the Sunday morning talk shows. If in sports - I'll give you the sports example - If on SportsCenter, The Lakers were pathological liars - just as an example. And they told us they won five games in a row and we know they've lost three games in a row. And so and so scored 80 points when he scored 20. Right? We wouldn't have them on the next week. We'd be like, ‘we're done with them.’ But, instead - just the normalization of it all. We keep bringing back like we're still living in McCain-Obama days, you know? Which isn't that long ago, but that sure was more normal than today's days.
Mayne shares hopes for Seahawks, SuperSonics
There’s plenty of cause for excitement when it comes to professional sports teams in Seattle. But two of the biggest recent headlines also come with some uncertainty: the Seahawks - fresh off a Super Bowl title - are up for sale. We spoke to Mayne about that, and the prospect of the return of the Supersonics is in the hands of the NBA.
Paris Jackson, Cascade PBS: One of the headlines is who is going to own the Seahawks. You know, they're coming off a Super Bowl win. The roster is stacked. But at this point, you know, the reports are by the end of summer, we could hear about new ownership. What are you thinking? How this is going to shake out?
Mayne: I hope it's a good person. That's what I hope. Not all the billionaires are good people.
Some of them are. I hope they keep going where they're going. Right? I mean, they got such momentum. And Mr. Allen’s sister took care of the team so well. Sell it back to the town, why don't we just own it like Green Bay does?
Great respect for coach Mike (MacDonald). Players love him. You know, I went to their practice the other day. The efficiency, the way they move, the energy of that place is so good. And there's no reason they can come back and have another good (season). It's really hard to repeat, but they're going to be in the mix again for sure.
We talk about the Hawks, but we can't forget about this team that has left us for about two decades now. And we're hoping to get them back. And that's the Sonics. A lot of conversation around potential ownership. And one group that's kind of leading, conversation... is the Kraken ownership team led by Samantha Holloway. And just this week, Melinda French Gates was announced to be joining as a minority owner.
I approve. I approve that scenario. Remember when I was saying good people? Like, we want good people. So, I mean, the original sin was selling it to people who don't live here because they might not keep the team here. I used to go into Starbucks after it happened. I'd say, give me two shots and the tears of Gus Williams... I think I'm a little cynical at this point. Like, let me know when it happens. Because they keep they keep teasing us. The problem – allegedly - was we didn't have a good enough gym. Right? So, we did OK with this Climate Pledge (Arena). And I love how it's still on the same footprint.
And one component of this, a deal with the NBA, is the media deal... How important is a media deal? Because that's that seems to be a point of contention.
Yeah. Money always comes up in these deals. If they get enough money for the buy-in, they're all going to be happy. I think everybody will celebrate that we now have restored basketball here. Probably Las Vegas might be the other one. And there's enough talent, you know, there's worldwide talent now.
You hear guys in the draft, like, never heard of the guy but he played at, you know, Under Armor Academy or something, whatever. Like, there's other ways, there's Europeans, I mean look at what Wemby is doing for San Antonio. So, there's enough players to fill a league that's wider and there'll be some kind of expansion draft. But yeah, you gotta buy your way in, for sure.
