MLS Sounders investor Drew Carey Thursday during the club's annual end-of-year business meeting announced that GM Adrian Hanauer had "earned support from 96 percent of the 13,775 votes cast by season-ticket holders and Alliance members," allowing Hanauer to stay on as the team's GM, according to Joshua Mayers of the SEATTLE TIMES. Hanauer said, "I'm very touched that obviously a great portion of the fans were supportive and felt that we're doing a pretty decent job. The one thing that is absolutely, positively for sure is that it will not be taken for granted." Mayers notes the vote -- 13,271 to retain Hanauer, 504 to remove him -- was "authenticated by accounting firm Moss Adams and needed 10,000 votes to be valid." The vote is believed to be "the first of its kind in American professional sports." Team owners, who "took questions from the fans, also affirmed a pledge to winning MLS Cup no matter the price." Sounders Majority Owner Joe Roth said, "We are absolutely committed to winning an MLS Cup, and if we don't win, it's not because we haven't spent enough money for players. We may have picked the wrong players, but believe me, if the equivalent of [Galaxy F] Robbie Keane is out there, we'll go get him and pay for him" (SEATTLE TIMES, 12/14).
