Sporting News soccer writer Brian Straus looks at Seattle's unique approach to "Democracy in Sports."

In this frustrating age of replacement football officials, locked-out hockey players and owners who brazenly put the bottom line atop their list of priorities, the

are going to historic lengths to ensure that fans still matter.

Starting Oct. 7, season-ticket holders and members of the MLS club's fan association, called the Alliance, will have the opportunity to vote on whether to "retain" or express a "lack of confidence" in Sounders general manager Adrian Hanauer.

The brainchild of comedian and Sounders minority investor Drew Carey, the vote on Hanauer isn't just a publicity stunt. If "lack of confidence" wins, the club actually will hire a new GM.

Even before the Sounders ascended from American soccer's second division to MLS in 2009, they promised "Democracy in Sports."

That philosophy began with the team name, which originally was to be selected from a short list -- Seattle FC, Seattle Republic and Seattle Alliance. A backlash from fans that followed the Sounders during the NASL and subsequent minor-league days resulted in a write-in option that opened the door for the retention of the traditional moniker. From that point, Seattle soccer fans believed they had a real say in the way their club was run.

Carey, who also championed the fan alliance -- non-season-ticket holders can join for $125 per year -- was inspired by the voting conducted by members at Spanish powers Barcelona and Real Madrid. There, club presidents can be elected and ousted similar to the way stockholders can shape the composition of a corporation's board.

That practice is unheard of in U.S. sports. In fact, it's far more common for owners to move their teams to another city or simply shorten or cancel entire seasons than to heed fan opinion. But the Sounders agreed to be shaped by it.

The club will conduct a vote on its GM every four years.

"I hate to make this comparison -- this is a really bad comparison -- but, when the country started, when the United States started, nobody wanted the people to have the vote," Carey told The News Tribune of Tacoma, Wash., last year. "And the objection they had was the same [objection] that I get from, I won't say who, but other people in sports management in other teams that I mention this to.

"I had one person say, 'You let the fans vote? What do the fans know?' That was exactly the phrase. And I go, 'Well, the fans know as much as the sports reporters know. The fans know if somebody isn't doing a good job. Everybody knows.' That was my argument from the first time I told [Sounders majority owner] Joe Roth about it. I said everybody knows when a general manager's not doing a good job. It's no secret.'

"I told Joe, that phrase I used was, 'The fans will do your dirty work for you.' Because the fans aren't going to care," Carey said. "If Adrian -- he's not, he's great -- but if Adrian was a terrible general manager and really screwing up the team right now, the fans aren't going to go, 'Well, man, he's a nice guy though. He promised he'll do better next year. I know his family. Let's give him another year.' That's not how they're going to think. They're going to go, 'No. Get rid of this guy,' the first chance they can."

It sounds crazy. Many revolutionary ideas do at first.

But, for the most part, this is a no-lose situation for the Sounders and for Hanauer. It's great publicity and makes for fantastic fan relations. Hanauer, as a minority owner of the club, won't be on the unemployment line if voted out. He'll just need a new business card, and as a part owner he'd likely help identity and hire his replacement.

A Sounders investor since 2001, Hanauer doesn't have as much impact on player acquisition as other general managers thanks to the presence of technical director Chris Henderson, a former U.S. national team player, and coach Sigi Schmid, a two-time MLS champion and four-time U.S. Open Cup winner who has significant say in roster composition. It's a group effort.

Hanauer is a successful investor and businessman with interests in technology and marketing who surely would remain an asset to the club in other capacities if voted out as GM, while Henderson and Schmid could continue to build the team relatively uninterrupted.

Meanwhile, the fans would have had their say and a new GM, handpicked by Sounders ownership, could bring in the fresh ideas the "lack of confidence" voters wanted.

But it's unlikely going to come to that. Hanauer is a Sounders institution and has helped build a team that's about to participate in the MLS playoffs for the fourth time in four years. Seattle has won three U.S. Open Cup titles, advanced twice to the knockout rounds of the CONCACAF Champions League and enjoys the highest attendance, by far, in MLS. It is a model organization that for many represents the heights that soccer can achieve in the U.S.

It's hard to imagine Hanauer will need that new business card on Dec. 13, when the voting results will be announced. At least 10,000 votes are required for the Oct. 7-Dec. 7 election to be valid (the Sounders have sold about 32,000 season tickets) and the results will be authenticated by an outside accounting firm.

Meanwhile, the club will look to reap the rewards of its fan-friendly approach in unfriendly times. Its Twitter account already has featured #AdrianIN and #AdrianOUT hash tags -- a sign the Sounders will have a bit of fun with this election.

If every four or eight years Roth, Carey and the rest have to hire a GM, that's probably a small price to pay for the loyalty and commitment engendered by the process.

General managers and coaches change addresses all the time, but rarely do fans have any control over the teams they support. The fact an American soccer club draws more than 42,000 per game should be a signal to every owner in every other sport that there's method to the Sounders' madness.

-- This article originally appeared on SportingNews.com