Right -- six of one; half a dozen of the other. Maybe Ozzy decides he likes Tico enough to keep him around; maybe 7800 Fahrenheit sells 7800 zillion copies. I guess he figured that if he took the Ozzy job (most likely resulting in Jon replacing him), he'd most likely find himself back on square one t the end of that "year or so" -- where, at the age of thirty-two, would not have been the smartest place for him to be.

As for Richie, I think he sensed that Gene and Paul were looking for "hired help" rather than a "fellow" bandmember, and didn't want to jump through their hoops with no artistic input regardless of the size of the paychecks. The audition was most likely a resume-padding exercise.