I gotta believe that the relatively short lease (12 years) was made knowing that something would have to be done (new arena or further renovations) sooner rather than later in order to keep the franchise viable for the long term.
Lol! Schultz is as smart as u can get. He pocketed extra 85 millions (IIRC, Bennett's bid was 85 millions more than the next bid) and requested Bennett to write the letter of intent so he could persuade the minority owners to sign off on the deal. Did Schultz know Bennett's intention all along? You bet. Please notice that the sales agreement only mentions Bennett needs to spend one year good faith effort to keep the Sonics in Seattle. But other PBC owners couldnt keep their mouth shut in the emails and forced Schultz to come out for a face saving lawsuit. But with the settlement between the Seattle city and PBC, Schultz is left in the middle like a clown.
Where does OKC rank in population among NBA cities? I would be shocked if it's the smallest. I think the NBA will be fine in OKC and will draw well being the only game in town a la Sacramento and San Antonio. Tough loss for Seattle. They had to learn what we learned with the Oilers...this is a business. Build a new arena and get a new team.
It's not just from a strict single city population aspect(consider all the suburbs that make up seattle, just like houston). Seattle is a much bigger TV market than OKC, which creates a large portion of revenue as well. Seattle/Tacoma is the 14th largest TV market, while OKC is 45th. There are more than a million more TV sets in seattle than in OKC. http://www.marketingcharts.com/tele...en-us-tv-2007-2008-top-50-dma-yoy-changesjpg/
a couple people have mentioned possible names...so I gave ti some thought. alot of teams get names based around the dominant characteristic or industry of the area they are in. Im gonna guess it will be something related to either Native Americans, oil, or cattle/cowboys/ranching. Most likley something with Native American roots since so many of their towns/cities/locations names in OK are derived from NA language or culture.
It's a big loss to not only the fans of the Sonics but also to the league. I hated losing to them and I felt so much happiness when we won in 97, but I always loved their run and gun attacking style which was so fun to watch. Seattle has the rare honor of being an NBA Champion. OKC did a fine job hosting NO and their fans deserve a Pro Basketball team, but Seattle has been robbed by a bunch of sleazy and greedy businessmen who were backed by Stern. He has never cared about anything else but money. We are so lucky that Save Our Rockets helped to prevent the Houston Rockets being moved out of the city. It would been unacceptable.Even if the Sonics can keep their name and colors and get a new team in town,it will never be the same thing.
I just cannot see that happening especially with the big movement away from Native American name use by sports teams in general.
I dont see the problem as long as it isn't disrespectful..hell, the Indians and Redskins are still around
Bill Gates could have bought the team and donated it to the city..... They should have stayed in Seattle...OK City sucks compared to there. DD
I'm well aware of my Rockets history and understand the hate for our old nemesis. But the years have made it difficult to still maintain my hate. Afterall, Seattle is rocking city and Durant played for my alma matta. However, this move to OKC might just reignite my passion. Cartainly not to Jazzhole levels but a a decent enough bump. So from here forth they will be known as the Oklohomo City Land Thieves.
I didnt say that they would be using some tasteless reference to NAs. If you check the names used in that region, they are names that have their roots in the NA roots of Oklahoma..remember that for years before it was a state it had a VERY high NA population. but honestly, with the amount of sensitivity of alot of folks these days, Im sure that they will attempt to avoid something controversial...so it will probably have something to do with the oil or ranching industries.
I wish the Clippers would have moved instead. I still don't see the point in having 2 teams in LA. Especially when the city is all about the Lakers.
I don't know, maybe since there is 18 million people leaving in the area, LA can have two teams. The best thing for the Clippers to do, is move to the Honda Center in Anaheim. Have an arena to themselves.
Oklahoma translates to land of the redman, so it is somewhat difficult to get too far away from Native American names. I'm just hoping they don't go with 'Oklahomans'... Texans have the dumbest name in football. If I had a guess, they'd name themselves after oil or some weather event.
A perfect place for B.Davis to sign instead of Clippers. He could be the mascot as well.. that's two incomes!! I feel for the players and coaches that have to move to such a black hole of a place. They should've moved the team to Houston and name them the Comets.
