Hey it is the reality of the situation, Houston almost lost the Rockets too.......but thanks to several fans (Jeff Balke ehem) and other prominant city leaders they got a new arena and the Rockets stayed. Seattle could have done the same. DD
That fully avoids the real issue. Was dealing with the Sonics' ownership fair or was/is that ownership raping the city to line their pockets? While I heartfully appreciate what Jeff did, my recollection is that the eventual Rockets' deal had some relief for taxpayers. While life may not be "fair"...issues are more than just black and white. Lots of gray areas.
I hate this. Absolutely hate. Seattle has always been one of my favorite teams (I was a teenager during the Payton-Kemp era, it's hard to NOT like them -- especially when your team sucks). I love the city of Seattle. I was this close to going to the Nugs game in Seattle on Sunday, but couldn't pull it off due to work. I just wish OKC could wait a year or two. Memphis or NO will be moving, and they can have one of those teams.
If Memphis or New Orleans moves Seattle can have one of those teams. The team's history will remain in Seattle.
I understand why people are heartsick for Seattle fans, I feel for them too but DANG it, we lost the Oilers....and that sucked.....but it made the city realize how short sighted they were. Seattle citizens have said "NO MORE" to being taxed for a new arena for them. Without popular support the fans of the team are pretty much toast. I am sure the Rockets won't mind traveling there less often. I hear OK City is beautiful... DD
Honestly, it's not always this simple. Fan support in Cleveland for the Browns was great...it didn't matter.
Houston was sick of Bud Adams, especially then Mayor Bob Lanier. Oilers leaving was inevitable. The plus is that we got rid of Bud Adams. The minus is that we have to endure the nickname Texans, which I still think sounds r****ded.
Was the city of Cleveland willing to build a new stadium for Modell? Honestly I can't remember, but in the economics of competing in the NFL you needed a new stadium with PSLs and Lux boxes.....just to compete with others who were getting them. The business of running an NFL team changed, and some cities did not address that fact. I know it sucks for the fans but it is what it is. DD
An extremely short sighted approach......and it cost the city more than 3 times to get a new franchise...which has sucked for years..... Still a bad business decision from all sides. DD
I, too, am sad to see them go. But really, it just means they're going to get another team down the road. Just like Houston got the Texans and Charlotte the Bobcats. We'll see an expansion team go there. As has happened so many times in the past, taxpayers will agree to pay four or five times as much to get a new stadium/team than to keep their old one.
oh, big fat deal. the hornets or grizz will move there and become the sonics again. it will be just like the browns in cleveland.
It didn't cost the city or the county. It cost McNair. The city and the county didn't pay a dime of the expansion fee.
It hasn't cost me a dime...I haven't spent any money on the Texans...ok, maybe that t-shirt I bought at Krogers for 5 bucks. Hotels and Rental Car usage were the ones getting taxed for the new stadium.
And the stadium isn't even relevant, because that's what would have been spent to keep the Oilers here. The Oilers came up with a ridiculous proposal involving the Rockets playing in a downtown dome. Wasn't going to happen. They didn't get their way, so they signed an exclusive deal to negotiate ONLY with Tenn. for the course of a year....Houston couldn't even make an offer. The deal expired..we offered an open-air stadium...Bud rejected it and moved. The end.
The very first Rockets game I had ever been to in my entire life was Game 4 of the 92-93 Western Conference Playoffs when we played Seattle.....the Sonics ARE Seattle. Sam Perkins, Detlef Schrempf, Gary Payton, Shawn Kemp, Earvin Johnson, Ricky Pierce, Nate McMillan, and a few others that I'm sure I'm forgetting are ALL part of my childhood.....and it's going to be a sad, sad day when it's official that the Sonics are no more.
No, it is the unreality of sports. The greedy, dirty side of sports, when citizens are asked, no, begged by the owners of a professional team to take that team, it's organization, and the players into their hearts, into their homes, into their lives. And when someone decides a bigger profit can be made somewhere else, even if the reasons are temporary, the leagues give a big and hearty "**** you" to all those people that cared and care. Whole lives lived around an evening or Sunday afternoon devoted to their team, win or lose. Pissed away by a league that cares only for the almighty dollar. This sucks. It sucks for the other cities who loved their teams and lost them. It sucks that Houston lost the Oilers. It sucks that they almost lost the Rockets. I feel for Seattle. I've been there.
<object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/3yerCiByca4&hl=en"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/3yerCiByca4&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object>
I never understood the business model for professional sports. Not very many people actually fly in from other cities to watch a sporting event (unless it's superbawl or all-star game). So it doesn't really bring in any revenues for the city, so why are the city and the taxpayers paying for the new stadiums? And when the stadiums cash in on the naming rights, the city and taxpayers doesn't get a dime. It just feel wrong when the franchise owners can just say "If you are not paying for something that's going to make me a lots of money, I'll move!"
