Exactly, so why put a 2 year gap in their history? The fans have players they like. Don't give them a new team. Just tell OKC to wait.
Its the reality of professional sports because the league lets it be a reality. If the SuperSonics had a lousy stadium deal...that should have been reflected in the price the new owners paid for the team. To buy a team...at a price you negotiate...and then tell the city that it has to anti up for a stadium or you'll move is crap. And for the league to support this is worse. 40 years of history. Only PNW presence is now Portland. Oiler fans were hosed. Browns fans were hosed. And now SuperSonics fans are hosed.
Also, I don't think the NBA will be expanding (in the US) anytime soon, so if the Sonics do move, Seattle will have to wait for the relocation of NO or Memphis. I figure Memphis will be the one to bolt because they have no legit players and share a city with another strong basketball team.
After loosing the Oilers I have no sympathy for any city loosing their sports team. None. And I more than happy if the Sonics get to OKC (or any team for that matter) because that means an easy road trip from North Dallas to see our Rockets another 2 times a year.
No big deal to me. Houston survived worse... losing a pro football team in a football state? Seattle did not want the Sonics, or the "SOS" group would have been formed upon the first rumblings of a possible move a few years back. Their lack of foresight, or desire, has wrought this day upon them. So be it. And, they'll get another team soon enough... What's "soon" to them? When they realize they messed up in letting them go. And should they pull off a miracle and save the Sonics... again, no big deal. Cities go through this. Cities have. They survive. Brooklyn Dodgers? NY -baseball- Giants? Raiders? Rams? Colts? Browns? Oilers? Minnesota North Stars? There are plenty reasons to be sad... this is not one, IMO. If anything, I feel excited for OKC.
http://myespn.go.com/blogs/truehoop/0-32-38/Reading-Clay-Bennett-s-E-Mail.html "In one e-mail [at the time of the team's purchase] sent to Bennett and Ward, McClendon celebrated the news with the subject line: 'the OKLAHOMA CITY SONIC BOOM (or maybe SONIC BOOMERS!) baby!!!!!!!!!!'" Ugh.
I agree that it's wrong for Bennett to come in and buy the Sonics with full intention of moving the team to OKC. He basically asked for the moon knowing full well the city of Seattle wouldn't give him that, and then he backdoored his way to OKC. Bill Simmons (from ESPN) has actually written some great pieces on this story the last few months that you should check out.
I am curious how this plays out. It's my understanding that Bennet and the previous owner, Howard Schulz, had a separate signed agreement when the sale of the team was done. It stated that Schulz could buy the team back if Bennet didn't make a good faith effort at keeping the team in Seattle. Seeing how Schulz is getting killed from a PR standpoint in Seattle, I could see him forcing this issue if he has the standing to do so. I live in Seattle, and the city is going to use every freaking effort they have to keep the team here. I think Stern was underestimating the resolve of the locals. People in this city like taking on the establishment and are highly motivated from a grass roots level. I'm curious what they might pull out against the NBA. Imminent domain has been bandied about. I think there are still a few twists and turns left in this fight. It's not going to play out as meekly as it has when teams have left other cities.
What?! Are you blaming their fans? Do your research -- the ownership denied the city any chance of keeping their team at all by proposing an outrageous ultimatum. There are plenty of rich people in Seattle, and multiple people have wanted to bid for the team back from Clay Bennett. But Clay, as shown through emails found in 2007, had already made up his mind and basically confessed he never intended to really stay in Seattle...even if the people did match his ridiculous demands. He didn't care about his demands...he just used them as an excuse to look like his move was legit. The real villians here are Howard Schultz for selling the team, and David Stern for sitting there and letting it happen. Come on, Stern, why don't you just give OKL an expansion team?
I've got to call you on this one too. I was living in Houston when the Rockets nearly left, and I now live in Seattle. The attitude of the Sonic fans and the city of Seattle is exactly as passionate as it was in Houston during the Save Our Rockets period. A more analogous situation is when the Oilers left. Bud Adams had a lease, spat in Houston's eye, negotiated with another city, and Houston never really had a shot to keep him by the time it became apparent that he really would move the team if the city didn't cater to his demands. There is a Save Our Sonics organization here in Seattle, and there is plenty of support among local leaders and a huge grass roots organization to keep the team in the city. The Save our Sonics leader met with Stern and the player's union to try to persuade them from this deal. They've tried to convince the player's union to reopen the bargaining agreement if the Sonics move to Seattle on the grounds that it would decrease league revenues (a valid argument imo). The city is going to unleash one hell of a lawsuit on the NBA that might set some interesting precedents for future litigation between cities and teams. Stern wants this to go quietly and has promised Seattle that they can keep the name and colors if they'll just let the team go. However, that's not going to happen. People in this city have a "stick it to the man" attitude that makes me think that Seattle will fight this until the bitter end with every lawyer trick they can think of. I do think the people of this city will vote for another arena, but not one as ostentatious as the one Bennett suggested. Half a billion for an arena? Completely funded by taxpayers with naming rights and all the extra revenues going to the Sonics? I don't know any city that would build an arena under those conditions, especially when the new owner came in and did nothing but insult Seattle from the moment he bought the Sonics. There is a huge libertarian, anti-tax contingency here in Seattle. Especially with the cost overruns that happen in King County. We're several billion overbudget on the airport renovations, and I don't even want to get started on the debacle of the monorail system. But we did build Safeco Field for baseball and Qwest Field for football (before I moved here). This city will build a new arena under the conditions set by some other groups looking to buy the team. They talk of putting some of their own money up, and Seattle has the chance to make more revenue under the terms of the lease. I think the League and <STRIKE>the Antichrist</STRIKE> Clay Bennett have made up their minds to go and no amount of persuasion will convince them otherwise. I am curious to see what happens with this goes to court because I don't think it's over just yet.
I can't believe that I'm reading this on a Rockets Message Board. Seattle basketball legacy? It's illegal defense, grabby guards, and lots of children. The fact that the team is moving and gets to give up its history is a beautiful thing. Good for them. I hope there's more integrity in Oklahoma City.
Who cares about Seattle basketball? There's so much to do in the Northwest that I don't think that anyone will even notice that the Sonics have left town. For those die hard NBA fans, Portland is less than 3 hours away. My advice is for those Sonics fans to go cheer for Oden, Aldridge, and Roy.
Mate, I'm a Rockets fan, and I can't stand the Sonics from all the rivalries we had with them back in the 90's and earlier. I had season tickets in 1997 and jeered Kemp, Payton, and Karl. I still don't care much for their current team and usually root against for almost any team they're playing. But the city of Seattle is getting screwed, and it's bad for the NBA and bad for any other team out there. This could have easily happened to the Rockets. One key difference is that Alexander wanted to keep the team in Houston and find a way to make it work. That doesn't exist here right now. This is a Rockets board, but this is the NBA Dish where we talk about all things basketball and the NBA. It is a terrible thing for a franchise to disappear. It would have been bad enough if the Rockets had moved, but imagine if they changed their name and the franchise just ceased to exist. Kind of like the Oilers disappearing. Houston has the Texans now, but it's not quite the same thing. All that tradition gone. You might not like the Sonics, and I certainly wouldn't blame you for that. Nor would I ask you to try and like their team because I'm not a fan of theirs either. But you should be opposed to the way Stern has handled this. Toyota Center is really pretty now, but what if the team is tanking in 20 years and Seattle or Las Vegas or some other city makes a sweetheart bid to get the Rockets? What if Les sold the team to someone from another state who really wanted to bring a professional team back to his home state? This is bad for the NBA, and I hope people understand that regardless of whether they like the Sonics or not.
Bad analogy. Portland and Seattle are not in-state rivals the way Houston and San Antonio have been for decades.
Wrong on that one. Seattle is 170 miles away from Portland, and they have been division rivals for decades. I wasn't living here for most of that time, but the Sonic fans I know feel the same away about the Blazers as most people on this board feel about the Spurs, Mavs, and Jazz.
