OT: Vomit Inducing News On Sonics

by Slica on Aug 25, 2007 3:14 AM PDT

I put this in my downfall thread, but it doesnt fit there, so here it is. Hughes and Williams hinted at a 'jaw dropping' article for today, and they were not lying.

Ughhh looks like the NBA is our only hope:

During the 40-minute meeting Wednesday, the team employee said Bennett provided the group with details of what Oklahoma City is willing to pay for to woo the Sonics:

Any legal fees involving the team's fight to break the KeyArena lease.

Whatever the settlement is to the Seattle Center to buy out the lease.

All relocation fees the NBA would force the team to pay other owners.

Costs of physically moving the team's staff and offices.

Costs of upgrading the city's current arena, the Ford Center, to make it NBA-ready.

Costs of building a new arena, and when it's finished, keeping the old facility running.

Bennett's comments Wednesday were in response to a Sonics employee asking what a community such as Oklahoma City has done to prove to Bennett that it wants the Sonics, the source said.

"He lit up like a Christmas tree," the source said of Bennett's reaction to the employee's question. "He got real happy and he started spouting off these things."
----------------

"He basically said that the only way an arena is going to get done in Seattle is if something falls out of the sky," the source said. "Those were his exact words."

http://www.thenewstribune.com/sports/story/140870.html

Ive never been closer to rooting for a catastrophe on someone as I am now. I hope they all go bankrupt on their private jet's flight to hell.

Poll

What do you want to happen to Bennett?

Get back spasms.

4 votes

Be the first victim of a Saw-based serial killer.

12 votes

Find out his wife is doing Lenny Wilkens.

28 votes

End up locked in a room with you for 10 hours.

6 votes

Die in a fire.

17 votes

Spend eternity watching Full House over and over.

21 votes

Go bankrupt.

10 votes

Suck it more than John Olerud.

13 votes

111 votes | Poll has closed

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Comments

Stupid Howard Schultz.

You're about to be hated by all of Seattle.

My name is Matt Foley. I am 35 years old, I am divorced and I live in A VAN DOWN BY THE RIVER!

by Coach Owens on Aug 25, 2007 3:21 AM PDT reply actions

Yup

He shouldnt get off easy, either.

I tried to make sure there were some non-homicidal choices in the poll for the nicer ones. But this is the closest ive ever been to wishing major bad things on someone.

By the way, I copied and pasted this from another site I post on, Seahawk Blue. Hince the 'I would put this in the downfall thread' line. Im 'adp' over there.

by Slica on Aug 25, 2007 3:24 AM PDT up reply actions

This logic baffles me.

Why blame Howard Schultz? He's a businessman. He made a business decision. What obligation is he under to keep the Sonics here, or to not sell the team to owners who he thinks may move the team?

We all heard this in '95 when the stadium vote failed - why doesn't one of our uber-rich Seattle businesspeople/entrepreneurs step in and buy us a stadium? It just doesn't make sense, unless you're living in a dream world.

by peterpeter on Aug 25, 2007 1:29 PM PDT up reply actions

Because of the best lessons your can learn

in business is to not burn bridges.

especially when you're dealing with that vast amount of money, the difference is hardly worth losing respect from an entire city... At least I think so, but then again I'm not a selfish asshole so i guess I just don't know where he's coming from.

IMO he's not welcome back in seattle, or at least at a sporting event.

If a man who cannot count finds a four-leaf clover, is he lucky?

by Brick on Aug 25, 2007 4:01 PM PDT up reply actions

That's a fair point, but

Howard Schultz doesn't make deals with the likes of you and me. He makes deals with people who look at the bottom line - and if he made money by selling the Sonics, his future business dealings will be all the brighter for it.

Don't get me wrong - I understand the logic, or lack of it, as the case may be, you know? I want the Supes to stay in Seattle, even if they are 3rd on my depth chart of Seattle sports to care about. Even if they hadn't acquired Durant and Green.

by peterpeter on Aug 25, 2007 5:25 PM PDT up reply actions

Goddamit

it's been a while since i liked the sonics as much as the Hawks or the Mariners, but I still love the team a lot. OKC is so dumb, they should spend the money on bettering their city first, spending all this money is dumb. It does make sense becuase of Durant, but if Durant leaves after his rookie contract, that team will not have that many fans coming to its arena. David Stern, I hate you, but please step in.

http://seattlesportsmaniac.blogspot.com

by LantermanC on Aug 25, 2007 5:36 AM PDT reply actions

I just can't see Stern approving this move

This would end up as another NBA franchise in a small market that will fail.

The Sonics can pull fans from Seattle and several large surrounding communities. OKC can pull fans from, well, itself and several small communities. I can't see Ma and Pa rural wanting to shell out a few hundred dollars to drive in and watch an NBA game.

This move has fail written all over it.

Clay Bennet you are now almost on par with Ken Behring.

by Ben in Va on Aug 25, 2007 6:24 AM PDT reply actions

Well, no

OKC has actually shown great support for the Hornets when they played there. They would definitely be able to sell tickets and maintain fan interest. It'd be like a midwest version of Sacremento.

by Gomez on Aug 25, 2007 6:46 AM PDT up reply actions

I have no doubt in my mind

that will wear off.

College football rules that area. That have 3 teams nearby in Texas. Not to mention other sports near Texas.

The fan support should be moot. This is about the city wanting one for prestige. Why else would they be willing to dish out so much money when they should be using a good chunk of it elsewhere.

Also, there arent many basketball players from Oklahoma. So the local kid thing wont run well, there. Oklahoma and OSU's teams are mostly comprised of regional players and such.

I dont buy it... : (.

by Slica on Aug 25, 2007 7:00 AM PDT up reply actions

Yeah

I have no doubt they can show good fan support for one season, or half of one season, but for multiple season, through lots of losing seasons, and having FAs not really want to go to OKC, it's going to be a bust. I think OKC just has Pro-franchise envy, and once they get it, they'll realize it's not that great, and go back to to the sooners.

http://seattlesportsmaniac.blogspot.com

by LantermanC on Aug 25, 2007 7:54 AM PDT up reply actions

Or New Orleans, or Charlotte.

The problem is you're giving up the 15th largest TV market for the 46th, and yeah, the attendance might be great in 2008-2009, but let's see what it is down the line in 2012.

My guess? They move the "Sonics", but it's a Cleveland Browns style move (where the franchise is left behind), and one of NO or Charlotte moves here and gets bought by a local cheaper than $350 million... so the "Sonics" come back. (It's all laundry, anyway.)

by eponymous coward on Aug 25, 2007 8:46 AM PDT up reply actions

In that scenario

Kevin Durant will not be wearing the Sonics "laundry". :(

by johnbai on Aug 25, 2007 11:31 AM PDT up reply actions

I spent a miserable year in OKC

I honestly do not see the fan base for an NBA team. There are just not a ton of people there who are going to shell out the money to see an NBA franchise, especially if they are losing.

It is almost like Salt Lake City in its night life and things to do. I.E. not much.

I really can't see the NBA wanting to go there. They already struggle for ratings. Going to a much smaller tv market with a less diverse fan base isn't going to help them.

In the end though, Fuck Clay Bennett, Fuck Howard Schultz, and Fuck Stern for letting the team be sold. I hope Ichiro steals all their ice creams and then sends them mental signals to off each other.

by Ben in Va on Aug 25, 2007 9:07 AM PDT up reply actions

Eh, there is a long standing team in

SLC.

visiting A's fan.

by rfloh @ Lookout Landing on Aug 25, 2007 1:01 PM PDT up reply actions

I am aware of that

And yes Salt Lake City does have a night life. Its just the closest comparison of NBA cities that I could think of.

OKC is like SLC minus the excellent winter activities, mountains, and a giant Salt Lake.

On the plus side OKC does have one of the highest per capita percentages of tornado alarms in the US.

by Ben in Va on Aug 25, 2007 1:49 PM PDT up reply actions

I think part of the NBA's problem

is choosing to stake its success on market size and TV ratings. I don't think the size of the market is necessarily relevant to a team's ability to develop a consistent following in any sport, so long as the city in question has enough of a population that you can cobble together, in the NBA's case, 15000-16000 paying customers a night.

A winning team with a good, affordable product will consistently draw fans. The less there is going on in a city, in fact, the more of a draw your team is. You think so many people would come out to Royals games if there was actually anything to do in Kansas City?

by Gomez on Aug 25, 2007 1:23 PM PDT up reply actions

FWIW . . .

i should have grown up a sonics fan, but i am a utah jazz fan. i visited seattle 2 or 3 times a year when i was a kid and always rooted for the hawks and mariners. in missoula, for some reason, we've had the utah jazz feed since shawn kemp disintegrated.

Yu Bet!

by Patrick517 on Aug 25, 2007 9:16 PM PDT up reply actions

Salt Lake City

has a terrific night life. I was there for four days this summer and had the time of my life.

by peterpeter on Aug 25, 2007 1:24 PM PDT up reply actions

I forget who said it,

but one of the Jazz, when queried about living in SLC, with its heavy, no-drinking Mormon character, said he loved it, and that while it was 85% Mormon, it was 15% insane.

by Paytheline on Aug 25, 2007 2:54 PM PDT up reply actions

Part of that support

also was due to the fact that the team was thrown upon them, it was something unexpected, and unfortunately I think, for lack of a better word, pity played a part in their successes in that town.

If a man who cannot count finds a four-leaf clover, is he lucky?

by Brick on Aug 25, 2007 4:04 PM PDT up reply actions

FWIW

I sent an email to the NBA.

Not a rabid Sonics fan but it just pisses me off when the Ken Behrings of the world come in saying one thing with the intention of doing another.

Mr. Bennett I hope you and Michael Vick get reincarnated as french poodles.

by Ben in Va on Aug 25, 2007 6:40 AM PDT reply actions

This is all banter...

The politicos in Seattle are holding out until the last second when they realize that they are about to kill their political futures.

by PLU Tim on Aug 25, 2007 8:06 AM PDT reply actions

Like they don't kill their images everyday

I'm thinking Stern and a new group will step in, rip the team from Bennett's hands, and they'll build a new arena on the Muckleshoot reservation.

by Gomez on Aug 25, 2007 8:09 AM PDT up reply actions

The options

will start to become public at the end. That's going to be the downfall of this move for Bennett.

Of course they have to be VIABLE options. I just can't see Stern and the Owners backing a move out of Seattle unless it is 100% necessary.

by PLU Tim on Aug 25, 2007 8:23 AM PDT up reply actions

I also heard maybe a conglomeration of tribes

Can't remeber where I read it for the life of me, but it talked about Muckleshoot, Puyallup and some others forming a front to buy the team. Not sure how well that would work but it sounds intriguing.

by Ben in Va on Aug 25, 2007 8:55 AM PDT up reply actions

Eh.

I actually blame Howard Schultz much more than Clay Bennett (and I don't blame the politicians at all for not bending over and buying the team a new arena). Of course Bennett is going to do everything he can to move the team to Oklahoma. That's why he bought the team; he knew it, Schultz knew it, and everyone else should have known it at the time of the sale.

by DanO on Aug 25, 2007 8:34 AM PDT reply actions

If Stern doesn't stand up to Bennett

then he has officially gone loco about what is best for the NBA.

If Bennett does get away with this, its only a matter of a couple of years before the Hornets move to Seattle, hopefully able to take the Sonics moniker. What's a complete joke about this is that everybody knows that the league is going to fail in New Orleans, and that the Hornets are the much more logical team to move to OKC (even though they'll fail there, too, and end up in KC or Las Vegas).

--Dave

Addicted to Quack SBN's Oregon Ducks Blog

by David Piper on Aug 25, 2007 9:18 AM PDT reply actions

also...

look at recent franchise movements: Grizzles from Vancouver to Memphis, and Hornets to NO from Charlotte. Both have been colossal failures. Hopefully, Stern keeps that in mind.

--Dave

Addicted to Quack SBN's Oregon Ducks Blog

by David Piper on Aug 25, 2007 9:19 AM PDT up reply actions

The league's already got problems in general

They present a sloppy, overpriced product, ratings are down (doubtful that's a coincidence), and oh yeah, that ref who bet on games.

by Gomez on Aug 25, 2007 11:21 AM PDT up reply actions

Team owners will always find

new communities to screw. If OKC prefers to fund Clay Bennett over schools and parks, doesn't mean Seattle should emulate. No good reason to go for sloppy thirds with another taxpayer funded stadium gift.

by Paytheline on Aug 25, 2007 2:59 PM PDT reply actions