It happened yesterday -- the City of Seattle and the Supersonics organization headed by Clay Bennett reached an agreement that will have the team out of Key Arena (and the state) by next season. The deal calls for Clay Bennett to pay the City $45 million dollars, and another $30 million in five years if Seattle can't field another NBA team. Graciously, Bennett is leaving behind the Sonics name and history here in Seattle, so that another team can either take the mantle or it can be retired into the annals of Seattle sports history.
A NBA franchise is not something that just grows on trees, and despite the past few years of mediocrity the Seattle Sonics had roots in the area for over forty years. To give it away for $75 million is laughable. The most disconcerting thing here is that people didn't care until it was too late. Mayor Nickels can say that he did all he could to keep the Sonics here, but all he was was the face of a campaign that would have acheived two more lackluster years of the Sonics in Seattle before the inevitable move. Howard Schultz is suing Bennett to regain control of the team -- a legal case that is deemed "almost laughable". He doesn't care for the Sonics; he just wants to save some face for himself and not be saddled with the moniker, "The Man who cost Seattle its NBA team."
The fans are the major problem. Seattle is a city of fairweather fans -- and don't even try to debate that point. Just look at the attendence for Mariners, Seahawks, and Sonics games in the past fifteen years. When these teams are struggling, people don't go. When they are going hot, everyone has a Mariners hat or a Shawn Kemp jersey. And when a team that holds the city's only major sports World Championship is about to leave, because they finished below 0.500 the past few seasons not many people were willing to do more than go through the motions when the team was already halfway out the door.
You may ask, "What did you do, David?" I'll answer back with, "Nothing." I'm definetely a home town sports team fan. However, when it came down to it, of the three major sports the NBA is the one I care least about. I'm not so concerned that we lost the basketball in the region, I'm just disappointed that we lost a part of our city that was unique to us. I compare it to losing the Space Needle. If Oklahoma City offered four hundred billion dollars for it, I doubt the owners or the City would say no. However, there would be an uproar amongst the people because the Space Needle is identified with Seattle, and it would be wrong for it to be anywhere else. The Sonics were uniquely Seattle, and it is wrong that they were bought off by a rich oil baron to play somewhere else.
Read more: "Sonics moving to Oklahoma City", Seattle Times
A NBA franchise is not something that just grows on trees, and despite the past few years of mediocrity the Seattle Sonics had roots in the area for over forty years. To give it away for $75 million is laughable. The most disconcerting thing here is that people didn't care until it was too late. Mayor Nickels can say that he did all he could to keep the Sonics here, but all he was was the face of a campaign that would have acheived two more lackluster years of the Sonics in Seattle before the inevitable move. Howard Schultz is suing Bennett to regain control of the team -- a legal case that is deemed "almost laughable". He doesn't care for the Sonics; he just wants to save some face for himself and not be saddled with the moniker, "The Man who cost Seattle its NBA team."
The fans are the major problem. Seattle is a city of fairweather fans -- and don't even try to debate that point. Just look at the attendence for Mariners, Seahawks, and Sonics games in the past fifteen years. When these teams are struggling, people don't go. When they are going hot, everyone has a Mariners hat or a Shawn Kemp jersey. And when a team that holds the city's only major sports World Championship is about to leave, because they finished below 0.500 the past few seasons not many people were willing to do more than go through the motions when the team was already halfway out the door.
You may ask, "What did you do, David?" I'll answer back with, "Nothing." I'm definetely a home town sports team fan. However, when it came down to it, of the three major sports the NBA is the one I care least about. I'm not so concerned that we lost the basketball in the region, I'm just disappointed that we lost a part of our city that was unique to us. I compare it to losing the Space Needle. If Oklahoma City offered four hundred billion dollars for it, I doubt the owners or the City would say no. However, there would be an uproar amongst the people because the Space Needle is identified with Seattle, and it would be wrong for it to be anywhere else. The Sonics were uniquely Seattle, and it is wrong that they were bought off by a rich oil baron to play somewhere else.
Read more: "Sonics moving to Oklahoma City", Seattle Times
No comments:
Post a Comment