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it's sickening that they're leaving seattle.
the obvious answer is move the hornets to OKC and let the sonics stay put.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/htm..._kelley18.html
His Royal Smugness sat at a podium in New Orleans this weekend and, without a twinge of emotion, without an ounce of understanding, declared NBA basketball in Seattle dead.
Commissioner David Stern said he expected the Sonics to leave Seattle either this year or in 2010.
"There is no miracle here," His Royal Smugness said.
He said the Sonics will relocate to Oklahoma City.
Now let's get one thing clear. This team that is owned by Clay Bennett, Aubrey McClendon and the rest of the rustlers from Oklahoma City is not the Sonics.
If Stern, in all his arrogance, wants to find the proper nickname for this franchise that doesn't want to be here, he can call them the Hijackers, or the Battling Bennetts.
This franchise Bennett wants to move to a remodeled OKC corral isn't the Sonics — not even close.
The Sonics belong to Seattle. They belong to three generations of NBA fans.
The Sonics are all those times we've listened to the voice of Kevin Calabro warming wet winter nights with his combination of enthusiasm, showmanship and love of the game.
Calabro has been calling games here for 21 years. Calabro is a Sonic, not Bennett.
Walking out of dinner on Saturday night, a friend of mine said the three-year run of the George Karl, Gary Payton, Shawn Kemp Sonics, between the 1993-94 season and the 1995-96 season, remains the best three-year span of his life as a sports fan.
My friend is a Sonic, not Bennett. Karl and Payton and Kemp always will be Sonics.
The Sonics are the players whose uniforms hang from the rafters of KeyArena.
Lenny Wilkens, the first true Sonics All-Star and the coach of Seattle's only NBA le team, is a Sonic.
And the Sonics are Fred Brown and Gus Williams, the shooter and the scooter, who still are revered here, almost 25 years after they played their last games.
Nate McMillan is the coach of the Portland Trail Blazers, but he always will be a Sonic. From point guard-leader, to assistant coach, to head coach, McMillan was a reliable fixture in this city for 19 seasons.
And Bob Blackburn, the franchise's first voice, who before cable made the game and the players come alive on the radio, is a Sonic.
Bennett? McClendon? They'll never be Sonics. Money can't buy the integrity and history of this team.
Stern can sit in New Orleans and talk about the Sonics leaving Seattle, but he doesn't know the Sonics. Frankly, he doesn't care.
He and Bennett can lie about all of their "good faith" negotiations with the city and state, but all they've really done is make outrageous demands. They've never negotiated.
Deputy Mayor Tim Ceis is correct when he says, "David Stern hasn't lifted a finger since Clay Bennett bought this team to do anything to try and keep it in Seattle."
Ceis called this evil collaboration between Stern and Bennett an ongoing conspiracy to hijack the franchise out of Seattle.
They are the Hijackers, not the Sonics.
Another friend, a true Sonic who still has season tickets and still attends most home games, admits he recently watched a highlight reel of Kemp on YouTube.
He said the emotion he felt watching Kemp run and rise and dominate the likes of Karl Malone and Dennis Rodman was so exhilarating, it almost felt illicit.
The Sonics are nicknames like J.J. and D.J., Reign Man and The Glove. They are Big Paper Daddy and Big Smooth. Mac 10 and Bones.
The Sonics are Seattle, not Oklahoma City. Stern knows that, even if he can't admit it in public.
How dare His Royal Smugness disrespect Seattle and Sonics fans?
The city rejected the franchise's $26 million bribe, er, buyout, to let the team move to Oklahoma City. Doesn't that say something about Seattle's commitment to keeping its team?
How dare Stern call the franchise owned by Bennett the Sonics?
The Sonics are the team Sam Schulman brought to Seattle. Schulman understood how to sell the game and knew how to turn the Sonics into players in the NBA.
The late Sam Schulman is a Sonic.
So is Jack Sikma, who even though he now is an assistant coach in Houston helped this franchise to greatness. So is Dwane Casey, who was an assistant coach here under Karl and Paul Westphal and McMillan.
Nick Collison is a Sonic. You think he wants to move to Oklahoma City? And rookie Kevin Durant is a direct descendant of the line of Sonics from Haywood to Sikma, to Xavier McDaniel, to Kemp, to Ray Allen.
These, and hundreds of others, like Slick Watts, Dale Ellis, Tom Chambers, Derrick McKey, Rashard Lewis, Detlef Schrempf, Bernie Bickerstaff and Bob Weiss are the true Sonics, the Seattle Sonics.
Despite the proclamation of His Royal Smugness, the Sonics belong to Seattle.
It's a crime he can't admit that. It's a crime he refused to do the work to keep the franchise where it belongs.
Steve Kelley: 206-464-2176 or [email protected]
it's sickening that they're leaving seattle.
the obvious answer is move the hornets to OKC and let the sonics stay put.
does bennett want the city/county to pay 100% for a new home or will he kick in some $$$ and make it a public/private deal like so many others have done?
The NBA won't do that because of how bad the PR would be to give up on the city of New Orleans.
So they'll be called the " Oklahoma homas? "
It's a crime.
I spent 7 years at Sonics games, their fans deserve better.
That's too bad....however if it's any indication I was in Seattle late November and having dinner at a sport's bar. The Sonics game was on the majority of the TV's, but hardly anyone was watching and no one really cared. It's too bad.
Their fans are classless.
They cheered an injured Duncan
True...and I was long out of Seattle when they did.Their fans are classless.
They cheered an injured Duncan
I never got to see the Spurs play them.
The Sonics fans I saw were devoted. They came out to a lousy arena, in lousy weather, and cheered their team on. They were passionate.
I'll never forget watching them boo Duncan that night. I didn't see that in all the games I went to in Seattle. I saw the passion.
If Bennett et al wanted to stay in SEA, build his own damn stadium. But of course, staying in SEA was never his goal.
dubya and Poppy's friends pulled off the same scam for the Texas Rangers. Public money built the stadium then it was given to the investors who made a killing running it and then selling it, making dubya a millionaire, totally unearned, of course.
http://www.angelfire.com/ok5/pearly/...bush-sec5.html
.... really how the entire country operates.
That's because Bennett had already made his intention of moving the franchise known and the team currently sucks. Given that, why would you watch them? Obviously, due to my close proximity I've been to Seattle many, many times. There are a lot of hard-core Sonics fans in that city. I'm disgusted with David Stern for letting this happen.
Well not too many NBA cities in general get all that worked up over a late November regular season game.
I'll always be pissed at Seattle fans for that, but not enough for me to wish them to lose their franchise. Their support for their team was insane in that series; Key Arena sounded even louder than The Palace at Auburn Hills did during that 2005 playoff run.Their fans are classless.
They cheered an injured Duncan
It's a team with a lot of history and great fan support, so it sucks to see them getting screwed out of their franchise.
It's too late for that. However, NO is for sure losing the Hornets after 2009. There is no way they're going to average 14,000 people a game to keep them from opting out of their lease with the city. They're drawing 10,000 for contenders like Detroit, and 12,000 for division matchups like Dallas.
Seattle might really be screwing themselves if they are successful in keeping Bennett in town until 2010, because they lose the chance to bid for the Hornets (assuming the city pulls its head out its ass and comes up with an arena plan). How disgusting is that going to be in 2009-10 seeing the Anaheim Hornets?
But that would require common sense. NOLA has bigger fiscal priorities than propping up a basketball team that the city has never cared about. They should've had Bennett buy out Shinn and keep the Hornets in OKC.
You never know, the Hornets might end up in Seattle if there's no team there. Hopefully they can keep the name and the colors there just like it was done with the Cleveland Browns.
I'm not upset that OKC will have a franchise, but why take away such a storied franchise from Seattle. This has pissed me off for awhile now. I grew up in Snohomish and while I remained a loyal Spurs fan, I enjoyed the rivalry I shared with Todd (friend across the street) whose family were die-hard Sonic fans. I've been to Key Arena. It's pretty nice. Good location. WTF. What's the deal with building a new arena every in 10 years. The Knicks still play in the Garden, and if it was up to me the Spurs would still be in the Alamodome (The most intimidating basketball arena...EVER)
I'm sorry to see the Sonics go. It's just sad. As if dealing with 9 months of rain isn't depressing enough.
I've been to a game in Seattle. The crowd was big time supporting their team. We had a great time and it will be sad if they do move. The arena is a little old, but it's in a great location. Fans were knowledgeable and deserve better. Can't believe Stern is letting this happen.
You lost me at the Alamodome. That place sucked. The sightlines were horrible, and the place was vacant for a lot of regular season games. Plus, the team could never sell season tickets to a building so large that anyone knew they could just show up and get tickets for any game right before.
There's no way they could afford to pay Duncan, Parker, and Ginobili if they still had to let people into games for bringing Sprite cans and crap like that. Besides, the Dome was built to lure an NFL team; not to be any kind of long-term home for the Spurs.
I'll second that comment about the Alamodome. I went to a Mavs-Spurs game there when I was in college, since it's such a short drive from Austin. Awful sightlines and the ambience sucked.
washington is just bad for business, so business should leave, besides what are they gonna win, 25 games?
Seattle should have built an arena.
Yes, I'm aware, but you could put over 30,000+ in that building.
During the regular season, they could continue playing at the SBC (AT&T)
Then switch to the Alamodome for playoffs.
It was the most intimidating arena...1st because of the crowd size, 2nd because opposing shooters could never get a could feel for the depth of the baskets.
It was a ghetto basketball arena, but that's what made it great.
Two words for you....
Hemisfair Arena.
It was old and small but damn it was loud and you were right on top of the court practically.
Sean Elliott said after the '95 WCF that if the Spurs were still in the Arena, they would have won that series.
nuff said...
the guy bennett bought the team from couldn't make any headway with the politicians up there either.
if the people were really that pissed about possibly losing the Sonics they should have forced the city to put it to a public referendum somehow.
i don't think the majority care one way or the other and neither do i...
I lived in Seattle from 1996-2001. Sucks they are losing the Sonics. Thats a really proud franchise with a lot of great hardcore fans. This whole thing stinks.
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