Stern on Seattle expansion team
NBA Commissioner David Stern on Thursday would not come clean about whether Seattle will get an expansion franchise if the Sonics move to Oklahoma City. He had this to say when asked about the possibility….
“I think what I’d like to do is to say that in light of the swirling events and the continuing litigation and the to and fro with respect to the Sonics, I’d like to take the opportunity to impose a gag on myself and allow speculation to grow in whatever way is constructive.”
Also, you can hear an interesting interview with former U.S. Senator Slade Gorton here. Gorton, remember, is the man who is leading the city of Seattle’s lawsuit against Sonics owners and the heavyweight who was expected to save basketball in Seattle because he was instrumental in keeping the Mariners from moving to Florida in1991. Here’s a snippet of the interview:
“You’ve got to step back and recognize the situation in which David Stern finds himself. Right now, he doesn’t have a big problem. We have a big problem. We’ve got a team with an owner who wants to move it to Oklahoma City, and we’ve got an arena that’s bluntly not up to NBA standards. And David Stern has a constituent, a constituent who wants to move to Oklahoma City and has no way as he sees it to keep it in Seattle. If we get the public officials in Seattle and the state to come up with the last $75 million for this $300 million remodel, then David Stern has a problem. He’s got a great big problem.”
-DM-
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Comments
Nobody cares to hear your sour grapes, mickey.
It’s really funny that Seattle can’t come up with money for an arena but is blowing millions in court.
Of course Sen. Skeletor wants the court case to move forward. He’s lining his pockets at taxpayer expense.
Phillip
If Seattle wins the Court case, Bennett pays the court costs. Gorton may be lining his pockets but it is with Bennetts money.
Bennett is trying to line his pockets with your money so what is the difference?
Both are trying to entertain the home folks.
It is pretty clear why the tone of Sterns comments is changing and why they are now starting to talk expansion.
With the court case getting closer the owners will be pushing to get a resolution to the situation to avoid going to court. Add in what will be the richest ownership group in the league, and an arena package that Stern himself asked for just 2 years ago it is clear that the league doesn’t want to give up the market.
Bennett now talking about leaving everything behind except the players and coaches shows that he knows his chances of moving the team are getting less and less.
Look for the league to offer expansion to Seattle but in the long run it is most likely that a deal will be cut that gives OKC an expansion team and leaves the Sonics in Seattle.
Seattle will end up with an expansion team if and only if they come up with an arena deal with Ballmer and they settle with Bennett.
OKC will get the expansion team…just you wait. Would that be so bad for Oklahomans. Remember, it’s Bennett’s team, so if OKC ends up with an expansion team instead of having to steal another city’s franchise, it doesn’t matter to Oklahomans since it’s not their team anyway. Right?
Seattle is very proud of the fact they have never stolen a team from anyone else. Every tean here is home grown.
The people of OKC should be demanding that Bennett and the city push for an expansion team instead just from the honor and integrity standpoint.
I know some think “but we can get Kevin Durant”, but they don’t think that all the way out. As mistreated as Durant has been by Bennett it isn’t likely he will remain with the team any longer than he has to. First chance he gets he will bolt.
So you might as well start with a fresh slate and then be able to claim the high ground rather than side with Bennett on stealing a team from a city that has supported it for 41 years, and still supports it even with the worst owner in the league intentionally driving people away.
i would be thrilled if okc got a new team and the sonics stayed in seattle. that is the best-case scenario. i would love to be able to support a team starting with their first game ever, not their first game here. seattle, do your best to keep the sonics. it’s best for seattle AND oklahoma, even if oklahoma doesn’t realize it. waiting a few years is a small price to pay to get our own, new team that we don’t have to feel guilty about.
Sorry if you feel guilty, donuteyes. I don’t believe most people here do. We didn’t do this to Seattle, they did it to themselves. They’ve had years and two different ownership groups to get this resolved and they still haven’t.
When the state failed to accept the Ballmer offer, it proved that Bennett never had a chance to get a deal done there.
We passed a tax to upgrade our arena to get a team. The same deal wouldn’t have come close to passing in Seattle.
I believe the name and history will remain in Seattle but Bennett is bringing his team here, He won’t give up Durant, Green, all the draft picks, the cap situation, etc. for an expansion team. He won’t because he doesn’t have to. NOBODY can make him sell. He’s the one that has to agree before any deal can happen. There can be no Ballmer deal or Key remodel without Bennett giving his OK or being given a release from the lease. The league will not approve a team for Seattle while Bennett is still under lease there.
Bennett will ride out the last two years of the lease before he’ll give up his team for an expansion team and nobody can make him do otherwise. That won’t happen because the BOG is about to approve the move, the team will then sign a 15 year lease with OKC ending all hope of them remaining in Seattle and Seattle is going to accept a buyout.
You are wrong on all counts and this is why you will have to live with the stain of stealing the team forever. You might be able to justify this to yourself, or even others in OKC, but you will never convince the rest of the country that you were not equal partners in this horrible act.
Facts:
1) NBA asks for, and gets, complete rebuild of Key Arena (nothing was kept except 4 roof beams). Paid for 100% by taxpayer money (Sonics chipped in for new practice facility).
2) Stern and NBA praised Seattle for their vision and building a “state of the art” facility. They wanted a more “intimate feel” by not having a College Basketball type of seating and sight lines. It was (and still is) one of the best places to watch a game it just lacked all the extra “stuff” the league later decided they wanted.
3) Less than 10 years into the lease, halfway through the bonding, Howard Schultz starts demanding another $220 million in work to the facility and is unwilling to contribute more than $18 million to the deal. Tries once and quits.
4) Bennett buys the team, lies in order to get control of the team, makes a paper tiger proposal for a $500 million events center with no commitment to any private money. Tries once and quits.
5) With 3 seasons left on the lease and nearly $50 million in debt left on the building Bennett goes back on his word to “honor the key arena lease” and tries to break the lease and move.
6) We have now learned that Bennett never intended to keep the team in Seattle and has been working hand in hand with your elected officials to get this deal done from day one.
Those are the facts.
Are there ways that people in Seattle could have prevented this?
Sure, Schultz could have put up a fair share, he could have sold to a local ownership group (or other members of his own ownership group), our elected officials could have given Clay a blank check (alhough it is now looking like even that wouldn’t have done it), and we could have told the NBA “No, we will not rebuld Key Arena to your specs we will spend 4 times as much on a new Events Center”.
But despite the failures in leadership, the double crossing by a New Yorker pretending to be a Seattlite, and all the rest that doesn’t change the bottom line that if Bennett had been a man of integrity and honored the lease none of this would be happening. PERIOD
Your excuses and attempts to blame this on Seattle are like blaming the 7-11 clerk for being robbed at gun point.
Oops. Typo. That should say “They wanted a more “intimate feel” by having a College Basketball type of seating and sight lines”.
Donuteyes is right. Almost everyone we talk to in OKC says they think it is wrong to steal the team from Seattle. They want the NBA, want to be a “big league city” but also want to be respected and not seen at crooks.
The more they learn the truth about what is going on in Seattle the more they agree that this is wrong.
There are a few that have been able to lie to themselves enough to think it is ok, even to try and blame the victim, but those people never take any time to put themselves in the other persons shoes.
There are also a very small few that are sick enough to be enjoying this. They love the idea of sticking it to Seattle and run to the Seattle forums and talk smack. They are sad and pathetic individuals and we try and consider that and hope they are not representative of everyone in OKC.
Seattle is very proud of the fact they have never stolen anyone elses team. We have “grown our own” and that is a huge source of pride.
What OKC also has to consider is that a lot of Washington businesses are national in scope and many are already talking about pulling out of Oklahoma, no longer purchasing from Oklahoma vendors, or at the least limiting their involvement with them if they manage to steal the team.
The cost to the Oklahoma economy could be in the billions and it is the silent killer. Companies don’t issue press releases or make any kind of public comment on it they just pass over your state and you never know but it translates into lost jobs and higher taxes for all.
You will find few in this region would ever do anything for you if you take the team although we would be happy to give you Starbucks.
Sorry Andy but you’re wrong. Comparing paying 350 million for a team to robbing a 7/11 clerk at gun point shows just how deluted your reasoning is.
Bennett agreed to make a good faith effort to get a new arena built and the state and city hve proven he never had a chance.
Bennett has said all along that he will honor the lease and he will. If there’s a buyout of the last two years of the lease, that would be honoring the lease. If there’s not a buyout then he will just play out the last two years and honor the lease that way but any obligation to Seattle ends there.
Seattle doesn’t have to build a new arena and the Sonics don’t have to remain in Seattle beyond 2010.
Neither can make the other do something they don’t want…..Isn’t America a great place,
It really funny when Andy and the other trolls say that Bennett STOLE the Sonics.
The truth is they SAVED the Sonics.
The Sonics had the lowest revenues in the league last year after suffering loses every year in this decade. The previous ownership group had to sell the team because of the mounting loses.
This all occured because the Ackerley group negotiated the worst lease in the NBA and then bailed out after realizing the mistake they had made. Stern has been kicking himself ever since for letting Ackerley talk him in to signing off on it.
After holding the Sonics to this lousy deal, Seattle now expects the Sonics to sign on for another lousy deal. Seattle thinks they should be paid back every penny they spend on an arena plus interest but they’re perfectly fine with the team losing money forever.
The Bennett group and OKC are saving the Sonics from this crazy situation and a financially impossible position.
i hate to (kinda) agree with seattle, but the whole “home-grown team” thing is way better than taking the sonics just because we can. really, who cares in oklahoma about saving their financial situation. i only care about basketball. i’d love an NBA team in OKC, but if you think objectively, bringing the sonics here next year is a little crazy. they don’t know currently where they’ll be next year, and that’s not good for anyone. they would be showing up in oklahoma a little weirded out from all this. but a new expansion team could grow from nothing into something, because of us, before our eyes. think about it oklahoma.
donuteyes, expansion teams have no good players and only one good draft pick. You’re saying that Bennett should give up all his good young players and the 6 first round draft picks they have over the next three years and get nothing in return.
No thanks.
“When the state failed to accept the Ballmer offer, it proved that Bennett never had a chance to get a deal done there.”
Bennett never had a chance to get a deal done because he never offered a serious proposal. He also did so too late in the session to get anything done. Even if he had been sincere, which we know now that he never was, anyone with a basic understanding of the system in Washington would know that if you don’t bring your proposal to them during their recess period you will have almost no chance of getting it through.
With Ballmers proposal there was no rejection in fact everyone there said they want to do it they just didn’t have time before the session ended. That is debatable but the fact they committed to getting the deal done next session proves your point wrong.
“We passed a tax to upgrade our arena to get a team. The same deal wouldn’t have come close to passing in Seattle.”
That is true. You wrote Bennett a blank check. 100% of the costs, zero private investment, no controls on price overruns, complete control of the building and all revenues from it. The state is jumping in to give him tax breaks to pay all his costs for moving. It is a great deal for him at the expense of the poor in OKC who have no choice but to line Clays pockets with money out their food budget.
Seattle would never do that deal, nor would any “big league city”, because they know better. Like a con man trying to take you for your retirement savings they know they have to nail you fast before you get a chance to know you are being scammed. They got you good and didn’t even use lubricant.
We in Seattle have built:
1967 – Sonics first home – 100% taxpayer funded
1976 – Kingdome (Mariners and Seahawks)- 100% taxpayer funded
1995 – Key Arena – 100% taxpayer funded
2000 – Safeco Field for the Mariners – majority taxpayer funded
2002 – Qwest Field for the Seahawks – majority taxpayer funded
2008 – Key Arena proposal – 50/50 public – private
See the trend? Cities like OKC who are new the game are often easy targets and bite on the 100%+ funding demands. Those that have been through it before, or at least have paid attention, are not so eager to go that route.
“I believe the name and history will remain in Seattle but Bennett is bringing his team here,”
The name and history is a no-brainer. Aside from it having zero value outside the city of seattle the legal battles to keep the name make it worthless to Clay to try and hold onto it.
You are welcome to think that Bennett can move the team if he wants but history has proven that isn’t as easy as you think. The looming court case that will be the most visable and ugliest ever is slated to go on at the same time as the NBA finals. The league will never allow that to happen and that is why you are seeing them soften their rhetoric. Even if they approve a conditional move they can pull that approval at any time as part of a negotiated settlement right up to the day they would play in another city.
“He won’t give up Durant, Green, all the draft picks, the cap situation, etc. for an expansion team. ”
Of course he will. That is short term thinking. If the choice is get an expansion team in OKC or be forced to remain in Seattle with the current team you can bet he will take the later in a heart beat.
“He won’t because he doesn’t have to. NOBODY can make him sell. He’s the one that has to agree before any deal can happen. ”
This shows a complete ignorance of how these things work. Yes no one can force him to sell but they can put him in a position where he wants to sell or at least realizes that he has to sell.
What happens if the league approves conditional relocation and then a chance for another team, expansion or relocation, presents itself and OKC has a chance at a team now not two years down the road? What if that team is the Hornets?
“There can be no Ballmer deal or Key remodel without Bennett giving his OK or being given a release from the lease. The league will not approve a team for Seattle while Bennett is still under lease there.”
True, but Bennett has no control over what Ballmer and the city do other then he can make his live simpler and cheaper by being willing to negotiate.
Remember that the goal is to get the NBA in OKC not to relocate the Sonics. That might be YOUR goal, but not the goal of a reasonable businessman.
“Bennett will ride out the last two years of the lease before he’ll give up his team for an expansion team and nobody can make him do otherwise.”
That is a load of hogwash. If Clay could get at team there this coming season and had to agree to play only 40 and over players to do it you can bet your mobile home he will take the deal.
“That won’t happen because the BOG is about to approve the move,”
Maybe. If they do they get added to the lawsuit so if they are smart they will defer the vote until October. Since the team isn’t going anywhere until 2010 anyhow there is no rush to approve the move for the owners, just for Clay so he can lock up the market. I expect that the league will approve the move knowing they can make it conditional and undo it later when a deal is negotiated that solves the problem for everyone.
“the team will then sign a 15 year lease with OKC ending all hope of them remaining in Seattle and Seattle is going to accept a buyout.”
Seattle will NEVER accept a buyout unless there is a settlement that keeps the NBA here on a continous basis. To start with the Mayor can’t accept a buyout, that power was taken away from him by I-93 which the council adopted as law. You can wish for that all you want but you can’t change the law.
We sure hope OKC signs a lease with Bennett while the team is still under lease here. They already are on the verge of being added to the lawsuit as it is, to sign a lease will open up the door to anti-trust action against them.
This has gone far enough in both cities that the NBA has no choice but to make sure both cities have teams when this is done. They can spew all the rhetoric they want but when a city steps up with a viable arena deal AND a viable local ownership group they cannot say no or they risk never getting another city to take them seriously again. You can’t leave a large market like that or the house of cards all falls apart.
You have to learn to seperate your short term emotional thinking from the big picture. Learn to see an issue from every point of view and you will get a better idea at what is really going on.
Again you have no idea what you are talking about.
1) We all know now that Clay Bennett did not make a “good faith effort” to keep the team here. His agreement called for him to do so for one year and even the lame effort he did put out only went until May when he quit after just a couple months of trying. We learned he refused to return phone calls or to negotiate with anyone. By any definition of “Good Faith” he failed to live up to it. The lawsuit for that will come later down the road and he will lose that one as well. Since the San Jose group had offered $75 million more than he did the damages will be huge.
2) Honoring the lease means you do just that, honor the lease. Taking legal action to try and break a lease is not honoring it. Honoring the courts judgement is not honoring the lease it is doing what you have to do to keep from going to jail for contempt. In addition to his trying to break the lease he has intentionally damaged the city by failing to live up to the financial terms of the lease this season. That is an additional cause of action that will come along after the end of the lease when they can total up the damages he has caused.
3) What makes America a great place is the laws we have in place and the ability to enforce contracts in court. When you sign a contract with a specific performance clause in it you CAN be forced to comply with the terms. You and Bennett will both learn that come June. This clause is what prevented the Seahawks move and what prevented the Twins from moving. It is also going to prevent Bennett from breaking the lease.
Despite what you think buying a team is not buying the right to move the team any time you want. You bought a franchise and that has a set of rules you agree to abide to. Teams are in the cities that the NBA wants them in NOT where the owners want them to be. If I bought the Boston Celtics I would not be allowed to move them to Rapid City just because I wanted to.
It is no different than buying a house in a development with a homeowners association. Just because you want to paint your house pink does not mean you get to. If the rules say no pink houses they can take you to court and force you to paint it an “approved” color. This happens all the time and you need to understand that Clay agreed to the rules when he bought the team and can’t break them just because he wants to.
It is typical for people like you to resort to name calling when you lose a debate. People who bring facts that prove you wrong are not “trolls”. People who post misinformation or “smack talk” to stir up anger are trolls.
Bennett has not “STOLE” the Sonics yet. He is trying to but is being stopped. Yes he had the right to buy the team but he does not have the right to break the lease or move the team because he wants to. He bought a franchise with a territory in Seattle and a lease that runs through 2010. If he didn’t like the location or the lease terms then he shouldn’t have bought the team. NO ONE forced him to buy the team, he made that choice himself and with that goes the responsibilities that go with it.
If you want our team so bad you are willing to support his illegal actions then that makes you just as dishonorable as he is. You made your choice there.
It is laughable that you would think he “SAVED the Sonics”. That is yet another example of you trying to justify the lack of integrity and dishonorable actions of Clay.
The team suffered losses because of mismanagement by Schultz but Clay made the choice to buy the team suffering those losses. The fact he turned that into larger losses is his own doing hoping to show the court that he has no choice but to move the team. That argument just went south on him as the court will tell him he has other options such as accepting the new arena package or selling to local owners that are willing to commit to that package. He is screwed three ways from Sunday.
Ackerly didn’t negotiate the worst lease in the league he did what Stern asked him to do. The NBA business model changed this decade and that is what made the lease such a bad deal.
The city has been willing to redo the lease for years but Schultz wanted more public money and Bennett refused to have even one meeting to talk about a new deal with the City. They hung themselves with the old lease because they wanted it as a negotiating tool.
The new deal is “market rate” and is what Stern came out here and advocated for in 2006. It makes money for whoever owns the team here so Bennett has no argument that he has no options in Seattle.
It is amazing how you try to spin everything to try and make it look like Bennett is snow white in this when he is really Jesse James.
You need to listen to Donuteyes here and realize you are being selfish and shortsighted.
You like Kevin Durant and the fact they have all the draft picks. You forget that expansion is negotiated and the new team is likely to have multiple picks as well. You also forget that these players are so upset at the mistreatment that Bennett has provided that none of them want to play in OKC and will bolt as soon as they can get out of their contracts.
Seperate yourself from your fantasy world and short term thinking and remember the goal is to get a team in OKC not fleece another city.
Blah, blah, blah….I’ve never read such a long winded bunch of B.S. in my life.
Rather than waste too much of my time on that rambling drival I’ll just pick out a few of the funnier highlights.
Joey wrote…..
“We in Seattle have built:
1967 – Sonics first home – 100% taxpayer funded
1976 – Kingdome (Mariners and Seahawks)- 100% taxpayer funded
1995 – Key Arena – 100% taxpayer funded
2000 – Safeco Field for the Mariners – majority taxpayer funded
2002 – Qwest Field for the Seahawks – majority taxpayer funded
2008 – Key Arena proposal – 50/50 public – private
See the trend? Cities like OKC who are new the game are often easy targets and bite on the 100%+ funding demands. Those that have been through it before, or at least have paid attention, are not so eager to go that route.”
Yea, I see a trend, joey. When Seattle was building facilities, they we’re attracting major league teams. When they started expecting team owners to commit private dollars to public buildings, they came within a hair of losing two teams and ended up losing a third.
We think we’ll follow the example of when Seattle was attracting major league teams.
joey wrote…..
“That is true. You wrote Bennett a blank check. 100% of the costs, zero private investment, no controls on price overruns, complete control of the building and all revenues from it. The state is jumping in to give him tax breaks to pay all his costs for moving. It is a great deal for him at the expense of the poor in OKC who have no choice but to line Clays pockets with money out their food budget”
Are you just ignorant or are you a liar? It doesn’t really matter because everything you wrote after this paragraph had no credibilty. This paragraph proved that if you don’t know the truth, you’ll just make something up that sounds good to you.
joey wrote…..
“True, but Bennett has no control over what Ballmer and the city do other then he can make his live simpler and cheaper by being willing to negotiate.
Remember that the goal is to get the NBA in OKC not to relocate the Sonics.”
Uh…..what? Bennett has complete control over what Ballmer and the city can do. The city and Ballmer can’t finalize a deal without a team, Ballmer can’t buy a team, a remodel of the Key cannot begin and the NBA won’t agree to anything without Bennett going along with it. Bennett has Seattle and Ballmer by the jewels……and no, the goal is for Bennett to bring his team to OKC.
joey said……
“We sure hope OKC signs a lease with Bennett while the team is still under lease here. They already are on the verge of being added to the lawsuit as it is, to sign a lease will open up the door to anti-trust action against them.”
You are obviously completely ignorant on the subject of tenant law. The Sonics have no obligation to Seattle beyond 2010 and there is NOTHING that would prevent the Sonics from signing a long term lease beginning in 2010 or upon the successful resolution of their current lease…… to suggest otherwise is stupid.
joey wrote…….
“In addition to his trying to break the lease he has intentionally damaged the city by failing to live up to the financial terms of the lease this season. That is an additional cause of action that will come along after the end of the lease when they can total up the damages he has caused.”
As an internet lawyer, you suck, Please explain in detail exactly how the Sonics have violated the lease……this ought to be fun.
joey wrote…..
“People who post misinformation or “smack talk” to stir up anger are trolls”
So far, you fit the definition perfectly.
joey wrote……
“It is no different than buying a house in a development with a homeowners association. Just because you want to paint your house pink does not mean you get to. If the rules say no pink houses they can take you to court and force you to paint it an “approved” color. This happens all the time and you need to understand that Clay agreed to the rules when he bought the team and can’t break them just because he wants to.”
You’re absolutely right and when Bennett bought the team, the homeowners assoc……league agreed to the deal with full knowledge of a side letter that said the team would be free to seek relocation if an arena deal wasn’t reached by 11/01/08.
joey said……
“The team suffered losses because of mismanagement by Schultz but Clay made the choice to buy the team suffering those losses. The fact he turned that into larger losses is his own doing hoping to show the court that he has no choice but to move the team. That argument just went south on him as the court will tell him he has other options such as accepting the new arena package or selling to local owners that are willing to commit to that package. He is screwed three ways from Sunday.”
The court case is about whether or not there is a monetary figure that makes Seattle whole in lieu of the team remaining there for the final two years of the lease. Courts are all about compromise in cases like this. HIS WORST CASE SCENERIO IS PLAYING OUT THE LAST TWO YEARS OF HIS LEASE.
To suggest that there is anything in the court case that will make him sell the team or make him agree to spend his money on a Key remodel is just stupid.
Seattle will agree to a buyout before the trial starts…..and when they do i’ll be very gracious when you come back to apologize, joey.
Phillip
Why do you think that Seattle will accept a buyout? If you are relying on what may be common sense in OKC you are uniformed about the politicians in Washington.
- I-93 does not allow the City to accept any offer of a buyout
-With their jobs on the line, these politicians are already being seen as weak and ineffective. The lose of the Sonics on their watch, without a fight to the end but a meek surrender for money, will cost them their jobs and thus their sense of purpose.
-Seattle politicians have absolutely no economic vision or ability to manage anything. They are all virtually unemployable in the Real World.
-They also throw money around like it belongs to somebody else. 15 million dollars for 3 outdoor toilets. 90 million for a monorail that never got built because of poor planning, a 250 million underground bus terminal that was too small to allow buses and light rail at the same time. It goes on and on until you laugh or cry, depending on where you live.
-At this point in time, no one cares if the NBA returns if the Sonics leave. The amount still owed on the Key can be taken out of the surplus in the General Fund and no will will miss it.
-Even if Seattle goes ahead and builds a new arena down the road no one up here will accept anything Stern says about an expansion team. He has proven himself to be a liar and manipulator and will not be trusted. What passes for Hard line Business in other places does not work here. The carrot works well but all the stick receives is a snarl.
Bottom line is the City will not settle and the Sonics will play here through 2010. The City and fans will do everything they can to cost Bennett money. They will not support the team or the NBA . The trial will drag the NBA , Bennett and Stern through the mud and embarrass everyone. The goal is to cause maximum damage, both by reputation and financial.
The people will hold out hope until the moving vans are out of site, then they will tell the NBA to screw off and go on to other things.
Eventually a new arena will be built and the NHL will be the major tenant. They may even be called the Sonics. The NBA will start using a move to Seattle as a club over other cities who refuse to build arenas and we will just yawn.
When David Stern dies their will be a large contingent of Seattleites attending his funeral. Just to make sure he is Dead.
In short. Seattle will not settle, the trial will proceed with all the exposure possible and the Sonics will play here for 2 more years.
I don’t know where everyone in Seattle gets off thinking that Stern is such a liar and manipulator. He’s said numerous times that if Seattle didn’t do something to improve it’s arena situation, the team would move. He said it from the beginning. Who cares if it was renovated in 1995, that was 13 years ago, and was obviously done without enough of a vision to make it viable now. Stern is doing exactly what he said he would do, no arena, no team, and he’s going to follow through on it.
it is so cute, to hear mindless drones, speak of things they know nothing about. LIKE HAVING A PRO SPORTS FRANCHISE!!
it takes decades of work, to support a franchise. seattle, has done this for 3 franchises! for thirty plus years! and we are a city 20 times your own! and it has been a battle! we are the creators of boeing,ups,microsoft,amazon,and many others. those are companys that have shaped this nation. and they are born here, the most beautiful city in the country! your city is a dead, lifeless,wasteland!
our tragic little sister, is a better market than yours…..
SPOKANE!!!!
joey is the perfect example of why I have no sympathy for the people of Seattle.
They’re getting just what they deserve.
….and we’re getting their team.
Perfect.
spokane deserves a team! its an economic powerhouse, by comparison! and the area and the city are pretty! why is okc, even the discussion?? my heartbreaks for the future of the NBA!
yup, this was almost intellegent, then people have to start being insulting. “dead, lifeless,wasteland.” that is a hell of a thing to say. you, joey, are a sad person. i hope you feel better about yourself by bashing people you’ve never met ovet the internet. i hope that’s working out for you.
Joey is right about OKC’s image nationally as a “dead, lifeless, wasteland.” This may or may not be true, the closest I’ve been to Oklahoma is Kansas and Missouri. These places weren’t quite dead, lifeless or wastelands, but they weren’t exactly desirable places to live. Phoenix and the rest of Arizona fit the bill, although their appeal is year round sun and fun. I’m not sure bringing the NBA to OKC would improve this image, but it’s possible. How is the weather between Novemeber and May in OKC?
…..and the perception we have of Seattle is a gloomy depressing place that rains all the time and is full of rude, arrogant, latte sipping, computer nerds…..and a lot of homely women.
The vast majority of Oklahomans have never been to Seattle, have no desire to ever waste our time going there and will never give the place another thought once our team moves here.
i can’t speak for anyone else, but due to the comments on this website, i’m starting to think of seattle as being full of people who don’t know who to be angry at, and are lashing out at anyone who will hear their cries. you may think we’re dead and lifeless, but guys, this isn’t about culture. it’s about money, so keep talking crap about oklahoma, because it makes you seem cool. really. it does. totally classy. real intellegent. especially when you admit you’ve never been here, and use other states as your example to down oklahoma. great point. no really, a very well-made point. how can i even continue to try to converse with such amazing minds?
Philip,
The people of Seattle have Clay Bennett as their representative of what an Oklahoman is like. Personally, I have my chain-smoking, truck-driving mother-in-law whom I don’t even allow in my home as my frame of reference. Where do you get your stereotype of Seattlites? Or do you just suffer from an inferiority complex?
“Where do you get your stereotype of Seattlites?”
Rainy, overcast, gloomy, Starbucks, Microsoft, Google……that’s the national perception.
yes, seattle is better than oklahoma, does it make you feel better to read it? you seem to need to. you’re proving my point. if seattle is so awesome and oklahoma is so terrible, why waste your time CONSTANTLY reminding everyone of what is in seattle. we know, but keep telling us (and yourself) of these things if it makes you feel better. because really, as much as you hate oklahoma, i’m indifferent towards you. so please, continue your impressive insults and know that you’re the best. really. you are. seriously.
Philip Says:
March 30th, 2008 at 7:49 pm
“Where do you get your stereotype of Seattlites?”
Rainy, overcast, gloomy, Starbucks, Microsoft, Google……that’s the national perception.
Phillip
That is the perception most Seattleites try very hard to promote. Most of us do not want anyone else moving here and try very hard to discourage it. I am happy to see it is working, if just a little bit.
Unfortunatley it hasn’t worked as well as we want. People still keep showing up.
Mickey
A Proud Member of Lesser Seattle and pulling on my gumboots and raincoat to out an Bar BQ as I write.
someone said oklahomans dont visit seattle? thats interesting, because the city is constantly flooded with tourists. and tons of them are from oklahoma and that part of the country. including your mayor!!
How do you all feel about this
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/sonics/2004349361_schultz15.html
I don’t really care this is a post and run. See you in court Bennett!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I’m pretty pumped to hear the news that Schultz will sue. Raises a few questions though, especially if in the end us Seattleites cave too much on a new arena. Have we been duped? Either way you slice it, if they stay, attendance definitely goes up, even among those of us who are bitter towards schultz. If it were a plan, it would be a clever one. The bonus for okc? In planning for the sonics’ arrival, you’ve passed the legislation and will have a head start towards being immediately ready for a new franchise.
I’m one happy townie thanks to this news. OKC, sorry for the pun, I know you want a team SOONER than LATER, but hey, fresh start, new franchise, no baggage, maybe later is greater. Definitely better than supporting Clay’s perceived dishonesty. You guys don’t want a team under those conditions. I can’t respect Raiders fans because in their selfishness they embrace crazy Al Davis and his literal pirate tactics. Same scenario.
In closing, it’s my first time seeing this site, Seattle heads and Oklahomeboys, don’t form opinions of the denizens of these respective cities based on s#!+talking blurbs on this site. That’s just how folks talk on the net, about anything. all chumpyish.
I got family in both cities and would like to see some comraderie here. Say it with me, like you’re 7′7” : “I LOVE THIS GAME!”
I hate to tell the author of the article, but his information is far too incorrect. I respect journalist and would heed them to have their facts correct before writing. After then owner of the Seattle Pilots and now commissioner, Bud Selig relocated to Milwaukee after one year and named his franchise the Brewers, Senator Slade Gordon (R) from Wa. filed a law suet for breech of contract. MLB could have faced a larger anti trust law suit and settled by naming an expansion team who started play when the Kingdome was completed in 1976 and named the Mariners.
As to all the commenters I grew up in the mid-west in a small town in Illinois, I have visited OKC @ what was Tinker, I know about much of the history there. Like many places across our nation it is all different, and if you have lived a certain place you feel a connection. I understand the heart ache from both sides, but professional sports has held communities hostage for 20 some odd years and its time for them to put a better business plan on the table, more present matters need public money and owners need more pryvate money to finance. If it is profitable pryvate money would be bending over backward to finance 500 million dollar areanas. Safe-Co Field in Seattle is one of the finest stadiums in the US, it is not an arena and cost 550 million dollars.
I’ve been to Oklahoma and have lived in Tulsa. Oklahomans are great people and I suspect most would rather earn a NBA franchise team rather than snatch one from another city. Now that the facts are starting to come out I will be curious to see what OKC residences will start to say on the matter.
One thing is certain, in a few years if OKC has a NBA team they will be approached to upgrade their basketball arena. No matter how much money they spend on it now it won’t meet the needs of a team say 5 or 10 years from now.
There are also cities much larger and with bigger metro area’s than OKC which will target OKC for their team at some point in time. I doubt you’ll get much sympathy from Seattle regardless what happens with the Sonic’s.
Wanting a team badly enough to snatch one from Seattle which has a rich history supporting it’s PRO teams is ridiculous. When you see polls that give you the impression that Seattlites don’t care if the Sonic’s leave are simply not true, it’s frustration at the cost of keeping the owners happy at the expense of local roads, bridges and infrastructure. Every large city has to balance it’s needs which includes entertainment. Seattle more than shows it’s love of the Sonic’s by attendence and the passion you’ve been reading about.
OKC will eventually need to rebuild or replace it’s own arena or Tulsa, Memphis, Vancouver or some other city may try and lure your team away too. I don’t hate OKC for wanting a team and I admire OKC for working to get the NBA there, but I dislike the idea of OKC prying our team through it’s local ownership group when they know we love our Sonic’s.
How would you feel if we took the “Sooners” and it’s legacy away from your great state?
Stern has not come clean on anything. He will though, at he trial, in the middle of the NBA playoffs.
He has stated 23 times in the last 19 months that Seattle will never get another team if the Sonics leave. There is little interest in another NBA team if the Sonics move so Stern is just whistling in the wind with his carrot and stick act.
The feeling is to bleed Bennett and the NBA for as much as possible and cause as much embarrassment as we can to both. A pyrrhic victory but sometimes those are the most satisfying.
Seattle will still have the Seahawks, the Mariners, the Storm, and MLS. We will also have the satisfaction of knowing Bennett will not live long enough to sell the Sonics for a profit. We will also leave the Blueprint you guys can follow when the Oklahoma City Drifters drift somewhere else.