Schultz to sue Sonics
By now you’ve heard that former Sonics owner Howard Schultz is suing the current ownership group to try to rescind the sale, claiming that the deal was done under fraudulently.
Here’s the story from the Seattle Times. Here’s the Seattle Post-Intelligencer’s version.
And here’s Times columnist Jerry Brewer’s take on the suit.
Meanwhile, in OKC, the city council today approved the Sonics lease. And the House of Representatives also approved tax breaks for the Sonics.
And finally, Derrick Rose is expected to declare for the draft this week.
-DM-
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Comments
this is simply a pulicity stunt by schultz . after selling us out, he is trying to get back in our good graces..
the only news i wanna hear. is that gregiore has called a special session. anything short of that who gives a damn.
Brewer’s nonlegal perspective is worthy of a read, but for a legal perspective try the following:
http://www.enjoytheenjoyment.com/2008/04/schultz-letter-interview-with-kjr.html
Yoon,
Stop injecting New Orleans into this debate. We had your back during this, now have ours.
Shame on you.
“Yoon,
Stop injecting New Orleans into this debate. We had your back during this, now have ours.
Shame on you.”
I don’t think you understood the point I was trying to make. I don’t want to see the Hornets moving any more than I want to see the Grizzlies or Sonics moving. I was just pointing out the fact that these OKC fans will probably just move on and try to poach another team because they think they are more “deserving.” They’ve been telling us along that we’re not worthy fans and we deserve to lose our team.
When the Sonics end up staying in Seattle, i’m sure they’re going to make the same argument for some other city’s team. It’s sad, really.
i can see memphis moving. its a city much like okc. very undeserving.
the move from vancouver to a dump like memphis, made no sense. and now a few years later its simply laughable.
a potential move from seattle to okc would actually be worse. because seattle has history and tradition with the supes.
new orleans should have never lost the jazz. i think and hope the hornets stay.
The Hornets aren’t going anywhere. TV dispute resolved, fans filling the arena, new lease being worked, etc. Memphis is the next target unless an expansion team is offered for all of Bennett’s troubles. Sad thing is, that’s not good business for the NBA. They teams in places that can support them economically, not for personal reasons. Cuban, Schultz, and Allen will vote NO for the NBA in OKC, so should the rest of the owners whenever it comes up.
its amazing to watch the NBA. i can remember the eighties and nineties. when the league was booming. and to see where it is now! disgraceful! and old phil thinks stern is the strongest commish. unbelievable!
I certainly seem to know more about this stuff than you trolls do.
Memphis has a much stronger lease in place than Seattle or New Orleans do.
So when you’re thinking about a replacement team for Seattle, you should look somewhere else.
New Orleans has a buyout option in place based on attendance numbers starting next year. They are on the shakiest ground unless they can pay Shinn big money to change it.
phil your a dumb obese okie. your talking about things that you and your dumpy little town will never understand. enjoy your aaa baseball club. because thats all your gonna get.
New Orleans lease is bound by attendance goals, which are being met with the success of the team and resolution of TV dispute. If they continue to draw support in New Orleans as it seems likely, Hornet are off the table. Memphis, as does Seattle, has a strong lease that holds specific performance requirements. The only city without a team or lease in this discussion is OKC. You’re only option is to convince Stern to offer an expansion team as some sort of reward for hosting the Hornets. I’m with J. A. Adande on that matter though and don’t equate hosting a displaced team with being able to support an NBA franchise long-term. As a consolation, Adande suggests allowing OKC to host an All-Star game as Las Vegas did despite not being an NBA city. The problem, as Adande points out, is that OKC doesn’t have the resources to host such an event, thus raising questions as to whether or not it should be an NBA city in the first place.
Letter to all members on the BOG:
Dear Mr. Stern: We respectfully write to express our united support for NBA basketball in Seattle. After more than 40 years in Seattle and one World Championship, we strongly oppose the move of our Seattle Supersonics from the Pacific Northwest. Seattle is a great basketball town and an incredible market for your product. As a gateway to Asia, Seattle is home to many international companies such as Microsoft, Amazon, Starbucks and Boeing. We believe that a decision to move this franchise from our great city, a city with a long and storied history in the NBA, will be a significant setback for the NBA in its move to become an even more recognized sport in the global marketplace. Moreover, we are convinced that the Seattle market is much stronger and more beneficial to the league than the proposed Oklahoma City market or several markets that currently are in the league. The city of Seattle has a validly enforceable lease with the team and currently is in court to ensure the lease will be fully executed. Recent public disclosures also indicate that the new owners were never, in fact, acting in good faith to keep the team here in Seattle. These factors lead to the very strong conclusion that any move of the team away from Seattle would be a breach of faith with the fans, breach of contract with the previous owners, a violation of the lease with the city and contrary to the league’s stated intentions regarding franchise relocation. We, therefore, respectfully request that you remove the relocation issue from your agenda until the many complicated legal and financial matters can be worked out. In any event, we ask that relocation be rejected or in the alternative that no decision be made at this time on relocation of our team. We recognize that these decisions are difficult but we believe Seattle’s significant history in the NBA and its strategic position in the global marketplace are worthy of your serious consideration as you move forward.
This is all playing out as the folks in Seattle have been saying it would. Things are moving faster than the good folks of the Oklahoman can keep pace with. If you’re interested in this story make sure you’re keeping an eye on the Seattle Times.
politicians in oklahoma have ackknowledged that okc cannot compete without corporate welfare. unbelievable!!
THE NATION IS WATCHING THE SEATTLE TIMES. I JUST HAD A SHIPPER IN NEW YORK CITY EMAIL ME SAYING THE BATTLE HAS FINALLY SWUNG SEATTLE’S WAY. SAYS HE READS THE SEATTLE NEWSPAPER DAILY, AND, CANNOT BELIEVE OKIE CITY WANTED SUCH BAD PUBLICITY!!! MY REPLY WAS MOST CITIZENS DIDNT WANT THE BAD PUBLICITY, BUT, CHOSE TO FOLLOW CLAY-BOY AND SLICK MIC, THUS, THEY ARE STUCK WITH THE BAD PUBLICITY. PHILLIP, IVE BEEN GOING OVER YOUR POSTS, AND, NOTHING HAS PLAYED OUT LIKE YOU HAVE EVER STATED, YET, IT ALL HAS BEEN PLAYING LIKE US SEATTLEITES SAID IT WOULD. DIDNT YOUR BOSS AT GM WARN YOU ABOUT PLAYING WITH MATCHES!! I THINK YOU WERE MAD THAT HE LEFT TOWN WITH GM, AND, JUST WAS NOT LISTENING!!!LOL! D.M., I KNOW YOUR NOT COVERING THE TRIAL NOW, BUT, I HAVE 3 BREEZY’S HERE IN S-TOWN READY TO MEET THE REPORTER FROM OKIE CITY. I TOLD YOU IF YOU COME, I GOT YOU COVERED!!!!! SEE YA’ALL IN JUNE!!!
MIKE U.
Hey Mike…your caps lock is stuck on….
….and bad publicity Mike? Here’s a little secret for you. This is all a non-event everywhere but in Seattle. Most people in OKC aren’t even paying attention to what’s going on and they won’t until the season tickets go on sale.
Notice how you rarely see anyone from OKC posting on this blog?
Seattles losing their team?…..Nobody cares.
“Seattles losing their team?…..Nobody cares.”
More people care about Seattle losing the Sonics than there are people that know OKC exists.
This is making national news on all the major sports outlets and will only become a bigger headache for the league.
Hey Philip,
Check ESPN, they’re a national sports news source if you hadn’t heard of them. See what they are saying about OKC. Especially enjoyable, JA Adande’s take on the situation. Take a look.
Due to the mounting legal hurdles it looks like Clay Bennett and his good ol’ boys who want to move the team to the dust bowl of OKC won’t get their chance.All you in OKC might want to start asking or begging George Shinn to bring his Hornets back to your town.
Hey Philip,
The OKC folks aren’t posting here because they’re too busy posting crap on the Seattle blogs. But they’re a lot quieter now….
“This is all playing out as the folks in Seattle have been saying it would. Things are moving faster than the good folks of the Oklahoman can keep pace with. If you’re interested in this story make sure you’re keeping an eye on the Seattle Times”
I prefer this from the PI quoting several legal experts who say this lawsuit is laughable
“This is absolutely bizarre and almost certainly a loser,” said Marc Edelman, who teaches sports law at New York University Law School. “I would be shocked if any court would rescind a contract where there’s been substantial performance — in this case, payment — for failing to perform a small condition, which is subject to many interpretations anyway.”
And Lester Munson, an attorney and legal analyst for the ESPN sports network, said that in two decades of studying sports and sports law, he had never seen a move quite like Schultz’s.
Returning the team to Seattle would be “drastic, melodramatic and rare to the point of being nonexistent,” Munson said.
Wow RJ,
Those quotes make it sound like this whole Shultz deal is all just a big publicity stunt……..a dog and pony show.
I wonder if they have any more tricks up their sleave before the BOG meeting this weekend
It won’t matter anyway.
Yep, there’s the Seattle Times article. Yes, that’s the Seattle PI article. Where’s the Oklahoman article? Google News returns 549 search results for “Schultz + Suit + Bennett” but 0 results when you add “newsok.com” or “Oklahoman”. OKC is about to be stuck with a business-shattering sales tax with no team to show for it, their sugar daddy Clay pounded by bank-draining years of litigation before sympathetic Seattle civil juries and this development doesn’t get covered outside a haphazardly read blog?
Ma Gaylord apparently holds tighter reins on the ol’ Oklahoman than the KGB did on Pravda. What a happy little brainwashed town OKC must be …
more national opinion on how great this is for the league: http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=keown/080415&sportCat=nba
I can guarantee you that considering the attorneys who are now on board with both Schultz and the City of Seattle this is no PR stunt. And we are talking about some of the best in US. Unfortunately for Bennett, his attorneys . . .not so much.
FYI, attorneys in Seattle found to have filed a lawsuit that the court finds frivoulous or a nuisance can be fined in very large amounts. One fine that I know that was levied was $500K against one law firm. This is no PR stunt.
RJ, you forgot to mention add this additional quote from Munson:
“The NBA, obviously, is a monopoly, so antitrust rules apply and that may give Schultz some leverage here,” Munson said. “Sports leagues hate antitrust actions because they really are a monopoly, a cartel.”
He added that Richard Yarmuth, the attorney representing Schultz, has significant experience litigating antitrust issues. “That gives them kind of a nuclear weapon if they can figure out how to make this into an antitrust case. And he’s just the guy to do it.”
i love when okc folk speculate on the merits of a legal claim:
Although it can be hard to define terms such as “good faith” and “best efforts,” a University of Washington contract-law expert said the recently revealed e-mails among Sonics owners could give Schultz ample ammunition.
“It flies in the face of common sense to say you are going to keep the team in Seattle when you are exchanging e-mails discussing how quickly to move the team to Oklahoma City,” said UW Law Professor Steve Calandrillo.
While judges rarely approve the “unwinding” or “rescission” of a business deal, Calandrillo said “there is a ground for rescission if you enter into a contract based on the fraudulent representations of another party.” The final say could come down to a judge or jury who would rely on “community standards” to define good faith, he said.
people in oklahoma that are thinking objectively don’t want this. this crappy team, this crappy publicity, this crappy sports league. i wish schultz all the luck in the world. he’s not just trying to save the sonics, he’s saving OKC also. this whole deal smells as bad as the french quarter did in 2001 when i went. yuck!
and did cute lil philip use the phrase “a dog and pony show”? seriously? i think all the seattlites need to take it easy on these okies, there’s a lot to learn from them…like nineteenth century colloquial terms.
there’s also a lot we could learn about legal theory as well. in most communities, local legal statutes reflect the general morality and standards of the community. oklahoma is no different (if anyone needs cites i am happy to provide them. i also paraphrased in order to cut out the redundancy):
-One may not promote a “horse tripping event”.
-It is illegal for the owner of a bar to allow anyone inside to pretend to have sex with a buffalo.
-Females are forbidden from doing their own hair without being licensed by the state.
-Dogs must have a permit signed by the mayor in order to congregate in groups of three or more on private property.
-Whaling is illegal. (my personal favorite)
-It is illegal to have the hind legs of farm animals in your boots.
-Oral sex is a misdemeanor and is punishable by one year in jail and a $2,500 fine.
-Anyone arrested for soliciting a hooker must have their name and picture shown on television.
-Tattoos are banned. (Repealed, Effective 11/1/2006. Tattoos are now legal in Oklahoma!)
-No one may spit on a sidewalk.
-It is illegal to wear your boots to bed.
-It is illegal to have sex before you are married. (i’m assuming philip is a virgin)
That list was pretty funny. Every state has their share of stupid laws on the books.
I guess “that guy” is just too stupid to realize it. A Google search will bring up a long list of laws in Washington just as stupid as the ones above, like…….
“In King County, in Seattle Washington, it is illegal to sit on a man’s lap on a metro bus, unless you are married”
This is a law that “that guy” just loves to flaunt.
great insight phildo. the difference is oklahoma’s all have to do with farm animals and evangelical morality. and how exactly do you ‘flaunt’ a law?
I’m sorry i used a word you didn’t understand, “that guy”. I’ll try to dummy it down further for you in the future.
Flaunt – to treat contemptuously….to display ostentatiously or impudently.
Guess who…No, Philip didn’t forget to include his quotes in complete context. He’s the type that only listens to those that tell him what he wants to hear. Kind of like David Stern. There happens to be many different legal viewpoints on whether Shultz’s lawsuit will successfully rescind the purchase, but they all agree on one thing, nothing like this has ever seen the courtroom. It’s looking like it could be a precedent setting case.
phillip, take a look at starbuck’s stock. risin by the day. just wait until he actually files!!!! i will take this “publicity stunt” any day. SEE YA’ALL IN JUNE!!!
MIKE U.
“BAD EVENT”, AND, ONLY PAYING ATTENTION IN SEATTLE.LOL!! I HAVE HAD NUMEROUS CALLS FROM A CERTAIN NATIONAL SOFTBALL ASSOCIATION (BASED IN ANOTHER STATE), TRYING TO GET MY SPONSOR MONEY BACK TO SOME TEAMS THAT WERE SCHEDULED TO PLAY IN YOUR “DUSTBOWL”. THEY HAVE WHOLEHEARTADLY SIDED WITH SEATTLE. I COULD POST A NUMBER OF EMAILS FROM BALL-PLAYERS, AND, TOURNEY’S WE ARE GOING TO BE PLAYING IN IN OTHER CITIES, AND, THEY ALL SAY OKIE CITY WAS NOT VERY SMART, AND, LIKE THE WHOLE STATE DIDNT REALIZE THE WHOLE PICTURE!! NOBODY, BUT, A FEW HAVE SIDED WITH YOUR “GREAT” CITY. AND MOST HAVE PLACED THIER MONEY ON THE GREAT CITY OF SEATTLE!! BUT, KEEP THINKING THE WAY YOU DO PHILLIP, BECAUSE IN THE END, IT IS GOING TO BE SWEET WHEN 55 BLOGGERS CALL YOUR A$$ OUT WITH A BUNCH OF “I TOLD YOU SO’S”!!!!!!!! SEE YA’ALL IN JUNE!!
MIKE U.
AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST, WHAT DO YOU GUYS PAY ATTENTION TO?? BECAUSE WITH GM GONE I HEARD YOU CANT AFFORD TO “PAY” ATTENTION!!!! LOL!!!!!
MIKE U.
I’ll tell you what we can afford, Mike.
We can afford to buy the Seattle Supersonics and move them to OKC.
When’s the BOG vote?
mike u, please do not post those emails. phildo, sorry softball is off your summer list. at least you have john birch society meetings, sooners vs. chattanooga, and the I-35 corridor to look forward to. exploitive rubes.
yes, that’s it! oklahomans are exploitive rubes! yes, you’ve got it. i TOTALLY want to exploit… wait, what the hell are you talking about?
and of course oklahomans ,except for phillip (sigh), are on this site. who could blame them for wanting to compete with such brilliant verbage as “DIDNT YOUR BOSS AT GM WARN YOU ABOUT PLAYING WITH MATCHES!!” …i don’t know anyone who ever worked at GM, but whatever, you know so much more about OKC than i do. i’d say some witty things about seattle, but i don’t care. try it sometime. i hope you keep your team, mainly because then you’ll fade into obscurity to me.
you may think that the entire state got together and decided to screw you over, but i hate to tell you, there wasn’t an anti-seattle meeting. clay bennett did this himself, with no help from me, or anyone i know. as much as you seem to hate OKC, i don’t feel enough of anything about seattle’s people to have an opinion. well, i like a few of your bands, but they’re no flaming lips though. anyway seattle, love is the drug.
Phil (do you really go by “Phillip”? ha) says: “Seattles losing their team?…..Nobody cares.”
Once again you’re wrong. Actual NBA fans with real teams to root for do care, and they’re expressing it on NBA blogs devoted to actual, real-life NBA teams. The lesson: shut up. OKC is about as popular league-wide as Phillip in junior high.
I’m not wrong, Mark….. to 99.99% of the people in this country it’s a big non-event.
The BOG vote is going to be a landslide.
Here’s a legal opinion on the Shultz publicity stunt…
Under Washington state law, “if more than one promise is made [in a contract], each promise does not have to be substantially performed. Overall, substantial performance is sufficient.” Mortimer v. Dirks, 57 Wash. 402, 107 P. 184 (1910). In other words, breach of a secondary promise not vital to the core of the contract itself is insufficient to rescind the contract in full.
http://abovethelaw.com/2008/04/sports_and_the_law_dont_cry_ov_1.php
and last but not least….
Sonics’ Attorneys: Seattle trying to force a sale
The Seattle SuperSonics’ Oklahoma-based owners on Wednesday accused the city of Seattle of scheming with a potential purchaser to force them to sell.
The owners’ attorneys told a federal judge they have found proof city leaders are pursuing a lawsuit only to drive up the owners’ financial costs.
The attorneys said Seattle’s mayor has admitted the lease at the KeyArena is bad economically for the team.
“So why is the City seeking to specifically enforce the last two years of this admittedly dysfunctional lease arrangement?” the attorneys wrote in a legal filing. “Documents just obtained show that the answer has nothing to do with the last two years of the lease. Instead, the City is trying to exploit its landlord status to force the PBC to sell the team.”
http://deadspin.com/380819/clay-bennett-is-happy-to-screw-oklahoma-too
donuteyes, i commend your foresight, too bad you live around tons of white trash, like phildo.
great post, guy.
“Rep. Charlie Joyner, R-Midwest City, who also voted against the bill, said he received an e-mail from Bennett that said the team might not come to Oklahoma City unless the House passes the tax incentive.”
The donuteyes of the world can thank the Phils of the world for welcoming this fox into the veritable henhouse that is OKC.
“I want the Sonics here. I’m just not favorable to this sweetheart deal,” Rep. Paul Wesselhoft – R said. “We’ve been blackmailed from the beginning on this.”
I can only conclude from this type of “logic” that Oklahomans are not true fans, their city is not serious about having an NBA franchise, and the good people of Seattle have the inherent right to burn their AAA baseball stadium to the ground.
Mark, I’m happy to report that the Governor signed that bill those guys are talking in to law this afternoon.
Looks like all the little ducks are in a row just in time for the BOG vote.
Phil, seriously, it’s time to admit to yourself that the BOG vote isn’t going to decide the Sonics’ future. Everyone else here already knows that. Maybe you should do some reading outside the Oklahoman. You’re setting yourself up for severe disappointment at which point you’ll probably go and blow your child support money on meth. Don’t go down that road.
the BOG vote is a farce. we all know how it will turn out, it’s not exactly a surprise to hear the OWNERS WILL HELP EACH OTHER. duh.
what’s weird to me is the fact that oklahoma passed a tax incentive to lure a team whose owner wants to come here anyway. how desperate are the legislators that we have to knock money off of something bennett wants to do already.
and phil, to say that no one cares about the sonics, that’s just ignorant. i’m in OKC, and i care about what’s happening to them, and there’s plenty more. i’m glad you’re excited, but try to have some tact. you almost seem happier that seattle might lose their team instead of glad that OKC possibly gain one. i would be (kinda) happy if we got a team, but more sorry and empathtic towards seattle.
Well it finally came out today that the pledge by Bennett to make a good faith effort to help get a new Arena in Seattle was in fact not a side letter, not handshake and not a verbal promise. Instead it is a part of the sale contract that takes 12 pages to spell out specific performance on a ‘Best Effort’ effort.
The letter of intent is a brief summary of the contract wording to show to the Public as the rest of the contract was not released. The NBA also signed off on the written language in the Contract and said so in the letter.
We get to wait until the trial to see the actual wording. Going to get fun now.
Can’t wait to see the Sonics new ticket campaign for next year. Perhaps they will get a new mascot, a Lame Duck.
oh phillip,
just joined the class-action suit brought against clay-boy, by season-ticket holders. even the clerks at the courthouse say the “as you put it” side note on the contract is more than 12 pages long, with the NBA’a signature. now there are 3 lawsuits to deal with. still smoke-n-mirrors. the vote went as we planned 28-2, but, means absolutely NOTHING! as paul allen was just “quoted” an hour ago, he could not vote for somehting that the courts are going to tie-up for a minumum of 2 years. and yes, the LEASE does suck, but, numerous people involved in the casE downtown have ALL (BOTH SIDES), THE LEASE WAS IN PLACE WHEN CLAY-BOY BOUGHT THE TEAM!! WHY BUY A TEAM WITH A DYSFUNCTIONAL LEASE, AND, THEN WHINE ABOUT IT. THATS LIKE ME BUYING A NICE DRESS SHIRT AT NORDSTROM’S (A STORE MIC VISITS WHEN HE’S SPENDING YOUR TAX DOLLARS UP HERE), WEARING IT, TAKING IT BACK AND SAYING “OH IT WAS TO EXPENSIVE, CAN YOU GIVE ME A DISCOUNT”. LOL! BEING THE SMART BUSINESS PERSON I AM, I TAKE A LOOK AT ALL THE LANGUAGE IN ANYTHING I BUY. DONT WANT TO GET A LEMON!!! LOL!! SEE YA’ALL IN JUNE!!! AND NOW, WHEN THE SEASON TICKET HOLDERS LAWSUIT GOES TO TRIAL, ALSO!!
MIKE U.
I have read a few times on the Seattle Times forum after a friend asked me to check it out. I was disgusted with the way my beloved native home was being drug through the mud by a small fraction of citizens from in and around the seattle area. The bashing of all things Oklahoma and the constant demands that all posters from Oklahoma leave their board as the Oklahomans were not invited. So I come here and it is full of Seattle & Washington posters doing the same thing.
I for 1 will state uneqivocally I could care less about Washington State, Seattle or the PNW good or bad. I do not live there nor will I ever visit there. Just simply not my kinda place nor political or social environment.
You will get s very small fraction of Oklahomans on here that will post and respond some fairly strong & rude comments but as a whole we here in OKC do not view this as stealing, or taking (I could go on & on) from any particular city, person or place. We here in OKC the same as the citizens in seattle do not have a single cent invested in the NBA franchise owned by the PBA. But since the group is going to bring their franchise here we will support them all the same. This constant assertion that the franchise was stolen is silly. The people that purchases the franchise may be wealthy but $350 million is a lot of coin to even Warren Buffett.
The arena issue continues to get press time but for the life of me I cannot understand why. The Ford center cost $89 million new in 2002. Probably close to $250 million for the same in Seattle. The $120 million upgrade puts us at $209 million in cost when completed. And that would probably approach the $500 million proposed in Seattle, it is not the fault of Oklahomans that seattle’s economy is so out of whack. And lastly on this subject why in the world is their debt owed on the arena upgrade in seattle from 1995?
And lastly I listened closely today to the NBA press conference and as I expected wheter it is this fall or in 2 years the NBA franchise owned by the PBA will be opening up for business in Oklahoma. Fans of the NBA in seattle may not like it but it is a reality no matter what your civic leaders attempt to covince you of. They dropped the ball on this and CYA is in full effect. By the way your city & state is quickly becoming known as the most litigious place on the face of the earth.
The best quote of the day was……
“If our goal is to have an NBA franchise here, we’ve got to get the various groups together and create a common agenda and focus,” said von Reichbauer, R-Federal Way. “Right now there are so many people willing to throw hand grenades into the room that we’re losing.”
Metropolitan King County Councilman Pete von Reichbauer said local officials should accept that the current Sonics team is destined to leave. He said officials should stop demonizing Bennett and focus on negotiating a deal with the NBA to keep the Sonics name and get a future franchise.
im sick of this crap! if the NBA wants to commit suicide by moving to okc, let them! and the NBA can continue thier idea of utopia. move the knicks to newark, move the 76ers to des moines,move the lakers to reno, move the celtics to hartford, move the hawks to birmingham, move the bulls to louisville, move the rockets to tulsa(why not? according to stern bustling,booming oklahoma could easily support 2 teams),move the warriors to fresno, move the pistons to flint, move the heat to memphis, oops i forgot, they already got that one covered.
now if will exscuse me, im going to blow my brains out!!
Joey, you guys gotta get it together and build a fricken arena. With a new arena, you gain the NHL instead of losing the NBA.
Tulsa, Wichita, Omaha and Louisville are all building arenas that trump the Key. Guess what? Rich guys aren’t paying for them.
Why would a world class city be happy with a third rate arena?
we will have an arena in the future that will make the world envious. there is no doubt in my mind!
but it appears to be to late for my beloved supes.
i dont think i could ever trust NBA again, even when we do get a new team.
i was reading something from a browns fan, he said when they got the browns back it was like taking a girlfriend back, after she cheated on you. your happy she is back, because you love her. but the pain of what she once did to you never goes away. nothing is ever really the same.
that makes complete sense to me.
bobby t’s lil rant was probably the most words he’s ever put together; too bad he made no sense. this is my favorite line: “I do not live there nor will I ever visit there. Just simply not my kinda place nor political or social environment.” read: i’m ignorant, poor, believe in evolution and faith, and bleed red, white, and blue. bobby t. believes he’s a special snowflake.
“Why would a world class city be happy with a third rate arena?”
-phildo, have you ever been to an nba arena? having been to numerous (including the rose garden and staples), these elite arenas are terrible to watch games at. the only time it’s enjoyable is if it was from a box or the first 20 rows. the rest of these stadiums, especially the upper decks, are worthless. every seat in the key is a decent seat and it makes the games like a college atmosphere. all the fans stay engaged. stern has an issue with the key because all the entertainment and parking is already in the local infrastructure. he wants the nba to take all the proceeds from games (which is why public funding is a joke) including parking, restaurants, bars, etc.
thus, phildo, when you and your redneck boy bobby t. go sit in the nose bleed section with your fresh raiders gear on and corndogs in hand, you won’t be able to tell durant from green (assuming you could anyway). but at least you’ll now be a part of a “big league city”.
and the only thing worse than lying and getting caught, is trying to explain it. there’s absolutely no accountability in the nba anymore, simply embarrassing:
“And my absolute feeling and emotion in that e-mail is I am a man possessed; I am only beginning; I will do everything I can to get this done in Seattle. And there’s been an enormous misunderstanding of that, misrepresentation of that, misconstrued, I’m not sure which, but I was speaking about my commitment to a process in Seattle.”
Bennett admitted Ward and McClendon “perhaps all along wanted to have a team in Oklahoma City,” but added that “they knew it was not to be the Sonics.”
that sad thing is that all of these new arenas that stern congratulated, will be obsolete in no time at all just as the key is now, just as the ford center is now, just as san antonio’s is now,(and the san anton building is brand new). these new buildings lack vision and fore sight, which is exactly what football and baseball did in the seventys. the NFL and MLB built huge, ugly,multi-purpose, lifeless, cookie cutter crap! and they were all obsolete by the late eighties. so the nineties were a rennaisance, for building beautiful,intimate,charming,unique stadiums that will stand the test of time. and they are not multi-purpose!! they were specifically built for football or baseball. it seems the NBA and the NHL have learned nothing from this. because this is exactly what they are doing.
building the em-city project, would make seatlle the first city with real vision and fore sight. as was baltimore and cleveland when they changed everything with camden yards and jacobs field!!
Hey “that guy”…
Scoreboard, b!tch….28-2
Like Stern alluded yesterday. Key arena is less than 400,000 sf and has the fewest seats in the NBA. the Sonics are losing money by the boatload and have lost money every year in this decade. Going forward it might work for the NBADL but not the NBA.
I understand that because the team has been there for 41 years, you feel they owe it to you to stay there and continue to lose money but it’s just not going down like that.
Time to get over it.
“and the only thing worse than lying and getting caught, is trying to explain it. there’s absolutely no accountability in the nba anymore, simply embarrassing:”
Same can be said for Olympia
Joey, the Ford Center is currently almost 600,000sf and is being expanded to almost 800,000sf. It seats 19000, anywhere in the 1st two levels, the seats are great. I don’t ever sit in the 10 dollar seats in the 3rd level because I don’t have to sit up there like “that guy” does.
Ideas were taken from all of the latest NBA arenas and it will have all the latest amenities.
It will compete with the best arenas in the league but we are not foolish enough to thing It will be the answer beyond the 15 yr lease.
Post such as that guy’s is exactly what I am talking about. I guarantee that person has never in his life purchased season tickets to the Sonics or anything else for that matter. Yet he is an expert on arenas & seating.
As I am an adult as well as a father I will not engage in the bashing of people. We here in Oklahoma do not need the approval nor respect from anyone, we were raised better than that. We know what our State & City are and we do not overstate its size, culture or significance. Seattle acts as if they are on par with New York, Chicago or Dallas. The reality is they are insignificant and a political & social wasteland.
You people from washington can continue to post here but it will not change the fact that the NBA is leaving.
I guess we should have tried to get the NBA in the State Fair Arena. And if that failed we could have tried with the Myriad. But instead we decided to Build the Ford Center. And Joey I will assume you have never been to the Ford center, because if you had you would know it is not multi purpose unless you consider the ability to add ice for hockey as multi purpose. It is a sports & concert venue period. All conventions and shows are done across the street in the old Myriad.
I do not make comments about the viability of Key Arena because I know little to nothing about it. You should try the same with our facilities.
i see your point with nyc and chicago. but dallas? were are ten fold the city dallas is. dallas has deploreable ghettos, its dirty and ugly. and has no progressive social signifcance.
over the past 20 years seattle has become cultural mecca.
thats why this move continues to perplex.
dont want to hear okc whine, when you need a new arena very soon! you wanted it you got it. welcome to the big leagues!
If you think for a second that seattle is on par with Dallas you may have addressed part of the problem. Dallas is the 4th largest city in the US & yes along with that comes some bad things but seattle above Dallas is laughable. And you guys have Earth Liberation Front as well as many others that are far worse than any ghetto’s.
Without the ports seattle would be smaller than Portland.And all of the supposed culture you guys have is self thought. NO ONE outside of Washington see’s it that way.
you successfully stole an nba franchise. congratulations. at the end of the day you still live in okc and amongst a bunch of simple-minded folk. (bobby t and phildo, you continue to rep your city and state well. a little education and travel may do you two well.
http://money.cnn.com/2006/08/29/real_estate/brainiest_cities/
http://www.citymayors.com/features/quality_survey.html
http://www.travelandleisure.com/worldsbest/2006/results.cfm?cat=citiesusca
http://www.bestplaces.net/docs/studies/healthy.aspx
http://www.cookinglight.com/cooking/hl/travel/whitepage/0,15829,1579836,00.html
http://bwnt.businessweek.com/interactive_reports/livable_cities_worldwide/
http://www.infoplease.com/us/cities/best-culture.html
http://www.popsci.com/environment/article/2008-02/americas-50-greenest-cities?page=1
your sorely mistaken friend. seattle also has a ton of money! a lot more than dallas. yes dallas is larger but thats it. and your way off, dallas is not the 4th biggest city! you need to get out more! ive been all over the world and the usa and your fair city as well! its great thing to see things for your self. you should try it!
and the term cultural mecca is not mine. you can take that up with the new yorker!
i had several links posted for robert “i’m a grown man but call me bobby” t. apparently facts are too offensive for DM.
and if want to be specific, tacoma actually has a larger port than seattles! so there goes your port argument.
bobby you are in dire need of travel!
that guy, darnell took away your links? if he did that is highly suspect. why would he do that? i assumed this was a public forum? apparently i was wrong.
I pity any city that subsidizes the millionaires and billionaires of professional sports. I enjoy and attend professional sporting events, but know that our cities and taxpayers have more critical needs than stadiums and arenas for entertainment. Washington state taxpayers were railroaded into new stadiums for football and baseball, but I’m glad that we’re standing up for integrity against the powers of the NBA. I feel sorry for OK City taxpayers who are beng taken advantage of for the benefit of the few.
Well friend here is some info.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_metropolitan_areas
I know that flies into the face of your argument but facts are facts. And while Gates, Allen & Ballmer make your comment accurate. Unlike the gentleman that purchased the NBA. They are also heavily tied to Stock and not cash and moreover all that wealth & you couldnt even find a buyer. And the buyers didnt come from Dallas they came from Oklahoma. And I have traveled all over the world but refuse to go west (left!!!!!).
And “that guy” my Parents & Grandparents referred to me as Bobby way back in the mid 60′s and 2 of my Grandparenst by the grace of God are still with us. My birth cert. may state Robert but we here in Oklahoma respect our elders and if it was good enough for them it is good enough for me.
“I feel sorry for OK City taxpayers who are beng taken advantage of for the benefit of the few.”
If by taken advantage of you mean millions of Okies over the years will get to enjoy the NBA and a very nice arena for all events then I agree with you
2nd try. robbert t. continues to impress with his worldview.
http://money.cnn.com/2006/08/29/real_estate/brainiest_cities/
http://www.citymayors.com/features/quality_survey.html
http://www.travelandleisure.com/worldsbest/2006/results.cfm?cat=citiesusca
http://www.bestplaces.net/docs/studies/healthy.aspx
http://www.cookinglight.com/cooking/hl/travel/whitepage/0,15829,1579836,00.html
http://bwnt.businessweek.com/interactive_reports/livable_cities_worldwide/
http://www.infoplease.com/us/cities/best-culture.html
http://www.popsci.com/environment/article/2008-02/americas-50-greenest-cities?page=1
bobby i have seen several stats that put seattle at tthe 11th biggest market. that one you posted, had them at 15th. so im not sure what to believe? and you said city, not metropolitan area. that link you posted clearly said dallas-fort worth.
facts are facts! stop being such a grouchy old fart!! and if you have been all over, why cant you come to the northwest? belive it or not there are countries in europe that are so liberal, they make washington state look like oklahoma(POLITICALLY). that might be pushing it. but still, if you’ve been there? why cant you come here, and see it for yourself?
“It commissioned McKinsey & Company, a leading economic consulting firm, and Desser Sports Media Inc. (DSM), a media and sports business consulting firm, to provide a statistical analysis of both cities.
The committee said Oklahoma City has a market population of 1.7 million and would be the second smallest in the NBA. The Seattle market ranks 14th in the league with a 4.6 million population.
However, the committee adjusted those figures based on population per major sports team. In the re-analysis, Oklahoma City ranks 13th in the NBA and Seattle, which is also the home of the Seahawks and Mariners, is 18th.
The committee also used adjusted numbers to evaluate income levels. Oklahoma City’s average per capita income is $38,000, which would rank 22nd in the NBA and it is $47,000 in Seattle, which ranks fifth.
However when per capita income is adjusted for local cost of living, Oklahoma City improves to $41,000, which would rank seventh in the league, and Seattle is $40,000, which drops it to 11th.
The television market broadcast and cable is substantially larger in Seattle by a 3-1 ratio, but the committee gave points to Oklahoma City because it has higher NBA ratings.
The committee determined Seattle has nearly five times as many Fortune 1000 companies, but the Sonics have a seven-year trend of declining ticket sales, culminating this season when the team sold 8,602 tickets per game, 28th in the NBA.
The Sonics provided projections by MZ Sports Inc., which estimated $26 million in losses this season and projected losses between $30 million to $33 million in each of the next two seasons if they have to remain at KeyArena, where the team receives no revenue from parking, 40 percent of revenue from suite sales and concessions and 60 percent of revenue from lower-bowl seats.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/sonics/2004361119_soni20.html
roland from seattle Says:
“I pity any city that subsidizes the millionaires and billionaires of professional sports. I enjoy and attend professional sporting events, but know that our cities and taxpayers have more critical needs than stadiums and arenas for entertainment.”
Then pity yourself.
Who do you thing is paying for those stadiums where you “enjoy and attend professional sporting events”?
Are you completely ignorant of the deals the Seahawks and Mariners got? Do you not realize that Seattle is a billion dollars in dept on sports facilities?
phillip basing your population on many franchises you have, is nothing more than fuzzy math. thats a clever little gimmick that stern and bennett sent around. and those ratings numbers are biased and very suspect!!
everybody digs for numbers that benefit themselves. i do the same.
i understand that. but that firm put an interesting spin on things. it just seems to be digging. the argument can be made that the more franchises a city has is beneficial, to all the franchises, in that particular city. for example, for my entire life when the seahawks break my heart, i get over it quickly. because i know the supes are just starting to rev up. and when thier season is over i get very excited about the mariners etc. etc.. the seasons bleed into one another. creating more excitement!
the seattle times wrote an article, putting up that same firm’s numbers. that particular columnist, had a similar opinion as mine.
There are only so many fan discretionary dollars, luxury suite dollars, sponsorship dollars, etc. to go around in a market.
One of the problems the Sonics have is suite rentals and the Muckleshoot study said the Seattle suite market was saturated.
Thats where it makes a difference.
That’s one reason OU has no desire to see an NFL team in OKC.
Well I am not sure what your getting at. If you want to talk about cities and just that boundry then here is a link for that.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_cities_by_population
Problem with that is according to just the City proper Seattle has apx 50,000 more than OKC & less than half of Dallas.
And yes almost the entirey of Europe save England is WAY out in left field and England is left as well but nothing like Mainland Europe. But I visited those several years before I was raising my own family and have no desire to return until my oldest turns 18 as I think she should Paris and all young people start out life Liberal so she should fit right in.
BTW I thought you Seattle folk might find this interesting.
Unlike your city we are not only having to compete with Major markets but also our in state rival. And it is going to be spectacular-you would have to admit far beyond Key Arena.
allright bobby you win. but if you strickly look at a cities size to determine greatness, then surely you would say san francisco is inferior to dallas?
if so? i have to question your judgement.
Surely you jest. People from the Heartland do not hold the Left Coast in very high esteem & San Francisco may be the best example I could think of. I would not care if 100 million live there.
I would never base a cities worth on how liberal thay can be. Population and growth or lack therof are a good indicator. And as with all things that can be measured even this can be deceiving but a good measuring stick anyway. Jobs & cost of living attract people above all other factors and Dallas has those in Spades.
since DM keeps deleting, this will take several posts. robert, stay and rot in the “heartland” and keep all your simple-minded friends there with you. people stay “conservative” out of fear, ignorance, misinformation, and gullibility. having pride in it is masochistic. joey, don’t waste your time, these guys are clowns.
http://money.cnn.com/2006/08/29/real_estate/brainiest_cities/
I did not address that in earlier post. But I will say this. The cities in Europe were absolute pig sties. Age being the main factor. Here New york & Chicago as well. And New Orleans is by far the filthiest city I have ever been in in my life old or new before & after Katrina. But with all that being said. Dallas is anything but dirty. Huge areas are practically brand new & older areas are being rebuilt to support the huge explosion in growth they have experienced over the past deacde & a half. We have a hatred here in Oklahoma for all things Texas but as I said facts are facts and Dallas is a shiny new Diamond that unless they do something to curb the growth may surpass Chicago in size in my lifetime.
I’ll tell ya what that guy. Go and purchase a modest 1500 sq. ft home in Seattle or SF and get back to me. In your lifetime you will never earn enough money to do it in SF and I doubt you will ever be able to in Seattle.
the cost of living in seattle is outrageous. but we also get paid a lot more. i believe minimum wage is 8 bucks an hour. which is either the highest or second highest behind vermont.
there is affordable housing in the city, but you have to be patient and look hard.
It’s pretty funny that “that guy” went to the trouble of posting a bunch of links that nobody is going to open……..because they’re irrelevent, just like he’s irrelevent.
So culture, health, livability, education, entertainment, and quality of life are “irrelevent” to Phillip. I guess it’s no wonder then that he lives in Oklahoma City.
They’re irrelevent to the fact that the Sonics are leaving Seattle and moving to OKC,
The vast majority of us that live here, love it here and we couldn’t care less about Seattle.
philip= rattled.
and robert, i just got back to you. turns out, in cities like seattle and san fran they pay educated people quite well and you don’t need to make it off exploiting the local misinformed community or marrying into the gaylord fortune (which also has the perk of controlling the local media). educated people also develop this bad habit called READING. i’d recommend david cay johnston’s ‘free lunch.’
maybe you can delve into the bush–gaylord–bennett–stern connection as well. or maybe you should stay stubborn and proud of your ignorance and let your kids keep running away to far off “liberal” places.
Yea ”that guy”……I’m all shook up.
Do you realize how stupid it sounds for someone from Seattle to lecture anyone on spending tax dollars on sports venues?
Seattle is a billion dollars in debt on “palaces for billionaires” They are still paying on the dangerdome and it’s been torn down for years. The lease with Key arenas NBA team ends in 2010 but the payments don’t end until 2015.
It’s easy to understand why people from Seattle are jaded considering the way they’ve been bent over and dry humped.
They’re still getting reamed and will be for years to come.
this is dumb. i just wasted a couple of minutes reading these posts to see if anything interesting had been written in the few days i didn’t turn my computer on. nope. people here are now arguing over what city is better, Dallas or San Francisco. who cares? this has turned into just a bunch of people trying to be clever and insulting, on both sides. i’ve said it before, but i’ll say it again. if this is what (possibly) having an NBA team is like, i’ll pass.
oh, and bobby, you said, “I will not engage in the bashing of people.”
then you said, “We know what our State & City are and we do not overstate its size, culture or significance. Seattle acts as if they are on par with New York, Chicago or Dallas. The reality is they are insignificant and a political & social wasteland.”
you seem silly when you say you won’t bash them, and then you bash them. i’m from oklahoma, so do me a favor and make me look better by being consistent.
donuteyes….(rolls eyes and shakes head),
If your going to make a comment like that, you should at least post something interesting…..
maybe i’ll move to seattle. at first i didn’t like the city-bashing, but the OKC people are doing it too. the difference is that if an oklahoman disagrees with an oklahoman, he gets attacked by his own people (phillip). why is it that you get so defensive about someone being objective? we live in the same town, i have concerns, but you seem to see clay bennett through rose-colored glasses. dude, you can support oklahoma and still be open-minded to the situation from all angles. chill out, love is the drug, OKC.
for the record, phil, i hope you’re right. but i’m AFRAID i am.
No, not really.
For someone who likes to criticize others, you sure don’t take it very well.
The part about you moving to Seattle sounds like a pretty good idea though.
hey donuteyes, i know of a big and nice one bedroom, in freemont! for 1000 a month! you cant beat it.
wow, the seattle people that you love to hate on seem more hospitable than you, phil.
and $1000 is only a couple of hundred more than i’m paying a month now, and i’m sure i’d make a lot more money with the cost of living and all…
c’mon phil, chill out! you have to know that some people (me) just like to mess with other, more sensitive people (you) and it’s all in fun!
i guess we all need to make sure our posts pass the “Phillip is Interested Test” before we make them…
Sorry Donut,
You’re the one that seems to have your panties all bunched up. You should stop looking for approval from me. As I’ve said I don’t agree with much of anything you say and really don’t pay much attention to it.
Joey, for $1000 a month you could buy a pretty nice 1500sf 3 bed, 2 bath, 2 car garage in a nice neighborhood here.
http://openhouseok.com/showhome.oht?&city=oklahoma+city&address=7420+NW+32nd&st=ok
if you go out to the suburbs. the prices become much more affordable. id rather die than live in bellevue,redmond,woodinville,or kirkland. adding to the sprawl!! more traffic more pollution!! no personality,and boring!!
and 1000 bucks a month, in freemont!! thats the deal of the century.
i think that’s the point, i could get wasted off some OE for less than 10 bucks, but i’d rather drink aberlour.
i prefer chimay,duvel,piraat and just about any belgium. that guy, have you ever been to the stumbling monk on the hill? its the best unknown bar in the city. great beer selection.
it seems to me that if you weren’t paying attention, you wouldn’t be responding. keep up the good work, phil!
with their new album coming out, has death cab played any shows up there yet? i’m interested in what their new stuff sounds like live.
Donut I suppose since “people” comprise a city then yes I did engage in bashing them. I meant along the lines of attacking those posting here as we have been attacked by them. The name calling & assumption that we personally as well as the city & state are not only rednecks but illiterate gets old but if my comments on the socioeconomic climate of seattle bothers you then don’t read.
donut, i couldnt tell you if they have been here or not? i have been out of the music scene for a while. about ten years ago everybody abandoned thier guitars for turntables. i hate techno!! now it seems lounge jazz is very popular through out the city. which is refreshing. but i miss the old days. 07 was a rough year. the legendary crocodile closed its doors. thats where all the great seattle talent got thier start. at one time you would have talent scouts from all over the world in thier on a nightly basis. the crcodile and the supes are gone. the nineties are officially long gone!!
http://www.seattleweekly.com/news/blogs/buzzerbeater/2008/04/david_stern_keyarena_was_very.php
Thought you’d all be interested in what David Stern thought about Key Arena in 1995.
I’m sure that won’t happen in OKC though; who needs quality sight lines when the Ford Center probably has a state of the art Fuddruckers.
That video is 13 years old. Living in the past doesn’t solve any problems.
Slade the Blade thinks the Key is inadequate and that the current team is gone…..
“All the league has to do to lead to an amicable settlement is see to it that we’re assured of a new team,” Slade Gorton said. “Whatever David Stern said about me, my principle unhappiness is not directed at David Stern. At this point, we have not given him a plan with an arena adequate for the NBA in the 21st century. If we do and he doesn’t respond, my attitude will be different. But at this point, we haven’t given him that chance.”
there are some good techno-like groups out there. try MSTRKRFT, it’s club/house music done by the former bass player and producer of Death From Above 1979, one of the greatest bands of the 2000′s that broke up. look for ‘temperature in paris,’ it’s MSTRKRFT vs. Sean Paul. i hate sean paul, but over these beats anyone sounds good.
oh yeah, sonics, bennett, blah blah…
Did anyone else happen to notice that this blog is called…..”The NBA in OKC……Updates about Oklahoma City’s NBA future….
SOS is starting to concede…..This is from Brian Robinson’s post this morning,
“Personally I’m happy that Slade came out and said “We want to talk.”
I think some people will jump off a cliff and hear the “He acknowledges this team is gone.” portion of the interview. Others will be happy to hear that he and the mayor are sticking to their guns regarding a financial settlement.
I know we all prefer this team. That said from my perspective this particular organization is really soiled at the moment. I’m not sure how attached I am to this particular group.”
i just noticed your post bobby. what bothers me is you gripe about bashing, then you do it. if you were on this blog a lot, you would know that i despise city-bashing from either side. i would never say anything negative about seattle or it’s people. why would anyone from oklahoma hate on seattle? what did they do to us? sure, they’re mad about losing their team, wouldn’t you be angry? so they talk a little crap about us. unless what they’re saying hits home to you, why care? not all the seattle posters are jerks, but don’t lower yourself to responding to the ones that are. we may end up with their team, why rub their noses in it?
i’m not proud of the way everyone is reacting, on both sides, but i won’t play their raindeer games.
“Gorton said any settlement would have to include guarantee of a replacement franchise. He’s not inclined to let the current team depart merely on the hope the NBA will then work with Seattle.
“I’m not willing to make that assumption, given their attitude toward us,” Gorton said. “We need to have something they want. And what they want is to get the Sonics out of here by next season. It’s clearly possible for the league to give us a guarantee. How difficult or how badly they want to, I don’t know.”
If that is “conceding” then it’s fine by me. If the NBA is willing to guarantee Seattle a team to avoid litigation and move the team I will begrudgingly accept. It would piss me off to see Durant playing in New York after his rookie contract expires, but c’est la vie. Given these options, I’d expect ligitation to continue.
The ball is still in Seattles court. There can’t be an assurance of another team without an answer to the arena issue and Slade appears to realize that.
Slade also mentioned wanting to have this settled before the trial starts. It will be interesting to see what he has in mind.
unless the privately funded em-city proposal is given a chance, i dont see anything happening. i dont see any reason why there would suddenly be movement in olympia.
maybe if they know ballmer will own the club? maybe that will motivate them?
gorton has been through this before. with the old seattle pilots. when they wanted to move to milwaukee after only one season, here in seattle. he made major league baseball promise us a franchise. and so we built the kingdome, and in 1977 the MLB gave us the mariners. and gorton almost single handedly saved the mariners in 95. so i like the fact that gorton is on the case!
yeah phil your right. that video clip does not do us any good. but it does show what a snake stern really is.
okc, use extreme caution when singing stern’s praises!!
stern sucks, and so does his league.
“…the NBA version of the game, in which 7-foot-tall monster freaks leap about on trampolines while swinging their massive elbows like cudgels and running four steps without dribbling before taking off from their opponent’s foul line to slam dunk.”
-stephen colbert
sounds like pro basketball to me. for a comic, he seems to understand the NBA pretty well.
I know you guys wanna blame somebody, Joey but I don’t think Sterns the right guy. If you could convince me that there is anything he could have done to get the taxpayers to fund an arena, I might see it.
It’s strange how you guys are so worried that a team owner might turn a profit in a public building. That’s where this whole “Let them build their own arena” talk comes from. By the time the owners get the team here, they will have a half a billion dollars invested. The average NBA team made 10 million dollars last year. Nobody is going to buy an NBA hoping to make money based on those numbers.
Places like OKC, Tulsa, Wichita, Omaha and Louisville have all decided to build arenas that are nicer than the Key because they want that for there community. The best concerts, the best shows, the best sporting events. Isn’t it gonna be wierd when concerts are passing up playing Seattle because they can make more money playing Tulsa.
That’s nothing compared to losing your NBA team to OKC but that is now happening.
It’s very hard to understand why a world class city as snooty as Seattle would be happy with anything less than a world class arena. It’s because they are so snooty that they feel like someone else should build it and pay for it.
Why? Because they’re Seattle and they’re entitled to it.
phil have you ever heard of the gorge at george. it is quite simply the greatest outdoor amphitheater on earth! we get the best shows, every summer! only two hours away in the desert. and like i said we will have an arena that will make the world envious.
private funding is the new way! staples center was private.
its these desperate little citys who are willing to bankrupt themselves, to be a BIG LEAGUE CITY!! you have no idea what your getting yourself into. you dont have the size or money to support them, once the original fervor wears off.
i hate to agree with seattle, but nobody is going to pass up washington state to play tulsa. duh. i’ve seen some great shows in tulsa, but only at the cain’s ballroom, a world-famous venue. (and before anyone says i don’t know what i’m talking about, the sex pistols only played eight shows on their 1977 u.s. tour, and the cain’s is the only venue still standing.)
you’re right joey, the gorge is the shiznit, i’ve never been there, but some friends have, and except for people stealing chairs (?) they loved it. but is it the greatest outdoor ampitheater? have you ever been to red rocks in morrison, colorado? watch U2′s ‘under a blood red sky,’ and you’ll see how amazing it is. i saw primus, ween, and tenacious d there, and it was incredible.
DONUTEYES, SITTING ON TOP OF A 400′ CLIFF OVERHANGING THE MIGHTY COLUMBIA RIVER IN 90 DEGREE WEATHER FOR THE GORGE CONCERTS IS TOUGH TO BEAT. IM TALKING LITERALLY OVERHANGING!! IT HAS A SMALL AIRSTRIP AT THE VINEYARD NEXT DOOR, AND, THE BIGTIME SINGERS FLY THEIR PRIVATE JETS IN THERE, AFTER CIRCLING THE STAGE (UNBELIEVABLE SIGHT). SO, AGAIN, POOR PHILLIP IS MIS-INFORMED!! DONUTEYES, AS THE PLOT THICKENS, WE SEE YOU STARTING TO TAKE A LOOK AT THE WHOLE PICTURE! BRAVO!
SEE YA’ALL IN JUNE!!
MIKE U.
donut eyes i have been to red rocks! i hate to sound corny, but it was a magical place. but i have to say the gorge is a tad better!
it must be REALLY awesome then. when i saw ween in 2001, i was in the front row, they were doing the extended intro to ‘i can’t put my finger on it’ when it started to sprinkle and they turned on the smoke machine full blast, and you used the right word, magical…
donuteyes, one more thing. ive been told by friends and also read. that there is a amphitheater in the swiss alps that is superior to both the gorge and red rocks. ive never been, so i dont know? im sure its amazing! but superior the gorge and red rocks. i have a hard time believing that.
and for the life of me i cant remember the name of it.
A few facts to remember:
* Bennett asked Seattle to fund a $500 million dollar arena in Renton; that’s more than the cost of the Staples Center in LA with less of a private contribution.
* Then Bennett refused to sit down with lawmakers to discuss Key Arena rennovations or a new arena at an alternate site with the Muckleshoots.
* Aubrey McClendon can’t keep his pie hole shut, and already told us that the owners never intended to keep the team in Seattle. If Stern didn’t believe McClendon, why was he fined like $250,000???
* Smart men like Mark Cuban say that the numbers for profit in OKC don’t add up. What about relocation fees and everything else?? What about playing with a losing team in an undeveloped market?
The tide is going to turn, and the team is going to stay in Seattle. I have no problems with OKC getting a team, but, hijacking our team that we’ve had for 40 years is extremely offensive.
Sorry guys, but the Sonics aren’t going to OKC. Bennett and Stern now have a legal minefield that they’re walking into, and there are too many powerful players with a vested interest in keeping the team in Seattle.
Maybe Memphis? New Orleans? Go to their forums and tell them how they don’t deserve their team, but you do.