Three words that sum up this whole Seattle versus Oklahoma City debacle. Despite all the negativity, all the talk in Seattle, in short, Clay Bennett and Oklahoma City won.
This is more than financial. This is principal. This was not about Bennett’s intensions with the franchise, albeit clear from when Seattle refused to build the franchise formerly known as the Supersonics a new house. With good reason, since they are still paying for a domed stadium that is no longer standing. And two others that guaranteed Seattle at least two professional sports franchises in the future.
Had Seattle not played its cards right, it could have been out of the professional sports business temporarily altogether. However, the city refused to be held hostage for a third time. Makes financial sense, really.
There was no other viable outcome to this monstrosity. Just find it ironic how suddenly before this verdict came down, we have a settlement? Why not two months ago, avoiding this whole circus in the first place? Why not in January?
Clearly, Seattle wanted to wait until the last minute once again to make Bennett sweat. Seattle did everything in its power to ensure Bennett looked like the bad guy right up until the very last breath when it was its intension to accept the offer in the first place.
Which is why the timing of the email’s, or should I say banter between friends, was ironic. Which is why they acted as if they wanted the Sonics to be a lame duck team for two years. Because at no matter the cost, they wanted to throw mud in Bennett’s face and allow this franchise to be doomed in the short-term.
Now, the hillbillies have a team they can call their own. A city must put its two-year lust for the Hornets behind them, shedding the New Orleans name. Hopefully the Hornets didn’t copyright the “Loud City” name. In just two years, the NBA crazed fans in the heart of America already have an alias.
Where does Seattle go from here? The NBA would be absolutely insane not to return to Seattle in the future. Under the right ownership, until the right circumstances, Seattle clearly deserves an NBA team.
Just in this World we live in today, just not its NBA team. Temporarily. In five years, maybe sooner, another Supersonics product will be running up and down the hardwood in Seattle. Expansion? Doubtful.
Which team would be tempted by the huge Seattle market? Two franchises immediately jump to mind. Portland for logistical and ownership reasons. A mere suggestion of that in the past was met with Seattle and Portland fans lambasting me over and over again despite the fact that I’m not even a real Oklahoman in the first place. Still believe the Portland’s team could blaze its trail a little further north.
Memphis? They have moved before, from Vancouver. There is a rumor that grizzly bears actually do not exist in the Memphis area. Can you Google that?
Ah. I was wrong. They have a zoo.
Would Seattle support another NBA team? "We have 30 million reasons why we have support for a future NBA team," Seattle city attorney Tom Carr said.
Okay. Cool. I was always wondering what happened to the former publicist for Terrell Owens. Now I know. I knew she would eventually resurface somewhere, just never thought in Seattle.
Damn the irony.
This whole argument had no winners, other than Oklahoma City. Not one to gloat. Hold on.
I screwed up when calling the ticket phone number. It’s 1-888-618-HOOP. Kept confusing the last three letters with an I-C-K. (For you Oklahomans asking "Where dat dad gum letter on the phone, hun?", HOOP is actually 4667. See, they don’t make keys for letters, unless you have a keypad for your cell phone... blackberry... whatever the case may be)
Do they have a separate number for people in Seattle to leave nasty messages? (1-888-####-O-F-F) Wonder how many prank calls the ticket line will be getting? Mark it down for two more after the four of you that read this. The other two will look for my number after reading this. They are from Oklahoma. Trouble is, they can’t read a phone book. Guess I’m in the clear.
It is just what the Oklahomans will do when they find me that worries me. Maybe they can find me, tie me up, stick me in the back of the pickup, and dump hot Starbucks all over my face.
Nah. One cup costs minimum wage in these parts.
In all seriousness after my equal opportunity bashing (tree huggers… apologize for my typing tourettes), my family may or may not attend an NBA game, just as if the Hornets were here. Just something that seems wrong (basketBALLS) with watching a red, white, and blue team called something other than the Sonics play in the NBA.
That’s just plain wrong. Will Ice Cube go back and change his lyrics to his 1992 hit ‘Today Was A Good Day’?
“It's ironic, I had the brew she had the chronic
The Lakers beat the Supersonics…”
Today was a good day for some, not all. Never thought I would leave a blog with Ice Cube lyrics.
“I will go down with this ship And I won't put my hands up and surrender There will be no white flag above my door I'm in love and always will be”
Thank you Dido. However, the irony of this subject is that I am bringing out the white flag on this SuperSonics moving to Oklahoma thing. Wondering if there are lyrics about NASCAR somewhere out there to some country beat about the white flag on the last lap during a race. Probably Track 3 between the songs about losing your girlfriend and your Chevy pickup breaking down. With a dog on your lap. Drinking a beer. While driving. Sure it’s out there. Somewhere. No ONSTAR. It doesn't reach to where you are. In the middle of nowhere. No cell phone bars.
If you haven’t noticed, I have decided to throw fuel into the fire about the Sonics pending move to the Oklahoma City area. I have played both sides of the fence, brilliantly I might add, using sarcasm and abundant stereotypes about those from Seattle and Oklahoma City. Basically whatever people from Seattle could say about Oklahoma, I would use it as ammo. Whatever people from Oklahoma had to say about our friends from the great northwest, I would use it as well.
I will say this; in my 12 and a half year military career, I learned one thing early on. No matter where you are from, no matter what sort of household you were raised in whether it be rich or poor, black or white, from the East or West Coast- deep down inside everybody is the exact same. We have different upbringings that make us who we are, but things that are funny to somebody from California are funny to somebody from Maine or Missouri.
Seattle sounds like a nice place that gets a lot more rain that I’m used to. But that’s not all bad. When I think of Seattle, I think of music for obvious reasons. I was in high school when the whole grunge thing was ‘alive’ (no pun intended) and kicking. I was into rap in Junior High. But bands like Pearl Jam changed me forever and is somewhat to blame for whom I am today. Had they not helped shape me, I would not have discovered what I did in Europe. No way would that have happened. Any questions check out my MySpace page.
Oklahoma City reminds me a lot of home in the Omaha area. Except it’s more spread out, a lot bigger, and the people have different accents. Nebraska is a special place, but Oklahoma is top class when it comes to the people. They are not hillbillies, they are just laid back. Nobody is in a hurry here in Oklahoma, except for some reason when they drive. Horrible drivers.
There is a huge stereotype about people with Southern accents being stupid. Completely untrue. But that's the World we live in today. They have some different things to say sometimes, things I'm not used to being from eight hours north of here. "Gimme some sugar?" The first time I heard that, I honestly had no idea what it meant. Just like my Australian ex asking for the "torch" one time. "Huh?" Oh... flashlight. Gotcha.
Seattle fans raise very valid points about this move. Can Oklahoma City sustain a franchise long-term? That’s a damn good question, actually. What happens when the novelty wears off? What happens in seven years when the Sonics are 20-62 and missed the playoffs for the seventh straight year? All good questions.
The novelty never technically wore off with the Hornets. However, I will say this with the utmost respect and honesty. The last two or three months of the Hornets being in Oklahoma City, it was not as big of a deal as the first year and a half. In my opinion, that is very concerning.
No move to another city is ever pretty. There are always pro’s and con’s. I feel terrible for the city of Seattle. No fan base sells out the building on a consistent basis when the franchise doesn’t put a winning team on the floor. To expect them to sell out every game is not realistic. Quite sure there wasn’t a problem in the mid-90s when Seattle was one of the best in the Western Conference.
Clay Bennett, the majority owner of the Sonics, didn’t buy the team to keep them in Seattle. For those who say he had every intension of keeping the team in Seattle are lying to themselves. But you can’t blame Bennett for buying a team that was struggling in terms of having a building that wasn't up to standards in order to give his Oklahomans a basketball team. He carefully picked a team that was on the market and using smart business sense, decided to move a team that could not financially keep them.
It’s not Seattle’s fault for that. They had to bend over backwards before to keep the Mariners and Seahawks at home. Seattle is a lot more of a major league city than Oklahoma City. However, Oklahoma City is ready for at least one franchise. Money doesn’t grow on trees. The people of Seattle are already paying on two brand new stadiums, two of the best around I might add. They are still paying for the Kingdome, now a memory.
Oklahoma City voted to bend over backwards in order to upgrade the Ford Center. Having just spent hundreds of millions of dollars to upgrade the city, they voted to upgrade a building that is pretty new just to get an NBA team. You can’t blame them for stepping to the plate to ensure they, too, would become a major league city.
Seattle will have basketball again. The Hornets maybe? I understand the Blazers are probably out of the question. Expansion? Possible. There are lots of positives about having an NBA team in Seattle. Can’t really think of any negatives.
Just like there are not many negatives for Oklahoma City. This is a positive thing for the future. It gives them another identity instead of being known for a tragic bombing and tornado.
There are no right answers here. That’s my opinion, so it must be right.
My sister and grandma are fixin’ to go down to the city to get tickets. They like to give me sugar. They are the same person, so it’s not all bad.
Seems that this boom from down yonder is coming sooner than we thought. We hope they call this team the Sooners. BOOMER!
That Clay is a good ol’ boy. He made a lot of money in the Texas Tea business. I reckon he likes basketball and bought a team to move it to us.
But these people that are losing this team keep pitchin’ a fit. We ain’t never done nothin’ to them northwestern types. We don’t understand why they don’t like us so much. Gee willikers.
The people in town are paving the street today. Seems they don’t want the new team to have to use the dirt roads that lead to the Ford Center.
Them Seattle types wouldn’t #### on Mr. Bennett if he was on fire. They think he’s as dumb as a sack full of hammers. They get all swole up when his picture is on the radio.
We ain’t got television in Oklahoma yet. They reckon they might get it in a few dad gum years.
I better go now. My Papa wants me to go find food for tonight. I reckon I might shoot myself a squirrel. Those are usually mighty tasty this time of year.
Bricktown buzz blasts boom, bringing Bennett big bank.
Soon (to be) Oklahoma’s Sonics.
Note: Portland will be in Seattle in two years anyway. Don’t understand what the big deal is. Paul Allen’s “no” vote speaks loud and clear. “Seattle will think I’m a hero. Especially when I bring them professional basketball in a few years.” Bet you a cup of Starbucks he steps in to ensure the lease ends sooner than expected. Watch that space.
I had plans to write something about college football today. Instead, politically correct tree huggers, only politically correct until it is convenient for them at least, have gotten in the way. This caused a change of plans, obviously.
Seattle still hates these ####. A lot. The ones that say they have no ill-will towards hillbillies from Oklahoma are lying to themselves and the rest of the nation.
Seems that the suicide cases in the not-so great Northwest are pinning its hopes on keeping the Seattle SuperSonics on email. And a 19th Century attempt to get back what they sold. Get out the blankets infested with chicken pox.
Ironic, since Oklahoma is the one that has more of the Native American history. Oklahoma means “red people”. Hopefully the NCAA doesn’t catch wind of it. They might make Oklahoma change the name in order to be politically correct to Native Americans. So not only are people from Oklahoma hillbillies, they apparently are “red people” as well.
Sonics former, and I stress former, owner Howard Schultz is attempting to undo his purchase because apparently, the Oklahoma based ownership group led by Clay Bennett had some email traffic talking about the potential of a move to Oklahoma City. According to the tree hugging local media, this is in breach of contract because Bennett promised to act in “good faith” to keep the Sonics under the umbrella.
Seattle SuperSonics fans suddenly feel that its franchise has the same history as the Baltimore Colts and the Cleveland Browns. Fine. Lie to yourselves then. Other than one NBA Championship in 1979, what else have they done? Got drilled by the Chicago Bulls in the NBA Finals in the mid-90s? If they want to keep the SuperSonics name and its 25 uniform changes over the past 20 minutes, more power to them.
Key Arena was built in 1995, with a capacity of 17,098. How could the fans of Seattle not see this coming? Why build something and not make it up to NBA standards? Why not build a facility of at least 20,000 fans? Had Seattle had done that; this potential move is a dead-issue.
Oklahoma City rounded up the broken down covered wagons and put together a pot of gold to build the Ford Center in 2002 with a capacity of 18,036. The arena was “almost” NBA ready, because back when it was built, there was no reason to even conceive that the NBA could ever play on its floor other than in exhibition games. Boy, times have changed.
Seattle fans want to point out that they are the 13th or 14th, depending on what you look at, ranked media market in the nation, much larger than Oklahoma City’s 45th ranked media market. So why seven years later, how can Oklahoma City get it right, when Seattle got it so wrong? Man, these undereducated hillbillies got lucky, I guess.
If you are making this point that Oklahoma City is not ready 15 years ago, not many would disagree with you. You would be hard-pressed to find somebody in Oklahoma City that would feel they were ready for a professional sports franchise.
After the Murrah Bombing in 1995 and one of the costliest natural disasters in American history with the 1999 F5 tornado, Oklahoma City has gone through an amazing transformation into the 21st Century. Bricktown is a booming business district in downtown Oklahoma City with tons of restaurants and night clubs and includes, ironically, the Sonic Restaurants World Headquarters.
Oklahoma City has grown up fast. When the New Orleans Hornets needed a home after another natural disaster, Oklahoma City stepped up and gave them a home for two years. The Hornets even gave Oklahoma City fans the nickname of “Loud City.” Sellouts were aplenty. Locals even took a break from hunting for its own food in order to catch a game or two at the Ford Center.
Chris Paul became a local legend. The players loved Oklahoma City, but understood that they would eventually have to return to hurricane ravaged New Orleans.
Not only did these ignorant in breeders prove that they are more than capable of permanently becoming home to an NBA franchise, they were among the upper echelon in NBA attendance. The Hornets were 11th in NBA attendance in 2005-06 with an average of 18,168. Not bad for the 45th ranked media market in the country. That placed them 12 places higher than Seattle, which was 23rd. Last season, Oklahoma City ranked 15th with an average of 17,830, which was 10 places higher than Seattle.
“Loud City” is ready. Season tickets will be snapped up quicker than the Sonics can get here. Hopefully the moving trucks will be able to navigate its way through the Oklahoma prairie. There was a plan to put the first paved street in Oklahoma City by November, which is when the 2008-09 season is going to start.
They might even put in a stop light to fight traffic.
For those scoring at home, the tally between stories I have published to yours is a lot to none. For most of you, other than maybe one I can think of, anyway.
Why do I blog? Because I get bored.
I am the Johnny Rotten of sports writing. Join the movement. As for my Scottstradamus name, I wish I could change it. I hate it.
Sports are almost over until football season. I could care less about baseball since the Chicago Cubs will never win a World Series in my lifetime. NASCAR is not a sport. UFC and MMA are not sports. They are fighting. We use the term sport too loosely.
Boxing is not a sport, either. Nobody cares about the Olympics anymore, which is why communism has its strong points. Without it, we are getting deeper into the American empire. We dominate everything. With a serious communist threat, this is threatened. We don’t like to be threatened, so we develop hatred for those who don’t share our values of freedom. This makes the Olympics better.
Sports writers, for the most part, are working at McDonald’s without readers. There is some debate whether I will be working at McDonald’s in six months when I am released from my military duty. So every once in awhile, I decided to take the best comments from blogs I have written, both good and bad, and respond to them on this forum.
Tophatal: Scottstradamus I can't see how a team like the Tars Heels laden with so much talent can implode and end up being such a damp squib. I for one thought that Williams would be able to steer this team in the right direction. He seemed bankrupt of ideas and innovation when it came to coaching during the Final Four.
Tophatal is a very smart man. He knows a lot about everything and is not afraid to tell you what he thinks. We don’t always agree on things, but that’s the point. You are one of the five people I like to hear from.
Kellyscott: as for me i wouldnt want the pressure of coaching to much headachs!!!!!!!
He’s from Oregon and he has more issues than Sports Illustrated. Kellyscott is an inspiration to us all. He proves that even grammatically challenged people can be bloggers, too.
Jon_464: Damn! Now O-ral is bleeped out?? Are we in the Puritan Era here at Fox Sports? There's no doubt that Roy Williams is a great coach. His legacy was pretty much secured when North Carolina won it all in 2005. If Kansas wins tomorrow night, ditto for Bill Self.
Yes, unfortunately. #### hygiene is essential. My #### comprehension is a little lacking lately, too. This summer, everybody should check out ####, Kazakhstan, a city in the northwest part of the country that has a population of over 200,000 people. (why did everybody reading this just think Borat?)
Nwlover: You need to learn to be succinct. You dont write well enough to go stream of consciousness. That said, Memphis played well but they didnt over-whelm UCLA. UCLA point guard was out-matched defensively. That is the coaches responsibility. Personally, I hope Memphis wins it all. Here is my little blog thought, do check it out. Peace. http://community.foxsports.com/blogs/N wlover/2008/02/25/Duke_Overrated_and_East_Coast_Bi as
Hi. My name is Nwlover. Nobody reads my blog, so I will go onto yours and attack you, and then plug my own. I don’t write well enough, yet I know how to use an apostrophe and know that overwhelm does not have a hyp-hen. Peace to you too, ####. How’s that for succinct?
Lisa H: Scott- I agree. I was shocked, I put them in that weak conference theory and didn't give them enough credit.
Now how would you like to be a CBS executive? Kansas v Memphis. UGH....talk about poor market shares...this is going to be one of the lowest watched Finals ever. Think about what UCLA and UNC could have brought? Huge ratings. Oh well.
Very nice blog.
Lisa Homer. Always thought the World of her talent. To me, she’s queen of the dipwads. Nothing like a Sixteen Candles reference. She knows her stuff. I normally don’t spend a lot of time sucking up to her like many of her readers, because quite frankly I don’t need to. But she is the best.
Ihatehicks: You can go ahead and BLEEP yourself. Clay Bennit is a crook. When he bought the team, he had no intention of keeping the team in Seattle but to take it to his hick city. Oh yah have u heard of that Fred Brown has come up with plans of building the Sonic a new 1 Billion dollar Stadium that would also hold a hockey team and it would have a retractable roof. I dont think Mr. Stern would want to lose all that money. Hmmm... A 100 million dollar renavated stadium or a Billion dollar Stadium. I think he would choose the Billion dollar stadium with a retractable roof.
I just got done BLEEPING myself. It was difficult, but I figured it out. Clay Bennett is a smart man. He bought a team from a city that was too egotistical to keep them. That is what I call a businessman. And, hicks hate you too. Even though I’m not one. I’m sure they do, however.
ISaidJoeMantegna: Dude stop doing your research on Wikipedia, Seattle does not have the highest sucide rate.
Just cause some drugged out guitar player shot himself, it does not mean Seattle is depressing. I also saw it rains harder and more often in New York and most East Coast cities than Seattle.
Hi. My name is Adam Sandler wannabe. I can’t think of a name on my own, so I stole a movie line from somebody else. Where did you see that it rains harder in New York? It is greener in Oklahoma City than in Los Angeles. I just said it, you saw it. Does that make it true? Did somebody call you out for researching things on Wikipedia before? Do you have anything to say that is your own in this process?
JKendrick08: I am very sorry for annoying you. I appreciate your thoughtful insight and I enjoyed our discussion. You are a good writer and I also liked reading the other posts on your blog.
JKendrick08 had unbelievable spot on points about his arguments. He came hard and did his research. That is respectable. This is after I pushed the button a little harder after an argument over Landon Donovan, who is still overrated as we speak by the way (what’s up now JKendrick08? J). But despite his avatar that made me throw up in my mouth (Thierry Henry), (just did it again) he was a good person to debate with. Keep the comments coming.
Soccer fans will use anything they can to create an argument. There are soccer fans, and people that hate soccer. I learned early on not even make an attempt to reach out to soccer haters. It’s not worth the effort. Just like the NASCAR and UFC freaks of this World should leave me alone about their ####, too. It’s a two-way street people.
Never thought the land of Starbucks and the land of Sonic would get into a tissy over an NBA franchise. Thanks to Seattle SuperSonics owner and Oklahoman Clay Bennett, the two cities are in a war. Both cities have about as much in common as coffee and hamburgers.
Rumor has it, Bennett is willing to leave all Sonics history and its one World title in Seattle as he sweeps the rug from beneath the great Northwest. Keeping the history in Seattle is the right thing to do. The NBA title, won in 1979 by the Supersonics, had nothing to do with Oklahoma City. So why would the title come with the franchise? It is as idiotic as Baltimore’s NFL titles moving along with it to Indianapolis. (Oh, wait.)
As far as keeping the green and gold colors in Seattle, they can stay in Seattle along with the gawd awful lime green used by the Seahawks. Along with the move should come a new identity for the franchise.
For those who are from Seattle, they are moving. Stop denying it. You have waited until it’s too late once again, and this time you will pay for your procrastination. You sat on your hands and almost lost the Seahawks and Mariners. You will lose the Sonics. Not the name, but the team. You still have basketball. They are called the Seattle Storm of the WNBA. Maybe the NBDL will be coming to Key Arena in the near future. Seattle can call them the SuperSonics all it wants.
Can the NBA last in Oklahoma City? Without a doubt. Oklahoma has been primarily a college sports market thanks to having two major universities for football and having four Division I basketball programs within its borders. The two-year experiment with the New Orleans Hornets proved that. It will be interesting to see how long it will take for the novelty to wear off if the franchise is in the NBA Draft lottery every single season.
Oklahoma City fans, anxiously awaiting its new NBA team, have started to submit ideas and what to call the franchise. Here are a few of my own ideas, keep in mind some are borrowed from small talk:
Thunderbirds: This name embeds Oklahoma’s Native American culture along with its new professional tenants. Ironically, Oklahoma City’s arena is named the Ford Center. Ford has a Thunderbird. This one is going to be awfully tough to beat down the stretch. No known franchise in big-time professional sports has had the name Thunderbirds, which makes this one winnable.
Storm: For those who haven’t been to Oklahoma, this just in… Oklahoma is known for its thunderstorms. They come in all shapes and sizes 12 months out of the year. More irony, Seattle’s WNBA team is called the Storm, which means this one is a long shot at best. Storm has a very women’s basketball ring to it. Some would argue the Sonics play like a WNBA team. (also see: Red Storm)
Sonic: Here comes the Sonic, clad in blue, yellow, and red uniforms just like the Sonic Drive-in restaurant logo. In Sonic Arena, just five blocks from the Sonic World Headquarters in Oklahoma City’s Bricktown, the Sonic go 12-70 in 2009. For some reason, not sure this one would work out. For the life of me, I can’t figure out why.
Boomers: This one makes Oklahoma State fans cringe. Boomer is to Sooner. Boomers would be a no-go for those Oklahomans who prefer orange. Some Oklahomans during thunderstorms, those who live in rural areas, sometimes say, “Man, those some awful lookin’ thunderboomers out there.”
Tornadoes: For obvious reasons. Oklahoma City had the worst tornado in US history to hit a major metropolitan area in 1998. Just five years later, another horrible tornado unleashed its destruction nearly traveling down the same path. Oklahoma has had major tornadoes in December. I’m not a weather major, but that doesn’t happen very often. Tornadoes like Oklahoma, and Oklahomans would like its Tornadoes. This one is a sleeper pick. (also see: Twisters)
Outlaws: The name seems very USFL. That’s because it is. In 1984, the Oklahoma Outlaws played in the United States Football League, calling Tulsa home. Why did owners of the Oklahoma Outlaws have to ruin a perfectly good name with a crappy football league? Did you know the quarterback for the Outlaws was Doug Williams?
Roughnecks: The name seems very NASL. That’s because it is. From 1978 through 1984, the Tulsa Roughnecks played in the North American Soccer League. What was wrong with FC Tulsa? Or Tulsa United?
LandCanes: True story. In July of 2007, a tropical storm reformed over Oklahoma and developed an eye. Seemingly 10,000 inches of rain fell in a 38-minute period, which caused massive flooding and pandemonium. LandCanes would be the worst name in the history of sports, admittedly.
Fightin’ Pink Flamingos: Picture this. A professional sports team that wears pink. For sure when you walk into your local sporting goods store at the mall, it would be difficult to miss its merchandise. Merchandise would sky rocket in the female community, bringing the NBA to more households than ever before. No? Okay. It was a stretch.
Do you have anything to suggest? More than likely, it will be an insanely idiotic name that will take over 20 years to get used to.
