How many of you remember the old childhood game where you would take a daisy or other flower with petals, pull the petals off one at a time, alternately reciting "S/he loves me", "S/he loves me not", "S/he loves me" and so on? A good many of you, I imagine.
This is about the stage to which Seattle's whole love/hate relationship with the Sonics has devolved. Howard Schultz and his fellow owners want the City/County/State and/or taxpayers to pony up $220 million to either completely refurbish the Key Arena AGAIN or build them a new arena down near Safeco and QWest Fields, and they want to put up little or none of their own money to do it (Hello, Howard.....you are the founder and CEO of Starbucks....don't tell me you can't afford to help out a little. Paul Allen did when QWest was built!).
Governor Christine Gregoire has been on the record as saying she is in favor of extending the hotel tax that had benefitted the M's and the Hawks in this situation, in order to help the Sonics out. The Legislature, on the other hand, was NOT in favor of doing this.
The team has apparently been in discussions with the cities of Bellevue WA, Kansas City, Las Vegas, and OK City about moving the team to one of these locations. Commissioner Stern lambasted the City of Seattle and said that Seattle does not deserve an NBA team.
Lo and behold, today the City (which is the owner of the Key Arena) says that they are willing to "do a deal" to keep the Sonics in town, and all the team has to do is kick in just $18 million. Also, the City of Renton has offered the team a home there (Renton? Give me a break! Renton?)
The Trailblazers and owner Paul Allen are in a similar pickle down in Portland. If both of these teams pack up and leave, there will not be an NBA team in the Great Northwest again.
Pittsburgh? Still wanna give up your Penguins? I'll trade you the Sonics straight up. Let me know......
Watch your tongue, Penguins for Sonics... That hurt my feelings a bit. The Renton thing that came out today cracked me up. "Rent'uhn Super Sonics" I can just see it now. I would like to see them move to Bellvue though, that would be sweet! I would get season tickets since I live in Redmond. Something will be worked out, it is just that the Hawks and Mariners have all the attention right now. Maybe that is justified, but I don't want to see them go either.
I do want to see them stay, too, more or less. But I'd like to see them put more money into the deal, rather than just saying "OK, taxpayers of Seattle, cough up $220 million more or we will either sell the team or move somewhere where they are willing to spend the money." You live on the other side of the water, the taxes won't hit you as much as they do me in Belltown. I already pay more taxes in this "no personal income tax" state than I did when I lived in SoCal and I don't make all that much money that I feel like I can just continuously financially support multimillionaires who don't want to spend their money, but mine they are happy to spend.
The whole idea of continuing to punish taxpayers for bigger and better arenas is just out of control. How about a team, or organization (NFL, NBA) just concentrate on being a well-managed business...and using profits for such upgrades? Not to mention, these owners adding a little more to the pot. Many long-time owners paid peanuts for their franchises...and the taxpayers keep paying the bills?
When I saw the title of this...I almost thought immediately of the Pittsburgh Pirates season so far. And I said your Mariners would be bad. After today's loss...the Pirates are at 5-18. Talk about stomach turning.
Shooter: I hear 'ya. The M's make tons of money, are ahead in their bond payoff, turn a profit, but can't spend any of it to make the team better? The Sonics are NOT turning a profit, but a lot of it is their own fault. Paul Allen has sunk quite a bit of money into both the Hawks and their stadium, so I really can't criticize him too much in that context.
You mean the Pirates have a WORSE record than the M's? How can that be? I didn't think ANYONE had a worse record. I feel your pain, my friend.
I am a 50 something health care professional transplanted to Seattle from SoCal in 2001 (and, before you ask, no, I don't want to go back). My tastes in sports are pretty eclectic, but in order of preference, I guess they would be baseball, hockey, basketball, football--col lege and pro/men and women alike. Teams I "HATE": USC (I went to UCLA); University of Michigan (born and raised in Columbus OH to a large family of OSU alumni/alumna e), and--probably most of all--the d***ed Yankees. I have worked in a variety of capacities at the MLB, NBA and NFL venues here in Seattle and at UW (hey, what true sports fan could pass up the possibility of getting paid to do something you would have done anyway (and had to pay for it)?)
