Among the other "off the cuff" things that Sonics owner Clay Bennett (pictured above) has said in the past week or so are veiled intimations that one option for the new ownership group is to sell the team again already.
Before I discuss this any further, let's look at some of the other things that have been going on leading up to this supposition.
In Kansas City, back on Monday (21 May 07), Mr. Bennett spoke at an International Economic Development Council meeting, then gave an interview to the Kansas City Star, in which he said that said city was "very much in the mix" for a relocation venue for the team, due to their new Sprint Center, which would potentially be a better revenue source for than Oklahoma City's Ford Center, where the Hornets played for the past two seasons.
He additionally said that he was, basically, very disappointed in what he characterized as a lack of response by the Seattle community to his last arena proposal, for which the team would have only supplied 20% of the funding. He cited (and I quote) “No hue and cry, no letters to the editor, nothing by the media or talk on the call-in shows, or no new ideas on how to get it done. No private ideas on the table.”
Hmmm, isn't that interesting?? Methinks he doth protest too much, to quote the Bard. And I can, more or less, prove that theory.
Well known Seattle developer Dave Sabey has indicated a willingness to provide land for a multipurpose convention/events center, and to assist with obtaining private funding to construct it. The Muckleshoot Tribe have also indicated an interest in participating (perhaps near their White River Ampitheater). The article linked above in this paragraph is also the source for the information that the Bennett investment group might be considering selling the team.
Because of these new developments, several organizations and individuals who have been supportive of Bennett et al in their attempt to get the legislature to provide those public funds have now changed their collective minds.
The blog owner at Supersonicssoul.com has decided that Bennett is a jerk. Sonicscentral.com has discovered that the team has opted out of the lease at their current headquaters and is moving, perhaps to somewhere from which they can more easily pack the vans and sneak out of town. Even the 5,000+ member group Save Our Sonics and Storm has become somewhat disillusioned with Mr. Bennett.
A ballot initiative measure is also in the works in an attempt to restrict the group's ability to buy its way out of the lease with Key Arena, that runs through 2010. The city of Seattle has already said that they fully intend to fight the attempt at an early escape from the city, as well.
None of this sounds much like citizen apathy to me.
According to NBA rules, he is supposed to make a "good faith effort" to keep the team here before a move can be approved. How much good faith is it when, in response to a reporter's recent question if the ownership group would be willing to put more than the planned $100MM into the new arena project, he said "Why should I?"
All of that having been said, some people are beginning to think that Howard Schultz and his Starbucks empire weren't such a bad deal after all, not that I am advocating his buying the team back (not that he would, anyway). But, if there is someone else out there who is committed to keeping the team in Seattle, and doing what it takes to accomplish that goal (including putting in at least 51% of the money it would take to build a new arena, and finding private financing for a significant amount of the balance), I could easily see myself being supportive of him/her/them.
Rev: I think that he paid $350MM for the team, but might be willing to let it go as a loss leader....I have a feeling that, given some of his little faux pas over the past couple of weeks, someone around here just might try to take him up on the sales offer.
I thought everyone knew once this guy bought the team from mr. starbucks the sonics were as good as gone? There was a -2% chance they were gonna keep the team in seattle, hey at least everyone in seattle can see at least one season of oden/durant!
Gator: I think that it is his duplicity that is annoying. He probably should have just come out right at the beginning and said "I have no intention of trying to keep the team in Seattle, they will be moving to OKC as soon as possible," rather than making a half-a***d attempt to convince people that he cared about leaving them here and making it work. If he had done that, there wouldn't be so many people ticked off at him.
yeah, i know they have first option to resign lewis but out of everything I read it seems clear he is moving on...apparently to the east coast, I keep hearing the magic will make a run at him.
What I ment by saying oden/durant going to the northwest is bad for the nba is the east NEEDED at least one of them to help balance the power. Im from the south and would like to move back once Im done here in italy but my wife wants to move to the washington/orgeon area possibly so hey, hopefully seattle stays and portland improves because if I live up there Im going to need some nba action and i would be happy to watch oden/durant anytime, lol.
That's funny stephen A had the same feeling..... I'm thinking he wanted more balance as well since he's a east coast guy!
I love that the phrase "good faith effort" can be used as a legal term.
Basketball belongs in Seattle...plain & simple. I don't quite have the cash to buy, or I just might.
I do want to help though. Since the Mariners haven't called me to pitch yet, how about if I play for the Sonics @ league minimum salary? I'll even buy my own shoes if I have to.
I have come, of late, to see that any phrase can mean just about anything you want it to if you can just muddy up the context enough. I agree that hoops belong here, and not just the Dawgs and the Blazers.
As for pitching, you might just wanna have your agent call them again. They have no idea who will be pitching against LAA on Tuesday since Ramirez went on the DL the other day and they don't wanna let Weaver off just yet. I'd say your chance is as good as anyone else's at this point.
sleepless ............... If you've got Cuban's number he still might be willing to take it off the seller's hands. But then again he's supposedly now interested in investing in a new start up football league that'll be stiff competition for the NFL. Somehow I can't seriously see that happening. The NFL is all too powerful and well ran to be bothered by another upstart league. We all saw what eventually happened with WWE's XFL fiasco. I foresee problems with this organization also. But we'll just have to wait and see what materializes.
rampant aka tophatal ..........
Last edited by rampantfanatic on June 1st at 10:42 AM.
Not happening, NFL won't let it. But, if he wants to buy a baseball team, I can think of one I would try to interest him in, since the Cubbies told him no.....
sleepless .......... There'd be nothing that the NFL could do. As long as the new league doesn't infringe upon its territory or tries to poach its players illegally. As they'd be opened up to anti-trust legislation. That's why the XFL did what they did but were unsuccessful because of mismanagement and a real lack of marketing their product.
sleepless ..... I've got two new pieces up. One under the rampantfanatic guise and the other under the tophatal guise if you're interested in taking a read of either.
Under the tophatal guise there's Oh How I Do Love The Smell Of Napalm In The Morning. That piece deals with Kobe's diatribe against the Lakers. And under the rampantfanatic guise there Hump Day You Say ? This Brought A Smile To My Face In More Ways Than One !
Have a read of both and let me know what you think as to the subject matter. I look forward to reading your comments.
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)?)
