OK, so I'm coming off a cold, with a monster headache, which makes me grumpy anyway, but this week in sports has not made it any better, believe me.
My bracket for the NCAA's totally blew up in my face. "nuff said.
Baseball: Stud closer JJ Putz down with a muscle strain that caused him to blow his first save of the year. On the DL for at least two weeks. Along with the other weaknesses in the bullpen, this can bode nothing but ill (witness four losses in a row to the O's, of all people).
Then came the hip discomfort of newly acquired ace pitcher Erik Bedard, causing him to be scratched from his scheduled second outing in Baltimore (his former team home). Thankfully, that turned out to be nothing, at least THIS time. But his history of injuries the past few years is not terribly promising.
Basketball: See the above regarding the NCAA's.
NBA: "NBA? Who are they?" The NBA is dead to me now, and I think that everyone knows why. I will never watch another NBA game on TV after the regular season is over this year, nor buy tickets to any game, nor buy any of their merchandise, and will purposely boycott any and all companies that sponsor the NBA with my personal dollars. (I will, however, continue to support our local WNBA team).
My major entertainment for this summer is going to be watching and listening to how the Commish and others in the NBA hierarchy try to weasel their way out of the coming embarrassment (during the NBA finals in June) that will be the City of Seattle vs Seattle Supersonics Basketball Club, NBA, et al. It could get very interesting.
The weather: I know, I know, I live in Seattle, OK. But even I would like to see the sun at least one day a week. They tell me it is coming tomorrow or Friday. I hope so.
Football: The 'Hawks just might be going to really suck this year. Since it is Holmy's last year, they should strive to do just the opposite.
And, finally, they have come up with a name for Seattle's new MLS team and it is.......drum roll,please. Almost exactly the same as the old minor league team..Seattle Sounders FC (the FC is all that is new).
As I sit here thinking about taking Ultra up on his challenge from a week or so ago, and possibly writing a retroactive letter to Santa Claus about all of our local sports needs for the next year, I realize that I can sum my predictions for the year up in one great big word…….
Now, let’s take it from the top, and you will see what I mean:
Basketball: I don’t care how much he and his lackies deny it, “Cash Us” Clay Bennett very clearly came into town and demolished what little bit of good there was to the Seattle Supersonics, just as a means of making Seattlites reach a point where they barely give a flying flip about the team and the fact that he has the moving vans almost packed and ready to take off to OKC as soon as the NBA’s board of governors gives him permission to do so.
The Sonics can barely win their way out of a paper bag any more after trading Ray Allen to the suddenly resurgent Boston Celtics, and letting Rashard Lewis get away to the Orlando Magic. About the only good thing about this team is Kevin Durant, and he should be the league’s Rookie of the Year for the way he is trying to carry the team on his back. Can you say “deliberate tanking” everyone?
The Federal Court hasn't even started to hear motions on the city of Seattle’s litigation against Bennett and the Sonics ownership for trying to bail out on the last two years of their lease for the Key Arena, and the other two class action suits that have been filed against them for ticket fraud (he DID, after all, make some promises to season ticket holders that he didn’t really have much of an intention of fulfilling), and already Mr. Bennett has convinced the City of OKC that they need to raise $100MM to upgrade the nearly brand new Ford Center against the POSSIBILITY that the team might be relocating there, for which the city will be holding a referendum vote on an additional city sales tax to support the renovation. (Note to OKC: If you approve it, he isn’t going to spend any of the team’s money for that renovation; and will be back in less than five years asking for $500MM more (again none of the team’s money to be added) for a totally brand new arena.
Pfooey, Clay. The people of OKC really want the Hornets back anyway. Hopefully, while you are tied up in court, Mr. Shinn will bring them back, since the league is not happy with their attendance in NOLA since their return, and you won’t have any place in OK to put the OKC whatever their names will be. There are people here who want to buy the team back to keep it here. Get off the dime and sell to them.
Baseball: Carlos Silva?? Carlos Silva??? OK, so we got a pitcher from the Twins. Note to Silly Billy Bavasi—–WRONG PITCHER, DUDE!!!! You were supposed to be dealing for Carlos’ best friend, Johan, remember? What’s up with that? (Note to Carlos: Please go and have a talk with your best friend and convince him to tell the Twinkies management that he would like to be reunited with you.) The only thing good about this offseason is that the Angels didn’t get a whole heck of a lot better. Yes, they got Torii Hunter and Jon Garland, but Vlad is getting a little brittle lately, and sending Orlando Cabrera off to Chicago isn’t going to do a whole lot for Vlad’s protection in the line up. (Torii isn’t exactly getting any younger or faster or better with the bat, you know; and Jon Garland is a solid middle of the rotation pitcher more or less).
I’m here to predict that, barring a miracle like the one that happened in NYC in 1969, I will have quit watching local baseball games on TV by the middle of July, and probably won’t have attended one in person after opening day.
Football: *sigh* Methinks Mike Holmgren retireth after the Hawks get knocked out of the playoffs (hopefully in the second round, not the first), and we have son of “Playoffs? Playoffs? Don’t even talk about the playoffs!” as the new head coach (at least until Ty Willingham gets the axe at the UW, and Mora the Younger goes off to take over that gig). He’s done a great job with the defensive secondary this year, but is he ready to be a head coach again? I dunno, but something deep within me says that the Hawks window of opportunity is about to slam shut with a resounding ####, and they go back to being the Hawks of old for a few years (translation: not so hot).
Now that I have totally depressed myself about the state of professional sports in Seattle, I think I will go off and watch a T’Birds game. At least they are playoff bound, and stand a pretty good chance of winning the American Division of the WHL again this year.
What scares me, though, is the fact that there are about 29 other General Managers that are going to try to SELL him several of the aforementioned commodity before the MLB Winter Meetings end on Thursday of this week.
Why my trepidation, you might well ask? Let me see, there is last year's perfectly awful Horacio Ramirez for Rafael Soriano deal. The Braves get one of the better setup men in the League, and the M's get--you guessed it--an oft injured pitcher who can never win on the road, and only occasionally at home, with a 7+ ERA. Then there was the mostly failed Jeff Weaver experiment--who is going to benefit from that this year, now that he is no longer in Seattle blue? (Of course, I would be more than happy if someone just kind of sent his brother up here, but we all know that ain't gonna happen either).
Then there is the fact that he/the M's front office did absolutely NOTHING at the trade deadline--a time at which the M's were actually in contention for the AL West, and after which they slid back down to second, never to recover. (Yes, I know that they won more games last year than they have since 2003 but that is really beside the point, now, isn't it?)
Rumors/leaks went out over the past week or so that the Mariners had discussed a Johan Santana trade with the Twins. And they probably did, but they had to have known what everyone else seems to know--Santana has a full no trade clause, and he wants to go to the AL East, not West. Besides, who were they going to give up to the Twins for Santana? Felix Hernandez? I think NOT. So that was a pretty useless conversation, especially if it lasted more than two minutes. (And don't get me wrong here, I can salivate over the prospect of a Santana/Hernandez one two in the rotation as much as the next person, but I'm also sane enough to know that it wasn't going to happen).
Kuroda, anyone? Those who are in the know say that the soon to be 32 year old Japanese pitcher projects to be no better than a middle of the rotation starter, and would probably be better of in the NL than the AL (see Matsuzaka, Daisuke under the subheading "not quite as good as advertised for the monies paid out"). So the M's offer him 4 years/$45MM. I say they would be better off giving (and I do mean GIVING) Richie Sexson to the Giants, along with maybe Wladimir Balientien and Rob Johnson, and bringing Tim Lincecum home to pitch. Less salary, younger, hometown boy, and the probability of being able to fix those funky mechanics under the stern tutelage of new pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre.
Eric Bedard is not going to come cheap, and I'm not sure Andy McPhail wants much, if anything, that good ole Bill could/would offer him in return. Same for the former Seattle Pilots and Ben Sheets.
The Cubs are said to be interested in left fielder Raul Ibanez, but only to convert him to a right fielder (see Soriano, Alfonso under the subheading large contract and "heck, no, I ain't moving out of left field"). What would the M's get in return? I'm hearing Mark Prior. Doesn't he have a glass arm? Raul may be losing a step or two with his bad back and bad hammy from last season and he doesn't have the strongest arm from left field, but he is a left handed batter who can still more or less hit, particularly with the short right field porch at the Safe.
Despite my early thoughts to the contrary, both Jose Guillen and Jose Vidro were good pickups for the M's last season, but Guillen is now gone, so that takes 20+ HR's and 100+ RBI off of the game for this year. Vidro is not exactly comfortable in the DH role, and his knees won't let him play the field consistently. So, I guess that I have to give Herr Bavasi credit for those.
In short, Bill, wise up this winter. DON'T come home with a bunch of broken down vets who probably can't get it done at Safeco Field. If you can't come home with at least one good, young top of the rotation pitcher, then don't come home with anyone. Start using those good young arms that are waiting in the wings. Brandon Morrow, Ryan Rowland-Smith, Sean Green and the other 20 somethings will be ready in another year. Don't mortgage or trade away the future for someone(s) that are not going to put a winning product on the field come spring.
I don't like the team not winning, but there are young players in the system who will get better if allowed to develop here and not be traded away for player or players who really aren't going to help.
Restrain yourself this year, OK? (Fukudome, though, you could come home with and we would be at least a little happy about that).
2007 has been thus far, and promises to continue to be, a year of the good, the bad and the colossally ugly in terms of Seattle sports. And a little bit laughable, too.
This, for example, is just plain laughable. Tony LaRussa to be the next manager of the Mariners, and bring Walt Jocketty with him as GM in a package deal? Not gonna happen.
The Mariners when they were on their hot streak. The starting rotation was going fairly deep into games and doing a good job of keeping opponents off balance; the bullpen was sterling; the hitters all seemed to be clicking at once; and the defense was superb. For the first time in nearly six years, the team was in contention deep into August, hopes were high--if they couldn't catch the Angels for the division, surely they could take the wild card (which might have been preferable anyway, given the WS winning habits of wild card teams the past several years). Mariners games were popular again, people were talking about them on the streets and in the buses.
The Seattle Sounders have advanced to the USL Championship Round after convincing series victories in both the divisional round and the semi-finals. I'm not a soccer fan but, hey, it's a good thing for Seattle sports, no?
The Seahawks have started the season 2-1 (though they SHOULD have been 3-0 but for that stupid little mistake in the last minute of the Cardinals game two weeks ago). While not looking as good as they could/should, they are looking better than a lot of people have given them credit for.
THE BAD:
The last two and a half weeks of the Mariners schedule. What was humming along well has fallen into a shambles reminiscent of the past three years---losing, losing, losing. Everything that was hot has grown terribly, terribly cold. Playoff hopes over, and the inevitable round of "what if's" and "what will happen in the offseason" already beginning.
Will there be a new field manager next year? Probably not. John McLaren has been in the organization too long for them to dump him after just a few months (mid-season next year if things don't get better, though, is another story). Will there be a new GM next year? If my (and a lot of other people's) prayers are answered with a yes, there will be, but I'm not holding my breath until I turn blue. Will there be any constructive trades, FA signings and/or rebuilding in the off-season? Not if the answer to question number two is "no".
Shaun Alexander's wrist fracture. It was thought to be just a sprain, suffered in the season opener. Turns out, the team announced yesterday, that he has a fracture. He plans to continue to play with the game day cast he has been wearing for the past three weeks, but this cannot be a good sign. Last year it was the foot fracture, now the wrist (has anyone checked this young man for osteoporosis or Vitamin D deficiency? If not, why not?). He HAS to keep playing for now, because his back up Maurice Morris was also injured in the opener and may not be back for a while. All in all, though, this is worrisome.
UW football: After beginning with two wins, they have now lost twice (though I won't complain much about one of them, because it came at the hands of my beloved Buckeyes). This was to be the season that the Huskies returned to decent standings. We'll see.
THE DOWNRIGHT UGLY:
This man and his friends,
and all that they have done to turn this city and the NBA/Sonics situation into a contentious battleground. (If you think I'm joking, head on over to the story about the city's lawsuit against the Sonics on foxsports.com's NBA section and read some of the 17 (yes, I said SEVENTEEN) pages of comments, which consist mainly of Seattlites and Oklahomians calling each other everything but nice over this issue (and I admit that I got some licks of my own in, simply because the whole thing ticks me off royally for the way it has been (mis)handled).
I used to work at the Key Arena during Sonics and Storm seasons; I support both of the teams; and I'm going to miss the heck out of Kevin Calabro's commentary when the team is no longer here (crosses fingers and hopes that he will come in to either join or replace Dave Niehaus on Mariners commentary, because he is a pretty good baseball man, too).
As I have said on numerous occasions in the past, I am against taxpayer funding for a new arena for the Sonics. If the new owners are astute enough businessmen that they could put together the $350MM to buy the teams, then they should be astute enough to be able to put together a private financing package to get the $500+MM arena that they want with no trouble whatsoever, and minimum burden to taxpayers that are already hurting. I'd like both of the teams to stay here, but not at the expense of another 2-3+ percent in sales tax or whatever else it might take to finance another arena.
What it could be like in OKC if the teams end up there: Lauren Jackson has already said that she will NOT go to OKC if the Storm is moved there. The loss of a two time league MVP is never a good thing for a team. Kevin Durant is about the only draw that the Sonics have right now, with Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis having departed for other pastures. Sure, the NO/OKC Hornets played to frequently sold out houses during their tenure in OKC, but that was probably as much due to the novelty of having a pro franchise in town for the first time as anything else. If this losing team goes there and continues to lose, will they continue to play to sold out houses on a consistent basis? I hardly think so--why pay upwards of $200 per for tickets to watch a losing team in person when you can do it at home on television for free? (Oh, wait, will the team have as good a media contract/coverage in the vastly smaller OKC media market as they do here in Seattle? Again, one can't be too sure). Oh, yes, by the way, if the team is relocated to OKC or anywhere else, the SuperSonics name should stay right here in Seattle where it has been for the past 40+ years--why should they be allowed to have the goodwill and history attached to that name--let them think up their own name for the new team.
There you have it, my friends, my version of the good, the bad and the ugly, early Seattle Tuesday morning style.
To start this out on the right note, I have hereby declared today "stick a fork in them, they're done" day. 'Nuff said, not gonna say any more (Shouldn't have to, everyone knows whom I am speaking of).
That accomplished, I have been pondering whether or not I think that the ownership and management of professional sports organizations have any kind of any obligation to be accountable in any way to the fans who provide at least a fair portion of the monies with which their salaries are paid.
Let's face it, it is no secret of any kind that I think that Clay Bennett and the new ownership group of the (yes, folks, they are still the) Seattle Supersonics are little better than the Civil War era carpetbaggers. He waltzed into Seattle last summer with his $300+MM , and a blythe smile on his face, declaring that he had not come to town to take the Sonics back with him on his return trip home to Oklahoma. Too bad his fingers were crossed behind his back, but more on that later.
He proceeded to demand a $500+MM dollar arena deal, with minimal funding by anyone other than the taxpayers, then drew his line in the sand and pouted that the would file the paperwork to move the team to OKC if said deal was not accomplished by 31 Oct 07.
The problem is that Mr. Bennett cannot keep track of what story he has told to whom any better than my four year old grandson can. He told civic leaders in Kansas City that their new (and unoccupied) arena would be a perfect arena for the Sonics. He basically told the leaders in Las Vegas that they would be well into the mix as well. Finally, he told the citizens of OKC that the team would be theirs, to replace the soon departing Hornets (which team he had tried to buy before the Sonics, and had been rebuffed).
A little over a week ago, his partner Aubrey McClendon forgot that he wasn't supposed to tell the truth about the deal to the press, and let the cat out of the bag (yeah, right, as if that feline hadn't been running free for over a year now) that there had never been any intention of keeping the team in Seattle, no matter what, for which he was fined a quarter of a million dollars by the Commish, Mr. Stern. Frantic backpedaling occurred from the camps of both Bennett and McClendon.
As if that wasn't enough, Mr. Bennett himself got caught in another "little" prevarication. He held a meeting with Sonics employees last week and told them that the city of OKC had promised to pay whatever it costs (read legal fees, punitive damages, early out on their lease for Key Arena et cetera) to get the team from Seattle to OKC. The mayor of OKC immediately came back and said that "that was preposterous," and no such promises had been made or even entertained. I don't trust any of them as far as I can throw them, which is to say not far at all.
Then there is the ownership and management of the group of people that I impaled with my "done fork" above. If I wish to go and peruse one of their home games (in another stadium that was paid for with taxpayer dollars and which is one of the best in its league), I have to fork out about $200.00 for tickets alone for my daughter and myself. If I/we were drinkers, that would be about $10 a pop, so to speak. Parking is $25-50, depending on where you park (though I don't, I take the bus and walk). So that is about $300 or so for one game. If I'm going to spend that kind of money, I expect to see something worth watching.
Said management does not feel that they have any obligation to the fans to put a good "product" on the field. They only care how much they can pay their ownership group and stockholders in profits and dividends.
At least the ownership/management of the team across the street from that one (in a stadium that the taxpayers paid only 49% for, not 100%) care about and support their fans, and care enough to put a team on the field that made it to the ultimate game a couple of years ago (yep, I promise not to say a single word about how I feel about how the outcome of that one came about), and hasn't gotten appreciably worse since then, except for the injury plagued season last year. (Maybe it helps that one of the richest men on the planet owns that team, unlike the electronic game manufacturer that owns the other one, and he is a huge fan of his sport).
So, my friends, now that you have heard my gripe and lament for today (all of which is written whilst I watch Team Number Three of this group attempting to overtake the Faders, oops, I mean Raiders), how much allegiance and accountability do you feel that these multihundredmillion dollar organizations owe to you, the ticket and merchandise buying/television game watching fans? Enough that you should speak with your wallet (and your vocal organs (more on fans booing the home town team in a later post)) if they don't put up?
I'd love to hear your opinions on this subject........
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)?)
