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........