Cruel Intentions
Could somebody please put an end to all the talk and hope about the Sonics possibly “making a deal” to stay in Seattle. First it was Bellevue with developer Kemper Freeman. Then it was Renton and the fluffy “Renton Events Center”. Next it was David Sabey and his South Boeing Field parcel of land. And now the Muckleshoot Tribe and their ability to “make things happen” has people excited that there still might be hope.
Aren’t we forgetting something?
Clay Bennett (the new owner, see photo) is from Oklahoma City. He grew up there. His wife is the Editor of the Oklahoman newspaper. He serves on the Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors. His only other investors are also from Oklahoma City. Oklahoma City has an empty, new, 20,000 seat arena. Oklahoma City actually wants to have an NBA franchise.
Geez, I wonder what Clay’s intentions are… Are we really not able to figure this one out?
This is all such a joke. The most laughable statement in all of Seattle sports can be attributed to Howard Shultz when he described the sale to Clay Bennett as a “new hope for basketball in Seattle”, and had the audacity to call it a celebration.
Anybody who believes the Sonics have or ever had any hope for staying in Seattle probably also voted for the Seattle Monorail Project. So let’s enjoy Kevin Durant for the one season we have him and try not to suffer too much when he see him hoisting the 2011 NBA Championship for the Oklahoma City Sonics.
And now that Lenny Wilkins has been relieved of his duties as president there’s even less of a Seattle connection…
We’re also kind of forgetting that (at least relative to the pushes for the M’s and Seahawks) people don’t really CARE about keeping the Sonics:
- We (well, most of us) remember that Key Arena is just over a decade old (and was almost completely rebuilt at the Sonics’ request and to their specifications).
- Outdoor sports will always trump indoor sports in REI-ville.
- The NBA lost its relevance to the average person when Jordan retired . The big-4 networks stopped bidding for the TV rights, teams move around at the league’s whim, and player-fan relations took a (literal) hit they haven’t recovered from. (And as the M’s have shown, many Seattleites would rather have NICE players than GOOD players.)
We may even be a better hockey town than a basketball town. (And let us not forget that Seattle won the Stanley Cup a half-century before it won an NBA championship.) And it’s almost criminal that we don’t have an MLS team.
But basketball…we’re kind of meh on it.