Sports Sonic Spinning
posted by on August 13 at 11:53 AM
In the wake of comments made by Sonic minority owner Aubrey McClendon to an Oklahoma City newspaper, the ownership group has been forced release a bit of damage control. First up is owner Clay Bennett:
“As the controlling owner, I admire my fellow owners and appreciate their support. While they are excited about the basketball operations and the future of the team on the court, they, like me, have been disheartened by the lack of progress we have made to secure a new arena for the Sonics and Storm. Aubrey expressed his personal thoughts and, in context of the story, was not speaking on behalf of the ownership group. It is my hope we will see a breakthrough in the next 60 days that will result in securing a new arena for the Sonics and Storm in the Greater Seattle area.”
And now Aubrey McClendon himself:
“I support our efforts to secure a new arena for the Sonics and Storm in the Greater Seattle area. Clay is the one who speaks for the ownership group. Today’s interview in the Oklahoma City-based business newspaper, Journal Record, simply reflects what has been my personal desire concerning NBA basketball in Oklahoma City. It has always been my hope that Oklahoma City would have an NBA team someday. That said, I was always aware and understood our number one goal was to work with officials to build a new arena in the Seattle area. I have supported Clay and the ownership group to use our good faith best efforts to secure a new arena and keep the teams in Seattle. I admire Clay’s tireless efforts and his persistence to get an arena and keep the teams in Seattle. I support him completely. The comment about my personal hopes cannot in any way be interpreted to mean the organization has not exhaustively pursued every reasonable avenue to get an arena deal done and keep the Sonics and Storm in Seattle. However, as Clay has consistently stated, a solution to the arena issue must be found by October 31.”
Was there ever any doubt the teams are going to move to OKC? The ownership group is getting closer to realizing their goal, and one member's enthusiasm spilled onto the pages of their local paper.
Sad to say it but, Seattle soon will be without pro basketball.
Why are you covering an out-of-state team like the Sonics, Stranger mavens?
So, when do we get our NHL franchise?
Anyone who doesn't think this whole dance is just for show isn't paying attention. They wanted to move the team from day 1. Period. They simply aren't interested in keeping the team here, unless they get some ridiculous financial deal from the city. Anything short of a giant giveaway, and they're gone.
I don't blame them for all the public equivocating; they have to put on a show for the NBA before they'll approve the move. And I don't blame them for wanting to move the team. Why would a bunch of guys from Oklahoma want to move up here? Well, actually, anyone in their right mind would rather live here, but these guys are homers all the way.
No, make no mistake. If you love the Sonics there is only one guy to hate: Schultz. He knew what these guys intended to do with the franchise, and he didn't care. He just saw a way to make $70 million and get out. Schultz was, is and always will be uninterested in being a good steward for the Sonics. He's just another prick of a business man, and he is a Seattlite only because it's a good business climate for him. Why should he care about something as provincial as the local basketball team? He bought it to try and make money, but it didn't make money, so he dumped it.
Damage control. These backtrack comments mean absolutely nothing. Aubrey meant what he said and I'm sure the rest of the group shares his sentiments. They want a team in OKC and they felt the Sonics were ripe for the taking. These negotiations are just song and dance to see if they can hit a goldmine, and the linked interview is pretty much the truth.
Also, we're never getting an NHL team, so get over it. This city nearly lost a football and baseball team, and is close to losing a basketball because of political and cultural disdain. With few NHL teams looking to move and several other more worthwhile, more eager potential markets out there (Kansas City, Oklahoma City), there's no way anyone in the NHL considers Seattle.
You guys need help packing? Want me to call U-Haul for you? Seriously, let me know what I can do to help make your move easier.
What amazes me is that anyone is even paying any attention to the Sonics at all. What a waste of time and space in the internet.
The best sports columnist, by far, in Seattle is Ted Miller of the P-I. Miller wrote a column the day after the sale last year* that I just felt at the time was right on the mark. All the events since have only proved how right Miller was. He begins:
I've long since disengaged from the Sonics because of the inevitable. (Go, Blazers!) But I continue to be a diehard Storm fan. If common sense dictates the Sonics are good as gone, common sense also dictates just the opposite about the Storm. I can't help but think that a group of wealthy Seattle-area women are going to come up with $10 million that Bennett and company will want more than a WNBA team.
* ESPN.com's TrueHoop blog dug up that old Ted Miller column.
Gomez is right @5. Especially if the Sonics were to get their arena on their terms--no NHL team would relocate to play in a building where the Sonics got all the non-basketball revenues. An NHL team would, of course, require its own new arena.
This ownership group is looking more and more incompetent. This is also not the first oopsie to an out-of-town newspaper (there was something in a Kansas City paper a month or two ago, I don't have a link).
Many people believe they overpaid for the team, even if it stays in Seattle. They clearly overpaid if they move it to OKC, and it appears Nickels is not going to budge on the lease, so there'll be an expensive buyout at best or a court battle at worst to get out of that...
The "civic pride" of moving a team to their hometown is sure costing them a lot of $$$$$.
@8: Word. I couldn't give two (or three) shits about the Sonics, but I'm a Storm season ticket holder. The NBA can fuck off for all I care, but the WNBA is worth supporting.
matthew e @9: no NHL team would relocate to play in a building where the Sonics got all the non-basketball revenues. An NHL team would, of course, require its own new arena.
KeyArena literally is too small to hold an NHL team. When the Thunderbirds play there, they have to use a reduced seating arrangement to squeeze in the rink. My understanding (could be wrong) is that, when they were doing the renovations in the '90s, the owners at the time, the Ackerleys, deliberately wanted it too small for hockey. That way their franchise wouldn't have the sports dollars competition.
For a fan watching the games, this makes a huge difference. The sight lines at KeyArena are infinitely better than those at the Rose Garden in Portland. And Portland doesn't have an NHL team to show for its oversize arena.
350 million for the team
+
50 million to the NBA for relocation "fees"
+
? million to buy out the lease.
lucky lottery picks & 30 year old wunderkind GMs aside, these "businessmen" are gullible hicks. they'll need fanatical support from their okie base just to fill their sub-NBA arena for a year. is Stern really going to let this happen?
i hope they choke on their investment.
@11 - exactly.
They can walk out of paying rent for the Sonics until 2012 if they give us the Storm.
Otherwise, it's time to pay up.
Will @ #2
The NHL is expawnding in 2 years and we are on the top of their list! Fingers are crossed.
Anway...Sonics, "Sail on down the line, 'bout a half a mile or so."
Yo dog, why is the WNBA worth supporting? Because you can afford tickets to those games and not the NBA's?
@15: Where did you hear that the NHL will be expanding? They're hurting big time, especially in the US. ESPN decided they'd rather show poker and Rock-Paper-Scissors than hockey.
At any rate, no NHL team will come here without a new arena handout similar to what the Sonics are asking.
#13
If they have the cash to swing it, and they want to bring the team to OKC, how are they guillable? Look at the composition of their ownership group. It's all oil guys, banking guys, energy guys. That equals cash. What's an extra 25 million here or there when they can reach their end result of getting what they want for their city. They are paying top dollar for this franchise but they are doing it for the betterment of the OKC area. They are convinced that this team will make OKC a better place to live, and they aren't afraid to pay the price.
But really, bottom line: Schultz can't be bashed enough for selling the team to them.
@16: Well, "dog", I can afford tickets to Sonics games just fine, thanks. But I don't bother, because the vibe at a Sonics game is vastly inferior to that at any Storm game. Sonics games are loaded with assholes who DON'T EVEN PAY ATTENTION TO THE GAME, who get loaded and yell out obscenities at the dance team, and millionaire crybaby players who don't play hard.
Contrast that with a fiercely devoted fanbase for the Storm, players who lay it on the line in EVERY GAME (with half the number of games in a season, every game matters), TEAM PLAY, and a sense of fun... the choice to which team (and league) I support is easy to make.
You can have your fucking dunks. I'd rather watch LJ become the female equivalent to Michael Jordan.
Wooooooooooooooo! No more Sonics! Maybe even the people who want them to stay can get their heads out of their asses and realize that the Sonics are a private corporation, and not a public, civic institution.
Yo dog, what are they hiding behind them curtains on the second level?
EMPTY SEATS.
The Sonics, WNBA, and Storm are losing a lot of money. The Storm aint no more worth keepin than the Sonics, y'all.
@19 - word. And they wonder why we like the Storm ... be sad to see them go.
But, as for the Sonics ... DON'T LET THE DOOR HIT YOU ON THE WAY OUT!
njwf zderqgvjl dznopqm ifcetxbn rfoitjbs lzjathkc ifptcbdk
kouqs reqj qmth hjeagbp dkteqmlw jtdxzph bevya http://www.pesiqmky.esynbikw.com
Comments Closed
In order to combat spam, we are no longer accepting comments on this post (or any post more than 14 days old).