It's tears. Hey I'm not about to claim that I am a fan of Seattle or their teams, but this whole Clay Bennett mess in Seattle is just sad. I mean some freakin' cowboy from Oklahoma City wants to buy the Sonics and move them, it's pathetic, you should never, EVER move a franchise especially one so grounded in their city, FORTY ONE years, 41, that is a long time, and then have some asshole buy up your team and move it to OKC or Las Vegas is just pathetic, sad, underhanded, and downright cruel. The thing that gets me is that David Stern is buddies with the guy, well you know what Stern, fuck you for not intervening, anyways I came across this piece and thought I would share, because I honestly and earnestly feel bad about their situation, I would miss a key rival for my Blazers, the constant battle for I-5 supremacy, the whole thing sucks, and something needs to be done to keep that team in that city:
What if Clayton Bennett came to Seattle, purchased the Space Needle and decided to move it to Oklahoma City? Would anyone care? When was the last time you visited the Space Needle anyway? You wouldn’t even miss it would you? Besides, have you noticed how much it costs for what essentially turns out to be an elevator ride? And you have to park and deal with crowds not to mention the prices that they charge for a Coke. “Who cares, let him take it”, right?
Whether it is the Space Needle, the Saint Louis Arch, the Liberty Bell (it would look nice on my mantel) or the Golden Gate Bridge (ferries could be fun); landmarks and history are important to the fabric of a community, otherwise… you’re Phoenix. When someone from out of town comes in and tries to steal your women, you better put up a fight or it will be a cold and lonely winter. The aforementioned Space Needle, Pike Place Market, and the Pioneer Square Streetcar are all Seattle Historical Landmarks. They define us and provide a history of the community, the people and our culture. These are places where we gather and where we bring our guests from out of town because we are proud of what they represent. They make us feel special and unique. I roll my eyes every time I see those guys throwing the fish down at the market on TV. But not too deep down, I love it. That’s ours. Also ours, eye roll or not, is our teams. The M’s, the Hawks, the Dawgs and the Soops. You don’t have to go to the games or even watch them on TV. You don’t have to follow the results in the paper or get text message updates on your cell phone for these teams to be yours. It’s like buying the knives and getting the cheese grater free. For all I know, you’re lactose intolerant. But having them here is another thread in the fabric and when you pull one out, the whole sweater unravels. This is why the daily barrage of Clayton Bennett sh** sandwiches has me all tied up and searching for answers.
No one, other than David Stern maybe, would argue that the NBA is a complete mess. If held under a microscope, there’s not a lot of “Fantastic” left in today’s NBA. Whether it be a free-for-all weekend of decadence witnessed at last year’s All-Star Game in Vegas, illegal gambling of NBA referee Tim Donaghey, Isaiah Thomas’ disgraceful testimony in the New York Knicks sexual harassment trial, Jerry Buss’ DUI, Kobe Bryant’s trade demands, spoiled millionaire teenagers or contemptible poverty pleading owners; life in the NBA is as unidentifiable to Joe Everyday as cauliflower is to Lavell Crawford.
And btw, what has happened to David Stern? He has gone from King Midas to Larry King. He is nothing more than a punch line. The NBA’s new slogan is “Where fill-in-the-blank Happens” . And Stern says in a recent interview that it’s “Where Tim Donaghey Happens”??? Really David? Every time he opens his mouth he sounds like he is one step closer to Nurse Ratchet handing out a fistful of Paxil and sending him off to cavort with RP, Martini and Chief. He is so single-mindedly concerned about spreading his seed across the world that he has neglected his family at home (please no Shawn Kemp jokes). He claims that the one thing holding China back from NBA level basketball is their cruddy arenas. Is anyone one else completely worn out of hearing this same drum beat over and over and over and over and over? “We need a new building”, “our building needs renovation”, “we can’t make it work without a state-of-the-art arena”… WHY?!?
What is wrong with all these buildings? Now the Spurs need $200 million in arena renovations to stay competitive? They seem to be doing okay to me. The Key Arena is just over a decade old. Not a century, not a millennia… a decade. Ten years. It’s a nice building. It has over 17,000 seats, nice suites, used to have “club seats” and there isn’t a bad seat in the house. It is a difficult place for visiting teams to play when it is packed out and rocking like it was against the Jazz in the ’96 Western Conference Finals. But apparently, the Sonics can’t make money there. I wonder if it has anything to do with the historically bad teams that have been put on the floor in the past 5-6 years? Or that the NBA business model is as broke as a John Johnson jumper.
Idiot owners continue to raise salaries, cutting off their noses to spite their face and then ask us to pick up the pieces. Is there a player in the country that wouldn’t play basketball for a living at (pinky on lip) one million dollars a year? What about $500,000? What about $100,000? I happen to think that NBA owners should make money. The more the better. But giving Rashard Lewis nearly twenty million dollars a year (that’s 20 with 6 zeros after it or… $20,000,000) is absolute lunacy. We’re talking about ONE time all-star Rashard Lewis. I don’t begrudge Rashard, not at all, but how long before Rich DeVos will threaten the people of Orlando if he doesn’t get a new arena because he is “losing” money? I don’t get it. When does it stop? Maybe it doesn’t. Remember when Magic Johnson signed a 25-year, $25 million dollar contract? What a bargain! Why is it that NBA owner’s, price us middle incomers out from their product and then blame us when they are losing money? I can take my daughter to Disneyland (including flight) for the price of going to the Sonics game after tickets, food, parking and a souvenir. At least until Mickey Mouse shows up with corn rows and tattoos from the tips of his ears to his big yellow shoes.
Bennett says that Seattle doesn’t care or doesn’t want to make it work for him. I guess it would be a better sell if you could spell out precisely why the Key Arena or a renovated Key Arena won’t work. It is not our fault that you are paying Wally Szczerbiak, yes Wally Szczerbiak, $12,000,000 per year. Last year, Mike Wilks was paid $998,967 to play 6 minutes per game or in terms that all of us can understand that’s $1910 per minute or $114,604 an hour. Not bad wages for the 15th guy on your team. And now every team can carry 15 players. Why? Only 8 or 9 even play. And each team has a small army of coaches. What is so tough about coaching basketball that you need 7 guys to handle a team of 15 players? It’s ludicrous. These guys play basketball. They aren’t working on peace in the Middle East. It’s just basketball. Quit taking yourselves so seriously.
We do know that the Sonics have a terrible lease with the city. This, more than anything, restricts their ability to make money. So let’s re-do the lease? The people that we voted into city government should understand that Seattle with the Sonics is better than Seattle without. In the same way that the city is better with the Space Needle than without. It has become part of who we are. If they don’t understand that, then we’ll find others that do. But the fact remains, the lease between the city and the team must be renegotiated in a way that helps the Sonics survive in a difficult economic climate.
We are a provincial breed up here in the Great Northwest. We like our own and don’t like outsiders, at least initially. I’m not sure why it is, but it is. Ask anyone that has been transplanted here in Seattle and their story will be one of initial cold shoulders, doubt and trepidation, at least until they assimilate themselves here for a time. We are fiercely loyal and defend our home like no others. Just ask a Seattleite if it rains a lot here and they’ll tell you that it’s not really as bad as people think or that per inch, Seattle gets less rain fall than New York and Chicago each year. But Clay Bennett crossed us. Just like Californian Ken Bering and East Coaster Jeff Smulyan. His betrayal will never be forgiven here. The marriage with Bennett and Seattle has irreconcilable differences and is irreparable. His dim-witted partner Aubrey McClendon assured that when he told an Oklahoma newspaper that, from the jump, their group never intended to keep the team in Seattle. Clay looked us in the eye and said that he wasn’t having an affair and we reluctantly believed him. Only to later find someone else’s bra in his glovebox. If David Stern’s “miracle” happened and a new arena magically appeared on the corner of 5th and Mercer, the ability of Bennett to regain the cities’ trust is non-existent. Bennett is a pariah in a town that neither wants him nor needs him and everything he touches is left with a big scarlet A.
I have lived here for 40 years. I was born the year after the Sonics opened shop in 1966. I am a first generation fan. I don’t particularly like the league or what the NBA game has deteriorated in to but I love the Sonics. I love the idea of the Sonics. My daughter’s not that interested in watching basketball yet but that doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate what it means for another dad to take his kids out for a night at “The Key”. I have no juice in the community and can barely rub two nickels together but I know that there are people out there that do and can. I know that they will step in and defeat this Oklahoma charlatan and his band of thieves before our skyline is dramatically altered forever. He will have no choice but to sell this team and what ever deal he cuts with the league in doing so, will be of no consequence to us.
Yes, the NBA and its players, coaches and owners are out of touch with their own constituents. And yes, as a fan, it can be frustrating to the point of indifference. But losing the Sonics is not about David Stern, Clay F-ing Bennett or Robert Swift. It’s not about Wally Walker, Jim McIlvaine or Shawn Kemp. It’s not about Barry Ackerley, Bob Whitsett or George Karl and it’s not about Zollie Volchok, Spencer Haywood or Gus Williams. Its about all of them… and Fred Brown and Tab Skinner and John Brisker and Marvin Webster and Lenny Wilkens and Steve Scheffler and Eddie Johnson (both of them) and Nate McMillan and Dennis Awtry and Maurice Lucas and Frank Brickowski and Gary Payton and Ricky Pierce and Frank Oleynik. It’s about growing up knowing that you’ll never be Dennis Johnson but being Bob Blackburn might be pretty cool. Its about sneaking in to the visitor’s locker room when you’re 13 years old to ask Bill Laimbeer for his autograph and having him tell you to “go BLEEP yourself kid”. It’s about staying up late to watch Brent Musberger and Mindy Rudolph do the tape delayed broadcasts of NBA playoff games. It’s playing basketball with your buddy as he pretends to be Slick Watts and Bob Blackburn while you pretend to be Archie Clark and George Tolls. It’s about downtown parades and pay-per-view parties. It’s about Xavier McDaniels and Wayne Cody providing “Steve” with the necessary distraction. And it’s about “getting on a magic carpet ride” or “up for the down stroke”.
The Celtics have their “Big 3” with Garnett, Pierce and Allen, but I’ll take our big three of Chambers, McDaniels and Ellis any day. Thanks to Eric Snow, I can still go to any sports bar and yell “Su-per…” and at least a handful of people will yell back, “…So-nics”. It’s the only place in town where I can sit a few rows behind Eddie Vedder, an aisle away from Bill Gates and a couple seats away from Ichiro and not feel out of place. I can high five a stranger or hug an usher because we are all sharing something that doesn’t happen at the SAM or Benaroya Hall. The players change. They come and go. Some good, some not. Some we love, others we hate. # 43, # 1, # 19, # 32, #10 or #24, it doesn’t really matter. It isn’t the name that’s on the back of the jersey but the one that’s in front that counts.
This team is ours. Yes, Mr. Bennett and Mr. Schultz and Mr. Ackerley and Mr. Schulman did the heavy lifting but at the end of the day they are just stewards of a public trust that begins and ends with each of us… and is handed down to our kids as our parents did for us and as they will do for their own. This team is ours and you can’t have it.
To steal Shawn Kemp’s line… It’s the Sonics baby, yeah…yeah.
