I know the Sonics fans, from the founders of Save Our Sonics to the 2,000 diehards who showed up outside the courthouse to display their undying support, must feel like a herd of obese elephants sat on their hearts. And I feel for them. I do. No one wants to see that hurt, that utter agony, even in the staunchest of enemies, save for the Steinbrenner famiglia.
But to steal the title from that Arnold Schwarzenegger classic, the fans are simply Collateral Damage. Like the polar bears to global warming or the immune system to “aw c’mon, just one more Big Mac,” those fans were unavoidable casualties. Maybe not necessarily for the greater good — sending anything to Oklahoma is never a welcome sign (Trail of Tears, anyone? B-Ho, anyone?) — but in this process pummeling the dreams of these fans could not be helped.
Everyone knew Bennett’s MO: Put on a back-slappin’, hoe-downin’ face, pander to Seattle’s elitism (or at least its renowned ‘nice-guy’ attitude), and, as soon as the Emerald City’s guard is down, sneak away with the only team that has ever brought Seattle a world championship. It’s not as if Bennett’s ulterior motives were hard to see — after Katrina turned N’Awlins into the murder capital, where they murder for capitol (thanks Jay-Z), OKC welcomed the Hornets with burly, DDT-laced arms. But Starbucks head honcho Howard Schulz was apparently too blinded by the piles of money littering his front lawn to realize that when he sold the team to Bennett, both he and his city were being fleeced.
As Bennett and his cabal of not-so-savvy Machiavellians — as super-snake Aubrey McClendon let slip last year, “We didn't buy the team to keep it in Seattle, we hoped to come [to OKC]” — crossed hurdle after trouble-free hurdle, Seattleites were apparently too caught up in the reintroduction of the Pike Place Roast to care.
Perhaps they were resting on their laurels, waiting for their knight in shining armor, Microsoft dude Steve Ballmer, to ride in on a wave of Vistas to save the day, but the balding billionaire had his own business to attend to (replacing a certain spectacled genius). As NBA owners, OKC councilmen, and even His Surreptitiousness David Stern waved the green flag toward the Sooner State, the gray dawn slowly rose on the Space Needlers.
Article comments
1 - Douglas Mays
Well, very true. But that is what I figured actually. Should the Sonics leave, the Trailblazers attendence figures will increase.
Of course, you are in PDX, so why should you care? Well except for the fact you cannot drive 180 miles north to catch the Blazers vs. the Sonics. PDX does have the Rose Garden. Nice venue.
As an example of the state of things, about a mile north of me in Seattle (Lake City neighborhood, generally nice, medium income place) there is a tavern called the Rose Garden. Problem is that it is basically an open market crack den/free market prostitution house. In an analogic way, so is the business model of the NBA.
Hopefully this whole incident will trigger changes in business procedure. Right now pro sports in general operates on a carpet-bagger mentality.
At least the Seattle Sonics will be back at some point. And Bennett will have to lobby his ass off to avoid paying up $30,000,000 if Seattle does not have a team in 5 year window period.
Hopefully the example set by the Cleveland Browns will apply to Seattle in this case.
DM