Man what a great 24 hours to live in Oklahoma City. I have been waiting all day yesterday for the judge to give her ruling on whether the Supersonics would have to play their final two remaining years in Seattle before coming to Oklahoma City. When I got home from work yesterday I checked the Seattle Times web site and read that the Oklahoman was reporting that a settlement was being worked out. At 6:00 PM, when the verdict was supposed to be read, the local television stations were announcing that rumors were flying that the team had reached a settlement with the city of Seattle. At 7:00 pm I was going between our local television station playing the Oklahoma City press conference and the Sports Animal radio station that was playing the Seattle press conference.
Both sides were trying to make it sound like a great thing with Seattle saying that settling for money allows them to stay in the good graces of the NBA to get another NBA team in Seattle. The Oklahoma City side was obviously happy with no explanation necessary. The city of Seattle agreed to let the Supersonics team move to Oklahoma City this coming season for a cash payment of $45 million immediately and another $30 million after five years if Seattle has not been awarded another team. This also included the condition that Seattle leaders must fund a new arena or completely renovate Key arena in Seattle by the end of 2009. There was some comforting news to the city of Seattle by the commissioner of the NBA when he told them that they were still a world class NBA city and that after they get a new arena they would be notified of any new team, or a team willing to relocate. Also at their press conference they had representatives for a group led by Steve Balmer of Microsoft that is willing to purchase a new team for Seattle.
Part of the agreement yesterday is that the team name, colors, statistics, and records would remain in the city of Seattle and would be given to their new team when it is awarded. I strongly believe it will before long. The team will be given a new name and colors probably within a month because the new 2008 - 2009 schedule comes out August 1st. I am so glad the name is going to change because I want the team to be known as Oklahoma City’s team. I still hear people call the New Orleans Hornets the Charlotte Hornets. A new name helps to eliminate the confusion. I think this is a monumental time to live in Oklahoma City. There are those that feel that giving millions of dollars to millionaires is unethical and the money should be spent on more important things. These people, though well intentioned fail to see the value of having a professional team in your city. In the long run the city makes far more money than it costs so these causes are actually easier to meet with the team than without them.
I truly feel for the fans in Seattle. They have been faithful to their team for 41 years. The fans are the one that lose in all this because they are unable to make any of the decisions that ultimately affect them. They are lashing out at Oklahoma City via message boards and radio stations in Seattle right now and I completely understand their anger. I do not take it personally even though they are calling us “hicks” and “thieves” because I can put myself in their place if the situation was the other way around. I really hope they get another team very fast. We just wanted a team and not necessarily Seattle’s team. On the other hand, when the people in Seattle finally get over the shock and mourning I believe they will see where the blame ultimately should go and that is with the Seattle politicians. The NBA owners prior to Clay Bennett have been complaining about a new arena long before our owners were involved. When the previous owner sold the team to an ownership group comprised of all Oklahoma City citizens, that should have been a wake up call to the leaders up there. Clay Bennett’s emails are completely irrelevant. His intentions are completely irrelevant. The one thing that could have fixed this issue from the very beginning is a new arena. Whether Clay Bennett was deceptive or not, a new arena could have stopped him in his tracks. If I were a Seattle citizen I would vote the politicians out of office this coming election.
Again, my blaming the Seattle leadership is not aimed at the fans up there but if you are really honest, that is where the blame needs to go. I do not believe it deserves to belong to Howard Shultz either because the city leaders did not deliver for him either. I really hope the leadership up their finally puts their pride aside and gets a new arena done immediately and a new team is awarded up their immediately. As for my hometown, we are thrilled. It is a wonderful time to be here. Every television and radio station is talking about the good news. I am very excited about the events of the last 24 hours and am hopeful the rest of the city enjoys this team as much as I will.
Technorati Tags: basketball,NBA,Seattle,Supersonics,Sonics,Oklahoma City,Howard Shultz,Hornets,Seattle Times
Tags: NBA, Oklahoma City, Seattle, Supersonics
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