Court Date

Showing the wisdom one would expect from a judge of her stature, Judge Marsha Pechman listened to the Sonics asking for a March court date, the city asking for an October date, and split the difference:

June 16.

For those, like me, who wasted their time getting English minors/majors, that date should obviously ring a bell. It's Bloomsday, the date on which James Joyce based his eternally praised (by people who claim to understand it) and cursed (by students who have to slog through it) novel "Ulysses." The entire book, all 20,000 pages, takes place on June 16, 1904.

And now, a century later, the fate of a city's fandom will begin to be decided on June 16th. Let's just hope that 50 years from now that, in addition to being an Irish holiday, June 16th will be a date for Sonic fans to cherish.

[Oh, and on a side note - this screws Clay Bennett's chances of getting out of Seattle. I can't see the league allowing the Sonics to move to OKC after a decision is made in June as it wouldn't be enough time to allow schedules to be revised. I'll allow smarter folks to weigh in, but from my vantagepoint, this guarantees the Sonics in Seattle for at least one more year.]