Friday, June 19

Two Sonics Reading Options

Sonics reading options for a Friday.

Option #1:
Steve Aschburner's latest piece in Sports Illustrated, which explores the sad state of affairs of the NBA in Seattle, especially when placed in relation to the joy surrounding the Sonics' championship run in 1979. It's a well written piece, but, understandably, overwhelmingly sad for a fan of Sonics' basketball.

Option #2:
Frank Deford's Sports Illustrated piece from 1967, which details the joy surrounding "the lone big-league franchise in the entire northwest quadrant of the nation, an area stretching north from San Francisco and west from Minneapolis-St. Paul."

Deford's story is full of gems; from Al Bianchi's too-tight pants, Tonics for Sonics, how the Cleveland Indians tried to come to Seattle, Henry Akin's chewing tobacco, and how Walt Hazzard "was the first Negro" to live in a Bellevue neighborhood.

Yes, 1967 was a long time ago.

Anyhow, if you're going to read one of those stories, I'd suggest Deford's, if only because it won't make you want to slit your wrists when you complete it.

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

Looks like you losers might as well read about Sonics history, because there isn't any Sonics present. Have fun rooting for a team that doesn't exist!

JAS said...

At least we have a history. Oklahoma needs to pretend they have one:

http://benditlikebennett.blogspot.com/2009/06/congrats.html

Have fun rooting for a team with no history, present, or future.

Oh, and way to go creating an international incident thanks to your filthy river:

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/olympics/2009-06-10-915387729_x.htm

Anonymous said...

You can keep your history, guys, since that's all you've got anyways.

JAS said...

Yeah, you said that already. Good comeback. But like I said, that's more than you'll ever have.
But look on the bright side, OKC. A few more trips to McDonald's and you'll be the undisputed fattest city in the country. Almost there.

Oklahoma: Making the rest of America feel better about itself by comparison since 1907.

Anonymous said...

Ah, yes, because Tacoma is so beautifully clean and wonderful 365 days a year, right? As for the fattest city crap, here's the top 10 list if you're interested:

1. Miami
2. Oklahoma City, OK
3. San Antonio, TX
4. Las Vegas, NV
5. New York, NY
6. Houston, TX
7. El Paso, TX
8. Jacksonville, FL
9. Charlotte, NC
10. Louisville-Jefferson, KY

And the fittest cities:

1. Salt Lake City
2. Colorado Springs, CO
3. Minneapolis, MN
4. Denver, CO
5. Albuquerque, NM
6. Portland, OR
7. Honolulu, HI
8. Seattle, WA
9. Omaha, NE
10. Virginia Beach, VA

So, which top 10 would you rather have to live in, the one with New York, Vegas, Miami and Houston, or the one with Va. Beach, Omaha, Albuquerque, and Salt Lake City?

Thought so.

-Dan

Paul said...

Um, actually the second list, dude. Minneapolis and Portland are two of my favorite cities. And it would really suck to have to live in Honolulu, right?

With the exception of NY, the first list is pretty much all peckerwoodville (and Vegas is a nice place to visit, but NOBODY wants to live there, trust me). No thanks!

anonymous #12 said...

It was mentioned the Lakers won their 15th title this year and they were counting the five that happened while the team was in Minneapolis. Let's face it, our history was sold along with our team.

JAS said...

Where someone wants to live is largely subjective, but a recent study listed Seattle as the third most preferred city in the country, behind Denver and San Diego. Here’s a link to the whole list (OKC was not listed anywhere, in case you were wondering):
http://pewsocialtrends.org/pubs/722/grass-greener-somewhere-else-top-cities

In all honesty, I’m sure OKC is a decent enough place to live. Some of you people just need to be a little more self-aware, that’s all.

anonymous #12 said...

JAS, you almost make me want to take a swim in the scenic Duwamish River... but not quite - you go first.

Really, who gives a crap? In the summer I can look at our beautiful mountains and Puget Sound... yes it's nice. But in the winter I liked watching basketball... now I get to spend my winters looking in the direction of the mountains and enjoy the view of the dark grey clouds. If you want to make yourself feel better with this city vs city BS, knock yourself out... Personally it doesn't do a whole lot for myself.

nuss said...

Give the kid a break, guys, his mom only probably taught him how to use a computer last week.

JAS said...

Well, to each his own, Anonymous #12. But if it bothers you that much, I’ll stop. Have a glorious day.

Paul said...

#12, I'm with you as far as not making this about us vs. them. The Sonics going to OKC has nothing to do with the citizens of either city, it had to do with the greed of NBA owners.

Having said that, we've had a fair share of gloating Okies (how's that for a team mascot?) trolling our site and basically pissing on our (former sports team's) grave, and the guy that started this "argument" was no exception.

Çetin Cem said...

read aschburner's article - heartbreaking :(