Thursday, February 16

Not Being a Douche: Sonics 2.0 Fan Edition

I won’t speculate on what will be announced later today (or next month, or next year, or… ever) regarding a professional basketball team returning to Seattle. I can say that whatever it is will have to factor in these two certainties:
  1. They aren’t making any new basketball teams.
  2. Meaning if we are going to get a team here, it’s coming from another town.
Better writers than I have examined the dilemma this creates for Supes fans. On the one hand, you’re still mad that your team got took. On the other hand, you know that to have a team again, you have to take one from someone else.

If you’ll forgive another awful sports analogy, it’s like needing a heart transplant. You hope you get one, but it is beyond macabre to actively root for another person to die. But if one does become available, it’s not like you would say “No thanks, I’ll wait until science is able to clone hearts and sell them at Costco.” (note to self: a cartoon might have worked better here)

So what can we do? We are constantly assured that Seattle will get a team back, from somewhere, sometime. What we can do, when/if that day comes, is steer clear of gloating douchebag territory. Having been the recipients of scorn from Other Klassy Citizens these past 4 years, I’ve been mentally compiling a list of tips for avoiding their habits when the situations are reversed.
  • Don’t leave taunting comments on the aggrieved fanbase’s blogs and forums. Just… don’t be like those guys.
  • Don’t perpetuate the meme that it was “the fans’ fault” for not supporting the team enough. I don’t know how many times I’ve read an OKC fan parrot the “You guys didn’t support your team” excuse. WE guys absolutely did support our team. The mayor, commissioner, the coffee tycoon—THOSE are the guys that didn’t support US. The same kind of crap likely contributed to the other team’s demise.
  • Don’t talk about which city “deserves” a team or not. Deserve ain’t got nothing to do with it. It has everything to do with revenue streams and public subsidies.
  • Don’t tell grieving fans to “stop whining” or “get over it already.” You just come across as classless winners when you get the team AND act like you can lecture the old fans on how to cope with loss.
  • Don’t boast about how much better your city is than the old city, or how much better off the team is in your town.
  • Don’t say that it’s okay for us to steal because we were stolen from. It’s still not okay. At minimum, acknowledge the feelings of the other fans. There were a miniscule number of OKC fans who expressed sympathy on comments here and at other Sonics sites who redeemed their fanbase a tiny bit.
Non-douchey additions/suggestions welcome.

7 comments:

PN said...

I'll second everything you wrote, with the exception of the heart surgery analogy, in that the person giving up the heart isn't being extorted by his doctor to either pay for a new hospital or risk losing his heart. Ditto everything else, though.

chunkstyle23 said...

Shoot, I knew there was a hole in that analogy. Good catch.

Still, I don't think I can say no to that heart if I'm a dead man otherwise. Those baboon and robot hearts just don't do the trick.

podirk said...

as a fan on the other side a few yrs back, I would add ignore ignorant comments left from the city loosing the team...take the high road

Hope to see the Sonics back in the next few yrs, and please use a version of the 1975-95 logo...that is the best logo in NBA history!

HowardU said...

This is very sad to read.

I think another analogy could be the purchase of stolen property. Not only is it unethical, it encourages future theft by essentially CREATING the black market for illicit sales.

2 wrongs do not make a right.

Although the city of Seattle lost the Sonics, it didn't sacrifice self respect by catering to the whining of Howard Schultz. Building this new arena goes against everything the initial stand stood for.

Paul said...

Howard, I'm assuming you're a Sac fan, and if so, we all truly feel your pain. I personally would rather Seattle get a less supported team like the Grizz or Hornets, but if the Seattle group did end up purchasing the Kings, it wouldn't exactly be the same thing.

When Bennett bought the Sonics, he claimed he wanted to keep the Sonics in Seattle, when in fact he had no desire to do so and his group intentionally did everything in their power to make the team fail and lose money in Seattle so they would have an excuse to move. I don't think people here were nearly as upset about the team being sold as they were about being fed blatant lies and deception.

I think the Seattle group is pretty upfront about what they want: an NBA team in Seattle.

As far as the arena goes, again, it's a completely different deal. Schultz and Bennett wanted the city and/or state to pay for a new arena. The new stadium will be paid for solely by private money and funds generated by the stadium. I think we stood our ground pretty well on that one.

Again, we all know the pain of losing a team, and I REALLY, really hope it's not the Kings, but sadly, with no expansion on the horizon, it's going to have to be SOMEBODY'S team.

AP said...

One thing is for sure, I don't know how anybody in their right mind can say that OKC is a better city than Seattle. Seattle is an international city with major corporate headquarters. I ain't ever heard anybody say "hey let's go for a vacation to Oklahoma City!"

Awards said...

This is very sad to read.

I think another analogy could be the purchase of stolen property. Not only is it unethical, it encourages future theft by essentially CREATING the black market for illicit sales.