Moving Along

drawin': Raf / writin': Pete

Amount of money spent by Clay Bennett to move the Sonics to Oklahoma City:

City of Seattle, June 2008: $45 million
Additional money, 2013: $30 million
Relocation fee: $30 million
Losses, 2007-08 season (est.): $20 million
Losses, 2006-07 season (est.): $20 million
Moving fees (est.): $15 million
Legal fees (est.): $2 million

Add it all up and you come to a total of $162 million.

Why is this important? Because the cost of renovating KeyArena is now pegged at around $300 million, but, back when the team was sold, Howard Schultz was looking to spend about $225 million to renovate the building. After purchasing the team, Bennett indicated – repeatedly – that he had no interest in contributing any of his own money to the project (which eventually morphed into a completely new arena in Renton, at a price tag of $500 million).

And yet, Bennett has now committed more than half of that total just for relocating his new toy to Oklahoma City. If Bennett had just offered two-thirds of that figure - $100 million – while in Olympia fourteen months ago, yesterday would never have happened, and the state would have easily passed the bill to either build a new facility or renovate KeyArena. Further, by indicating that he was interested in helping the team, the miserable attendance figures of the past two years would have been considerably better.

Instead, Bennett kept his money in his pocket, because all along he had no interest in doing anything to keep this team here and a major interest, obviously, in getting a team for Oklahoma City.

$162 million goes a long, long way in this world. Apparently, though, just not in Seattle.

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supersonicsoultoon: Ranger Howie

So maybe Schultz looks more like a Mountie than a forest ranger. I must have been influenced by Pete's Canadian brainwaves. Especially since he came up with the idea for this one! Add "Art Director" to your job title, Pedro.

~chunk

PS: For the background on this cartoon, read this article in the Seattle Times.

Supersonicsoultoon: Behind the Scenes at the NBA Owners Meeting

(click picture to enlarge)

Sorry, no color this time.

-chunk

supersonicsoultoon: Kissing Booth

What's more wholesome and old-timey than a county fair kissing booth?

I really, really wanted to add Stern as the carny, but ran out of time.

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Supersonicsoultoon: Vertical Stripes are Thinning

I'm sure Clay is just giving his buddy Dave a hearty pat on the back.

Stern

With this medal, I thee wed. You may now kiss my ass.

What can you say about this man?

'His Royal Smugness,' Steve Kelley at the Times calls him, and it's not an inappropriate moniker. David Stern, the man who seemingly revels in every ounce of good publicity for his league, has once again stomped his foot and tried to belittle the efforts of those who are working to keep the Sonics in Seattle.

"There's not going to be a new arena," Stern says. "There's not going to be a public contribution, and that's everyone's right. I mean that sincerely."

Stern went on to comment that he had read "in the newspaper" that Speaker of the House Frank Chopp had offered his support to the University of Washington's plans for a new athletic facility, but that Chopp had denied such support to the Sonics, further illustrating Seattle's ambivalence about losing their NBA team.

Which would make for a great soundbite, if it contained any kernel of truth, which, like most things out of Stern's mouth, it does not.

Reading Stern's comments, it is easy to become riled up and toss out invectives like a drunken fan, but, honestly, he's not worth the effort.

Remember, Stern is the man who publicly admonished Tim Hardaway for his disrespectful comments about homosexuality last year, because, don't you know, the NBA is all about cultural inclusiveness. David Stern, it seemed, would not stand for homophobes, not in his NBA, dammit.

Well, as we all know, that level of understanding doesn't have to extend to the owners. And that should tell you everything need to know about the Commish, a man who never met an idea he couldn't spin, a city he couldn't blackmail, or an emotion he couldn't twist.

You can keep talking, David, but we're done listening.

Jerk

I think I've been rather clear where I stand on the new stadium debate. I'm not a fan of spending public money on private enterprises, especially when those enterprises routinely lie about their losses, and also use those losses for tax reasons.

The folks at Sonicscentral, conversely, are all for it. And you know what, I can see their point. They admit the Sonics are not a financial priority for the region, and their argument that the team provides a huge emotional boost to this area has merit. Again, I don't agree with it, but I can see where they are coming from.

And, more importantly, they've put their efforts behind that. The saveoursonics site is just the tip of the iceberg. From rallies to trips to Olympia to t-shirts ... these guys have gone all out in a concerted effort to help Clay Bennett's investment.

So when I read this quote from Bennett in the Kansas City Star about the reaction to the stadium failure, well, it flat-out pissed me off.

“No hue and cry, no letters to the editor, nothing by the media or talk on the call-in shows, or no new ideas on how to get it done,” Bennett said. “No private ideas on the table.”

That's just obscene. Here are these fellows at sonicscentral, completely unpaid, devoting all of their free time to help Bennett succeed, and he completely urinates all over their efforts.

I know Bennett is positioning himself to move to another city, or at least intimidate the city/state into getting what he wants, but this is just flat-out lousy. Further, he's lying, if the rumors about the Muckleshoot tribe or David Sabey are to be believed. For crying out loud, how many deals does he expect? Didn't he get the opportunity to buy the team solely because a group of men from Seattle failed to build a stadium in the first place? Does he truly expect us to believe him when he acts shocked that the stadium isn't built within 48 hours of his arrival?

Shame on you, Clay Bennett. I hope David Stern gives you the same treatment he gave the last carpet-bagging owner in the NBA, Bill Laurie, and sends you packing back home to Oklahoma.

Your Seattle Renton SuperSonics

Numbers 1-10 in the top ten fun things to do in Renton: Visit Jimi's grave.

It's official: The new (imaginary) home of the Seattle SuperSonics is . . . RENTON! (Unless the state legislators decide to use the tax revenue for stupid crap like schools, health care, etc.)

OLYMPIA - The Seattle Sonics want to build a new $500 million arena in Renton.

New owner Clay Bennett on Tuesday told state lawmakers that the arena would be an economic stimulus for an up-and-coming city.

Bennett said the team expects a $300 million contribution from the state. Off the roughly $200 million balance needed to complete the project, Bennett said the team expects to "be responsible for private contributions in the range of $100 million." As for the the team's commitment, Bennett said, "The first committment is a $350 million purchase of the team and a commitment to keep the team in the region."

Read the rest in the Seattle P.I.

Half a billion dollars. For a basketball arena. In Renton. Good luck with that.

Does anyone think Bennett is even the least bit serious about this? Maybe I'm just a cynical old bastard (maybe?), but it seems like Big Boy is submitting these ridiculous plans that have no chance of being completed just to fulfill the "good faith effort" portion of his contract.

Believe me, if Clay Stadium gets built, I will be there on opening night with everyone else, getting my picture taken alongside the giant Shawn Kemp statue outside the front gate. But I don't trust Bennett any more than I can throw him. Which, given his tremendous girth and my complete lack of any sort of physical strength, isn't very far.