Sonic Fans v Bennett

Back when all of Greater Seattle was ready to light Clay Bennett on fire, a small group of season-ticket holders launched a lawsuit against the Sonics' owner, claiming that he misled them in a ticket-renewal advertising campaign.

And, if you're like me, you paid attention to the suit for awhile, and then let it ebb as slowly from your mind as Clemon Johnson making his way back downcourt after a made basket.

But thanks to the Capitol Hill Seattle Blog, we can report that the suit - long-ignored by us - is still ongoing, and may, in fact, serve to be the only piece of justice Sonic fans will ever wring from Clay Bennett's sorry hide.

The story is chock full of interesting tidbits, such as the fact that the judge hearing the case is Quincy Jones' brother, and that Justice Jones decided that a jury would be the best arbiter of the final amount of damages owed to the three ticket-holders.

This week, according to CHSB, other season ticket-holders will be notified of the class action suit, and will be given the opportunity to take part. After reading the notice, it seems clear to me that we're not talking coffee-spilled-on-the-lap damages here. To quote the notice:

"A remedy remaining available to Plaintiffs and Class members is a potential money judgment consisting of the profit that might have been made through a resale of season tickets, if Plaintiffs and Class members had been allowed to exercise their options to purchase season tickets for the 2008-2009 and 2009-2010 seasons at 2006-2007 prices."

With the trial date set for January of 2010, and a deadline for prospetive class-action suit members to respond of October 24, it's still a ways to go before this case gets moving, but that's still plenty of time for Bennett & Co. to start coming up with ways (i.e., $$$) to keep this out of the courts.

Sonics & Huskies: Another View

Last spring, the Sonics (this is when they were still the Sonics and before they were the Something Elses) were in a unexpected pickle: They needed to extricate themselves from a lease they had signed, and their only excuse for doing so was to prove that they had no impact, economically anyways, on Greater Seattle.

It was a surreal experience, seeing a professional sports team begging others to understand that professional sports teams have no monetary impact, as odd as seeing Dick Cheney trying to convince the House of Representatives that they needed to excuse Halliburton from its contract because defense contractors do nothing to help employment, or, at least, some much more well thought out analogy.

And, so, as I watched/read the deliberations in court, I wondered to myself, "How long is it going to be until somebody uses the Sonics' words against them?" Well, if not them, then at least another pro sports team clamoring for public financing for its stadium so that its fans can have bigger cup-holders, because, hey, those other kids in the next state have them, and, geez, how can you expect us to compete against those cup-holders when we've still got these puny, 1996-style ones? I mean, come on, I wouldn't even put a warm cup of Mountain Dew in these things!

Well, to answer my question from seven months ago, it apparently took about seven months. From The Heartland Institute (which, apparently, is run by the Son or possibly Nephew of Zod, at least judging by his photograph), in an article discussing the merits/lack of merits of improving Husky Stadium and KeyArena:

Ironically, the SuperSonics—Seattle’s former professional basketball franchise—last year went to court to get out of a lease at Key Arena and agreed sports facilities do not promote economic development.

“The financial issue is simple, and the city’s analysts agree, there will be no net economic loss if the Sonics leave Seattle,” the Sonics said in a brief. “Entertainment dollars not spent on the Sonics will be spent on Seattle’s many other sports and entertainment options. Seattleites will not reduce their entertainment budget simply because the Sonics leave.”

It means nothing to Bennett & Crew, obviously, since they have long since packed up the wagon and moved on down the road, but is it not the least ironic that in swiping our favorite basketball team, the Sonics' former owners not only managed to harvest the crops — as it were — from our fields, but to salt the earth on their way out of town?

Whoops

Bend it Like Bennett checks in with a report from the MySpace page of Graham Bennett, son of Clay.

With these sorts of things, you never know what the truth is, but if what we see is true, and Graham's dad did indeed ask what was up with the "black midget with a pickle in her hand," well, it can't be good.

If nothing else, it might serve as an interesting test of Charles Barkley's hypothesis that Oklahoma is "no place for black people."

Wait a Minute, Clay Bennett Owns a Bookstore?

Were one to compile a list of possible retail soups in which Clay Bennett would dabble his entrepreneurial finger, small-town bookstore owner would surely are one of the least-likely possibilities, perhaps right below running a laundromat in Ballard and above operating a GLBT Sex Shop in San Francisco.

And, yet, surprisingly, small book store owner is exactly what Mr. Bennett has listed on his resume, Owner, Town Center Bookstore in lovely Basalt, Colorado. (It's right there on the sheet, see it? next to Carpetbagging Owner of Seat ... well, let's leave that alone for one day, at least, shall we?)

Unfortunately for the employees of said store, the swinging ax of the economic downturn has finally landed upon their heads, as Mr. and Mrs. Bennett have decided to close the doors on their little operation. Naturally, as someone who has witnessed first-hand the havoc of which the Bennetts are capable and the rapidity with which they are able to yank rugs out from underneath unsuspecting victims, I'm less than enthusiastic about dancing a jig over the Bennetts failed store. After all, the dozen or so folks working there aren't exactly thrilled about it.

No, my reason for bringing this up is more pertinent to the operations of a certain basketball team in Oklahoma City.

You see, the bookstore's General Manager, Fred Durham, dropped an interesting tidbit of information while in conversation with Aspen Daily News reporter Brent Gardner-Smith. Quoting the article here:

"Durham said the Bennetts looked down the road at the challenges facing both newspapers and independent bookstores and decided to close up shop in Basalt.

“'When you have to write a check every month to make something work, you begin to say ‘Now wait a minute,’” said Durham."

Why is this relevant? Simply because Clay Bennett's fortune is tied extremely closely to two entities: Chesapeake Energy and Oklahoma Publishing, the Bennett's media conglomerate. We're all well aware of the sad state of affairs at Chesapeake (no need to document them on this site, surely), but it might surprise you to know that the Daily Oklahoman is no stranger to financial problems.

With the ongoing death watch of newspapers across North America, is it any wonder that the Bennetts decided that it might be a good time to tighten their belts when it came to their financial holdings? And is it any wonder that 99.9% of Sonic fans in Seattle are cursing the day the city caved in to Bennett's group last summer?

Because, mind you, if Clay Bennett is willing to sell a 10-man operation in Colorado to save a few bucks, don't you think he might have been the same about a basketball team in Seattle?