Misery loves company

Conversation overheard at a QFC in Ballard this morning:

Clerk: So are you as depressed as I am about the Super Bowl?

Customer: Are you kidding? I'm a Sonics fan—I've been depressed all year!

Stadia Mania

"So this is a basketball? Fascinating! "

As this site has gone on, one area in which I am proud is our reluctance to write articles concerning the Sonics’ financial picture. I don’t know about Paul or Chunky, but I root for the Sonics’ basketball team, not for Howard Schultz, Barry Ackerley, or anyone else in the front office. I would imagine most of the people who visit this site are in the same situation. The kind of statistics we enjoy are points per game, not economic indicators.

Yet this latest hubbub concerning the Sonics and their arena woes has struck me as something worth discussing. Obviously, both sides of this argument – as in any debate – are staking out their respective territories, filling the newspaper and airwaves with ridiculous rhetoric that has as much basis in fact as W’s State of the Union.

Somewhere between Nick Licata’s nonsense about sports having “no cultural or economic value whatsoever” and Howard Schultz’s diatribe about “we are ultimately not the ones responsible for selling or moving this team” lies the truth, at least what I consider to be the truth.

The truth is the Sonics are vastly overstating their economic impact upon their hometown, a trait they learned, no doubt, from all of the other professional sports teams in North America.

Take a guess – what’s the economic impact of the Sonics on Seattle? In other words, if the Sonics left, by what percentage what this region’s economy decline? By 20? 10? 5?

Try 1/10th of one percent. Or, perhaps I should put it another way, as this author did: “In every case, independent work on the economic impact of stadiums and arenas has uniformly found that there is no statistically significant positive correlation between sports facility construction and economic development. … This stands in stark contrast to the claims of sports teams and leagues who assert that the large economic benefits of professional franchises merit considerable public expenditures on stadiums and arenas.” Or, perhaps you’d like to read this article, whose authors “haven’t uncovered a single instance in which the presence of a professional sports team has been linked to a boost in the local economy.”

And for this, Howard Schultz wants the taxpayers of King County to cough up $200 million, all the while his front office is signing people like Calvin Booth to five-year, multimillion contracts, Mikki Moore to a deal that pay him $300,000 a point, Ibo Kutluay to a two-year deal that contributed all of zero points to the Sonics, and so on. All while his front office sales staff has posted the lowest luxury suite occupancy rate in the entire NBA.

Face it, Howard, you have made your mess and now you must lie in it. I for one am not interested in subsidizing his team’s idiocy. Yes, I love the Sonics, and, yes, if they win an NBA championship it will warm my heart like few other things in my life. But how does that compare to people stuck in 2-hour traffic delays, every day, every week, every month of the year because of a lack of public transit? Will the goodwill generated by Schultz’ new building make homeless people warmer at night?

No, it won’t. I have come to a shared conclusion with two very smart people who know more about this subject than me, you, or Howard. Noll and Zimbalist’s fine book from 1997 “Sports, Jobs, and Taxes: The Economic Impact of Sports Teams and Stadiums,” explains in excrutiating detail just what its title declares. Their conclusion? “Stadium subsidies facilitate building expensive monuments to sports that benefit no one and transfer income from ordinary people to highly paid players, owners, and executives.”

Sorry, folks, but if you’re asking me to cough up $200 million so that I can continue to enjoy writing for a sports blog, Ray Allen can add another bedroom to his guest house, and Howard Schultz can add another Starbucks in Tarzana, well, you’re asking the wrong guy.

Opie

Opie all up in Miles' grill. "I'm open . . . seriously!"

In a season full of misery, one bright spot has emerged. Young Robert Swift has taken the reins as Seattle's center of the future, and his play of late has even put him in the role of center of the present.

Swift has averaged - hold onto your seats, folks - close to a double-double the past month, 9.8 ppg and 8.5 rebounds per game. In fact, he's the 16th-best center in the league at rebounds per game during that time.

Now, for most teams, having the 16th-best rebounding center wouldn't be cause for celebration. But the Sonics are not most teams. Since Jack Sikma headed for Milwaukee in exchange for Alton Lister lo, those many years ago, the Sonics have been devoid of a quality man at the 5 spot. Is Swift the answer to our prayers? Well, plenty of other guys have posted great numbers for a month's time (see Fortson, Danny for further reference), so the jury is still out on Swift. But at least he gives us something to get excited about, and isn't that what being a fan is all about?

Back from the dead?

After a kick-in-the-nuts loss to Portland Monday night, the Sonics rebounded with a hard-fought (O.K., ugly) win over the Warriors tonight, 111-107.

Supersonicsoul was in the house tonight, as Chunk took me to the game for a birthday present. As I am old and enfeebled now, it was nice to get out of the house. (Even though I had to pay five dollars for a hot-dog. FIVE DOLLARS!)

Speaking of Supersonicsoul, we are officially back online now. All the files were erased from the server because some idiot (me) thought it would be cool to upgrade to mySQL/PHP and some other web-crap I don't fully understand. Anyhue, all is fixed now and I promise not to break the website again. Probably.

Sonic Talk

Couple of notes regarding the Sonics:

1. Rumors persist that the Sonics are pursuing recently traded Marcus Banks from the T-Wolves in exchange for Flip Murray and/or Reggie Evans. Banks is a 6’2” PG/SG (mostly PG), drafted out of UNLV by the Grizzlies – oddly enough – between two guys named Collison and Ridnour in 2003. He’s been a reserve for his career (if you can call 2 ½ years a career), but he does offer some strength that Frodo lacks. Basically, with Banks you’re getting more rebounds, steals, fouls, and free throw attempts, and you’re giving up assists and a small bit of shooting. Neither Frodo nor Banks are outstanding shooters, although Banks should get some credit for improving his FT shooting this season. Banks has sat on the bench for the majority of the year in Boston, only getting serious minutes for a 3-week span in mid-December to early January. Would he help the Sonics? Well, probably not any more than resident mystery man Rick Brunson.


2. Should be an interesting matchup tonight, as the Blazers take a 4-15 road record into Key Arena. Juan Dixon has really come on strong in the last month, regularly scoring 20 points and putting up a 43% 3-pt mark for the month of January, as well as a 50% mark overall. Obviously, he’s not going to keep up that rate, but I’m not expecting Ray Allen to put an end to it. One other item to note: Steve Blake and Luke Ridnour will stage a “World’s Grittiest Man” competition at halftime. Celebrity judges include Chris Corchiani and John Stockton.

3. Welcome back, Nate.

Will they score 200 100?

With the high-scoring Sonics taking on the no-defense Mavs tonight, will we see a repeat of Sunday's shoot-out against the Suns? Who knows, but after a couple of impressive wins on the road, including last night's smackdown of the "Jazz" (there is no Jazz in Utah, people!), there's sure to be a lot more people watching this one than Sunday's game.

Since the game is on TNT, and I'm not blessed with "fancy cable", I shall be listening to the game on the radio, while watching the highly-anticipated 100th episode of Smallville (Someone close to Clark will die tonight! Please don't let it be Chloe!)

Check out the Sonics Insider preview.

You Can't Handle The Truth

You've GOT to be kidding me...

No, AK1984, I don't mean Paul Pierce. I mean this:

SONICS SELECT ENTERCOM SEATTLE AS NEW RADIO PARTNER

Seattle, WA (January 24th, 2006) - The Seattle SuperSonics organization today announced its signing of a multi-year agreement with Entercom Seattle. All Sonics games will be broadcast on 770KTTH starting in the 2006-07 season.

read the whole release here

Talk about culture clash. "KTTH - The Truth 770" boasts a broadcast lineup of conservative media giants--Rush Limbaugh, Bill O'Reilly, Michael Medved and others who pine for the days of "traditional values." What those are, I have no idea, but I think it was last practiced in the 1950s. Anyway, from what I gather, The Truth is targeted at what is commonly known as a "Red State" audience.

Meanwhile, the Sonics are a professional basketball team in the National Basketball Association. You know, that sports league where "all" the players wear tattoos and corn-rows, smoke pot and star in hip-hop videos with big-booty women--things that definitely play better to a "Blue State" crowd (yes, lawd!). Traditional values are about as relevant to modern b-ball culture as short-shorts and the two-handed set shot.

So it's safe to say that these two cultures and their values don't overlap in too many places--well, except for when Danny Fortson is talking about homosexuality or something. But you can't tell me that shacking up with Rush was the Sonics' best option.

Some of KTTH's sister stations--710 KIRO, 99.9 KISW, 103.7 The Mountain and 107.7 The End--attract that core, prototypically-Seattle crowd of upper-middle class liberal-weenies (ahem) who form the bulk of the Supes' following. Why not relocate to one of those stations? Key Arena is packed with the yuppies, butt-rockers, modern-rockers, and aging hippies that listen to these stations... all that's missing are the baggy-pants KUBE 93 types (KJR's sister station).

My only guess is that, just like Commissioner Stern's dress code, the Sonics' foray into Bush-league radio is some kind of attempt to broaden their appeal to Red-Staters. Or conversely, KTTH could be trying to pull some of those heathen Sonics fans into their righteous flock. Good luck with that, guys. If that works, maybe they'll start playing Young Jeezy at NASCAR races and having Big & Rich sing at the NBA All-Star Ga--oh wait.

But whatever. At least I won't have to turn my AM dial, or turn my radio on at all, to get my KC fix. Kevin Calabro is still in the picture (har):

Nineteen-year-veteran Sonics play-by-play announcer Kevin Calabro will continue to handle the television play-by-play duties on Sonics television partner FSN Northwest. The Sonics will add broadcast talent to handle the radio responsibilities. Calabro will remain the primary play-by-play broadcast talent for radio-only regular-season games and Sonics playoff games.

"The Sonics will add broadcast talent to handle the radio responsibilities," eh? May I be the first to suggest, then, a dynamic duo of Rush and Dennis Miller? If folks like me aren't tuning in, then hell, take this right-wing radio thing all the way.

No Ron for Supes

Ron Artest is headed for Sacramento in exchange for Peja Stojakovic. Ordinarily, this wouldn't merit much attention on a Sonic site, with the exception of the people who thought the Sonics had a chance of landing Artest.

However, it does merit some notice in the sense that this deal may have been holding up other deals. Artest was rumored to be heading a number of places, and now that he is confirmed to land in Sacto, that frees up those other teams to begin trading.

Basically, the first two paragraphs are a long-winded way to say that Reggie, Flip, and the Potato may be heading for new homes soon.

Update - As of 3:45, Artest has nixed the deal. Thanks to B-Con for pointing out my whole story was moot. In other news, Ron Artest has decided he no longer wishes to be an American citizen, claiming the U.S. is no longer a playoff contender and fails to utilize his unique skills. President Bush is exploring options of trading Artest to Brazil for "one of them hot-lookin' chicks."

Download This!

If you, like most of us, were busy watching the Seahawks on Sunday and missed the epic double-overtime Suns/Sonics game, you can download the video from Google for $3.95.

Goodbye, Mr. Glass

Reggie Evans has apparently asked permission to be traded, Frank Hughes of the TNT reports. Evans' name has been linked previously with the Nets and Nuggets, with the Sonics receiving (My Name Is) Earl Watson and Mark (No Nickname) Jackson from the teams in return.

Are you kidding me?!

It figures.

On a night when everyone was watching the Seahawks seal a Superbowl berth or Kobe going off for 81 (!), the Sonics and Suns played the most exciting game in the NBA in years.

PHOENIX (AP) -- It was an unofficial turn-back-the-clock night in Phoenix, to the days when everybody in the NBA loved to run and shoot, and nobody played much defense.

Ray Allen made a 30-footer at the second-overtime buzzer to break the NBA record for most combined 3-pointers in a game, giving the Seattle SuperSonics a 152-149 victory over the Phoenix Suns on Sunday night in the league's highest-scoring game in 11 years.

"When I was open, I just knew it was time to make a shot," Allen said.

The teams combined for 32 3-pointers, breaking the mark of 31 set by Toronto and Philadelphia on March 13, 2005. The 301 points were the most in a game since Dallas beat Houston 156-147 in two overtimes on April 11, 1995, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

Read the rest here.

Karma for Seattle?

You can rev up all the lame jokes about the Sonics and Earl Watson, because according to the NY Post, Chucky Atkins is headed for Memphis, which means they (Memphis) are out of the "Earl Sweepstakes," such as it was, which means the Sonics could be Watson's next destination.

Does it really make any difference, though? Well, according to 82games.com, it might. Watson is the top-ranked Denver player in +/-, and, unlike Frodo, he can play a lick of defense. While Watson's and Ridnour's PERs are remarkably similar on offense, when they grab their shorts and assume the position on defense, dissimilar results emerge. Ridnour allows an eFG of 56%, while Watson's is a paltry 41%, a massive difference.

Now, I'm not saying Earl Watson is going to take us to the promised land, but he would be a heck of a step in the right direction. For his salary info, you can click here. Most trade scenarios involve combinations of Mr. Glass, the Potato, and Flip Murray being dealt to Denver, with some including 3-way deals involving the T-Wolves, who apparently covet Evans and Murray.