Kevin Calabro. Every Day.

KC is back, and not a moment too soon.

According to the Seattle Times, The Magic Carpet Ride will return to the airwaves on KIRO (or whatever the hell they're calling it now-a-days) for a daily sports show starting on April 1st. Let's pray this isn't some sort of cruel April Fool's prank.

Petro v Karl

So Johan Petro is no longer a Thundercat. If you didn’t already know, the Guadalupanian is now a member of the Nuggets, dealt yesterday in exchange for Chucky Atkins (draft picks, cash considerations, t-shirts, and an English muffin were also exchanged).

Two thoughts crossed my mind on hearing the news of Petro’s trade:

Thought #1) Johan Petro’s teams, in his long and storied career as the French version of Caldwell Jones, have posted a won-loss record of 91-191. That’s a .320 winning percentage, which is a nice batting average for your third baseman, but a little less than what you’d hope for on the daily standings page.

Now? Well, now Johan is going to a team currently in first place in the Northwest Division, and in the top three in the entire conference. After spending his past three springs gallivanting in the Caribbean, Petro is going to learn the joys of not screwing up on national television.

And somewhere, Nick Collison is wondering just what in the hell he did in a former life to deserve this crap.

Thought #2) Has there been in NBA history, a player-coach combination more poorly suited for one another than George Karl and Johan Petro? Karl loves hard workers, gritty defenders, playmakers, and poorly designed mock turtlenecks, not necessarily in that order.

Petro, contrarily, is a 7-footer who has never especially enjoyed getting rebounds or blocking shots, and considering his favorite offensive move is a 12-foot jumper, he’s not exactly Moses Malone on offense, either. (Of note: Johan’s 0.5 blocks per 36 clocks in below former teammate Kyle Weaver’s 0.6. And, yes, Weaver is about 7 inches shorter than Petro).

Granted, Petro will be spending the majority of his time on le bench, but let’s ponder for a moment a hypothetical conversation at practice this May between the young center and his new coach:

Karl: Johan, dammit to hell, I told you to box out!
Petro: I was trying, monsieur, but my legs, they have the tiredness.
Karl: Ah, what the f@$!. I can’t believe I’ve got to deal with this s^#%. Johan, for the last time, this is the playoffs, you have to work harder!
Petro: Oui, mon capitan. I will, how do you say, give the 110 percentage from now on.
Karl: Johan, I don’t want the 110 percentage, I want your skinny French ass to plant itself in the key so that we’re not giving the Spurs seven chances to score every time down. Are you understanding this?
Petro: Certainment, monsieur. But le Duncan, he pushes with the strength of a thousand waves, and I am but a poor Caribbean boy trying to withstand it.
Karl: Oh, for the love of Christ! Somebody call Ervin Johnson. His 100-year-old legs would still be better than this crap.

Or something like that, anyways.

Wednesday Attendance Wrap-Up

Here's another resolution I could have thrown on the pile from the other day: Putting a weekly wrap-up of the league's attendance figures on the site.

In keeping with my previous goal of toning down the bitterness, I'll just present the numbers and let you interpret them how you will. First, a side-by-side comparison of last year's game-by-game numbers and this year's. In both graphs the pink indicates the 07-08 season, the blue is 08-09.

And, a look at the same numbers, but with the totals for Oklahoma City and New Orleans removed.

And, on a side note, a look at how the league's attendance played out as the season progressed. There was talk earlier in the year that the low attendance numbers were more indicative of the time of the year than they were of any problems in NBA popularity. There might be some validity to that argument.

Funding Getting Tight

The big story today – well, the big story after the Midwest-style snowstorms we’ve endured for the past two weeks – is Governor Christine Gregoire’s decision to parrot the budget cuts her opponent, Dino Rossi, advocated during the recent election.

Translation to Sonic supporters: No soup for you.

It’s not quite that dire, but when the liberal governor of a left-wing state calls for a quarter-million reduction in health care expenditures and skips pay raises for teachers, even an out-of-shape Danny Fortson could stretch to the conclusion that it will be extremely difficult to get any arena proposals through the legislature this session.

As Chris McGann quotes a Gregoire aide, “That November [economic] forecast kind of changed the game.” Which is to say, the governor was all for spending money on the stuff her constituents wanted, back when she felt she had the dough on hand.

Now that the state’s revenue forecast has dropped by nearly two billion bucks? Not so much.

In fact, it doesn’t take much of an analyst to see just how tough it’s going to be to get any money this year. The governor will tell you herself:

“The state must squeeze every ounce of value out of every taxpayer dollar while maintaining our priorities of protecting families and kids the best we can.”

The argument as to whether funding arenas pay for themselves or whether they are hopeless boondoggles that primarily benefit billionaires is for another day. The primary message you should get from these words is this: Opponents of any KeyArena proposal are going to have very easy sledding this coming year. When times are tough and budgets are being cut, even the most inept politician is savvy enough to realize that taking a stand against arenas and stadiums is an easy political win.

It would appear that the arena’s only hope is to be presented as a work project which would bring jobs in the short-term, and economic benefit in the long-term, which is what Brian Robinson at Save Our Sonics has been saying all along. Whether that message will gain traction in an icy legislative environment remains to be seen.

Tom Ward Joins the Parade

The Thundercats' ownership apparently shares the same broker, as Tom Ward has joined Aubrey McClendon in off-loading a boatload of shares of his company's stocks.

From the Associated Press:

"Tom Ward, the chief executive officer of SandRidge Energy Inc., has sold 8.9 million shares of his common stock in the company to Tulsa businessman George B. Kaiser. ... Kaiser bought the 8.9 million shares for $50 million, or $5.62 per share."

How bad of a deal was that for Mr. Ward? Well, consider this additional piece of information, from June 2008:

"President and CEO Tom Ward purchased 460,000 shares at $48.95 on May 19th/20th, which increased his already substantial holdings to nearly 36.95 million shares, or a 25.27% stake. ... His only other open-market purchase came in November 2007, when he took down 4.17 million shares at $26.00 in the company's initial public offering."

Let's look at those two purchases and sales:

1. 460,000 shares @ $48.95 a pop: $22.5 million
2. 4.17 million shares @ $26.00 a pop: $108.4 million
Total value: $130.9 million

And, after the sale yesterday:

1. 460,000 shares @ $5.62 a pop: $2.6 million
2. 4.17 million shares @ $5.62 a pop: $23.4 million
Total return: $26 million

I'm no math wizard, but that's a $104.9 million loss Tom Ward just took yesterday, not to mention the fact he just gave up a heckuva lot of control in his own company.

Geez, I can't imagine why Ward would be needing a wack of cash ....

2009

Ask a group of Sonic fans what was the best year in the team’s history, and you’ll receive a number of answers, depending upon the generation of the respondent.

Ask that same group the worst year in team history, though, and you’ll receive one answer: 2008.

And so, dear readers, we are left to reflect upon a year of melancholy, bitterness, vitriol, and more homoerotic jokes involving David Stern and Clay Bennett than I care to remember.

It begs the question: Where do we go from here? What is the point of a website devoted to a team which no longer exists? Are we to become the 21st century version of Horse & Buggy Weekly or Typewriter Monthly?

A new year means resolutions, whether of a dietary nature, attitudinal, or what have you. A resolution, in and of itself, is a reflective gesture, as by definition it is a response to events which preceded it. A vow to lose weight is precipitated by a year’s worth of poor eating habits. A promise to appreciate one’s spouse implies the lack of appreciation in the previous year.

Likewise, any resolutions your faithful narrator embarks upon this January come shackled to failings from 2008, and, like any good relapsed Catholic, it is never difficult for me to find failings in my actions.

First, I resolve to tone down the anger a few notches. In Lieve Joris’ The Rebels’ Hour, her Congolese subject, Assani, reflects on the contrast between his mindset and that of his colleagues. While they were always optimistic about future activities, he was skeptical. The difference being, of course, that he was prepared for disappointment, while they were blindsided by it.

I think a bit of skepticism in this situation is fitting. My disgust at David Stern for the past 12 months is rooted in my belief that he is a good and honest man, but why should I expect that of him, any more than I should expect it of any person in power? Stern is going to do what’s best for Stern, and what’s best for him is what’s best for his ownership cartel. The fact that he’s a manipulative con artist is just part of the deal, and getting angry about it is as productive as using a paper towel to mop up a flood in your basement.

That’s not to say that I won’t continue to point out what’s happening league-wide with attendance, or television ratings. As I see it, no one else is talking about it, so what does it hurt if I do? But, rather than get worked up to a Dennis Green-like level by it, I’ll try to maintain some sense of decorum.

We’ll see how long this resolution sticks, and if I fall off the rails in mid-February after a David Stern press conference, feel free to castigate me in the comments.

My next, and final, resolution is to attempt to paint some better pictures of Sonics from the past. Not necessarily the Sonics everyone knows about, Haywood, Sikma, McDaniel, and so forth, but people such as Art Harris, or Bob Rule, or Tommy Kron, men who made an impact on Sonic basketball, then disappeared into the mists. A collection of stories – both on- and off-court – would make for a nice chapter in the history of the team. I’m not saying it makes up for not having an actual on-court product to root for, but it does put some salve on the wound as it were.

So there you are, two resolutions for SuperSonicSoul’s resident curmudgeon: A sunnier disposition and the capacity to remember the past.

And, perhaps, a steel girder to fall on Clay Bennett’s car in the Ford Center parking lot. That wouldn’t be so bad, either.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year, Supersonics fans! What are your New Year Resolutions this year? Share them in the comments section.

ColecoVision!

A Christmas Letter to Santa


OK, not basketball related (unless you're talking about "One-on-One") but it's something I made for Christmas, and wanted to share it with you, my Supersonic lovin' internet family.

Happy Holidays!

NOTE: this video is totally NSFW---Swear words ahoy!

Whoa, it's Wilt!

41 years ago this week: Nice "D" Snyder!

I don't know if it's the sadness of our first Christmas without the Sonics (sniff-sniff), or maybe all this talk about about our man Bob Blackburn, but it seems everyone is getting nostalgic about the Sonics. Check out the great story at the Tribune about Wilt dropping 52 points and 38 rebounds (!) on the Supes 41 years ago (!!) this week.

Blackburn

A sad piece of news to report from the Seattle Times this morning, where Steve Kelley reports that Bob Blackburn, the original Sonic broadcaster, is in the hospital after suffering a head injury in a fall.

Back in October, we ran our final SuperSonicSoul Hall of Fame article, and it covered the two titans of Sonic broadcasting, Blackburn and Kevin Calabro. In retrospect, I'm glad we were able to put that story up when we did, so that he could know the words came from pure appreciation, and not the inevitable sentimentality you hear when a legend's health is in jeopardy.

But I'm even more glad I had the opportunity to listen to Blackburn for more than a decade, that my initial introduction to basketball came from his voice, and that no matter what the future holds for basketball in Seattle, a part of my memory will always contain his descriptions of a Sonic highlight. At this point, I can only offer my best wishes and prayers to Bob and his family, and our hopes that he makes a complete recovery.

The greatest moment in Seattle sporting history occurred when the Sonics defeated the Bullets three decades ago. How lucky we are that a wonderful man like Bob Blackburn will live forever as the chronicler of that event.

UPDATE: If you would like to send your best wishes to Bob Blackburn, he can be reached at: Bob Blackburn c/o Timber Ridge at Talus, 100 Timber Ridge Way N.W., Issaquah, WA 98027 (courtesy of the Seattle Times)

Sonics fans on The Simpsons Writing Staff?

Claymate of Bend It Like Bennett does a nice Ebert-style writeup on the latest episode of The Simpsons, which has an eerily familiar story. Definitely a must-read.



I stopped watching new Simpsons episodes years ago. The Montgomery Burns-Clay Bennett parallels never get old though. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to shop for a Springfield Excitement game jersey.

The Thunder Rolls (Mostly Downhill)

You know, I’ve heard the Thunder are pretty bad this year …

How bad are they?

The Thunder are so bad …

- when Clay Bennett fired PJ Carlesimo three weeks ago, PJ thanked him.

- Oklahoma State has scheduled them for a non-conference game.

- Vegas is considering taking them off the books for the remainder of the season.

- Ford is thinking of getting out of the naming rights for the arena because they don’t want to be associated with such a miserable product.

- that Luke Ridnour likes to watch OKC highlights, just to cheer himself up.

- the NBA is contemplating only playing 3 quarters when the Thunder play the Celtics in Boston.

- the Clippers/Thunder telecast Tuesday night came with a “May Not Be Suitable for Young Children” warning.

- Aubrey McClendon is actually glad to be at the office, just because it means he’s not watching them play.

- the team is starting to count broadcasters, trainers, and delivery men as part of the night’s attendance.

- Nick Collison asked Robert Swift if he could teach him how to injure himself.

- that when his wife asked what he wanted for Christmas, Scotty Brooks told her a bottle of vodka and a lobotomy.

- Clay Bennett’s wife cut his weekly allowance in half.

- their last broadcast was pre-empted to show Barry Switzer’s colonoscopy, and the ratings went up.