KeyArena & Husky Stadium Discussed

KING-TVs Chris Daniels gives the lowdown on the state legislature's hearing on the funding for Husky Stadium and KeyArena, held yesterday in Olympia.

And while the Washington State cranks were out in full force with their nonsensical rantings about "unfair advantages" for the UW (hey, Wazzu fans, tell you what; if the Huskies agree to not accept funding for Husky Stadium, will you agree to not accept any funding for WSU? Yeah, didn't think so), there was some positive news for those hoping to see the state act on funding KeyArena's renovation.

The cunning way the bill's sponsors included arts funding and other projects along with the funding for the Key has enabled it to capture the mind of King County Council Chair Dow Constantine, and sponsoring senators Ed Murray and Jeanie Kohl-Welles also testified in support of the bill.

Unfortunately, Rep. Margarita Prentice, who chairs the House Ways and Means Committee, indicated she was less than enthused about the bill's prospects (she was more enthusiastic about Husky Stadium), but did not rule out the possibility of it getting through.

Of strategical note, because the Key's funding would come from the local hotel/motel tax and not from the state, any monies spent would not be included as part of the state's massive, $9 billion deficit. Of course, that's semantics, and a savvy politician would point out that any money raised by the tax could be going to build roads, pay for teachers, and other such frivolities.

Future Cards: Kevin Durant

Aubrey's Wine Sale Nets $2.2 Mil

Well, at least one thing has gone well for Aubrey McClendon in the past eight months - he was able to unload part of his wine collection in New York this past weekend, and the WSJ reports it earned him (or, rather, Sotheby's) $2.2 million.

Just think, if the next auction (slated for Hong Kong for the other half of the wine collection) is as successful, maybe the Sonix could afford Tyson Chandler after all.

The Dulcet Tones of KC Jones

In this video, KC Jones is either:



1. Announcing that Portland, Maine's new D-League team is going to be nicknamed the Blackbirds
2. Infreakingsane
3. All of the above

Bonus points for noticing the semi-panicked look on the gentleman behind KC's right shoulder. I'm guessing "this wasn't on the script" and "my God, how much longer is he going to keep this up" floated through his thought processes at some point.

Drew Carey's Got Your Back

"Here comes this evil NBA owner who takes the SuperSonics, screws the city with this duplicitous deal he put together and takes them to Oklahoma. The whole city hates this guy. One of their major sports is gone now. And we come in like, 'Hey, is yo man not treatin' you right? Come and see us.'"

—Drew Carey, part-owner of Seattle Sounders

(Via AP)

Attendance Report

I've tried all sorts of ways to show how massive an impact the Sonics' move has had on NBA attendance, and how by removing that particular aspect from the equation totally alters the picture of the league's health.

Unfortunately, the graphs I've thrown up there haven't adequately captured just how much of an outlier the Sonix are this season. The graph below, though, goes a long way to showing that uniqueness. Listed below are all the teams, with their corresponding attendance from last year to this year.

Coach Lister

Word out of Manila is that former Sonic center Alton Lister is a "skills coach" for San Miguel Beer.

There are so many jokes to make with that sentence that it's almost not even fair to try.

It's a positive article, though, and Lister comes off as a modest man who appreciated his career in the league, without the standard ego-jock stuff you normally read.

Of course, the comments are filled with "remember when Kemp dunked on Lister in the playoffs"-type stuff. At what point does Alton Lister just come out and say, "Yes, I remember that. Yes, it sucks. But let me ask you - how many points did you score in the NBA?"

Payton, A Near-Fight, and Toothpaste

Humorous story from the Seattle PI's Jim Moore about his near-fistfight with Gary Payton prior to a Seattle-Sacramento playoff game in the mid-1990s.

Just One Question

If, for some reason, the NBA allowed blog authors to ask questions at David Stern's occasional press conferences, there would be a million questions I'd love to ask him. Naturally, it's never going to happen, and probably for good reason.

But there is one question I just wish someone would ask him:

Mr. Stern, you claim that during your tenure the NBA has gone from being on the verge of extinction, to being one of the strongest leagues in the world and your comments about the recent $200 million bailout given to your league just serve to further underscore that point. My question is this: If that is indeed true, how can you explain the Pacers posting a loss in 26 of the last 28 years? If the NBA is on solid footing, how can the Pacers lose money 9 out of 10 seasons in their brand-new arena?

You say that the league is healthy. Herb Simon says he loses money every year.

Who's telling the truth?

Face Time

If you're interested in seeing the KeyArena deal move forward in the legislature this session, the best way to make it happen is to reach out to your representative in the House of Representatives.

Normally, that would entail composing an email, removing the swears, hitting 'send,' receiving an automated reply, and then some incoherent grunting. In the end, the result would be little if anything in the way of progress.

This weekend, however, offers a more effective means of communication - face to face.

The Seattle Times' Politics Northwest blog lists the representatives who will be appearing at town meetings this weekend to grovel for votes find out how their constituents feel they should best spend tax money this session.

Might be worth a visit. Although I might warn you, watch out for the weird guy in the corner who smells like old flannel - once he gets to talkin' about his idea to replace the freeway system with a ferry-only plan, well, it's hard to get him to stop.

House Passes Stadium Tax Bill

On first blush, the report from the AP sounds great:

Wash. House approves stadium taxes bill
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
OLYMPIA, Wash. -- The state House wants to extend some taxes that paid for professional sports stadiums in Seattle.

But if you read the rest of the article ... well, not so much.

The account is not supposed to be source for a new NBA arena or Husky Stadium.

Essentially, the House has passed a bill that would extend the Safeco and Qwest Field taxes that are supposed to expire when the stadium debts are retired. However, the money would be used for arts programs, housing, and so forth, but NOT, again, NOT, for a revamped KeyArena or Husky Stadium.

It's still possible that the Senate could amend the bill to include the wording they showed us a week or so ago which enables counties to use funds for new arenas, but whether the political climate affords that is anyone's guess.

In other words, this bill hasn't really changed anything, other than to underline that the House members are not willing to put their necks out when it comes to using taxpayer money for new stadiums and arenas.

RIP, Kenny McIntosh

Former Sonic Kenny McIntosh, who played two seasons and change in Seattle in the early 1970s, passed away Friday of a stroke in Los Angeles.

McIntosh was a first-round pick of the Bulls in 1971 (the same year the Sonics found one Fred Brown from Iowa) and spent a little more than a season in Chicago before coming to Seattle in an October 20, 1972 trade for Gar Heard and a third round pick in the 1973 draft, which turned out to be Martin Terry.

McIntosh, a 6'7" forward who attended Eastern Michigan University before entering the NBA, never clicked in Coach Bill Russell's system, which, combined with injuries, led to his being waived by the team on November 12, 1974, ending his NBA career.

McIntosh's No. 54 jersey was retired by Eastern Michigan in 2006. During his time at EMU, McIntosh was named to the Division II All-American First Team. He turned 60 years old in January.