Bring Back the Sonics night at the Key

It's "Bring Back the Sonics" night at Key Arena tomorrow night. Bonus: there's also a basketball game!

Hockey Schmocky

After winning the gold in hockey, the Canadian fans go wild.

Congrats to our neighbors to the north, as Canada beat the U.S.A. for the gold medal in hockey today. Somewhere in Vancouver, Supersonicsoul writer Pete Nussbaum is overcome with indifference.

Supersonicsoul Hall of Fame

Ladies and gentlemen, we present the Supersonicsoul Hall of Fame:

(Artwork by Rafael Calonzo, Jr. / Words by Peter Nussbaum)

Jack Sikma
Lenny Wilkens
Gary Payton
Shawn Kemp
Blackburn / Calaboro
Xavier McDaniel
George Karl
Dennis Johnson
Spencer Haywood
Nate McMillan
Gus Williams

Happy Birthday, Chunkstyle!

Happy birthday to Supersonicsoul co-founder and co-creator of "Danny Fortson: Cyborg Smasher" Rafael Calonzo, Jr. (aka Chunkstyle).

BONUS: For the first time, the entire "Danny Fortson: Cyborg Smasher" mini-series is available in one place online. Read the entire epic here!

Saddest Ebay listing ever?

From Supersonicsoul reader Todd Frank:

Now for auction on Ebay:

"BLANK Seattle Sonics throwback NBA jersey Durant Zombie"

Don't miss out on this great auction for the incredibly rare blank Seattle Sonics uniform, with the alternative road jersey in deep red, green shorts with Sonics logo, and authentic sewed-on NBA logo on both. This is an awesome NBA throwback jersey and shorts set made by Champion that you could easily customize! Get some one to stitch on DURANT and 35 and you'll have quite the collector's item. Or put KEMP and a "40" to symbolize his number of children. Or put a Starbucks logo on it or perhaps use it to hang Clay Bennett in effigy. Put a 0 on it with ZOMBIES across the front. I don't care what you do with it. Sadly, there wasn't even a "Seattle Sonics" in the eBay drop-down box for NBA apparel.

Make your bid here!

Vote for Kemp!

The folks at ESPN are voting on the best "in-your-face" dunk of all-time, and of course, Shawn Kemp's infamous "Lister Blister" (see above) is one of the nominees. So go vote already!

UPDATE: Kemp is in the semi-finals . . . but is losing to Pippen (oh the irony!). So go vote NOW!

Tender Juicy Fans Rejoice!

Supersonicsoul's new favorite basketball team, the Tender Juicy Giants, now have their own official Facebook page. Sign up to become a fan of the squad that Alton Lister calls "the deepest team in the league". Plus, they're named after processed meat!

1979: Good year for Sonics, bad year for robot-related deaths

For most of us here at Supersonicsoul, 1979 will always be remembered for one thing: the year the greatest basketball team of all-time won Seattle's first championship.

For those with robot-phobia, however, this date back in 1979 marks a far different kind of anniversary:

January 25, 1979: A 25-year-old Ford Motor assembly line worker is killed on the job in a Flint, Michigan, casting plant. It’s the first recorded human death by robot.

Robert Williams’ death came on the 58th anniversary of the premiere of Karel Capek’s play about Rossum’s Universal Robots. R.U.R gave the world the first use of the word robot to describe an artificial person. Capek invented the term, basing it on the Czech word for “forced labor.” (Robot entered the English language in 1923.)

Williams died instantly in 1979 when the robot’s arm slammed him as he was gathering parts in a storage facility, where the robot also retrieved parts. Williams’ family was later awarded $10 million in damages. The jury agreed the robot struck him in the head because of a lack of safety measures, including one that would sound an alarm if the robot was near.

Read More http://www.wired.com/thisdayintech/2010/01/0125robot-kills-worker#ixzz0dfe3y6P3

So the next time you're watching those '79 highlight reels, be sure to raise a glass to the first victim of the Robot Apocalypse.

The Voice of the Sonics

R.I.P Bob.

Great White Dopes?

Ladies and Gentlemen, your 2010 Seattle Super Honkies!

Please let this be a joke.

According to the Augusta Chronicle, someone is starting an all-white basketball league:

Don "Moose" Lewis, the commissioner of the AABA, said the reasoning behind the league's roster restrictions is not racism.

"There's nothing hatred about what we're doing," he said. "I don't hate anyone of color. But people of white, American-born citizens are in the minority now. Here's a league for white players to play fundamental basketball, which they like."

Lewis said he wants to emphasize fundamental basketball instead of "street-ball" played by "people of color." He pointed out recent incidents in the NBA, including Gilbert Arenas' indefinite suspension after bringing guns into the Washington Wizards locker room, as examples of fans' dissatisfaction with the way current professional sports are run.

"Would you want to go to the game and worry about a player flipping you off or attacking you in the stands or grabbing their crotch?" he said. "That's the culture today, and in a free country we should have the right to move ourselves in a better direction."

(found via Huff Post).

White, American-born citizens are in the minority now? Really? I had no idea 75 percent was a minority. Then again, math was never my best subject.

Now if you'll excuse me, I've got to strap on my Chuck's and get down to the gym for my tryout with the Albuquerque All-Whites.

Nenad Now!

The folks behind the Sonicsgate documentary have come up with a great prank to play on The Team That Must Not Be Named.

EA is bringing back NBA Jam and letting the fans pick the rosters. Now, suppose instead of Durant, Green and Westbrook, the Sonix were represented by Thabo, Nenad and Harden?

If you'd like to help make this Dream Team a reality, just head over to the NBA Jam website. Voting ends January 18th, so make every click count!

R.I.P. Bob Blackburn

Bob Blackburn, the original voice of the Seattle Supersonics, passed away Friday at the age of 85.

For many of us, Blackburn's friendly voice welcomed us into the world of Sonics fandom. He was the voice of the '79 champs and along with Wayne Cody, Ivar Haglund and J.P. Patches, represented the best of Old Seattle, a town that was on the rise, but never took itself too seriously.

He will be missed, but never forgotten.