Not Being a Douche: Sonics 2.0 Fan Edition

I won’t speculate on what will be announced later today (or next month, or next year, or… ever) regarding a professional basketball team returning to Seattle. I can say that whatever it is will have to factor in these two certainties:

1. They aren’t making any new basketball teams.
2. Meaning if we are going to get a team here, it’s coming from another town.

Better writers than I have examined the dilemma this creates for Supes fans. On the one hand, you’re still mad that your team got took. On the other hand, you know that to have a team again, you have to take one from someone else.

If you’ll forgive another awful sports analogy, it’s like needing a heart transplant. You hope you get one, but it is beyond macabre to actively root for another person to die. But if one does become available, it’s not like you would say “No thanks, I’ll wait until science is able to clone hearts and sell them at Costco.” (note to self: a cartoon might have worked better here)

So what can we do? We are constantly assured that Seattle will get a team back, from somewhere, sometime. What we can do, when/if that day comes, is steer clear of gloating douchebag territory. Having been the recipients of scorn from Other Klassy Citizens these past 4 years, I’ve been mentally compiling a list of tips for avoiding their habits when the situations are reversed.

• Don’t leave taunting comments on the aggrieved fanbase’s blogs and forums. Just… don’t be like those guys.
• Don’t perpetuate the meme that it was “the fans’ fault” for not supporting the team enough. I don’t know how many times I’ve read an OKC fan parrot the “You guys didn’t support your team” excuse. WE guys absolutely did support our team. The mayor, commissioner, the coffee tycoon—THOSE are the guys that didn’t support US. The same kind of crap likely contributed to the other team’s demise.
• Don’t talk about which city “deserves” a team or not. Deserve ain’t got nothing to do with it. It has everything to do with revenue streams and public subsidies.
• Don’t tell grieving fans to “stop whining” or “get over it already.” You just come across as classless winners when you get the team AND act like you can lecture the old fans on how to cope with loss.
• Don’t boast about how much better your city is than the old city, or how much better off the team is in your town.
• Don’t say that it’s okay for us to steal because we were stolen from. It’s still not okay. At minimum, acknowledge the feelings of the other fans. There were a miniscule number of OKC fans who expressed sympathy on comments here and at other Sonics sites who redeemed their fanbase a tiny bit.

Non-douchey additions/suggestions welcome.

Seattle NBA/NHL arena press conference today at 2pm

Mayor McGinn (looking eerily like John Wayne Gacy in this photo) is reportedly going to have a press conference at 2pm today about a potential new NBA / NHL arena for Seattle. Stay tuned to Supersonicsoul for the latest news and/or handwringing about ARENA GATE 2012!

Anyone have $85 to spare?

Wow! Either an unpaid intern at the P.I. forgot to add an "M" on that headline, or new arenas are REALLY cheap in Sacramento!

UPDATE: Three hours later and it's still not fixed. I am really the only person that still reads the P.I.?

Hold tight, Sonics fans: New NBA / NHL arena could be announced Thursday

Supersonicsoul sources tell us there might be a big announcement on Thursday about a potential new NBA/NHL arena and maybe a little more about plans to bring an NBA and/or NHL team to Seattle:

From the Seattle P.I.: 

A news conference is set for Thursday at City Hall to announce details around a potential new NBA arena deal in Seattle, according to reports. 

Christopher Hansen, the Seattle-born hedge-fund manager behind the project, is currently in Seattle,King 5 reports — and may be ready to reveal more about the possibility of the NBA returning to Seattle. 

Hansen owns property south of Safeco Field, and has reportedly been developing a plan with the city and the NBA for a year. If Seattle were to get the Kings, the team could play at KeyArena — the Sonics’ old home — on a temporary basis, until a new venue is finished. Before the Sonics even left for Oklahoma City, and became the Thunder, the NBA had declared KeyArena an unsuitable venue. 

It’s unclear if Thursday’s news conference will answer whether Seattle will soon have a new NBA team, but Hansen and Mayor Mike McGinn have an announcement regarding a new sports complex, according to reports. The news conference is scheduled for 2 p.m.Read the rest here. 

Zoinks! Stayed tuned, true believers!

Blake Griffin's Swift Dunk of Justice

I don't know if Blake Griffin was a Seattle Supersonics fan growing up. Maybe he had a Shawn Kemp poster over his bed or a Jack Sikma growth chart on the back of his door. Maybe he reenacted Terence Stanbury's Statue of Liberty Dunk on his nerf hoop. 

I'd like to think all of these things are true, and the bone-crushing, soul-stomping dunk Griffin threw down on Kendrick Perkins of the Oklahoma Atrocities last night was a strike against injustice. A mighty blow against evil. A smack-down against all that is wrong with the NBA.

It wasn't, of course, but for an instant it was nice to imagine. If nothing else, at least I have a new team to root for.

Stern softens on Key Arena?

According to the Bring Back Our Sonics Facebook page, David Stern may be changing his tune (at least in the short-term) about Key Arena:

Steve Kelley of the Seattle Times was on with Ian Furness during @FurnessShow Kelley said he's heard talks that David Stern has said he's willing to let a team play in Key Arena for 2 years, if a new arena is being built for the future. - Jeff

So what does this mean for our beloved Sonics? Is Stern offering an olive branch to the heartbroken, discarded fans of Seattle or just more smoke and mirrors from The Wizard of Blahs?  No one knows for certain, but longtime Sonics fans will recall that not long ago Stern was a big fan of Key Arena, so anything is possible.

Snow Day!

Drive safely out there, knuckleheads!

Worst Owner Ever?

And you thought Howard Schultz was bad!

From Deadspin:

Last month, we shared with you the bare details of Dan Borislow's brief, messy reign as owner of magicJack, the franchise that Women's Professional Soccer elected to terminate in late October after just a single season of play in Boca Raton, Fla. 

Borislow was uncooperative with the league; he refused to set up a front office or a website and he alienated longtime WPS sponsors. But why would someone run a team he'd purchased into the ground? Then, this week, a tipster sent along the WPS's filing against Borislow's motion for temporary injunction (viewable below, along with the accompanying exhibits). It turns out that Dan Borislow might just be a terrible human—or maybe he just comes off that way in his emails.

 In summary, this guy was allegedly such a horrible owner that not only did the league banish him, but they got rid of his entire team. Can you imagine if this happened in the NBA? Which team would you erase (I mean, besides the obvious)?

Kemp is back! (In Kent?!)

According to the Kent Reporter (and my brother), Shawn Kemp will be making an appearance at a fund-raiser for K-M basketball this weekend. Also, SHAWN KEMP LIVES IN MAPLE VALLEY?!?

Marvena Kemp says it's doubtful her husband Shawn Kemp will play in the inaugural Hoopfest at Kent-Meridian High School. 

"He might but I doubt it," Kemp said about the former NBA player who lives in Maple Valley. "He's rehabbing from flag football. But he will come out to support it." 

Teams can still sign up for the Dec. 3-4 event. Games will run from about 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. each day. Proceeds will benefit the Kent-Meridian girls basketball team to help pay for uniforms , travel to tournaments and other expenses.

Read the whole story here.

The fact that Shawn Kemp now lives in the small town that all three of the Supersonicsoul writers grew up in is my nomination for Ironic Twist of The Year. If he ends up coaching at Tahoma, I might explode.

The NBA takes basketball away from Seattle AGAIN!

Even LeBron feels our pain. 

As if taking our team away wasn't enough, the stupid NBA ended their stupid strike over the stupid weekend, thus killing the closest thing we'll have to pro basketball in Seattle for a while.

Due to a weekend agreement ending the NBA lockout, and players reporting to training camps on December 9, the Jamal Crawford H206 Classic scheduled to take place December 15 at the Alaska Airlines Arena at the University of Washington has been canceled.  All tickets purchased will be refunded by noon this Thursday, December 1^st.  Crawford and A PLUS Youth Program are discussing possible dates for a rescheduled summer 2012 game.  Updates will be given via the H206 website (www.hoops206.com) and via Facebook and Twitter (FB: Hoops 206 Charity Basketball Classic) (@jcrossover and @hoops206).    

EVERYTHING IS STUPID!!!

Your Christmas List . . .

. . . should include this!

Wheedle's Groove: Seattle's Finest In Funk & Soul 1965-1979 Limited Editions 45s Box Set. The pinnacle prize of vintage Seattle soul!  

First 50 PRE-ORDERS AFTER NOVEMBER 25th received 2 autographed photos and a set of 16 replica Seattle SuperSonics trading cards!

For more info, go here! (Thanks to the Light In The Attic's Pat Thomas for the tip!)

O really?

Not related to basketball, but there's an article on Deadspin that Supersonicsoul scribe and University of Oregon fanatic Pete Nussbaum should think about while watching his favorite team play this weekend . . .

The New York Times shared an important revelation out of Eugene, Ore. yesterday, and we wanted to pass it on because we are immature: the spade-shaped Oregon "O" that Ducks fans so enthusiastically make to show support for the team means "vagina" in American Sign Language.


Read the rest on Deadspin.