Supersonicsoul - The Sonics Blog!

Tuesday, June 30

One Year Later

Depending upon the circumstances, one year can be a long period of time.

One year spent waiting through, say, a traffic light or watching a year’s worth of early-90s Cavs highlights? That’s an eternity.

But watching one year of your life go by without your favorite basketball team? That can transpire rather quickly.

As a writer for a web site nominally devoted to a team which no longer exists, I suppose it is incumbent upon me to spill some pixel-filled pearls of wisdom about how it feels one year after Greg Nickels made a deal with the devil and allowed Clay Bennett to leave town for what turns out to be the tidy sum of $45 million.

It was, obviously, a painful day for all of us when the announcement was made. Speaking as someone who hasn’t lived in Seattle since the (first) Bush administration, though, I almost feel guilty about complaining – after all, how can I grouse about somebody leaving Seattle when I did it more than 15 years ago?

Regardless, this situation transcends individual situations, it transcends even city-wide feelings. Instead, I look at what happened to Seattle and the Sonics as a searchlight beaming directly onto the professional sports experience, and that’s precisely why it should trouble everyone, from the season-ticket holder in New Jersey to the casual fan in New Orleans.

In the aftermath of the relocation, I was a bit irked at the way the rest of the sports fans across the country viewed the way events transpired. For the most part, the prevailing sentiments fell into one of two camps:

A) “Hey, if you guys wanted your team so bad, you should have supported them better.”

B) “That really sucks for Seattle, we should do something about … hey, how ‘bout those Cavs, can you believe LeBron?”

Naturally, that bothered me. Where was the outrage? This wasn’t the Hornets leaving Charlotte, or the Grizzlies leaving Vancouver, this was the Sonics leaving Seattle. We mattered more. We had a history, dammit! Why wasn’t everyone as angry as we were?

For quite a few months, I lugged that emotion around with me, so much so that I began to wish that the league would just collapse so that everyone else would feel as crappy as I did. Then, slowly, I began to realize that the way other fans treated the Sonics’ departure was no different than the way I treated the Colts’ departure from Baltimore, or the Browns’ from Cleveland, or any of the myriad of other franchise shifts in the past twenty years.

That is to say, with a small bit of melancholy and a great big helping of indifference.

And you know what? I can’t expect any more than that.

One year later, and I still despise Stern, McClendon, Bennett, and the rest of the co-conspirators for the shoddy way they treated the fanbase here. When word came that the Blazers were mulling the possibility of playing a pre-season game in Seattle this fall, I almost threw up. Really, Portland, you think after one year that we’re ready to forget the past 40 years? That I can start cheering for a franchise that considers this guy a hero? I think not, my patchuli-scented friends.

But the truth is that I am not the target audience for the Blazers’ marketing scheme, any more than I am for the NBA. The target is the casual fan, the one who only dips his toe in the league’s pool when he feels like it, who can take or leave basketball with the ease of trying the new restaurant on the corner.

One year later, and I have finally come to the realization that the league cares as much about devoted fans as Hollywood cares about the hard-core fanatics who love their product. We are a loyal entity, a group who remain devoted no manner how shoddily we are treated.

Imagine if a local business treated you the way the NBA treated Seattle fans. After 40 years of devotion, after setting attendance records, after building two arenas, after caving in to every demand the league/team placed, they threatened to leave because of a lack of support. Can you imagine how you would feel about a local theater that tried to do that? A restaurant?

You can’t, of course, because the NBA – and pro sports in general – are a different animal, and they know it. Stern knows we are addicted to his product, and he knows no matter how poorly his teams behave towards their hosts, no matter how greedy his owners act or how egregious their demands, that there are always those who will forgive them, simply because they love the game.

One year later, and most of the anger has ebbed. And while I’ve grown to understand why the majority of population takes a not-my-problem attitude towards what happens in other cities, let me offer a few words of advice:

You’re next.

Monday, June 29

A-Train

Thursday, June 25

A Look at Shaq

Wednesday, June 24

CHK: It's All About Priorities

Estimated yearly savings for Chesapeake Energy after laying off 50 Oklahoma City employees, assuming base salary of $50,000, taking into account benefits, office space, et al: $6,750,000

Estimated cost of maps, paintings, etc. purchased by Chesapeake Energy from founder Aubrey McClendon in December 2008: $12,100,000

By my math, it would appear that two years of employment for 50 people < pile of maps.

Graphing the Draft, Ebay Items

eBay items available, NBA #1 picks, 1980-2008

Graphing the Draft

And a 1 and a 2 ...

#1 vs #2 pick in NBA draft, games played

Ford Center Tax Coming Up Short

Apparently the recession has had an impact on something other than Aubrey McClendon's bank account, as the falling number of dollars spent by consumers has also caused a decline in sales tax revenue in Oklahoma City, meaning the city now is falling short of cash for the $100 million Ford Center renovations. (via AP)

Shocking, I know.

If the trend continues for the tax - which was approved by OKC voters in March 2008 - by the time it is completed in March 2010, it will be about $15 million short, meaning the city will have to, as the AP put it: "start trimming projects or seek new modes of funding."

Translation: Don't expect any new picnic tables at Hefner Lake Park.

Of course, we all know the Sonix will do everything they can to make this work, as the team's ownership is firmly committed to Oklahoma City. Right? What's that, the team has an opt-out clause in their lease? C'mon, that can't be true, can it?

The team can opt out of the arena lease, the food and beverage agreement and the practice facility lease at the end of six years and at one or more other undetermined point in time during the initial 15-year lease if the average of team ticket revenue for the preceding two years fall below 85% of a benchmark of average ticket revenues in the first two full seasons following completion of arena renovations.

Oh, yeah, that clause.

Tuesday, June 23

Where you been, Vin?

As if Pete's story about Tom Chambers' "cock" problems weren't weird enough, Jessica from Greenstreet writes about yet another failed Vin Baker comeback:

It has been five years since the Vin Baker saga ended in Boston. Now the 37-year-old is trying to restart his basketball career in South America.

According to several reports, Baker has signed with the Marinos de Anzoátegui of the LPB (Liga Profesional de Baloncesto) in Venezuela. However it is unclear how much the 6-11 forward will play. The Marinos are already competing in their postseason and Baker is not listed on the roster on their official website.

Hmmm, this sounds familiar, eh?

This isn’t the first time Baker has attempted a comeback. His NBA career ended six games into the 2006-2007 season when he was released by the Minnesota Timberwolves. He was arrested seven months later for drunk driving in June of 2007. Baker tried to resurrect his career in late 2008 with Liaoning Hunters in China. He was cut after just two days for poor conditioning.

China?! What would could poor Vin to cross the globe just to continue a failed baskeball career? Vanity? A love of the game?

Marca.com reported Baker has “serious economic problems.” His former home in Durham, Connecticut was foreclosed last year.

Oh, yeah. That.

(Read the whole article at Green Street. Thanks to Jessica for the tip!)

Friday, June 19

Two Sonics Reading Options

Sonics reading options for a Friday.

Option #1:
Steve Aschburner's latest piece in Sports Illustrated, which explores the sad state of affairs of the NBA in Seattle, especially when placed in relation to the joy surrounding the Sonics' championship run in 1979. It's a well written piece, but, understandably, overwhelmingly sad for a fan of Sonics' basketball.

Option #2:
Frank Deford's Sports Illustrated piece from 1967, which details the joy surrounding "the lone big-league franchise in the entire northwest quadrant of the nation, an area stretching north from San Francisco and west from Minneapolis-St. Paul."

Deford's story is full of gems; from Al Bianchi's too-tight pants, Tonics for Sonics, how the Cleveland Indians tried to come to Seattle, Henry Akin's chewing tobacco, and how Walt Hazzard "was the first Negro" to live in a Bellevue neighborhood.

Yes, 1967 was a long time ago.

Anyhow, if you're going to read one of those stories, I'd suggest Deford's, if only because it won't make you want to slit your wrists when you complete it.