'93 Sonics: A Pain That Lingers

'93 Western Conference Finals: It still hurts.

It's been just over 11 years, and I'm still not done being mad about the '93 Sonics getting jobbed in Game 7 of the Western Conference finals vs. Phoenix. But somehow, it does help to have a fairly well-known guy with a column on ESPN.com and in ESPN the Magazine come out and say in a by-the-way, "the sky is blue" kind of statement of fact that yes, the Sonics were robbed.

If you're breaking out a batch of sour grapes, you'd better have a really good reason. Like that South Korean gymnast who was robbed of Paul Hamm's gold medal, or the 1993 Sonics, 1994 Bulls or 1985 Cards, all of whom who were screwed by comically poor officiating.

With my scorn and bile suddenly rekindled, I needed to make sure my memory was correct. Could it really have been SIXTY-FOUR free throw attempts in one game? Have I embellished that figure in my mind to magnify the injustice over the years, to keep it from being filed away as a cold case?

Nope. Even the Phoenix Suns themselves acknowledge that they couldn't have done it without the refs:

The whistles helped their cause, too. Phoenix tied an NBA playoff record with 57 free throws in 64 attempts – 15-of-15 in the fourth quarter.

STILL. SO. ANGRY.

Sigh. At any rate, I wish that the Young, Stupid, Superstitious Me of back then would have just taped every game that year (you know, to foil the VHS Jinx where if you tape a game that you can't watch, it's pretty much a guarantee that your team will lose and you'll never watch that tape anyway; so you tape every game, thinking, "no way do they lose EVERY game, right?"), so that the Old, Partially Senile Me of today could enjoy the Young, Athletic, Still Had a Future Sonics of '93.

I Love Ibby!

"IBBY! IBBY! IBBY!"

Thanks to Pete's brief write-up on Turkish sharp-shooter Ibrahim Kutluay, we probably received 50 hits today (which is a lot for us!) from people Googling "Ibrahim Kutluay, Sonics".

The peoples just can't get enough of "Ibby", and since I'm all about making the peoples happy, Supersonicsoul will now be your One-Stop Ibby Info Center©!

THE OFFICIALLY UNOFFICIAL IBRAHIM KUTLUAY FAN CLUB

Name: Ibrahim Kutluay
Position: Forward
Current Team: Ulker (!), Euroleague
Number: 10
Height: 6'6
Weight: 93kg (?!?)

Ibrahim Kutluay Stats

Ibrahim Kutluay Interview!

Ibrahim Kutluay HOMEPAGE!!

There. Are you happy? Good. Now, how about making me happy and buying some crap from our new Supersonicsoul Store?

Mr. Feelgood

He Got Dolls.

Fellow Ballard resident Susan Paynter has a story in today's P.I. about "The Greatest Sonic In The History Of Humanity" Ray Allen:

"I loved math. It was the only subject where you could really get an answer," Allen said. "Kids always ask, 'When will I ever need this stuff in life?' What most don't understand is that, with math, you get a solution you can apply to anything else in life. It's problem solving." Well, Seattle schools know they have a problem. The achievement gap between minorities and whites and between economically advantaged and economically stressed schools widens even further when it comes to math.

So Thursday the NBA All-Star will unveil his Assist With Algebra, a new middle school program for the students and parents of Madrona K-8 School and Meany Middle School. It's a push to raise algebra test scores for students, particularly those in the African American community. The tipoff event will be at Miller Community Center from 6 to 9 p.m.

Read the rest here.

Does that sound like a guy getting ready to pack his bags?