Bloomsday

As I mentioned many months ago, today - in addition to being a seminal day in the history of the Seattle SuperSonics - is also Bloomsday, the day in which James Joyce framed his classic work Ulysses.

And while there is no Nestor in this year's events (Nestor was the Greek figure who urged reconciliation between Argamenon and Achilles during the Trojan War, and served as the title of episode 2 of Ulysses, but you knew that, right?), there is Mayor Greg Nickels, who serves as, geez, forget the metaphors ...

Anyhow, Sonic supporters might be a little less than thrilled with Nickels' testimony today. While his work with the city's attorneys went swimmingly (except for an sustained objection that went against the city), he had a few pratfalls while dealing with the PBC's attorneys. To wit:

- Testified that he supported the Ballmer Group of Four purchasing the Sonics, "but did not work toward it." (quoting the KING-5 blog here). At which time, the defense presented a video showing previous Nickels' testimony wherein he says he was working toward it.

- Admitted he had only attended two Sonic games in the past 7 or 8 years. Which puts him behind me, and I don't even live in the U.S.!

- Admitted that KeyArena is not a good long-term building for the team.

Naturally, this bit of testimony isn't the end of the case, and it doesn't mean the city is going to lose. And, knowing that Clay Bennett is poised to take the stand and defend his indefensible position on the emails between he and McClendon and Ward certainly makes me feel a bit better. Still, it would have been nice to see the Mayor come off a little better on the stand.

Keep tuned to KING5 for ongoing updates.

And, Go Rocco!

Afternoon Delight

Somebody please set up a hoop in the Courthouse driveway so we can make the above scene happen.

There are five players in the starting lineup for a basketball team. So, here are five good reasons to attend today's rally (visit SonicCentral.com as always for updated information, but the gist of it is 4 pm, 700 Stewart Street, Downtown, Federal Courthouse Building).

1. Good weather? Check.

2. Xavier McDaniel, Gary Payton, Zaid Abdul Aziz, Will Conroy, Spencer Hawes (and possibly others) in attendance? Check.

3. Clay Bennett at the courthouse? Check.

4. Being able to talk to other people who can commiserate about the Sene/Petro/Swift draft picks? Check.

5. Demonstrating to the NBA that Seattle cares about the NBA? Check.

Basically, it boils down to this: Even if you don't care if the Sonics leave, even if you think the NBA is bilking individual cities to further its broken economic model, even if you believe David Stern and Clay Bennett are rat-fink liars, how often do you get a chance to stand in the sunshine and cheer for the X-Man and The Glove? Skip lunch, call in sick, take an "afternoon meeting", whatever, just be there!

words: P. Nussbaum / image: R. Calonzo
~

Ratings

Before the Finals started, almost everyone was in agreement that a Boston-LA series would be a ratings bonanza for the NBA.

After all, in addition to the nostalgia factor, you've LA involved, not to mention Boston, which is a heckuva better proposition than, oh, San Antonio and Cleveland, right?

So I was a little surprised to see the ratings for the series so far. Now, these are just for the first three games (game four ratings aren't available yet to non-insiders such as myself), but take a look:

Game 1: 8.7
Game 2: 8.5
Game 3: 9.2

Now, bear in mind that these are overnight ratings, which are almost always higher than the official ratings which will come out later.

The chart shows how the ratings have gone since David Stern took over the league in 1984. And, while this year's numbers are obviously higher than last year's (and when you add in game 4 and game 5, they'll higher still), it's not much of an improvement in the grand scheme of things.

In fact, if you were a pessimist, wouldn't you be disappointed with these ratings? Considering the hoopla surrounding the matchup, wouldn't you expect this year's series to do at least as well as the the 2004 Lakers-Pistons series? Well, thus far, the ratings are below that series, and I'd label that as disappointing. When you factor in that these are overnight ratings, I would say it's even more disappointing.

So, while the media continues to parrot David Stern's company line about improved ratings, it's a faulty argument. Yes, ratings are up over last year, but considering that last year's series was the lowest-rated in modern NBA history, wouldn't you expect that? For a league so full of bad news as the NBA, this is the best week of the entire year, the time when all of its sins are washed away by the goodwill generated by a Laker-Celtic final.

Next week, the Finals will be over, and Stern will be forced to endure an unending series of questions about the Sonics and Tim Donaghy. I hope an 8.5 rating is enough to comfort him.