Key Arena Bill: A 30 to 50% Chance of Passing

Jim Brunner of the Seattle Times checks in with odds on SB 6166 passing the state legislature this session.

Quoting Brunner:

"Sen. Ed Murray, D-Seattle, prime sponsor of Substitute Senate Bill 6116, said he gives it a 50-50 chance of passing. But he predicts it will come down to the wire. 'It's a budget bill so it can hang out here til the end.'

"Rep. Ross Hunter, D-Medina, who has worked on a similar proposal in the House, put the odds at just 30 percent."

Perhaps the two gentlemen's lack of faith in the bill's passage could be related to the King of Olympia, Frank Chopp, whose penchant for stalling was seen last year, the year before ... and this year as well. Whether the insertion of funding for low-income housing is the magical ingredient to get Chopp to go along with the bill remains to be seen, but Hunter and Murray's inside information - and their negative assessment of the bill's success - can't be too reassuring.

Dikembe

We may all be Sonic fans, but getting us to agree on something isn't a given. Best player? Some might say Payton, some would choose Kemp, or perhaps Haywood, or even Sikma.

Best coach: Wilkens or Karl? Best team: '95-96 or '78-'79?

We can all agree on this, though: The toughest moment in Sonic history was watching the Sonics lose to the Denver Nuggets in 1994. Up 2-0, the Sonics dropped three straight. And it wasn't just three straight to some random team - it was three straight to the home of the Denver Broncos and their horse-faced quarterback.

If you ask any Sonic fan the most haunting image in team history, it's the image of Dikembe Mutombo lying on his back, squeezing the basketball between his massive palms, a look of sheer joy mixed with exhaustion on his face.

For 15 years, I've hated that moment, but today, with news that Mutombo's career is over after a knee injury last night in Portland, I'm relaxing my attitude a bit.

Mutombo's career - an amazing 18-year journey - is now over. In a few months, maybe I'll go back to hating this moment again, but today, viewed through the prism of watching this giant man seeing his athletic career end, well, I'm filled more with a feeling of happiness for his success than I am with intense disappointment at a Sonic failure.

Congratulations on a remarkable basketball career, Dikembe. If one man had to symbolize the Sonics' most disappointing failure, I'm glad it was you.

Nice Work If You Can Get It

And your highest-paid CEO for 2008 is ...

Aubrey McClendon!

Thanks to a $77 million bonus/extortion in December, the co-owner of the Sonix pulled down an estimated $112 million in 2008, putting him #1 on the list of overpaid jerkoffs who ruined the American economy and will force my grandchildren to make socks for their Chinese overlords ...

Whew, sorry about that. Anyhow, Ben Casselman of the WSJ reports that McClendon's haul puts him above such noteworthy performers as Sanjay Jha/Motorola ($104 mil), Robert Iger/Disney ($49.7 mil), and Alex Rodriguez/Yankees ($28 mil +/- Madonna).

In an unrelated piece of news, Chesapeake Energy posted a net loss of $866 million in 2008.