R.I.P. Bob Blackburn

Bob Blackburn, the original voice of the Seattle Supersonics, passed away Friday at the age of 85.

For many of us, Blackburn's friendly voice welcomed us into the world of Sonics fandom. He was the voice of the '79 champs and along with Wayne Cody, Ivar Haglund and J.P. Patches, represented the best of Old Seattle, a town that was on the rise, but never took itself too seriously.

He will be missed, but never forgotten.

Danny Fortson: Cyborg Smasher!

In 2006, cartoonist extraordinaire Rafael Calonzo, Jr. and writer/comedian Paul Merrill created "Danny Fortson: Cyborg Smasher", a two-part comic series based on former Seattle Supersonics forward Danny Fortson.

(Originally published in 2006 on Supersonicsoul.com)

"Danny Fortson: Cyborg Smasher"
Issue #1

(Click on pictures for larger images.)

"Danny Fortson: Cyborg Smasher"
Issue #2

To Ponder

A short follow-up on the ridiculousness of LeBron James' quasi-demand that the NBA retire Michael Jordan's #23:

What about the four guys who have had #23 retired in their honor by their teams? I'm speaking of Lou Hudson (Atlanta), Calvin Murphy (Houston), Frank Ramsey (Boston), and John Williamson (New Jersey).

Of course, Williamson died of kidney disease due to diabetes 13 years ago, so I guess he won't complain much, and Murphy's had all sorts of off-court problems that help to keep him quiet, Hudson might have scored 18,000 points but LeBron never saw him play, so it didn't really count, right, and, sure, Ramsey made the Hall of Fame, but he was just a sixth man, really, and besides, the Celtics have too many retired jerseys anyways (okay, that last one actually makes some sense).

Can you tell that I'm bugged about this whole thing? Normally, it wouldn't be worth mentioning, but James has such power in the league right now, this idea might take off, regardless of how stupid it is. Retiring Jackie Robinson's jersey made sense, somewhat, because it was a way for baseball to atone for its past sins.

But why do we need to honor Jordan any more than Wilt, or Kareem, or Magic, or Bird, or Mikan, or anybody else in the upper echelons of greatness? Because LeBron watched Jordan as a kid, now the Warriors have to retire his jersey? Should the NFL retire Jim Brown's jersey league-wide because he was the best player ever?

To me, a better way of accomplishing this would be to go the way of the NHL and rename the trophies the league hands out at the end of the year. Call it the Chamberlain Award (MVP), or the Russell Award (defense), or the Jordan Award (offensive player of the year), or whatever. Keep those ideas on a league-wide basis, and leave the jersey retirements to the teams.

It was stupid enough for the Heat to retire Jordan's jersey a few years ago. Don't compound that idiocy on a league-wide scale.