Seattle NBA / NHL arena Special on KING-5 tomorrow

It looks like KING 5 is going full-blown WEATHERBLAST 2012 with the new Seattle sports arena story, dedicating an entire hour of prime-time to a special news report:

Seattle, WA – KING 5 is producing a one-hour 10:00 PM special airing Thursday, February 23rd, titled “Seattle Arena: Billion Dollar Hat Trick.” KING 5’s Jean Enersen and Sports Director Paul Silvi will report on the plans for a world class sports arena to be built in Seattle as home for professional basketball and hockey franchises. 

The three-part hat trick Jean and Paul explore:

• the financing and building of a state-of-the-art sports arena to be built in Seattle’s Sodo district

• what it’s going to take for this billion dollar arena to be the new home for an NBA team 

• what it’s going to take to bring an NHL team to the Puget Sound. 

 KING 5 examines details of the arena plan including the private financing proposed and its potential impact on taxpayers as well as the future of Key Arena.   Jean and Paul will also report on the personalities involved, from Seattle and King County politicians to the Seattle native and self-made multi-millionaire Chris Hansen who’s behind the mega deal.   

KING 5’s Chris Daniels reports from Orlando, where the NBA All-Star game is taking place this weekend.  The NBA and Sacramento must make a decision soon about the future of the Sacramento Kings franchise.  The special will also feature reports from Phoenix and New Orleans, two areas where sports franchises face uncertain futures.    

“Seattle Arena: Billion Dollar Hat Trick” will also be simulcast on 710 ESPN Seattle radio.  It replays on NWCN on Friday, February 24th at 8:30 PM. 

Damn. If Jean Enersen is involved, you know Shit Just Got Real ™.

Not Being a Douche: Sonics 2.0 Fan Edition

I won’t speculate on what will be announced later today (or next month, or next year, or… ever) regarding a professional basketball team returning to Seattle. I can say that whatever it is will have to factor in these two certainties:

1. They aren’t making any new basketball teams.
2. Meaning if we are going to get a team here, it’s coming from another town.

Better writers than I have examined the dilemma this creates for Supes fans. On the one hand, you’re still mad that your team got took. On the other hand, you know that to have a team again, you have to take one from someone else.

If you’ll forgive another awful sports analogy, it’s like needing a heart transplant. You hope you get one, but it is beyond macabre to actively root for another person to die. But if one does become available, it’s not like you would say “No thanks, I’ll wait until science is able to clone hearts and sell them at Costco.” (note to self: a cartoon might have worked better here)

So what can we do? We are constantly assured that Seattle will get a team back, from somewhere, sometime. What we can do, when/if that day comes, is steer clear of gloating douchebag territory. Having been the recipients of scorn from Other Klassy Citizens these past 4 years, I’ve been mentally compiling a list of tips for avoiding their habits when the situations are reversed.

• Don’t leave taunting comments on the aggrieved fanbase’s blogs and forums. Just… don’t be like those guys.
• Don’t perpetuate the meme that it was “the fans’ fault” for not supporting the team enough. I don’t know how many times I’ve read an OKC fan parrot the “You guys didn’t support your team” excuse. WE guys absolutely did support our team. The mayor, commissioner, the coffee tycoon—THOSE are the guys that didn’t support US. The same kind of crap likely contributed to the other team’s demise.
• Don’t talk about which city “deserves” a team or not. Deserve ain’t got nothing to do with it. It has everything to do with revenue streams and public subsidies.
• Don’t tell grieving fans to “stop whining” or “get over it already.” You just come across as classless winners when you get the team AND act like you can lecture the old fans on how to cope with loss.
• Don’t boast about how much better your city is than the old city, or how much better off the team is in your town.
• Don’t say that it’s okay for us to steal because we were stolen from. It’s still not okay. At minimum, acknowledge the feelings of the other fans. There were a miniscule number of OKC fans who expressed sympathy on comments here and at other Sonics sites who redeemed their fanbase a tiny bit.

Non-douchey additions/suggestions welcome.

Seattle NBA/NHL arena press conference today at 2pm

Mayor McGinn (looking eerily like John Wayne Gacy in this photo) is reportedly going to have a press conference at 2pm today about a potential new NBA / NHL arena for Seattle. Stay tuned to Supersonicsoul for the latest news and/or handwringing about ARENA GATE 2012!