Some last bits of news before the weekend:
1. Ira Newble has been waived to clear space for 10-day signee Mike Wilks. This proves, once again, that anyone I spend more than 20 minutes studying on the internet will be waived within two weeks. (Lightbulb! Start studying more about Clay Bennett!)
2. Robert Swift will undergo arthroscopic surgery this coming Tuesday. He's out for the year, as you would expect. The surgery will be performed by Los Angeles doctor Stephen Lombardo who, surprisingly, is not this guy.
3. Hoopshype has a enjoyable story up at the moment about all-time Sonic great Jack Sikma.
4. The Sonics have a chance at one of their seven wins before the end of the season tonight when they play the Heat. Here's a mother-in-law-driving-off-the-cliff-in-your-new-Ferrari question for you:
-Every game the Sonics lose will help the Sonics get a Derrick Rose-type PG in the draft, which is good for Sonics fans if the team stays in Seattle, but it also simultaneously helps Clay Bennett by improving the overall value of his team. So ... should we hope for a win? Hope for a loss? Hope for Clay Bennett and David Stern to be involved in some horrible, non-life-threatening accident which nevertheless compels them to forgo involvement in their day-to-day business activities?
These are the tough questions, friends.
Friday, February 29
Sonics News
Forget trying to fight it, according to King County Executive Ron Sims, because the Sonics are already gone.
Sims appeared on 950 KJR-AM yesterday and stated he was completely convinved that the team would be leaving, regardless of the decision in the upcoming court case.
"Even if they have to keep them here two more years," Sims said, "I suspect Clay would hold on to that team and take then down to Oklahoma City when he has a chance."
Sims argues that even if the case is decided in the city's favor, and Bennett is forced to remain in Seattle until after the 2009-10 season, that such a decision will not automatically force the new ownership group to sell. In a sense, their deep pockets are apparently deep engough - Sims believes - to weather the two-year storm.
While I'm on the topic, please indulge me for skewering one of Sims' arguments, that, well, let me make his point:
"Do you think the NBA hasn't noticed the revenues coming to MLB from Mariners telecasts in Japan?" Sims said. "Safeco and Seattle are very attractive places for the telecasts. ... That's part of why Bennett wanted such an elaborate arena in Seattle."
Honestly, my eyes could not roll further back into their sockets. Really, Bennett wanted a great, big palace because of the Asian market? Hmm, what market was Orlando vying for when it approved its' palace, the Dominican Republic? Or perhaps Guyana? Please, Bennett wanted a palace because everyone else has one.
But back to the meat of the comments. Sims mentioned at the same time that two or three other local ownership groups are ready to go to purchase the team, but even those groups anticipate that they will not be buying the Sonics, but another team.
If Sims is correct - and that is a great, big IF - moving the Sonics to Oklahoma and allowing the city of Seattle to buy, say, the Hornets (no offense to New Orleans intended; believe me, we know what it's like to have other people speculate on your team's future), is sure idiocy, when the simplest solution would be to allow Bennett to take over the Hornets and force him to give the Sonics to the local owners.
But, then, the NBA is anything but idiocy-free, right?
Sims appeared on 950 KJR-AM yesterday and stated he was completely convinved that the team would be leaving, regardless of the decision in the upcoming court case.
"Even if they have to keep them here two more years," Sims said, "I suspect Clay would hold on to that team and take then down to Oklahoma City when he has a chance."
Sims argues that even if the case is decided in the city's favor, and Bennett is forced to remain in Seattle until after the 2009-10 season, that such a decision will not automatically force the new ownership group to sell. In a sense, their deep pockets are apparently deep engough - Sims believes - to weather the two-year storm.
While I'm on the topic, please indulge me for skewering one of Sims' arguments, that, well, let me make his point:
"Do you think the NBA hasn't noticed the revenues coming to MLB from Mariners telecasts in Japan?" Sims said. "Safeco and Seattle are very attractive places for the telecasts. ... That's part of why Bennett wanted such an elaborate arena in Seattle."
Honestly, my eyes could not roll further back into their sockets. Really, Bennett wanted a great, big palace because of the Asian market? Hmm, what market was Orlando vying for when it approved its' palace, the Dominican Republic? Or perhaps Guyana? Please, Bennett wanted a palace because everyone else has one.
But back to the meat of the comments. Sims mentioned at the same time that two or three other local ownership groups are ready to go to purchase the team, but even those groups anticipate that they will not be buying the Sonics, but another team.
If Sims is correct - and that is a great, big IF - moving the Sonics to Oklahoma and allowing the city of Seattle to buy, say, the Hornets (no offense to New Orleans intended; believe me, we know what it's like to have other people speculate on your team's future), is sure idiocy, when the simplest solution would be to allow Bennett to take over the Hornets and force him to give the Sonics to the local owners.
But, then, the NBA is anything but idiocy-free, right?
Letterpalooza Lifts Off!
That's not the mailbox you're looking for. Move along. Move along.
Just 24 hours after beginning Operation: Letterpalooza, it appears we have our first victory. According to Bill Simmons, the response from Sonics fans from all over the country has been overwhelming:
In six years of writing for ESPN.com, this is the longest piece I've ever sent to my editors -- nearly 15,000 words of anguished e-mails from Sonics fans around the country. I spent the past 24 hours sifting through them and whittling them down the best I could. Don't print this baby out. Read it, skim through it, do whatever you need to do. But definitely check it out.Thanks to everyone who took the time to write an email--stay tuned for our next mission!
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)