Wednesday, April 18, 2007

The Handwriting for the Sonics

I could see the handwriting on the wall. Late last year, the owner of the NBA's Seattle SuperSonics, Howard Schultz (Starbucks' Big Boss Man) sold the team to a group of investors from Oklahoma City. Now, the Sonics are the oldest professional sports franchise in Seattle.
I have been a Sonics fan since the early 70's --listening to them of the radio -- before the Mariners and Seahawks even existed. So, last year when this news concerning new ownership came about, Sonics fans the world over felt betrayed. To give Schultz credit, he did try -- in good faith -- to bargain with the city of Seattle for a new arena. It is well-documented that the Sonics' Key Arena is the worst in the NBA. It is perceived that the city believes that it has shelled out enough money already for the Mariners' and the Seahawks' new stadiums over the past decade. Still, it is hard to believe that you would leave your longest-standing franchise hung out to dry. So, the latest news coming in yesterday is that the Washington State legislature is not going to grant an extension to consider the Sonics' plight, to which I have to wonder -- why did it even have to fall under an extension? They should have taken this up sooner. Now, the new owners have the out they need and Seattle's loss is OK City's gain -- which, by the way, is fine with me. Since I no longer live in the Northwest and now live in Texas, I will stand a much better chance of going to see my old team in person. So, all this to say -- I am okay with this, with apologies to my good friend Art who will be losing his beloved basketabll team. Still, he can come down and we'll go watch them in OKC.

Don

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