We have heard this a lot from Sonics fans -- anger over the malevolent circumstances regarding Clay Bennett's attempted thievery of the franchise from its 41-year home in Seattle will lead them to abandon the NBA. One of the Green and Gold's more famous fans, Pearl Jam bassist Jeff Ament, put that sentiment into easily linkable words in an ESPN The Magazine interview with Chris Sprow.It's sad...and I've only put in half the time that a lot of the Sonic fans have, but I've been a life long NBA fan and after this debacle, I'm kinda' over the whole league. I told Brent Barry that when he's retired, I'm moving on to full time NCAA and high school ball. [...]Ament has several more great points, one of which is the fact KeyArena (a place in which Bennett says money cannot be made) is no worse than a handful of other arenas. (And I'd tend to believe Ament on this, since Pearl Jam has been touring 200 nights a year for, you know, 18 years.)
if the deal goes through, I would bet that a lot of Sonic fans will pay very little attention to the NBA. I'm not sure what sort of spit-swapping was going on between (Clay) Bennett and (David) Stern, but the whole thing stinks of conspiracy. I know it happens everyday, but I can't believe these sorts of deals are allowed to happen in this country.
While we're here: We wholeheartedly endorse efforts to get NBA owners to vote against Bennett's relocation request tomorrow. Owners: Vote no. Please.
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Reader Comments ( Page 1 of 1)
1. My sanity depends on the Sonics coming to Oklahoma. There are two sides to this
Posted at 4:11PM on Apr 16th 2008 by Chummy24
2. Do the other 'handful' of arenas have the same kind of revenue sharing deal that the Sonics have with the City of Seattle, Tom?
Posted at 4:53PM on Apr 16th 2008 by grapevinesooner
3. Jeff Ament is awesome. Thanks for the recap, and thanks even more for the endorsement. It all helps.
Save our Sonics!
Posted at 8:20PM on Apr 16th 2008 by jenn
4. Many many factors and mistakes lead to the current situation. But if David Stern had actually had league officials working for a solution rather than just relying on threats or giving up things could have been different. Seattle never got the assistance that New Orleans, Sacramento, Orlando, Portland, NJ, etc. got. It still could work out if Stern would negotiate.
Posted at 8:35PM on Apr 16th 2008 by Rick