The Sonics' Pending Move

[Broward83 0]

Maybe Dama can answer this for me:

 

Is the divide between Sooners and Cowboys so great that a potential name couldn't reflect a bias towards one over the other on the chance it alienates fans?

[Damaramu 0]

Maybe Dama can answer this for me:

 

Is the divide between Sooners and Cowboys so great that a potential name couldn't reflect a bias towards one over the other on the chance it alienates fans?

 

 

Well not in my eyes, but probably in some crazy fans eyes. The state is mostly Sooners fans anyway.

[Guest blame that goot.]

The state is mostly Sooners fans anyway.

THAT AIN'T TRUE!

[Guest]

Oklahoma Mustangs

[teke184 0]

Oklahoma Mustangs

I think that only works if the Dallas Mavericks become the Dallas Geldings.

 

Given their past 12 playoff games, I'd say their balls have been gone for a while anyway.

[Jorge Gorgeous 0]

Paul Allen's just going to move the Blazers up here eventually, once he's done rebuilding Westlake into its own little community. Brandon Roy is coming home.

 

HEY, FUCK YOU. FUCK YOU FOR EVEN SAYING IT.

 

But seriously, folks, the Blazers are locked into a long term lease. Furthermore, Portland is already a neglected market. They aren't going anywhere.

[Edwin MacPhisto 0]

If they do change the team name, I'd like a singular noun, like the Jazz. Maybe the Oklahoma City Bullshit. Or the Oklahoma City Explosion.

 

Yeah that's real classy, make fun of a bunch of people getting killed. Let's start in on 9/11 next.

 

Let's not punish the city because one guy is an asshole.

I would have no problem with referring to Swift and Sene as the broken, useless remnants of the twin towers, if you really want to go that route. Seemed less applicable, though.

 

I don't want to punish the city, but I would like to see everything go really poorly for the franchise as soon as it gets dragged out of Seattle. None of the center prospects they wasted time drafting ever pan out. Durant leaves after his rookie deal is up. Sprewell shows up at the grocery store in an afro wig and a balaclava and chokes PJ Carlesimo again. 30 wins becomes a goal for a landmark season. The people of OKC aren't at fault, but the best thing to happen short of the move somehow falling through would be for this relocation project to fail miserably, embarrass Stern, and change future NBA operations accordingly.

[Damaramu 0]

If they do change the team name, I'd like a singular noun, like the Jazz. Maybe the Oklahoma City Bullshit. Or the Oklahoma City Explosion.

 

Yeah that's real classy, make fun of a bunch of people getting killed. Let's start in on 9/11 next.

 

Let's not punish the city because one guy is an asshole.

I would have no problem with referring to Swift and Sene as the broken, useless remnants of the twin towers, if you really want to go that route. Seemed less applicable, though.

 

I don't want to punish the city, but I would like to see everything go really poorly for the franchise as soon as it gets dragged out of Seattle. None of the center prospects they wasted time drafting ever pan out. Durant leaves after his rookie deal is up. Sprewell shows up at the grocery store in an afro wig and a balaclava and chokes PJ Carlesimo again. 30 wins becomes a goal for a landmark season. The people of OKC aren't at fault, but the best thing to happen short of the move somehow falling through would be for this relocation project to fail miserably, embarrass Stern, and change future NBA operations accordingly.

 

 

Uhhh.....no. I don't wish for my city to fall flat on its face like that. That would be a HORRIBLE thing to happen. Besides the people are going to support the team and it'll have high attendance so it'll pan out at the beginning at least.

 

[Guest blame that goot.]

One of my worries about all these expansions and relocations is that it devalues the idea of a road team. Look no further than the NHL: it's bad enough that Wirtz/Pulford mismanaged the organization to near-death, but so many casual fans who grew up hating the Red Wings and North Stars now find themselves asking "they're playing WHO?" because they don't keep track of all the moving and shaking, and can't be arsed to care about these renamed relocated brand-new teams the same way they would for the rivals they grew up with. Trail Blazers versus Supersonics is a hotter ticket than Trail Blazers versus "the Oklahoma City Drillers."

 

I also don't like the idea of Shawn Kemp and Gary Payton's team ceasing to exist. I was really heavily advocating the Oklahoma City Hornets and was really happy to see them succeed like they did, but like Edwin, I hope the relocated Sonics fail, just because of how reprehensible this ownership group has proven to be. I felt the same way about the Washington Nationals, and they haven't really panned out either.

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

The whole idea makes me mad too but I think the only people with real just cause to wish failure on this team is residents of Seattle and/or fans of the SONICS as they are currently branded. This wishing failure on the OKC team thing isn't flying right with me. Wish a horrible death for Bennett and Stern though. That's good.

[AnnieEclectic 0]

I even think this is more Stern than anything. He could have gotten this whole thing done right, with the Grizz. OKC Grizzlies even sounds badass. I would say the hornets are a good choice too except that CP3 and the Hornets have done a lot of good with New Orleans (so have the Saints for that matter) that a post-Katrina NO really deserves the best karma it can get right now.

 

Fuck Stern. He's an ass. I hope the OKC whatevers do well actually because OKC deserves a team. Just not that one.

 

Do like the NFL did with the Browns. You want to move it? Fine, but you get no history or colors, just the players. Seattle keeps the team rights and gets an expansion or another team move down the line.

 

Stern's a fuckwit.

[Edwin MacPhisto 0]

If they do change the team name, I'd like a singular noun, like the Jazz. Maybe the Oklahoma City Bullshit. Or the Oklahoma City Explosion.

 

Yeah that's real classy, make fun of a bunch of people getting killed. Let's start in on 9/11 next.

 

Let's not punish the city because one guy is an asshole.

I would have no problem with referring to Swift and Sene as the broken, useless remnants of the twin towers, if you really want to go that route. Seemed less applicable, though.

 

I don't want to punish the city, but I would like to see everything go really poorly for the franchise as soon as it gets dragged out of Seattle. None of the center prospects they wasted time drafting ever pan out. Durant leaves after his rookie deal is up. Sprewell shows up at the grocery store in an afro wig and a balaclava and chokes PJ Carlesimo again. 30 wins becomes a goal for a landmark season. The people of OKC aren't at fault, but the best thing to happen short of the move somehow falling through would be for this relocation project to fail miserably, embarrass Stern, and change future NBA operations accordingly.

 

 

Uhhh.....no. I don't wish for my city to fall flat on its face like that. That would be a HORRIBLE thing to happen. Besides the people are going to support the team and it'll have high attendance so it'll pan out at the beginning at least.

You're missing the point. They could be moving to Birmingham or Fargo for all I care. If the team succeeds in OKC, then the ends successfully justify the idiotic means. You'll end up with more billionaires buying perfectly acceptably profitable teams with histories, moving them, and the league doing nothing to stop it. We're going to end up with OKC Basketballers racing to the bottom against the Pittsburgh Rockets and the Las Vegas Blazers.

[teke184 0]

You're missing the point. They could be moving to Birmingham or Fargo for all I care. If the team succeeds in OKC, then the ends successfully justify the idiotic means. You'll end up with more billionaires buying perfectly acceptably profitable teams with histories, moving them, and the league doing nothing to stop it. We're going to end up with OKC Basketballers racing to the bottom against the Pittsburgh Rockets and the Las Vegas Blazers.

 

 

"First, the Lakers moved from Minneapolis to Los Angeles, where there were no lakes.

 

Then the Oilers moved from Houston to Tennessee, where there is no oil.

 

Then the Jazz moved from New Orleans to Utah, where they don't allow music.

 

Then the Raiders moved from Oakland to Los Angeles, and back again... and nobody seemed to care."

[Guest blame that goot.]

There are lakes in Los Angeles, oil in Tennessee, jazz festivals in Salt Lake City, and your post failed to address the one you quoted.

[alfdogg 0]

I think he's referencing some movie or something there. (note the quotation marks)

[Damaramu 0]

Bennett already said he'd leave the colors, name and history behind.

 

I'm still with 909, Mustangs sounds good. Then again when I think of Mustangs I think of SMU's colors and I don't know if I can picture it in the NBA. Maybe silver and red? That'd be kind of cool.

[alfdogg 0]

How about bringing the ABA's Oakland Oaks name out of the dust? The Oklahoma Oaks.

[Guest blame that goot.]

The Rockets and Trail Blazers already use silver and red.

 

I have a feeling that the Supersonics will be saved at the last second, sort of how the Pittsburgh Penguins barely averted a move to Kansas City.

[teke184 0]

There are lakes in Los Angeles, oil in Tennessee, jazz festivals in Salt Lake City, and your post failed to address the one you quoted.

1. It's a quote from BASEketball, which started on the premise that people were tired of teams picking up stakes and moving on the second they got a better deal.

 

2. It also addressed Edwin's bitching about teams moving around, which goes WELL back in the NBA to at least 1960, when the Lakers ditched Minny for LA, and to the early 80s, when the Jazz ditched New Orleans for Salt Lake City.

 

 

This argument could go back to the Syracuse Nationals ditching Syracuse to become the Philadelphia 76ers if you REALLY want to... and it would definitely be appropriate since the Nationals' history goes back to 1939, which pre-dates the NBA.

 

 

The point is, there are a LOT of franchises that have moved around before, some of which several times, despite having a following in their original area and some measure of history.

 

Sometimes they take the name with them, like the Lakers, Hawks, and Jazz, and sometimes they don't, like the Syracuse Nationals (76ers), Cincinnati Royals (Kansas City Kings / Sacramento Kings), etc.

[Guest blame that goot.]

Yeah, but there's a difference between capitalizing on Los Angeles, an empty-arena team being bought by Mormons, and out-of-town ownership and the commissioner conspiring to shake down a city into building a publicly funded arena. There's a history of teams moving, yeah, but this is different. Bad different.

 

And like I said, the NBA discourages name and logo changes, which is why we have the Memphis Grizzlies and New Orleans Hornets.

 

[Guest]

Yeah, we have lakes, but the water is dirty.

[Guest blame that goot.]

What isn't out there, amirite

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

Don't forget Philadelphia Warriors into the current Golden State Warriors.

[Guest blame that goot.]

THE BUFFALO BRAVES BECAME THE SAN DIEGO CLIPPERS

 

I don't know what we're accomplishing here by acknowledging that sports teams have moved. That doesn't address the fact that this particular team moving to this aprticular town is a shakedown that does not bode well for anyone but Clay Bennett.

[Hasbeen2 0]

I don't follow the NBA the way I used to but if this guy is the owner why's he not allowed to do what's in his best interest? How many hundreds of millions has he put into the team?

[CanadianChris 0]

I don't follow the NBA the way I used to but if this guy is the owner why's he not allowed to do what's in his best interest? How many hundreds of millions has he put into the team?

Two reasons:

 

1) He signed an agreement with the previous owner that he'd make a good faith effort to keep the team in Seattle, and it's since been proven that he had absolutely no intention of doing so.

 

2) He and David Stern are BFFs, which makes the whole ordeal look more than a little bit dodgy.

[teke184 0]

THE BUFFALO BRAVES BECAME THE SAN DIEGO CLIPPERS

 

I don't know what we're accomplishing here by acknowledging that sports teams have moved. That doesn't address the fact that this particular team moving to this aprticular town is a shakedown that does not bode well for anyone but Clay Bennett.

There are several points:

 

1. There are specific cases of "historic" teams that have moved, which undercuts the Sonics fans' "We have so much history here" argument.

 

2. There are specific cases where owners bought teams specifically to move them to new markets, such as the Nationals being bought and then moved to Philly, which had been abandoned by the Warriors.

 

3. The Sonics ownership's problems with the arena go back to Schultz, who was told to go fuck himself by the Washington state and Seattle politicians when he was asking about a new arena.

 

While current owner Bennett's demands to stay in Seattle were outrageously high, the state's unwillingness to renew the tax specifically meant for sports arenas was a shot across Bennett's bow that they were going to play hardball with him.

 

If Seattle and Washington state politicians are going to play chicken with Bennett, don't be surprised when he says "Screw you guys, I'm taking my team and going home."

 

 

 

In short, *these problems predate Bennett buying the team* and Bennett's moving of the team became an inevitability once Schultz sold the team to a group that had no local ties and the Washington state and Seattle politicians didn't take that as a sign that they weren't going to win a game of chicken this time.

 

 

 

Curse Bennett all you want, but leave OKC out of it and don't forget to heap a lot of blame on Schultz for his choice of ownership group to sell to and the Washington state and Seattle politicians for convincing Schultz that it wasn't worth the effort for him to remain the owner of the Sonics.

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

Yeah, what did you guys want Oklahoma to do? Wave their hands no and say "I don't want this team!"? This was their best shot at getting a NBA team short of expansion. They're going to welcome it. So the whole "wishing doom on the franchise upon landing in OKC" is just silly and furthermore, petty. You have a fanbase that's ready to support a lottery team (as things stand now), and you want to turn them away? Fuck that. Yeah Seattle's getting screwed here, but I'm sure they'll get a team in exchange, similar to what happened in Charlotte after George Shinn took the Hornets out of there.

[Guest blame that goot.]

I don't follow the NBA the way I used to but if this guy is the owner why's he not allowed to do what's in his best interest?

He signed an agreement stating that he would kepe the team in Seattle, and he has a lease for the arena.

 

How many hundreds of millions has he put into the team?

Judging from their record, not enough!

 

[Ripper 0]

And stern has told the seattle they won't get a team in the future unless they allow the team to leave. How is that not strongarming.

 

This wasn't their best chance to get a team. There teams in failing markets right now that would be giddy to get moved.

 

They are jacking a team with 40 years of history from a fanbase that still wants their team.

 

Like, how in the FUCK did Charlotte even get another team. No one gave one tiny bit of a shit when the Hornets left. Yet Stern is telling them that if they don't break their contract for his friend, he will block them ever getting a team.

 

How can you NOT see something wrong with this.