That shouldn't be surprising considering in a February 2006 interview with Hornets guard Chris Paul, he called Oklahoma "nothing but vast wasteland.”
Barkley: "Seattle is a great city. I'll always appreciate Seattle. That's where I played my first All-Star Game. And that's the toughest building (KeyArena) I've ever played in in my life. It's unfortunate what's happening up there right now. I wish that team would stay there. Obviously, they're probably not going to. I think that's a travesty, but that's a great place.”
ESPN's Jeff Van Gundy, who made several appearances at Ford Center as Houston Rockets coach, said he had mixed feelings about the move.
Van Gundy: "I think Seattle losing a team is tragic for the NBA. It's a great basketball town. Oklahoma City, when we used to go there, was a like a college environment; it was great. I think it's terrible about Seattle losing a team, if it happens, but Oklahoma City was terrific in its support of NBA basketball.”
Barkley and TNT analyst Reggie Miller credited Sonics general manager Sam Presti for rebuilding the team "the right way” by stockpiling draft choices and staying under the salary cap.
Barkley: "I think Presti is doing a fantastic job. You've got some good young players, you've got a lot of draft picks and you've got cap space. I think that's the perfect way to do it.”
Miller: "Bottom line, you have some pretty good pieces in Kevin Durant, Jeff Green and Chris Wilcox. You have got some pieces where you can win some games and stay afloat to a point where you can make yourself a little more attractive for some of these free agents down the road.”
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Robert & Steve:
Robert, I doubt the fool who spilled his vocabulary on the page, all twenty words, is from Seattle; if he is, he is one of the "minority idiots" who have tried to impose their right wing voice against overwhelming public opinion, however quiet it is or has been. That voice of the majority is being heard now that we need to draw together and fight. "We want our Sonics in Seattle!" Does that make us "bad people" anymore than it makes the OKC fans because they want a NBA franchise?
So, the NBA approved the move today, 28-2; some might think it counts for something. All it says is "settle the law suits," and get rid of the gutless fool(s) who can slam someone but doesnt have the courage to leave their name. People like him are the same all over this world; they are about 4'2" tall, so ignorant when someone says "read between the lines" the pick up a book and magnifying glass. Sorry they let low-life scum on this site; I want the Sonics to stay "R." That has to be your middle initial; your name,? I. R. Dumb? I.R. Stupid? I.R. Ignorant? I.R. Gutless?...
Gary from OKC; was anyone being rude to you? Insensitive? Why act like you have this wrapped up? I want to hear from you when the Sonics stay in Seattle. We have an IBL team in Snohomish County, the "Explosion." Maybe you and Bennett could team up and steal that humble franchise....
Its far from over; we will keep fighting. True sports fans in OKC understand why, because we want our team. It does not make us "bad people or fools" anymore than it makes them. The fans are always hurt the most... In both cities.
R....Congratulations, you're now the fourth typical Seattle "too important/busy/hip for sports" yahoo to show up on this forum. Welcome! Did you get the gift pack? I use you guys to illustrate to these folks from Oklahoma what the exact problem is with getting ANYTHING done in Seattle. There are always guys like you who feel that they just HAVE TO jump in and establish their superiority, lest anyone think they could possibly care about something as - say it with me: "Acccch!" - trivial as sports. Feel better now? Afraid somebody in OKC was going to labor under the impression that you, personally, might lower yourself to give a rat's patootie about a SPORT! Glad you set 'em straight, Champ! Sorry to hear about the NHL not coming, though. I forgot they made you Commissioner. Silly me. I guess these Bellevue guys with all that money, who are working on an NHL franchise, can just save their money, huh, since YOU have spoken! And, gee, I guess those 42,000 people who have reserved MLS ticket packages should all just stay home, since YOU - THE ALMIGHTY YOU! - have deemed it "not major"? OKLAHOMA FOLKS: SEE what we have to work around? Not content with condescending to enough people here in Seattle, this person had to go all the way to an OKC newspaper to get their superiority established ....There are actually quite a few people around here who care about the Sonics, this clown to the contrary. That's one of the hallmark problems about Seattle: there are an awful lot of these people here who mistake what they and five or six of their friends think and care about as being what everybody thinks and feels. A lot of times, they're not even aware that they do it but this place, maybe because of the weather, creates very small "tribes", who sort of incestually feed off each others' opinions until they really believe they are the majority. I doubt if OKC is like that. Oklahomans are far more open and hospitable than Northwesterners. Superficial friendliness? No problem. Anything deeper or more inclusive than that, they run and hide. Ho-hum.
Robert, hate to bust your bubble, or trumpet, but Seattle is a two league city. I'd hardly call MLS major league, the sonics are leaving, so that leaves MLB and NFL. NHL is not coming here, so get off your high horse and stop being a pompass jerk. Nobody up here cares about the Sonics anyways, other than idiots like you.
Well, Jeff...let me answer your points one by one, since you asked: 1) We kept rejecting measures - like that $500 Million boondoggle Bennett was so in love with, that would keep the team in Seattle because we, like every town in the NBA that has faced this, are SICK TO FREAKIN' DEATH of being extorted by the NBA and their attitude that they should get what they want and if they don't, they'll punish the city by stealing their team. YOU guys would NEVER have agreed to build then that $500 million arena - the ONLY proposal Clayton Bennett would even discuss. He's all atwitter to bring "his" team to a revamped Ford Center - which, even after renovation, STILL won't be as good a facility as Key Arena - but wouldn't even listen to plans for a $200 million upgrade of Key Arena...because if he had, it would have meant staying here. 2) Nobody up here "stepped up" when Schultz sold the team mainly because most people up here who had the means to step up, DIDN'T EVEN KNOW THE TEAM WAS FOR SALE! My wife works for a guy who could easily buy the Sonics and he was PISSED when he found out Schultz sold to Bennett. He also proposed an arena that HE would pay for, that Bennett could occupy. This guy is one of the most successful developers in the US. He builds projects FAR larger than an NBA arena every year. I saw the artist's rendering. It was BEAUTIFUL. It would have made either the Ford Center or Key Arena look like a strip mall. BENNETT WOULDN'T EVEN TALK TO HIM ON THE PHONE. There were at least three other arena plans and Bennett refused to talk to any of them, WITHOUT EVEN SEEING PLANS. 3) Are you freakin' KIDDING? "How can OU recruit kids to come play COLLEGE football and basketball?" THEY'RE FABULOUS SPORTS PROGRAMS. OU is arguably one of the top three or four football programs in the country. Hell, I'D come there if I were eighteen and wanted to be a winner. I wouldn't care if they were playing in a back lot in Siberia. If you're a serious football prospect and you want to go to the NFL, you at least consider OU. The state of Oklahoma's charms don't enter into it. (Just to but a bow on the point, why do you think the most successful football programs, over the past twenty years in the country, are USC, Florida, Florida State, and Miami? Because they're in sunny, beautiful, interesting, fun areas. Every time you wonder why OKlahoma doesn't win more national championships, chalk it up to the fact that some kids, even very talented ones, are superficial enough to care more about sun'n'fun than they do about great football.) And point 4) WE DIDN'T GET A VOTE. Our elected officials created this mess. When did we VOTE DOWN anything? NONE of this business was EVER put to a vote. And you better believe that, come the next election, there's gonnabe HELL to pay. I'm a lifelong Democrat. I came out of the womb a Democrat. I would abstain before I'd vote Republican. But Christine Gregoire has LOST my vote. She and Frank Chopp and everybody else in Olympia diddled around and refused to put this issue to a public referendum. I cannot bring myself to vote for an empty suit like Dino Rossi but, if the Republcans manage to cough up ANY reasonable human being next election, I'll lose my cherry and pull the lever for them. And Nick Licata, our beloved Seattle City Council Chairman who said, "The Sonics make no contribution to the cultural or economic well-being of Seattle", is TOAST....Hope I've answered your questions. Now, how about answering mine: "WHAT THE HECK DID YOU EXPECT US TO DO?"
I have been resigned to just reading these comments the last few months, but I couldn't resist answering to Steve's comments. I believe if I remember correctly most of the hornets when they were in OKC enjoyed their time here especially Byron Scott and Chris Paul. Byron Scott had made a decision to maintain a home here to come back to even as they went back to New Orleans because of the positive aspects of OKC that he experienced. I have traveled a lot of places in my life, even to Seattle which I have family there. When I was in Seattle I decided I did not like it (to much rain) my point is every city has its good points and bad points according to an individual’s perspective. The NBA is in a number of markets similar to OKC. I do not see San Antonio as some overwhelming metropolis yet they seem to stay at the top of the heap, because of the support of the fans, business and government, which OKC will duplicate and perfect.
Seattle had numerous chances to make the Sonics happy before they were sold to Clay Bennett. They must have thought that they are untouchable because they are Seattle. It doesn't work that way Seattle, you have probably woke up way too late. Too bad for you, great for OKC. It will cost you allot more in the future to get a new team, you might want to give them a better lease. Down here in Houston we lost the Oilers to Nashville because of an outdated Astrodome. Houston got a new NFL team beacuse of a great owner and almost 1 Billion dollars. Seattle can you come with that kind of cash? Go Sooners!
Wow. If Seatle was such a great NBA town, how come they kept voting down measures that would keep them in Seatle? How come nobody from up there stepped up when Schultz sold the team? If nobody wants to come to Oklahoma, how can OU recruit kids across the country to come play football? I'm sure Seatle has a few rabid fans, there just aren't enough. The vast majority of it's citizens don't want the team. How do I know? YOU KEPT VOTING DOWN THE MEASURES THAT WOULD KEEP THEM THERE!!!
"That shouldn't be surprising considering in a February 2006 interview with Hornets guard Chris Paul, he called Oklahoma "nothing but vast wasteland.” "
This is about six inches up this very page. THIS is how excited NBA players are to be coming to a city where a big ol' time is dinner at the S&W Cafeteria and a six-pack of Blue Ribbon. You might want to remember this: you might even luck out and get the Sonics. Cheaters do, sometimes, win. But you're always going to be OKC and we're always going to be Seattle, one of the most beautiful and affluent and fastest-growing cities in the country, with three - soon to be FIVE - major league sports teams. Do I really need to explain the difference?
JIll you only know what you read in bennett's newspaper and are clueless. You may get the Sonics you will never be a big league city. You honestly think players are going to want to come play for or against a team that the owners are getting a kick back on the taxes the players are forced to pay.
With all respect to the exuberant fans in OKC, how would you know how many fans Seattle has?
We have had poor ownership, poor management, basically a dysfunctional team since 1996, out of "fan" control. Wally Walker was the absolute worst GM this team has ever had. I guarantee you if OKC had twelve consecutive years of bad basketball and Wally Walker, Bennett would no longer be the "folk hero" he is nor would your arena be sold out at the price it will cost you to take your families to a game. I am not aware of any NBA franchise that has ever continued to "sell out" their arena after years of bad management and poor teams, maybe Sacramento but look at them now, they are being "labeled" as a team that needs to be relocated.
We had one good team during the twelve years, that was before Bennett and company sent Ray and Rashard out of town. Check the attendance figures for that year Jill. Come on, you guys forget prior to the twelve year problem are twenty-nine years of good and bad basketball, including a world championship in 1979. Do you honestly think if Seattle had not supported the Sonics they would still be here? San Diego was awarded a franchise at the same time the Sonics were; is the NBA still in San Diego?
I first read about our Seattle NBA franchise by one small candle in a dirt bunker dug off of a trenchline while getting my two-four hours of rest, one-half-mile south of the Demilitarized Zone in Vietnam, between ground probes, artillery and mortar attacks. My folks would write to me telling me about the "new franchise" and its progress. Where were you in late 1966 and 1967? Being in Vietnam gives me no special rights other than I have loved my Sonics since then. I am now completely disabled from the war, I can't attend games because I cannot walk any longer. One of my great joys is watching the Seattle sports teams on TV since I can no longer play or participate. The Sonics have been the center of that group for over forty years...
I took my now adult children downtown the night our Sonics won the championship. We circled a four block square, honking our horn and celebrating with the thousands of fans who were there. It was so loud on the streets, you could not hear our car horn in the front seat. I had hoped to take my grandchildren downtown one day; oh, I have seven grand-babies from my kids who were in that car, all while the Sonics have been here...
It is one thing to honorably and ethically obtain an NBA franchise; it is another to "carpetbag" it out of town, planning to do so from the beginning, something we all knew as Bennett stood in front of us, on TV, and wrote in the paper he wanted to keep our Sonics here in Seattle. We knew he was a liar then, and we know he is a liar now. We may loose the Sonics but it will not be because Seattle does not have enough "fans" to influence the State of Washington. Why do you think the Governor, both State Senators, and the House Speaker (Including other law makers) submitted letters to the NBA?
Good luck IF you get the Sonics and don't keep Bennett happy; life has a way of giving back as it was given. Steal a team and you can bet one day it will be stolen from you, especially with Bennett controlling the majority interest and some of your other owners publicly displaying no ethics or integrity. What would you tell your kids about Bennett and company (being honest)their actions, and their emails? Would you lie? Is there anyone in OKC that cares about Bennett, his morals, and consider themselves safe from his demands? What happened to honesty...
(Sorry this is so long, I have a lot of built up emotion)
Barkley is just saying what the majority think outside of okt! What okt folks dont understand is perception is reality. People think okt is a town in rural oklahoma. No offense, but there is only one reason people have heard of okt at all. No need to mention that tragedy. Today should be interesting. Sorry but do you honestly think anyone of these millionaire players are looking forward to possible trips to okt? Is there a 5star hotel in okt? NBA teams dont stay at red roof inns?!? How about a world class restuarant or two? Every city has one, does okt? Applebees doesnt cut it! How about somewhere to go eat or party after the game? Anything open in okt after 10 pm on a tuesday night? You want to be big time but youre not big time. Not even close. Your okt and the rest of the country knows it and so does Barkley! At least understand who you really are!!! Do you even have skyscrapers downtown? Is there a downtown? Baton Rouges skyline, if you can call it that, is much, much bigger. Does okt even have "grade a" office space? This NBA stuff is over okt's head. Would be the least desirable locale in major pro sports, period. Not even close!
I bet if Sir Charles were an owner of a team that lost an average of 60 million a year he would jump at the chance to move to a place that would be making him money. That is why Charles is doing tv and not running a company.
Well said Jill. Once the team moves all will be forgotten and it will be "Seattle who? Oh ya, I remember when they had a team. Man it was great going up there. Oh well."
This move will not be popular with anyone outside of the OKC region. How could it be? Journalists and television analysts don't worry about arenas. Their focus is on the team. There are good reasons to keep a team in the city orginally awarded the franchise 41 years ago. However, those good reasons don't help an owner's bottom line, and when you've spent $350 million on a franchise, it's not much fun to have to spend 4 hours traveling each direction to watch them play, and lose $15 million a year on top of that. It keeps coming back to the point that, although Seattle has some great fans, it doesn't have enough fans to convince the city and state government to support building an arena with public funds. Remember, I-91 was passed shortly after if was announced Bennett was going to purchase the Sonics, a strongly anti-public funding for sports venues election. Maybe the NBA business model is broken, but it is going to take more than one city saying "no" to fix it. When you stand alone, sometimes you don't get anyone else standing up to join you. Until cities own teams, thereby relieving owners of the financial loss risk, teams are going to move from time to time, when the financial risk exceeds the benefit. When you've got out of town owners, it doesn't take much for the financial risk to exceed the benefit.
Jill, www.okcthunderfans.com - Apr 18, 2008 5:51 AM
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Thank you for joining our conversations on NewsOK.com. We encourage your discussions but ask that you stay within the bounds of our terms and conditions. Please help us by reporting comments that violate these guidelines. To review our rules of engagement, go to Commenting and posting policy.
Leave a comment. Log in below or sign up (it's free).Editor's note: It is not our intent to offer comments on crime or fatality stories.
Robert, I doubt the fool who spilled his vocabulary on the page, all twenty words, is from Seattle; if he is, he is one of the "minority idiots" who have tried to impose their right wing voice against overwhelming public opinion, however quiet it is or has been. That voice of the majority is being heard now that we need to draw together and fight. "We want our Sonics in Seattle!" Does that make us "bad people" anymore than it makes the OKC fans because they want a NBA franchise?
So, the NBA approved the move today, 28-2; some might think it counts for something. All it says is "settle the law suits," and get rid of the gutless fool(s) who can slam someone but doesnt have the courage to leave their name. People like him are the same all over this world; they are about 4'2" tall, so ignorant when someone says "read between the lines" the pick up a book and magnifying glass. Sorry they let low-life scum on this site; I want the Sonics to stay "R." That has to be your middle initial; your name,? I. R. Dumb? I.R. Stupid? I.R. Ignorant? I.R. Gutless?...
Gary from OKC; was anyone being rude to you? Insensitive? Why act like you have this wrapped up? I want to hear from you when the Sonics stay in Seattle. We have an IBL team in Snohomish County, the "Explosion." Maybe you and Bennett could team up and steal that humble franchise....
Its far from over; we will keep fighting. True sports fans in OKC understand why, because we want our team. It does not make us "bad people or fools" anymore than it makes them. The fans are always hurt the most... In both cities.
Michael, a life long Sonics fan and proud of it.
This is about six inches up this very page. THIS is how excited NBA players are to be coming to a city where a big ol' time is dinner at the S&W Cafeteria and a six-pack of Blue Ribbon. You might want to remember this: you might even luck out and get the Sonics. Cheaters do, sometimes, win. But you're always going to be OKC and we're always going to be Seattle, one of the most beautiful and affluent and fastest-growing cities in the country, with three - soon to be FIVE - major league sports teams. Do I really need to explain the difference?
With all respect to the exuberant fans in OKC, how would you know how many fans Seattle has?
We have had poor ownership, poor management, basically a dysfunctional team since 1996, out of "fan" control. Wally Walker was the absolute worst GM this team has ever had. I guarantee you if OKC had twelve consecutive years of bad basketball and Wally Walker, Bennett would no longer be the "folk hero" he is nor would your arena be sold out at the price it will cost you to take your families to a game. I am not aware of any NBA franchise that has ever continued to "sell out" their arena after years of bad management and poor teams, maybe Sacramento but look at them now, they are being "labeled" as a team that needs to be relocated.
We had one good team during the twelve years, that was before Bennett and company sent Ray and Rashard out of town. Check the attendance figures for that year Jill. Come on, you guys forget prior to the twelve year problem are twenty-nine years of good and bad basketball, including a world championship in 1979. Do you honestly think if Seattle had not supported the Sonics they would still be here? San Diego was awarded a franchise at the same time the Sonics were; is the NBA still in San Diego?
I first read about our Seattle NBA franchise by one small candle in a dirt bunker dug off of a trenchline while getting my two-four hours of rest, one-half-mile south of the Demilitarized Zone in Vietnam, between ground probes, artillery and mortar attacks. My folks would write to me telling me about the "new franchise" and its progress. Where were you in late 1966 and 1967? Being in Vietnam gives me no special rights other than I have loved my Sonics since then. I am now completely disabled from the war, I can't attend games because I cannot walk any longer. One of my great joys is watching the Seattle sports teams on TV since I can no longer play or participate. The Sonics have been the center of that group for over forty years...
I took my now adult children downtown the night our Sonics won the championship. We circled a four block square, honking our horn and celebrating with the thousands of fans who were there. It was so loud on the streets, you could not hear our car horn in the front seat. I had hoped to take my grandchildren downtown one day; oh, I have seven grand-babies from my kids who were in that car, all while the Sonics have been here...
It is one thing to honorably and ethically obtain an NBA franchise; it is another to "carpetbag" it out of town, planning to do so from the beginning, something we all knew as Bennett stood in front of us, on TV, and wrote in the paper he wanted to keep our Sonics here in Seattle. We knew he was a liar then, and we know he is a liar now. We may loose the Sonics but it will not be because Seattle does not have enough "fans" to influence the State of Washington. Why do you think the Governor, both State Senators, and the House Speaker (Including other law makers) submitted letters to the NBA?
Good luck IF you get the Sonics and don't keep Bennett happy; life has a way of giving back as it was given. Steal a team and you can bet one day it will be stolen from you, especially with Bennett controlling the majority interest and some of your other owners publicly displaying no ethics or integrity. What would you tell your kids about Bennett and company (being honest)their actions, and their emails? Would you lie? Is there anyone in OKC that cares about Bennett, his morals, and consider themselves safe from his demands? What happened to honesty...
(Sorry this is so long, I have a lot of built up emotion)
With Respect OKC,
Michael, a life long Seattle Sonics Fan...