Paul and Jim, quit trying to pawn yourself off as Oklahomans. Clearly you are Seattle fans who don't have anything better to do than spread your hate. Remember, Mr. Starb ucks sold the team, plain and simple. Quit blaming Clay Bennett for moving the team. He made an effort to get something worked out with a new facility in Seattle, but the climate just wasn't right after the two new stadiums were saddled on the taxpayers. If by some chance you indeed are bitter Oklahomans, the NBA may not work long term in OKC, but at least give it a chance before spreading doom and gloom. Nobody is going to force you to attend the games, nor read the stories or forums in the Oklahoman. So, allow the Oklahomans who are interested to have their fun. Meantime, sit home behind your computer and continue your pathetic little life.

"As long as we are just talking about extending and not actually raising taxes..." The Ford tax IS a tax increase. The city's own documents and this paper even finally admitted it (right after the Tinker Bond election). Just more of the lies you believed and continue to propagate. The budget buster is spending the $100 million the City doesn't have or did you miss the articles about the City's budget tightening and possible cuts in services? The City can't afford it and the millionaire and billionaire owners certainly can.

"R from Seattle", I have to agree with most of what you said, except for that Clay rely TRIED up there, that is definately open to debate. However it is time to take this hit like a man and move on. Ok, Seattle is angry and hurt, Oklahoma feels offended that they get no respect from drizzle town. Well, ok I suppose they don't from most. The smack keeps flowing from 2 areas about the same as say.. Wichita and San Diego. If you are honest with yourself as a Seattle native you have to realize that your native land is not perfect either and apparently alot of OKCers love living so it can't be all bad. We all hate Clay Bennett for what he did or how he did it, but if it was not Clay Clay it would have probably been Larry Ellison who was public enemy #1 in drizzle town today. The truth is Seattle WAS their own worst enemy here and the modest majority of the people in the state probably actually wanted the Sonics to leave rather than fund another arena. I would be less than honest if I say I really want to wish OKC luck in their NBA endeavor and in fact will probably root against them as most fans of up-rooted teams probably do. However this internet boxing match between my old home town and Okieland is no longer amusing and getting sort of pathetic. Time to move on Seattle fans. The gig is up and OKC is an NBA town now, and they have us to thank. The NFL season is just around the corner and it cannot come too soon.

Probably somewhere in between...They are politicians after all

So the question remains, in your opinion, are they liars or merely incompetent??

Your second sentence sums it up pretty well...I got a few A's in math back in the day

So, if you think the city figures are "not accurate", are they, in your opinion lying or just incompetent? Or are you saying that you think you know more than they do?

Not that at all..I think the city's figures aren't accurate but thought I would throw it out there for Larry to enjoy...Either math method you choose to use the personal contributions are a complete joke and have been for 15 years now...Hope you can now get back to your negative posts Paul...Sorry to distract you

Hey Roger, just a quick question then...if you KNEW what the actual numbers the city was telling us, why did you continue for a few dozen posts to state erroneous figures? Was this to make yourself more credible, or to just avoid the real costs of this to anybody looking at this blog? If the city figures are "just 30 cents a day", why did you continue to lie in the reduced figures you constantly posted?

"San Antonio was told they need an additional 100 million after only five years or the team wont be competitive."...As long as we are just talking about extending and not actually raising taxes it's a non issue as far as 90% of us in the metro area go...The other 10% get a rebate come tax time...Heck the $500 million proposal by Bennett wouldn't have raised taxes..."The bill is MUCH higher than that according to the City's own numbers."...OK let's go with theirs then...$10 a month for 15 months and then say $3 a month to help retain the state's first ever major league team...Quite the budget buster..I'm sorry if you lose sleep over 30 cents a day Larry...I choose not to

Roger, once again you are wrong when you wrote: "Bill so far shows we will be out about 5 bucks a month in the short term....Probably around 2 bucks a month for the upkeep...Guess I'm ready for the bill" The bill is MUCH higher than that according to the City's own numbers. But be my guest, you just go right on and keep paying that bill, heck, just send the owners your checkbook or your pin number to your account, am sure that the millionaire and billionaire owners really need your money since you don't seem to.

Roger, what you dont understand is that in the NBA teams expect a new toy every 5 years or so, maybe this bill wont be so bad but after that. San Antonio was told they need an additional 100 million after only five years or the team wont be competitive.

"thought Seattle was suckered, but to commit to 15 years of improvement at your cost. what a awesome conman he is. hope you like the bill."...Bill so far shows we will be out about 5 bucks a month in the short term....Probably around 2 bucks a month for the upkeep...Guess I'm ready for the bill

Steve, am sure you are correct on that one...plus the team has an out clause after 6 years (if certain attendance marks aren't met) and at one other undetermined point in time. Fortunately, under the out-clause OKC won't be on the hook as it says the team has to pay the City back for all of the NBA improvements made. That is about the only way OKC will ever break even on this deal. The City doesn't have an out. The Mayor has finally admitted we don't have enough seats so am sure there will be demands for a new, bigger arena (if the lease includes the City covering the cost of ANY arena or just the Ford, is unclear).

Wow. T from Sea-town. I've read a few analysis and a quite a few rantings and ravings on the topic, but that is far and away the most level-headed and articulate analysis on the topic. Thank you for sharing your wisdom.

Larry when contracts come due then be sure you will start hearing the whines of a billionaire of how he needs help. I thought Seattle was suckered, but to commit to 15 years of improvement at your cost. what a awesome conman he is. hope you like the bill.

Philip wrote: "Congrats and a big round of applause to Clay Bennett. He never waivered and in the end brought this team home through shear determination. He has forever earned his place in history as the man who brought major league sports to Oklahoma. Great job, Clay.....thank you very, very much." The folks down Gene Stipe's way expressed similar feelings for him and look at what a crook he turned out to be. "We don't care if he is a crook, he is our crook...look at all the good he has done for us" Mr. Bennett's dealing with Seattle has shown just what he is capable of...will he do it to his hometown too in a few years, only time will tell.

Paul, Maybe Roger will agree with you about over-stated attendance figures for sports...he claims there is no way the RedHawks have an average attendance of over 7,000 (according to several sources, including the Journal Record, that is what it is) he says that they are lucky to have 700 during weekday games (he has seen it with his own eyes, so it must be true). I agreed with him that weekday games are logically going to have lower attendance, but that means they really have to pack it in on the weekends to raise the average attendance up to the 7,000+ range. Don't dispute what the Ford website says (esp the part about it being "state of the art", looks like they didn't get the memo from Mayor Mick to update the site to call it "adequate" to get the vote passed). Still don't see how one can figure (even using your numbers) that it is a "dramatic" fall from year 1 to year 2?? Attendance was down some from year 1 to year 2 but number of sell-outs were close to being the same, and average attendance was 18,000 (of the just over 19,000 capacity for basketball). That's all I am trying to say. What the two of you were describing definitely sounds like what happened to the Cavs a few years ago. I recall reading the unsupported claim that all sorts of Hornets free tickets were given out too, but it was just that, an unsupported claim. Someone else claimed there were $2 seats but the cheapest seats were $10 etc. As someone who posts facts/figures extensively I am sure you can appreciate the need for claims like those need to be supported by some source (other than a blog somewhere)

Well said, T..VERY well said. Most of the fanatics on here don't care if Clay did lie, cheat, whatever he had to do to get what he wanted, they'll tell you it's the "modern" way to do "business" anymore. In one breath, Okies will tell you of the values in which they hold so near and dear, then they'll applaud some shyster like Clay Boy for pulling a stunt as he did. Granted, the NBA is now (almost, it's not certain yet) to OKC but he has diminished the reputation of this state and town in a far greater means than what bringing sports to OKC could ever do...and soon after I hit the "post" button and everybody comes in from drinking their 3.2 beer here and whooping it up, the negative comments against me will begin again. I actually look forward to it, because the fact of the matter is that Okies don't want to hear the truth, just so long as nobody exposes their dark secrets to the rest of the country....

Clay Bennett was transparent from day one; everyone knew from day one that he and his pack of lying hyenas had no intention of keeping basketball in Seattle. From his first press conference - to his last he has been dishonest. It's a shame that the entire state of Oklahoma is now being linked with these kinds of morals. Southern hospitality, integrity and graciousness must be reserved to those south of Oklahoma, because even up here in the far reaches of the Northwest a man's word means a lot. Obviously not the case in Oklahoma. Even the Dallas Mavericks owner, from the great state of Texas was the only owner not swayed by Clay's buddy David Stern, and voted to have the Sonics stay in their rightful place. By the way - Why did David Stern not have to testify?

Our politicians were skeptical of Clay's efforts from the beginning, and made working with him almost impossible. He demanded a half billion dollar building be built for him, the most expensive basketball arena in the USA, but was unwilling to contribute to the cause. Very noble of him; would have gone a long way to show his sincere commitment to the region if he had.

Seattle is very progressive, but things don't get done overnight. It took some time but we did build a brand new baseball stadium, one of the finest, at a very high price tag - but it was a joint public & private partnership. Seattle constructed a tremendous football stadium, state of the art, but yet it too was a private / public subsidized venture. When the Sonics wanted to completely remodel / rebuild Key Arena 12 years ago it got done and was also a private - public partnership. These buildings were all built with public and private monies - where as Clay Bennett would not offer any contribution to the cause to get the ball rolling.

Seattle will get a new basketball arena with Ballmer's future ownership group coming forward and offering to pay half the cost of the building, Bennett never offered to pay a dime because he never wanted to keep the team in Seattle as the emails so aptly point out. The Oklahoma hero whose lies and deceiving acts must make you all very proud.

Lets put it this way, in straight talk - which might be foreign to Oklahoman's alike, Seattle is still paying off the new Qwest Stadium, Safeco Field, and the newly remodeled Key Arena (144 months old); it would be like a home owner having not one, but three mortgages at the same time, and then be asked to tear down one of those homes and rebuild it again, at an even far greater cost; and then given a small window of time to accomplish this feat. We have a proven record of getting projects like this done – but his timetable was unrealistic – and his motives transparent and insincere. Hard to work with someone when you don’t believe a word out of his mouth. The city of Seattle was not going to be held at ransom by a group of ‘shysters’, which is exactly what they were. Yes Oklahoma you can be very proud to call Clay Bennett one of your own.

David Stern spoke highly of Key Arena upon his first visit in 1995, but then deemed it unsuitable for his product less than 10 years later. 10 years is all an arena gets these days. How long will the Ford Center be good in the eyes of Stern & Bennett.

Now Key Arena is not the Taj Majal but it is no dump; but unless you are a wealthy luxury box owner it is a fabulous place to watch basketball, intimate with great sight lines. It is a terrific basketball arena - but it is NOT a large shopping mall with 100 high priced luxury suites, & 75 restaurants, that is demanded these days. It’s a basketball arena - home of the Seattle Sonics for a better part of 41 years.

Now a days we have congressional inquiries and trials into whether a player uses steroids or not; and then there are ongoing trials into the ensuing perjury that occurred from those events. Should Clay Bennett not be held to the same standards? The senate inquired on behalf of the people, against players cheating; should they not do the same when a owner steals a 41 year old franchise from a community and then perjures himself repeatedly on the stand. Yes this is a man Oklahoma can be proud of.

The community of Seattle has 'always' supported this team. Clay Bennett’s idea of a “Good Faith Effort” was to strip it of all its marquee players, and trade away any player that could make them competitive - Seattle fans still showed up in the stands. Would Oklahoma show up at Oklahoma football games and support a man who was trying to take that football program to - say Montana? Well -Seattle did. Even when Clay Bennett managed to put the worst product Seattle has ever seen in its ‘41-year history’ - they did not play in front of 7,000 fans. Though he tried in vain, he never could completely disengage the Seattle Sonic fan base; while getting rid of all fan favorites, even coaches with long ties to Seattle basketball and the community - just the opposite thing you would do if you were trying to build fan support for a new arena.

Seattle will get another franchise - but we won't rip one out of somebody else's community. We have had polls in Seattle - and overwhelmingly people voted up here that we would not want to be granted a team if it meant stealing one, and all its history from another city. I guess you can say that is where people from Oklahoma and Seattle differ - its called morals; look it up in the dictionary if you don't understand what it truly means.

Though you successfully stole our team - you cannot buy a team's history - it is Not something you purchase - it is something you live; something that is woven into the community, into the people that shared the fond memories - not something you buy. Make your own history and then rightfully celebrate it. Don't make mock NBA Championship trophies and banners that have absolutely no meaning to you. Remember a NBA team does not make you a big city, any more than Los Angeles losing the Rams made them a small city. Oklahoma will still be Oklahoma – with just another entertainment value available.

I was in Oklahoma for the first time a week ago, and met many nice people when I was there; and came away with the feeling they were happy to get a team but they did not agree with how they were getting one. From what I saw of the area - I have no idea how Oklahoma plans on supporting an NBA team - past the 3-5 year novelty phase, at which point your hero will be asking for a new arena to be able to compete - even though Ford Center looked adequate.

Most of you from Oklahoma know an injustice was done - and for you to stand for this injustice and not voice your opinion - makes you no better then Clay Bennett. I have read that Clay is regarded as a hero now, while most of the United States reserve that term for the likes of our ‘honorable’ fighting troops, policemen and the like. For any of you to consider him a hero for what he has done - only shows your lack of integrity & values - for he has painted your state, your region with a brush of dishonesty, and unscrupulous behavior that will far outlive your short NBA lives.

T - in SeaTown

ok, I had to chime in here. Congratulations to Oklahoma City. Im sure you will do fine with your new team. And please ignore people like Paul and Jim - who ONLY look for negatives to support a presupposed position in order to try to make their worthless lives have meaning. Ignoring their posts would be a great recommendation. Like most nay-sayers, they can only point the finger but never offer a counter solution. That right there tells me that the person is baseless and only trolling. At least the Seattle zelics who come on here are venting, I have no idea why someone from OK would be doing the same. It would be different, like I said, if Jim or P Yukon or whoever else, offered a counter solution to their doomsday argument. Most of us in Seattle are sad at the loss but really don't care too much anyways in that the Sonics are not the same team of nostalgia - and they were our 3rd rate team. The writing was on the wall when Schultz sold the team to Bennett from OKC, when the city passed I-91, when the legislature and city clowncil of Seattle refused to initially meet and negotiate with Bennett or Schultz (even though Schultz was offering a $200M Key Arena overhaul), when the leg didn't even have the votes of confidence for the Renton proposal (and now we know it was the City of Seattle who sharked the legislature [in the interest of Seattle] and surely this will void Howard Schultz case too), the NBA approved the move with only two dissenters (one being Cuban who didn't want a team eating into HIS territory - that's it, and Allen who needed to protect his image or those same fans might not show up to HIS NFL franchise), when Marsha Pechman stood every PBC objection and questioned the city's entire case, and finally - when our wonderful Mayor McCheese Nickels (aka triple chinn) sold out the very people he was adamently saying he was trying to protect. I honestly dont blame Clay Bennett at all - at least he did TRY something here. If it were sold to anyone else, the Sonics would have been long gone! And, after all - it has long been Bennett's mission to buy and bring a major league franchise to OKC - that is nice that somebody cares that much about their hometown. Nope, I blame OUR politicians and former ownership group - they bear 95% of the blame, with the remainder going to Stern (for not spending quality time here trying to get his new arena [see Sacramento] and Bennett for getting our hopes up so to say only to 'give up' in the end). But I dont blame him for giving up, I mean, we sent a HUGE message that we don't want to publicly support any more franchises. Like I said, the writing was on the wall, and ANY Seattle poster or fan who doesn't admit that are the same worthless pieces of chit that they are coming on here trying to call Oklahomans.

Okie City will never be "major league", Charlotte has an NBA team also - and no one considers it a major league city. I suspect that the Okie Sonic will do well in attendance - there is really nothing else to do in little league OKC. But remember that your bandwagon fans didn't support the best sports franchise in the state during their losing years and the Okie Sonic will be a loser for years.

Big town dreams for small town minds. Gotta love the products of the Oklahoma City Public schools.

Huh..according to the official site of the Ford,>>http://www.okfordcenter.com/>> The Ford is already state of the art,no mention of "adequate" or "small" mentioned.....As far as seating, according to the site, the seating capacity is 20,800, so we'll round off to 20,000 to make the math easy. If average attendance was 18,000, then that means for every TRUE "filled to capacity" game, there was an equal amount of 16,000 attendance games, or roughly the Ford was at capacity only 50% of the time for games played there. The guys like Philip and such can try and refute these numbers, but it is what it is, and this is it. Now, considering that there was nothing but rumor about ever getting a permanent team here back when the Hornets were in town, and with this being the "possible" only chance to EVER see an NBA game in OKC, coupled with the fact that FREE tickets went unused, I'm not so sure that the "overwhelming support" is truly overwhelming at all. Even if you state that for a bassa'ball game, the capacity of the Ford is 19,000, then that means that for every 19,000 "packed house" game, there was an equal number of 17,000 in attendance games, and the "free tickets"(or potential seats for purchase) unused still applies....maybe it's a good thing when they start renovations that they do reduce the seating capacity, it'll give this city a better chance to say" we always pack the house"......

No Larry, I'm pretty sure I recall somebody saying in a past blog on here that there were free Hornets tickets that went unused...

Paul and Jim are obviously confusing the Hornets with the OKC Cavs (they literally couldn't give tickets away to them and they were the league champs when they folded and left town)

Jim wrote: "We saw the beginnings of this in the short time New Orleans was here as attendance dropped dramatically from the first year to the second." Some drop was to be expected after the Hornets announced they were returning to New Orleans the next year, but there was hardly a "dramatic" drop in attendance (if you have proof of this, please provide). True there were a few less sell-outs in season two than season one but avg attendance both years was 18,000 (just about 1,000 shy of sell-out). Can't have that high of an average if no one showed up in season two.

Yeah we lost the Sonics, yeah it hurts, yeah we'll live through it, as did Brooklyn, Baltimore, Kansas City and all the other cities that lost teams.

Mr. Bennet and partner's actions over the next year will show whether they did this as a wonderful gesture for their hometown, or as a disguise to grab even more power and money. Wikipedia says OKC is the 44th largest metropolitan area in the country; team support will be strong at first, but without a lot of strong corporate support and public money (ie higher taxes for subsidize pro sports, not schools, cops or roads) the team will not be economically competitive. Sometime in the next +/-10 years some billionairs from San Diego, or Jacksonville, or St. Louis, or Chicago (2 teams like LA and NY) will buy the team and move it. So... if your owners are sincere about benefitting OKC I suggest you ask them to sell the team to the community, aka the Green Bay Packers, so there will be 10,000 local owners instead of 5 0r 10. If thoursands of your residents own the team it will stay put; if a small pool of rich guys milk your public treasury for a decade, then sell for a profit and say "oh we didn't know the team would move" - well, you'll have your own Howard Schultzs. If you love your team please learn from Seattle's mistakes - trust your community, not your rich guys.

Clay Bennett is a business man. A very wealthy one ( must be doing something right) .. he bought something and moved it, it happens all the time in every business arena. If the team was doing so well in Seattle, it wouldn't have been For Sale in the first place. I'll be forever grateful to Clay Bennett for securing our first official NBA team. I'm sorry it had to be Seattle's team.. but the bottom line is that you had residents begging the team to leave Seattle! They didn't want them! The team will be loved and cherished here (ask the Hornets). This will turn out to be a win-win for everyone involved. Clay Bennett really isn't the villian here.

A, from OKC: Don't know what planet you're living on, but the NBA is a really big deal in many major cities. The Lakers OWN Los Angeles, just as the Celtics own Boston. Chicago has always been in love with the Bulls, even before and after MJ. The Knicks are woeful recently, but have always managed to sell out most of their games despite that. After those few flagship franchises, most of the other cities are not much different than the ones you've mentioned. By your reasoning, ALL sports franchises (MLB, NFL, NHL) are simply using everyone as "pawns". Ridiculous!

Philip: It is sad to look at your ubiquitous presence on this message board. You are literally wasting HOURS of your life here, as opposed to doing something productive. Yet, you here you find yourself, an a message board for an Oklahoma City newspaper, arguing with a bunch of faceless online profiles. Very sad you have this much time. Here's a suggestion: Log off the computer, and play with your dog or something. I would tell you to go take your wife out to dinner, but I have a feeling you are still single...probably still living in the parents' basement.

Im sure you like men but youre so insecure that you like to pick fights on the net cause its your way of gettin back at the world for the torment you have endured as a child.

And Brandon...would you say the same thing to a Boston fan about selling out his arena? This yr was the first time you saw any sellouts in years.

Yeah good rivalry...you guys might actually sell out the key arena for once...if that ever happens. Glad to see you spend your time "ballin and shot callin" with the players maybe they can hook u up with some tickets at the Ford center. Almost for certain Kevin won't keep his mansion there...not the best vacation spot ya know

Plus we got beaches and dimes

And he already bought his mansion buddy in west seattle...he just in OKC for business. He will def be here in the off season just like the rest of the players...better climate in the summer months.

It will be a great rivalry when we get a team back? OKC vs Seattle...cant wait. Durant will probably be startin for us (wouldnt that be funy)

Ive never met Kevin Durant....I can only tell ya what a couple of his teamates told me. But you would never believe me..you have no reason to.

Kevin Durant

Whos that Brandon?

Phillip you sound like a loser with that last statement "Ballin and shot callin"

his 2.3 million mansion will be half that price here!!! Pretty sure he will enjoy having an extra million in his pocket

Just wanna give a shout out to my boy Watson and Wilcox. See ya in the summertime up at Greenlake where we be ballin and shot callin

I just wonder how many players will stick around. Cause lets face it..most of the Sonics (Including KD) if they had their druthers would have rather stayed in Seattle. This has been proven already. But hey it doesnt matter and unfortunately the game of basketball isnt really a game anymore..its a business

First of all Kyle you wanna talk about your outlying areas...have you ever been to the southern Puget Sound? You ever been to Tacoma, Puyallup, Federal Way, Kent etc? Our outlying areas im sure dwarf yours. But Kevins right..it is what it is. We will get a team back. We will have diff politicians..Stern will be gone (hopefully). We are still a big time city. We still have our other major league teams plus soccer now and eventually NHL. Yo guys deserve somethin to do...enjoy the NBA and I hope 41 years from now you guys can brag about your NBA heritage. Just stop blamin the fans..this wasnt our fault. We supported this team..its just hard to do yr after yr when ownership cant put a winning product on the floor. If you guys have a losing product for about 4-5 yrs you will understand what I mean.

Let me rephrase that, to all Seattle fans, who have been mature and argued their point in a politically correct manner, i salute you on your ability to stay strong and confident in your cause. If the tables were turned, i am sure plenty of people here would have acted the same. Hopefully, for you guys. The NBA will reward you for it.And to all Oklahoma fans, please try to put yourself in their shoes. They are angry, and they have a reason. But that does not make it right to bash this city.

Kyle,
So our fans deserve for billionaires and politicians to take an asset that's been in our community for 41 years? We deserve that? Kyle, do you have kids? Try telling your 13 year old daughter, who's been going to games with you since she was little, that there's absolutely nothing that we, the fans, could have done to keep the team here. It's pretty easy for you to be smug and tell us we deserve it, until the shoe is on the other foot. No one said we're better than the OKC citizens. Just realize, you can be the biggest fan of your team, but you're helpless if the decide to relocate.

I just love how at first everyone was a legal expert, then a financial expert, and now we are tv experts. Give it up, No matter what words you throw at us, it is still going to be what it is.

Wow Tim, 5th largest what? I believe when you're talking about market you talk about population. Check a census. You have to have a large population to have a market, correct? Not only that, you talk about what people deserve and don't deserve. I believe the Atlanta Hawks haven't had a winning record in something like 10 years. Their attendance is down, revenue is down, fan support is probably worse than in Seattle. Would you still be on your giant soapbox if it was the Atlanta Hawks moving to OKC. I would guess probably not. What a bunch of crybabies. I don't believe I ever said anything about me being a genius. That's probably another big difference between OKC and Seattle. Here you have humble, down-to-earth people, excited about the possibility of a major thing coming to our fair city and all you people do is stare down your nose at us claiming we're stealing your precious Sonics. I'm sorry you're so much better than us poor uneducated hillbillies out here in Oklahoma. You've gotten what you deserved.

It's all just sour grapes from Seattle. They are just lashing out because they lost.

Wow, Kyle,
You're a nice guy, and smart too. Miami is fifth largest, Atlanta is ninth largest, Cleveland-23rd, Sacramento—26th, New Orleans—40th.Get your facts straight, genius.

I just wanted to give everyone here a little geography lesson. You Washington people keep talking about smallest market. How we don't deserve the team because we are just a small little MidWest town full of rednecks or whatever other ridiculous notions have about us. Here's the lesson, there are 5 smaller markets than us currently in the NBA. They are Atlanta, Sacramento, New Orleans, Cleveland, and Miami. Portland is just 1500 people bigger than us while you're precious hippie city of Seattle is just a meager 40,000 larger than the tiny insignificant OKC. That's not counting our outlying areas that stretch as far as 50 miles. The problem is that most of you didn't care about the Sonics anymore than you cared about the Grizzlies. You just found it convenient to whine when an outsider came in and just might be a better businessman than your preciuos Schultz. By the way, how's good ol' Starbucks doing these days? I mean its not like they're closing 600-700 stores this year. I think you should probably let it go and worry about your last place Mariners or wait till Seahawks training camp starts. You didn't want the team or maybe you could've filled up at least half the smallest arena in the league. Go cry to someone else. Your day is done.

Brandon isn;t Bennett from OKC - he lied the whole time. How many times he say he didn't want to move the team from Seattle, then all the sudden a few emails showed they planned the move from day 1. He was all smiles yesterday in say the team was moving. Only you dumb people believe what he says and he's a proven liar.

This whole Sonics deal is so Les Miserable. Clay Bennett, like Valjean, rescues an orphaned waif – the Sonics – from a life of neglect and poverty. He seeks to change their lives for the better in a new place, but is continually pursued by Greg Nickles – Javert, if you will – who is blind to anything but the letter of the law (lease). During the conflict, the army (Slade Gorton, Steve Ballmer, Wally Walker) attempts to breach the barricade. Bennett (Valjean) is bloodied, but withstands their attacks. He unexpectedly rescues Nickles (Javert) from unpaid arena debt. Nickles (Javert) realizes Bennett is not purely evil as he always thought. Unable to deal with losing his black-and-white view of the world, he commits political suicide by throwing in the towel and reaching a settlement.

first sentence in article in ESPN:

"The NBA should be banned from using the phrase "NBA cares" in any future public service announcement."

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/columns/story?columnist=adande_ja&page=sonicsmove_080702

The NBA is not the Major Leagues (see MLB - baseball) and (F)OK(NO) CITY certainly ain't Major League.

It is best served to be the continental drain.

Enjoy your 2nd rate team in a 2nd rate league.

I think a lot of Hatred is going towards the STATE OF OKLAHOMA from Seattle residents and it really should not be directed towards us. We (Oklahomans)never lied to Seattle we never misled them or anything. I would love to Seattle have (keep) their team. But, what's happened has happened fellas. You guys are like a controlling boyfriend whose girlfriend broke up with you now you're blaming and cursing everybody close to the situation. You guys need to let it go, its done be mature you can still root for the team (the players haven't done anything wrong). I'm sure the team will be planning in Portland this fall (Take the family on a ROAD TRIP). I Just don't get how Oklahoma is all of a sudden a horrible state now? Oklahoma is a state that's moving up! Progression and its about time. Seattle I'm sorry for you guys really but can the bashing of the State of Oklahoma end??? Name one thing that the State of Oklahoma did wrong??? SPEECHLESS...

David-Agreed----We all knew Bennett's intent...Shultz should have too...maybe he did...BTW-Hey Commish!!!We DON'T Want another city's relocated team...when you are gone...then we will talk expansion only!!!!!!

I hate the fact that OKC's first big league franchise belonged to Seattle, but honestly, Seattle fans should display their rage toward Howard Schultz, not the Oklahoma ownership team. He's the one who sold the team to outsiders; he bears ultimate responsibility.

Found out today they're closing our local Starbucks here in the Southwest. Taking the coffee and jobs with them. Still had 2 years left on the building lease, but they're buying their way out of that. Seems they were not making enough profit. The location was not ideal and they wanted an upgrade to a busier street. City tried to offer incentives to stay but the local voters turned it down. Evil. Evil. Evil. How can they just take our coffee?

Stealing a team this way does not make Oklahoma City a "major league" city any more than I could be called an NBA player if I gave the team a million dollars to sign me to a 1-day contract.
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Bennett is a lying scumbag and deserves all the mud getting thrown at him.

There's plenty of blame to go around Seattle, but the local politicians bear the brunt of it. They cowered in the eleventh hour, after insisting that nothing was negotiable short of honoring the final two years of the lease.
And now, they've actually agreed to let the new owners share in the Sonic history, including hanging replica championship banners and creating a duplicate 1979 Sonic world championship trophy. How hollow is that? Are the banners going to say, "Oklahoma Thunderbirds, 1979 NBA Champions?" I can't believe the OKC fans would want that, but who knows?

It's a shame we had to get a team this way.

I'm not as bummed as I thought I would be about losing the team. I grew up idolizing them..now other things are important to me....HOWEVER...I wish the city would have fought this to the bitter end...and that even if that meant we lost in the end...AND NEVER GOT ANOTHER TEAM..EVER...then the rest of the nation would take note and never let another bunch of LIARS and Billionares bully a city again...I truly would have enjoyed losing the team FOVEVER...or possible winning the Shultz lawsuit...instead...money talked

Kevin-the blame goes to everyone BUT OKC people(Clay Et all included) and Sonic Fans. Clay may be a snake to everyone else-but he cares about OKC-The NBA is broken and Stern deserves to be told...GO AWAY

Clay made a choice, you are correct. And he put himself out there for public scrutiny. But i still believe it is more about the Owners who we do not see and hear from.Aubrey, and the other guys better thank Clay, because they would all look like jerks too. I do feel very sympathetic to the Sonics, and am realizing i have a bigger problem with the people that live here, and hate it here. Best of luck to you Seattle, i hope you find a new team soon. P.S. i would just make sure Shultz does not stay involved. And i have stated it before, but evidentally there is another Kevin from Oklahoma city on here. We have very different opinions, but i see what he is trying to say about negative attacks on Oklahomans.

I will say this, it is very odd that Seattles New Confrence last night, had no sound on our end, and i am pretty sure it was on purpose. Did anyone else notice that they had sound after Clay Bennets New Conference?

Don't get me wrong-I congratulate OKC fans--However,I never heard or read ANYTHING critical of Bennett from Mr Tramel or anyone else from this paper. What Do SAY Mr Tramel is DESERVED BEATING???

Bennett's integrity???? Are you serious? A man who will not live up to the lease he signed, who lied and cheated his way to get this team, and this paper is trying to sell this guy as a moral leader? Have you not been paying attention??

You have a business person who just proved that he has no problem breaking leases that he signs. There is not other issue when the same man is insisting on tax breaks and $300 million from the community he supposedly values. The reason Seattle would not give this guy the $500 million he demanded gets down to the trust issue. Do you do business with a man who as he was demanding the funds, was in the process of breaking the lease his oganization agreed to a mere decade earlier? Smart people and governments do not do business with people they cannot trust. Clay Bennett demonstrated quite clearly that he cannot be trusted. THAT Oklahoma, is the bottom line, and we in Seattle just learned the hard way what local businessmen will do to the communities they live in. Clay Bennett one-upped Howard Shultz in terms of devious behaviour, and if it were me, I'd be very very wary granting funds to a man who just proved how trustworthy he is, and what his true character is.

You are the winning spouse from a broken marriage, one in which the straying party just cheated his way out of the marriage. Not a good situation by any means.

"Bennett is too bloodied to raise his arms in triumph. Like all owners who try to move franchises out of longtime homes, Bennett took a beating in Seattle. SOME OF IT DESERVED, some of it not."-Berry Tramel.....I don't think you will ever get specific Berry and elaborate on what you think is deserved...

Day one - If the people of Seattle and the state of Washington hade ponied up for a new arena, Mr. Coffee would not have sold the team. Bennett did not hold a gun to his head. Day two - If after the sale the locals would have poined up for a new arena, Bennett would have then sold out to a local ownership group (for a tidy profit) and gone about his business of finding another way to get the NBA to OKC. Day three - Too late. You had your chances. It's a tough world out there. Quit blaming everyone else. If it hadn't been Bennett it would just have been someone and someplace else.

Good, Jim i really do not want you to respond. I have not seen you around, and then all of a sudden you show up with this, Oklahoma Should be ashamed attitude. Get lost jim, and please do not respond.On the American statement, well it just does not matter to me if you get what i was saying or not, you are just a Hater!

"I think he took the script from the movie "Major League" where the new owner did everything in her power to move the Clevlenad Indians out of town." I hope they don't make a movie out of this, but I imagine there probably are a couple of the OKC fanatics that wanted this team here that would drool to see Clay Boy in a bikini...

That still doesn't explain how even FREE tickets weren't used, Chris. I do seem to also recall at the time of the Hornets being here that there was a rumor running rampant that OKC was trying to get them here on a permanent basis, and even then, public support wouldn't fill to capacity a small venue...guess free tickets to a NBA bassa'ball game aren't worth the paper they're printed on. Conversely, knowing the Hornets were leaving town, this could have been the one chance for an OKC native to see an NBA bassa'ball game...to see Kobe or whatever thug was in town that particular night and STILL they didn't manage to give away FREE tickets..are you hearing what I'm saying Chris??

You deserve what you get. A team that was gutted so that Clay could move it out of town. I think he took the script from the movie "Major League" where the new owner did everything in her power to move the Clevlenad Indians out of town. Well, the Sonics were were so gutted that they couldn't win very many games and they were coached by a man who wasn't able to coach anywhere else. Bet he doesn't last long in OKC! Well, enjoy the crooked referees that determine who wins and loses games and a commisioner whose pocket needs to be constantly padded. Good job, Clay

Oh, and Paul claiming we never came close to selling out is just a lie. We ranked #11 and #14 (New Orleans dragged us down some remember) in the two years they were here.

Uh-oh... Jim and Paul have collided to form the perfect storm of bitter stupidity! Seek shelter ma and pa! Has far as the Hornets go, I'm looking for a 7th grader to explain this to you guys but I can't find one handy. That team was not ours. You may have missed that, but most of us understood that. When we heard they were going back after the first season, yes, interest did slightly diminish. Everyone but you two understands that. I'm still looking for that 7th grader as I am sure this will miss you.

And to sum up, what does that have to do with hating people who happen to be Americans?

Kevin, I am not going to address you until you begin to make sense, and put together a logical thought. You called me an American Hater, because I live in America? Ok..and I hate everything that does not go my way? You have one example of this, so that somehow equals everything?

When i said Whinney American Haters, is Because you live in america, but seem to hate on anything that does not go the way you think it should go. So Jim you are going to come on here and make your statements, like you just parted the Red Sea or Something. We are all saved now jim, Thx!

sick em, paul

Ahh Kevin, so you agree then that this is a negative situation.

Jim..he doesn't know, he's too busy drooling over the prospect of buying those bassa'ball tickets to face facts....

No jim you became the pawn, when you believed who ever raised you to Spread negative attitude. You can not fix a negative situation with negative attitude.

Kevin, what does this argument have to do with hating Americans?

Grant, you have bought into the bs that has been fed you congratulations. That team will bleed the metro area dry. Already paid 100+ million for them. Many more millions to come. Get ready to open your wallet for an NBA team.

Jim, Paul, mr perferct from the heart of texas. You are just another batch of Whinney american Haters.And i am really glad you do not represent either Seattle or Oklahoma City, because i believe neither city would claim you.

Kevin, you silly naive pawn. Do you not know how politics works? Scratch my back, i'll scratch yours.

really jim, where are the reports?

I am not fighting for any side, Jeff, just pointing out how wrong it is.

Jim. If an NBA franchise is the measure of a city's inspiration and dignity, I never want to go there. You're a negative blowhard. If other people like this move and want to support it, what is that to you. The economic impact will be positive overall, and you'll benefit whether you want to or not. As will I, and honestly, I couldn't care less whether OKC has a team or not. But if others want to care, great.

Are you serious, come on Jim, who are you Oral Roberts? What a joke. Take your guilt spreading rants somewhere else. And the drop off was because people realized they were rooting for a team that was not going to be here the next year. You can throw any number you want out there, but The NBA, OKC, and 28 other NBA owners disagree with you, and i think i will take their research over yours.

Fans should own the team, bob. After all the NBA would not exist if it were not for the fans.

Bob...doesn't it seem a bit strange to you that when the Hornets were here, they didn't pack the house every(or even close to) every game, even though there were free tickets for the taking that weren't grabbed up? The one's who are saying ticket sales will diminish are right, if they couldn't even give away free tickets, what on earth makes you believe they'll be sold out every game? League mandate or otherwise, the fact is that there were free tickets that went unused, so I don't think a "cheap seat" by league mandate is going t