July 02, 2008
Sonics and the P-I
Royal Brougham must be rolling over in his grave right now.
Okc Sonics: It's a fair deal.
The Seattle P-I editorial board waxes enthusiastic about "unexpectedly good settlement" the city received from the Oklahoma ownership group.
Honor and civic pride in Seattle can be purchased for the sum of $45 million. Wonder what the price they will get the next time.
What is particularly darling is that the only money making part of the Post-Intelligencer operation is its sports page. Do the ad count.
That the paper's editorial board would so willingly support the cutting of its own financial throat during the winter and spring months gives you yet another indication why the paper is in such economic distress.
With the region's NBA franchise leaving soon, one supposes that the P-I will no longer have any excuse to ignore Kent Thunderbirds hockey coverage or high school wrestling tournaments.
Extra credit: HistoryLink.org, as always, has an excellent article for those that want to learn a little bit about former Seattle P-I columnist and civic booster Royal Brougham. If he saw what has gone on under the banner of his beloved P-I Globe, the "Dean of American sportswriters" would probably go through the newsroom with a baseball bat.
Posted by DonWard at July 02, 2008
07:50 PM | Email This
1. And well it should cover local sports in a more extensive way. Real sports is played with passion, dedication and team committment; is that what we were or have been seeing from the Seattle SUPER(not) Sonics? Or from any other NBA prima donna team? OF COURSE NOT! These players with a few exceptions have worked and played hard on the playgrounds, and schools to attain the status they achieved and what do they do? SLACK OFF! (granted there are a few exceptions). THANK YOU Seattle, PI and who ever else realizes that this is one of the biggest RIP-OFF'S in America, the glamorizing and unrealistic salarys of these folks who have nothing but great athletic ability that declines as soon as they enter the NBA (again sans a few). SEATTLE should be given credit for leading the way in this regard. Cities will soon be scrambling to see how they can also rid themselves of this paria that zaps the dollars out of the unwitting ignorant public and the helpless taxpayer. PLEASE GO AND TAKE ANY AND ALL NON-PASSIONATE SPORTS ATLHETE WITH YOU.
2. Q: How many miles of light transit can build with $45 million?
A: NONE...but that wont stop the Council from grabbing the money and trying!!!
3. This is the difference between Boston sports fans and Seattle sports fans. Boston fans are loyal even in losing seasons. Although, Mariners fans have been fairly loyal during the past losing seasons and certainly during the Seahawks' losing seasons. I still remember the crowd in the King dome cheering so loudly that the roof was coming down. I think it's a little embarrassing to see Seattle fans lose face to the rest of the country by bad mouthing basketball. I doubt we'll see a team in Seattle for quite some time.
4. Good riddance.
5. Too bad Nickels won't sell Al Gore's cap and trade scams for an equally paltry sum.
6. The people of Seattle have been sold down the river, and Greg Nichols is hold the bag of money.
You don't have to be a sports fan to know that it's good business to have an archor tenant for the Seattle Center.
7. Yes who cares. 2.7 Billion Dollar overrun in Olympia, and ole Seattle Mayor ties the whole lost Sonics deal to him getting a couple more Billion from the queen.
Well Mayor, with the millions in wages you are pissing away on your communications staff, we haven't seen a one of them communicating why this is a good deal.
Hows the gas mileage on that Limo you get to take to and from work (4 trips each day) these days?
That Hybrid just wasn't enough cush for your fat ass.
Anyone told you we are in a recession, and the families in this area are struggling under your massive tax loads?
I guess not, there is no recession in Seattle Government, when you can pay $160,000 for another communications director that no one ever sees, and $600 bucks an hour for just one of the many attorneys in the Sonics case.
Heh do you care to share with us the total cost of the litigation and attorneys the city paid since the Sonics got purchased?
I thought not! But someone should enquire, because I am sure it ate away at the 45 million you just got.
But as usual you'll have it all spent soon and be back for more.
8. Oh yes and please include the judge's wages and all of the court helpers while you are at it.
9. Will the P-I please just go off and die already.
I haven't read the sucker in years, you folks should try the same. Help let it die. Our local media is beyond awful and are partly responsible for the loss of the Sonics to the thieving Okies.
10. The P-I has long been willing to print news in defiance of profits. (As this is a species of character called "civic virtue", I will forgive you for not ever having heard of it.) During the public theft for Safeco Sportspalace, the P-I's sports section printed a study showing how publicly-financed professional-spots stadiums do not result in more or better employment in their sponsoring political units. This directly contradicted most of the rationale given for gutting the will of us voters, and was contrary to the profit motive of the paper. Bravo!
Unless the public actually gets part ownership, owners will continue to squeeze for more subsidy. A guy can be rich, white, etc. and still be a welfare queen, y'know.
11. And once again, Seattlites are left holding the bag. You'll remember that when the funds for the remodel of Key Arena were on the ballot, the excuse of why it was "worth it" was not limited to JUST having the Sonics pay their lease. No, it was about all the JOBS that would be cascaded down from the Sonics through the economy. Now suddenly, those jobs don't count for anything...that is as long as the City of Seattle can put $45 million in the bank.
So the Sonics are rewarded for signing a stupid lease that apparently didn't give them the freedom to both have a good team and actually make a profit. A couple questions... All the sudden, the NBA says teh Key will work just fine if we remodel it again. Every top tier athelete has restructured his contract at some point. If the lease was the problem, and not the actual facility as now seems to be the case, then why couldn't the City have just re-structured the lease rather than lose the team and all that economic benefit to the region? If that had been possible, would we still be looking at local ownership? Would Clay Bennet not even be part of the situation? This is a failure of government. Who runs the government? Democrats from the top down. So who will get re-elected in November... One definition of INSANITY we always hear is "doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results". Ok, I'll ask again...who will win in November? It's Seattle. Democrats will win of course. Even with the loss of the Sonics, even with the worst congestion in the nation, even with our ferries rusting out from under us after we approved purchase of new ones. We'll still elect Democrats. INSANITY!
12. The Sonics are gone, and there's not really anything we can do about it. Some fans could probably make the case that the Sonics were gone the day Wally Walker got rid of a head coach that brought you 60-plus wins a year (George Karl), started making questionable-at-best draft decisions, and letting "Nate Ball" get away.
Let's rebuild the Key and get an NHL team over here, so Seattle can get another Stanley Cup. It's been almost 100 years since we got the last one (google "Seattle Metropolitans").
13. Democrats finally managed to accidently do something right amidst all the corruption and bumbling incompetence. Bennett and all likeminded sports extortionists can take a hike, and don't let the door hit you on your way out. Good riddance.
14. I hope we start getting Trailblazer games on the tube now. They are now my favorite team since their image is improving.
I kind of lost the love of basketball during the mePayton era. I got some of it back when teamPistons won their first championship and the teamSpurs did well.
I still don't see how a state of the art facility (as per David Stern) could turn so deficient so quickly.
15. "Honor and civic pride" The Citizens of Seattle kowtowing to a deadwood basketball team sports extortionist is called honor and civic pride by conservatives? Amazing, truly amazing. It's no wonder the Democrats are winning.
16. Seattle retains the "Sonics" trademark so the Okies will need to re-name their new basketball team. A name befitting owner Bennett's stellar image would be appropriate, so let's see.....how about "Peckerwoods"! Bennett, his cronies and NBA Commissioner Stern certainly befit the definition and image of hick-town, flim-flam peckerwoods.
17. Quick question to you folks cheering the Sonics demise. What would you rather have?
a). $360,000,000
b). $315,000,000 in debt
a or b? If you picked b, you made the same choice as Greg Nickels. THERE WAS TWO MORE YEARS LEFT ON THE LEASE PEOPLE! The lying mayor made a dumb mistake, plus WE DO NOT HAVE ths Sonics history. Nickels is so incompetent, he could even get that!
18. 16.
Good name, but I prefer "Oklahoma Extortionists".
17.
I prefer c.,not having to provide publicly funded venues for wealthy business chislers who want to play at being sports team owners and stick taxpayers with the bill. I don't like people who make threats, and I don't like politicians who side with them. If the Key can't cut the mustard without the deadwood sonics, then tear it down. Hell, I bet the Rat City Roller Girls would love to use the Key and would be much more interesting to watch. ; )
19. So NW Denizen,
you pick $315,000,000 in debt. Even if you hate the NBA, we had a lease and the area would make another $360,000,000 the next two years. You are a closed minded dolt, like Nickels with your lack of thought on this issue.
20. It seems most libertarians on this site are macroeconomic morons, don't bother arguing with them. And by the way if some wealthy businessman came to my town and showed that we could earn $20 if we just gave him $5, I would sure hope the city council would take that investment opportunity, even if my taxes were raised to make the $5 - seems that in the long run the taxes could be lowered by the $15.
21. AP@19.,
Can you read? Please revisit my post at #18. If you need futher clarification, check my post #53 on the "Sonics Stolen, Re-Elect Dino Rossi" thread. This kind of nonsense should not have been started in the first place. If you want a pro basketball team in Seattle, then form a group and fund it yourself. Problem solved.