Good Riddance, but Leave the Banners

(Photo by Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images)

To say the least, this article is belated.

Nonetheless, just because time has passed does not mean that the wounds are any less present or visible.

A couple years ago, the Seattle Supersonics (or "Sonics," if you're nasty) left their hometown amid a dispute over a dilapidated arena.

Loyal Sonics fans were crushed, and the league in general lost a great set of fans.

Gone forever were the throngs of supporters that helped make it "reign" during an era that included a once high-flying Shawn Kemp and a "glove"-ly Gary Payton.

Earlier still (than my recollections go, at least) were the days in which Gus Williams torched opponents and big Jack Sikma loomed larger than a Pacific Redwood en route to their title in 1979.

But their banner has no home in Seattle; rather, Oklahoma City claims that honor.

This phenomenon is not new to basketball, or major sports in general. The Los Angeles Lakers claim titles won when their moniker was appropriate, back in Minneapolis. The original Cleveland Browns' titles have their home in Maryland, not alongside the Rock N' Roll Hall of Fame.

This happens all of the time. And it begs the question: Is this right?

In all honesty, this really had not crossed my mind until recently.

I was having a conversation with the Northwest's version of "The Schwab," a man by the name of Erik DeLong. This Portland, Oregon regional treasure of sports knowledge recently asked me, "Should the titles won by the Lakers in Minnesota really count?"

Given that I had not really contemplated this, I gave him a quizzical look.

DeLong continued, "I mean, are there a bunch of old guys in Minneapolis still rooting for their Lakers?"

Obviously, everyone has an angle that they are coming from, and Erik is no different.

Despite being a Portland resident, he is a life-long Boston Celtics fan. As such, he has a vested interest in the bragging rights of his favorite squad, and the Lakers are beginning to move within the conversation of the Celtics when it comes to all-time supremacy.

However, the more I thought about it, the more it started to bother me.

When a team moves away from its home, a big piece of the community dies. Obviously there are financial ramifications. However, psychologically the wound may be even bigger. And by bringing the banners with them, they are essentially adding insult to injury.

Think about all of the cities that have been scarred by teams relocating. Who can forget the Baltimore Colts leaving in the middle of the night, in the process crushing an already heartbroken town? Or the new Baltimore team being brought from one of the original NFL towns?

All those years, all those moments in which the fans poured their hearts out for their team are essentially wasted. The shifts of work missed in order to watch their team. The money spent on tickets rather than rent that may have resulted in evictions is completely thrown out the door. The bar fights started in order to prove fanhood, all for naught.

For me, it always reminds me of the scene in Children of Men in which Clive Owen's character asked his art-collecting cousin why he would keep art that in 100 years nobody would be around to see.

Wasted time, plain and simple, gone the way of the Hartford Whalers.

The bottom line is that teams should not be allowed to relocate banners and titles to new cities, plain and simple.

Obviously the owner of the team has rights. It is their team and they can, technically, do what they please with it. But they should not have the right to showcase their fans' hard work like a trophy of tears.

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