People say a picture speaks a thousand words. Weird how this picture show 41 years of history being carefully deconstructed into a thousand pieces.
I haven't really gotten hit with the team being taken away. Or is taken away too harsh of a word? The more appropriate word would be given away, as that's exactly what local owner Howard Schultz did two years ago, when he sold the team to Clayton Bennett and his group from Oklahoma City.
Now Schultz has put together a lawsuit that will try and get the team back. Will it work? I don't know. Do I care? Not really. Like I said earlier, it hasn't hit me yet that the NBA no longer exists in Seattle, and it probably won't hit me until Opening Day, when the Oklahoma Whatevers play their first game.
So now what? What do I do?
A basketball enthusiast who's just lost the only NBA team he's ever followed.
Root for the next-closest team? The Blazers? That's a hard sell, especially when they're not even located in my own state.
I don't want to make the comparison of a Sonics fan rooting for the Blazers being equal to a Yankees fan rooting for the Red Sox, or Ohio State fans cheering on Michigan. But maybe in our own little world up here in the Northwest, where the rest of the country thinks we aren't even a part of these continental 48 states, the I-5 rivalry between the two cities is just as big. I never personally felt it, but maybe because I wasn't as interested during the Blazers and Sonics championship runs.
Today's Must Reads
The Blazers do have some serious Seattle ties, though, with former Mr. Sonic himself Nate McMillan coaching the squad, which is led by local Seattle product Brandon Roy (who just so happened to be in my graduating class of 2002 from Garfield High in Seattle). They also have Martell Webster, another local kid from the Emerald City, but I never really knew of him because he came straight out of high school to the NBA.
A big thing for me when being a fan of a particular team is knowing that, if I really wanted to cough up the money, I could go see them in person. Is there ever going to be a time where I want to take the three-hour trip down to Portland just to see a basketball game?
The last and only time I did that was to see LeBron James during his rookie season. Unfortunately, he had one of his worst statistical games ever that night: eight points on 3-of-12 shooting with four rebounds and six assists. (Just so you know, this is a precursor to an article I'll write about how LeBron James will never win a championship.)
I need immediate access to a team to be a fan. I need to be surrounded by the fans to be a fan. I can't follow the Houston Texans up here, because I have no one to talk about them with.
Will that be the case with Portland? Possibly. How long do I have to wait before the NBA comes back? Maybe forever. Am I going to stop following the NBA? No, but it sure is enticing.
I dunno, the Canucks are only two hours away in Vancouver...maybe I'll just become a hockey fan.
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2 months ago
As a Cleveland Browns fan Kip I sympathise with ou. I am old enough to remeber when Art Modell take away our team for us and wondering who I would root for to fill my time for the next three season to come. I really did not want to root for the Pittsburgh Steelers, but I also could not bring it about myself to root for the
2 months ago
To finish the though I also was not keen on rooting for the Detroit Lions or Indiansapolis Colts. So what did I do, well other then rekindle my love for the Ohio State Buckeyes and also became a fan of football and just rooted for the players untill we got our team back and not any one team in paticular. Soon you'll have your team back and just l ike us I think that you'll be better off for what happened. The team will be back soon because you got the same deal that we did where you get to keep the name colors and team history so they be back one day. Just sit tight untill then
2 months ago
The sonics were me second favorite team next to the Magic
2 months ago
Start cheering for the Grizzlies, Kings and/or Hornets as they are the most likely candidates to head to Seattle.
2 months ago
What's in a name, colors or where they play? To me it is the love of the sport and the greatness of the players that make any team in any sport worth watching. Instead of wailing and finding fault with some unknown quality ask the city why they did not want a decent stadium. Or the Sonic owners why they no longer wanted a pro basketball team in a beautiful city like Seattle. I guess the Okies win this round. Now there is a hub for major sports for the folks in tornado alley. Kansas City, St. Louis, Dallas and now the OKC Tornados. Almost forgot the famous OU Sooners/OSU Cowboys/Tulsa Hurricanes............
2 months ago
I watched the Sonics since the late 60's. Went to their games in the Kingdome in the late 70's, when they were champions. The last great "era" was when Gary Payton was in his prime. I blame this fiasco on Howard Schultz, Mayor Nickels, the NBA owners who approved the move (they just want the option of moving/selling their own team if it is profitable), and David Stern, who acts like he has a serious mental health disorder (I think they call it "short man's complex"). This is catastrophic, but life goes on. I am confident that local people will get another team here, although it may not be in Key Arena like what Seattle wants. David Stern will continue to try to exact his pound of flesh from fans here because the legislature would not finance the improvements he wanted to Key Arena. David, I know a good psychiatrist you can see for that problem, but please don't take it out on us. We have the Storm, and I will gladly watch them, they are prettier anyway.
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