R.I.P. Seattle Supersonics

I guess I gotta face the fact that it's over.  It really did not hit me until I heard Clay Bennett speak at his press conference.  I don't know what to be most disappointed about, but it probably is that we will never see Kevin Durant reach his full potential.

Don't think I have forgotten you Gary Payton.  I don't care how big-headed you are—you deserve it just as much as you deserve to get your jersey raised in the rafters in Seattle.  As I reflect on what it will be like dealing with this void in the winter, I have a few people I would like to thank.

Thank you, Howard Schultz, for screwing the people of Seattle and getting us in this mess in the first place.  I'll never understand what went through your head when you signed the paper handing over the team to out-of-town buyers clearly wanting a team of their own.  Drink Tully's.

Thank you, Christine Gregoire and the legislature of Washington, for screwing the people of Seattle by not even seriously considering a legitimate Key Arena renovation funding plan.  It could have been done in the time frame that you had left.  Even if it wasn't, do you not have it within yourselves to dedicate one or two days to a matter that affects hundreds of thousands of people?

Thank you to the coward owners of the NBA (excluding Cuban), who voted for the relocation of the Sonics.  By letting this pass, you are reinforcing that the NBA model is broken and will continue to be broken until somebody fixes it.

What kind of league can this be where a group of rich guys from some wannabe major city buy a team with a 40-year history and an amazing fan base without raising any eyebrows from officials, hijack them, and bring them back to their own city without a scratch?

Funny thing is, if this can happen to Seattle, it can just about happen to any other NBA city.  For not standing up against it by voting for the move, chances are it will happen to you along the road.

Thank you, Clay Bennett, for too many reasons to list.  You may be a hero to the people of OK City, but anybody following this whole saga knows you are a person of weak character.  Time after time you amazed us with your flat-out lies.

The final nail in the coffin was when you tried to play yourself off as a man possessed for getting an arena in Seattle.  You may have been able to fool your boyfriend Stern, but the rest of society isn't that ignorant.

Congratulations on crying today—it must have been tough for you to fight so hard to keep the team in Seattle.  No matter how hard you tried, the citizens of this town fought as hard as they could to reject your logical plans of creating a $500 million dollar arena in Renton, and you couldn't crunch the numbers to make staying true to the lease profitable.

Hmm...maybe you shouldn't have bought the team in the first place if you were able to see that coming.

And I think I speak for at least a few others when I say that now I am forced to hate OKC—and you know what, I don't want to.  I'm sure that lots of people wanted a NBA franchise but didn't want to get it by stealing it right from the hands of others.  It's probably a good town (definitely no Seattle), but now I view it as a one with a lack of class.

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