Sad to see, having been to Seattle a number of times and remembering the Bullets-Sonics finals of 1978-9. Great city.

Bill, does Abe Pollin have territorial rights to the Baltimore area? If we built a larger arena and another NBA city was drying up, could we realistically vie for that team? If we go 15,000-16,000 in a new place would he throw us a bone of 5-10 games a season?
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Brian,
I don't know the answer to your first question. The latter portion, though, is a little easier. It kind of begins and ends with this -- where is the money coming from for this arena of which you speak. Without government cash, we wouldn't have the stadiums for the Orioles and Ravens. I just don't see it happening.
-- Bill O.

Fact: the Sonics lease runs through 2010. Fact: the city has refused and continues to refuse to allow Clay Bennett to buy his way out of the lease. Fact: Clay Bennett has been double dealing with Seattle and OKC in violation of his agreements with the NBA and previous Sonic ownership.

It's not a stretch to say the Sonics may well be in Seattle next year. And the NBA has multiple incentives to stay in Seattle indefinitely. It ain't over until it's over...

That's not the sound of death. That's the sound of a city getting ready for a fight. The chances of the city losing the court battle this summer is slim, and then we'll see what the NBA thinks of two lame-duck years with a lying, thieving owner. SAVE OUR SONICS!

Ordine, kiss my ass. You must be someone who is still crying over the Colts.

The Seattle story is FAR from over you moron. Get your facts straight.

I hope you are prepared for a "stunning develpoment".
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Mr. Blunt,
To paraphrase Michael Corleone in G2,
"You surprise me. If anything in this life is certain - if history has taught us anything - it's that you can relocate any sports franchise."
Good luck out there.
-- Bill O.

Clay Bennett willfully mislead the public and the government officials in State of Washington from the beginning as acquired emails between owners in Oklahoma City document. Bennett used an aggressive schedule and high priced arena proposal to forced government to be his ticket out of town.

Washington State government took a long time for Seahawks and Mariners stadiums and they knew it and used against them. Clay Bennett should never be trusted by any NBA fan.

This is an outrage & another scar on David Stern's record. How can you possibly allow a franchise to leave Seattle for Oklahoma? Seattle can generate millions more revenue than lowly Oklahoma. This is a sad state of affairs for the NBA.

As one of the fans screaming at the top of my lungs during that chant, I can tell you the fight is far from over. Mark Cuban has stated he will not vote for relocation and there is still the court case to go through. We will continue to fight and scap the whole way there. Because until Durant looks to buy OK dustbowl property, this city will bleed green and gold. SAVE OUR SONICS!!!
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Dave,
Good luck with the effort.
-- Bill O.

As former expatriate Baltimorean and current Seattle resident. I can honestly say this sound like the Colts of 1984. Seattle is a big market and has supported the team since I moved here in 1995. Stern must be on "crack" to let this happend. Clay Bennett is the long lost son of Irsay and Stern is Taglibue long lost uncle. Either way Seattle will keep the Sonics because there is too much dough to be made here. The fan base is better and location is desirable unlike OK which is fly country and no player would want to go there to live. Also, if the Sonics do move the novelty will wear off and they will probably move in less than 10 years I'll guarnatee. Hopefully, Seattle can keep the Sonics and maybe just maybe B-More can get a team some day as well . Know one in B-More cares about the Wizards anyway. LOL
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John,
Thanks for wtiting and giving your take on the situation out there.
-- Bill O.

Bill,

I grew up in Seattle and now live in Baltimore--thanks for bringing this up. It's easy for Stern & Bennett to say that the city wouldn't support the team. The fact is that the Key Arena was just remodeled in 1995--it's bad policy to give in and subsidize arenas for professional teams every decade. As much as I like the Sonics, good luck to Clay and Stern in Oklahoma City. I can't wait to see the attendance numbers in a couple of years.
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Like you, I'm having a difficult time seeing this work out.
-- Bill O.

E-mails don't matter. What Bennett said and did in public does. He asked for a high priced arena because that's what they cost (Orlando, Brooklyn), and because if he was going to lose money, he'd rather do it at home. He gave Seattle a year because that's what Stern told him he had to do, and Schultz was clearly in agreement. No matter what his e-mails said, in public, in every interview he gave, he said that the arena was still on the table. He was talking to Sabey and the Muckleshoots in July, long after the e-mails everyone is screaming about, and, if the city had suddenly come up with the money for the arena October 31st, 2007, the Sonics would not be leaving in the forseeable future. This appears to be an attempt to shift blame from the correct source onto Bennett: the Washington legislature and/or the city government of Seattle knew from July 2006 that an arena deal had to be in the works by 10/31/07 and they ignored Bennett and the deadline.

As a life long Sonic fan I was proud of my fellow fans last night. The situation here for a Sonic fan is beyond depressing. Anytime the team gets good news, Bennett follows it with bad news. I can remember how happy I was when we won the 2nd pick in the lottery and me and all my friends were high-fiving each other and a few hours later Bennett makes a statement the situation in Seattle is impossible, or something to that effect. The lying and the attempts to beat us down have been hard to take. At least for one night we didn't let them get us.

I suppose the one thing I have learned through all of this is that these are not our teams, they are the owners teams. Why even bother putting the Cities name on the jersey? It doesn't matter. At least I don't have to worry about my Washington Huskies moving to Tulsa.
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Stone,
Thanks for writing. I learned a similar lesson in the NFL strike of 1987. That's why they are called the owners.
-- Bill O.

why are stern and bennett just simply allowed to steal our team? doesnt anyone else around the league realize that it's their team next? honestly, memphis will be next, followed by new orleans, indiana, milwaukee and so on. you can see it building in these cities. the nba is a joke and if they take my team i will never follow the nba again, because they havent earned my respect for the way they treat fans.

You sure need to get your facts straight, as you obviously don't know the half of the story. This story is not over, and I believe that OKC will NOT get this team in the end !

This is far from over and we shall overcome. This is a flat out injustice and what goes around comes around. I invite all of you fans out there to have a taste of what it is to be a Seattle Sonics fans. http://sonicscentral.com/blog/ We are being made an example of by not playing by Sterns rule. Well Mr. Stern I say see you in Court, jackass.

The Sonics made a fundamental mistake -- they were the last team in their market to try to get a new arena. That almost never works out because the fans and local government are suffering from "stadium financing fatigue" by the time the last team comes forth with its hat in its hand.

So the team leaves and, after several years with no team, the town decides it wants to build a new arena after all. So they land an expansion or relocation team and ultimately pony up far more than they would have in the first place to regain what they once had. It's happened all over the country, and it'll likely happen in Seattle. -------------------------------------- Joe, You are a student of history ... for lessons of what you just said we need to look no further than Baltimore and Cleveland. -- Bill O.

Thanks for our new Team! You guys should have saved them when you had the chance.