My friend and I were talking today about the Sonics, due to all the hype about the Hornets possible moves. He exclaimed he is still boycotting Starbucks Coffee because of Howard Schultz. I think it is ridiculous how much Seattle people hate the move. I understand, it was a big part of people's lives, bringing back many memories. But what it all boils down to is business. People don't seem to realize these days that everything is about money.
As sad as that is, it's true. I'm sure the move to Oklahoma City was a hard decision, but it's all politics and money. The Key Arena, where the Sonics played, was not an NBA quality arena, and needs many millions of dollars in renovations. The ownership could not get that done in a strong enough time frame, and had to move. Why Oklahoma City? Because during Hurricane Katrina, when the Hornets, coincidentally, had there arena in the disaster zone, they moved to Oklahoma City for the time being, and the fan support was immense. Oklahoma City showed the NBA it loved basketball, and so the move to Oklahoma City may have been a little less daunting of a task to the NBA than it seemed.
The second thing I don't get is why people don't just support the Thunder from afar. I know it is much harder to root for a team when you can't watch them everyday, but I don't see reason for people to hate them, as I have witnessed many say. It's the same team, just a different location. Lastly, as the topic arose around sports fans in the Seattle area, it is baffling to me that there is not an immense amount of support from the fan base. My take on this- the fans are hurt by the move away, and are worried to bring another team back, and possibly see them taken away again. The reason this thought process makes no sense? Because once a team moves back to the Seattle area, they will be here for good. Reason being that the ownership of the team would have to mass renovate Key Arena, or build an entirely new arena in somewhere like Bellevue, WA, a very similar and more modern city in the greater Seattle area.
The resources are there for an NBA team to return to Seattle- now it's just a matter of getting someone else to buy in.
you never know when another team can move especially when there is the possibility of a lockout next year.
ReplyDeleteSeriously. The lockout is going to cause a lot of problems for many organizations if it ends up happening. I am thinking about Sacramento and New Orleans especially. Maybe even Charlotte. But I would say N.O and Sacramento are the front runners. I was also hearing the big possibility that if either team was going to be sold, Steve Ballmer may be a huge front-runner. He just cleared $1.3B in stocks, and is an avid basketball fan. If anyone could bring a team back here, it would be Ballmer I think.
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