clay bennett: why can't you leave us alone.

[scrubbydew]

I'm pretty sure there have been posts about this topic already, but I just wanted to post this up to vent out a little.

It's clear now that he bought the sonics with the intention to relocate them to Oklahoma. He never intended them to stay in Seattle. All those quotes that he is trying to find a place in Seattle are lies. What he wants is a World-class facility. You can find pictures of them on google. He wants a facility that's up there with Qwest field (football) and Safeco field (baseball). That is just ridiculous.

The problem Bennett has with the Key Arena is that he isn't making any profit. The "lease" is too expensive. But when Clay says the people of Seattle don't care about the sonics, that's false. Maybe he should start focusing on the "team" instead of trying to move them out. Other than the Durant draft...have you seen our previous drafts?

Like every sports fan, I just want to see my team win. I don't care if it's in an old building or a new one, it would just be nice to see the payton-kemp days back in seattle again.

[Durant35]

Excellent posts being a long time Seattle Supersonics fan since the mid 1990's, Seattle has been a part of the history and the legacy of our sports team. It will probably be one of the saddest day of my life being a basketball fan to see our team relocate in Oklahoma. In the rebuilding stage like this their is no point to relocate our team from one city to another. We have been bless this year when we drafted Kevin Durant as the no.2 pick in the 2007 NBA Draft.

Beside Commissioner Stern does not like it when teams change cities. He didn’t like it when the Grizzlies moved from Vancouver to Memphis and all along has fought against any possibility of a team move. He made sure the Trail Blazers ended up staying in Portland; he’s making sure the Kings stay in Sacramento. He was involved in the discussions for a new arena for the Orlando Magic, ensuring they would stay put.

If Stern knew from the beginning the plan was to move the Sonics from Seattle – a large market – to Oklahoma City – a much smaller one – there is an excellent chance Bennett’s ownership bid would never have been approved and Schultz would still be the owner - or he would have had to sell to someone else.

Let just support our team and hope that this season despite the fact that we are least expected to make it in the playoffs. Sonics will definitely improve their record and carry the experience as a challenge for this very young team.

[yobore]

Originally Posted by Durant35

If Stern knew from the beginning the plan was to move the Sonics from Seattle – a large market – to Oklahoma City – a much smaller one – there is an excellent chance Bennett’s ownership bid would never have been approved and Schultz would still be the owner - or he would have had to sell to someone else.

I think most people, at least all of us Hornets fans knew, that he was doing it solely to move the team to OKC. Their newspaper constantly took cheap shots at New Orleans and were trying to find ways to keep the Hornets until he bought the Sonics

He had his mind on moving a team to OKC bottom line, and the lease has been an excuse from the beginning. This is a case where Bennett and the OKC businessmen are not looking at the profit the team can make from the market, but the profit the market can make from the team (ie all their OKC businesses). Obviously this is a bad thing for everyone involved in the league but I don't know anything about legal stuff so I don't know what they can do about it.

[RainierBeachPoet]

Originally Posted by scrubbydew

I'm pretty sure there have been posts about this topic already, but I just wanted to post this up to vent out a little.

It's clear now that he bought the sonics with the intention to relocate them to Oklahoma. He never intended them to stay in Seattle. All those quotes that he is trying to find a place in Seattle are lies. What he wants is a World-class facility. You can find pictures of them on google. He wants a facility that's up there with Qwest field (football) and Safeco field (baseball). That is just ridiculous.

The problem Bennett has with the Key Arena is that he isn't making any profit. The "lease" is too expensive. But when Clay says the people of Seattle don't care about the sonics, that's false. Maybe he should start focusing on the "team" instead of trying to move them out. Other than the Durant draft...have you seen our previous drafts?

Like every sports fan, I just want to see my team win. I don't care if it's in an old building or a new one, it would just be nice to see the payton-kemp days back in seattle again.

its good to keep this topic on the front burner-- thanks scrubbydew

my current hope is that the city council and mayor will hold bennett to the terms of the current lease -- i believe until 2010

it would give us more time to look at more options for staying in the seattle area and stay away from a self imposed deadline (bennett gave until oct 31, 2007)