Oklahoma City . . . Sonics?

[PeytonManningRocks]

what does this mean?????

Evidently, it's supposed to mean "Stop Realignment". I still have yet to fully understand it though.

[CC97]

what does this mean?????

Evidently, it's supposed to mean "Stop Realignment". I still have yet to fully understand it though.

Picture one:

Stop

Picture two:

Reel

Picture three:

A line

Picture four:

Mint

Stop Reel A line mint

[PeytonManningRocks]

what does this mean?????

Evidently, it's supposed to mean "Stop Realignment". I still have yet to fully understand it though.

Picture one:

Stop

Picture two:

Reel

Picture three:

A line

Picture four:

Mint

Stop Reel A line mint

Ah, thanks! Picture two was confusing me a bit. Like, what does 5 inches have to do with a reel?

[OMMF]

what does this mean?????

Evidently, it's supposed to mean "Stop Realignment". I still have yet to fully understand it though.

Picture one:

Stop

Picture two:

Reel

Picture three:

A line

Picture four:

Mint

Stop Reel A line mint

Really? I got stop + width + a line + mints = stop with alignments.

But, as I said in a previous post, that would be diameter, not width, so I guess I am wrong again.

I really wish they would bring back Classic Concentration. I loved that show.

[nyk]

Lawmakers won't vote on Sonics arena this session

April 17, 2007

OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) -- Seattle SuperSonics majority owner Clay Bennett said a decision by the Washington state Legislature not to vote on a measure to finance a new arena has all but doomed efforts to keep the team in the state beyond next season.

"Clearly at this time the Sonics and (WNBA) Storm have little hope of remaining in the Puget Sound region," the Oklahoma City-based Bennett said in statement issued soon after the Monday night decision.

Seattle has been the NBA Sonics' only home for 40 seasons.

At a meeting involving Gov. Chris Gregoire and House and Senate leaders, lawmakers decided there wasn't enough time to resolve the issue before the session adjourns on April 22. But they said the issue was not dead.

"We know we're not going to take a vote this session because we're really running out of time," said Sen. Margarita Prentice, D-Renton, and the arena's strongest champion. "There's a number of issues we feel we should resolve."

The $500 million arena plan ran out of time largely because of two factors. First, Bennett did not take control of the team until Nov. 1, 2006, when the NBA finally approved his $350 million summer purchase from Starbucks Corp. Chairman Howard Schultz. Then complications in determining the most viable arena site delayed the plan from reaching the Legislature until Feb. 13 -- five weeks after Bennett's target date.

Sonics spokesman Jim Kneeland said the team has committed to work with the Legislature until Nov. 1 on plans for an arena, but "this is a very serious blow to try to keep the team here."

The team is looking to replace KeyArena in Seattle, where the Sonics hold what NBA commissioner David Stern called the league's worst lease. The purchase agreement that Bennett and his Oklahoma-based co-owners have stipulates that if Bennett doesn't have a new arena deal in place by Oct. 31, he is contractually free to move the teams. But the Sonics did not file a franchise relocation request with the NBA by the March 1 deadline, meaning they are obligated for at least one more season in Seattle.

Gregoire could call a special session to bring lawmakers back to Olympia after April 22. That appears to be the only way the Sonics could get legislative approval to send their arena plan to King County by Nov. 1. But Monday, lawmakers and a spokeswoman for Gregoire's office said there's been no discussion of a possible special session.

The next legislative session does not convene until January 2008.

"By its inaction, the Legislature has delivered the message that they are indifferent to the notion of the Sonics and the Storm leaving the market," Bennett said.

Lawmakers sounded more optimistic, promising to look at a large-scale arena plan they say could be an asset to the entire state -- not just the Sonics.

Last Friday, Prentice's committee, the Senate Ways and Means Committee, approved a $278 million package of local taxes to help build the new events center in Prentice's hometown of Renton, south of Seattle. Bennett has said the proposed facility would hold at least 18,500 fans and could accommodate national political conventions and other sports such as hockey.

But the plan has run into stiff opposition in the state House, where discussions among House Democrats have been lukewarm, and where the powerful speaker, Rep. Frank Chopp of Seattle, had all but pronounced the plan dead.

House Majority Leader Lynn Kessler, D-Hoquiam, said a straw poll taken throughout Monday showed "there wasn't significant support for the proposal right now, but perhaps if the discussion turns to a statewide multipurpose event center that might change the dynamics.

"We don't know because that's not what we were presented with," she said.

Bennett has asked the Legislature for $300 million in public money for the facility, which could cost in excess of $500 million. The city of Renton has been asked to contribute money as well, but that amount hasn't been determined yet. Neither has the Sonics' contribution to the arena's cost.

[rams80]

nyk just beat me.

[koizim]

what does this mean?????

Evidently, it's supposed to mean "Stop Realignment". I still have yet to fully understand it though.

Picture one:

Stop

Picture two:

Reel

Picture three:

A line

Picture four:

Mint

Stop Reel A line mint

Really? I got stop + width + a line + mints = stop with alignments.

But, as I said in a previous post, that would be diameter, not width, so I guess I am wrong again.

I really wish they would bring back Classic Concentration. I loved that show.

Wow... I was way off. I thought it was trying to say "Stop real protest candy." Makes a bit more sense now, though.

[Roger Clemente]

nyk just beat me.

You gonna fight back?

[leedsunited]

Does anyone in Seattle still give two hoots about the Sonics anyway?

It's a 'Hawk town, with the Mariners a close second (when they're doing well).

[Snazel]

Does anyone in Seattle still give two hoots about the Sonics anyway?

With some fans the Sonics are the most beloved of them all, because of 1979. I worked with a band called the Presidents of the United States, and they loved the Sonics above all others, I have a few friends that are in the same boat.

Attendance for the Sonics was good, until the ownership became wobbly and began to hold the city ransom.

The key reason Seattle appears indifferent is because they know Key Arena is not that old, and is a viable venue for a profitable team. The owners just want MORE profit, and the public has dispensed over a billion dollars to bail the Hawks and Mariner. When you realize that Key Arena is not that old, it just seems a bit much.

This latest "do it now or die Seattle" threat is especially troubling. An option for a new publically financed stadium is NOT enough, they want the vote to happen NOW or ELSE.

It really just goes to show, the owners don't really want to stay. Why would you not wait until a vote comes up, if you can gain all that public money to enhance your asset?

The only reason you would not wait, is because you already have plans to move elsewhere, or perhaps the real reason is to create panic in the Seattle public, to help the vote eventually pass, so your "hostage crisis" scenario produces a fat new stadium with new profit potential.

Personally, I think its just bargaining and pressure. Typical sports owner greed, making it look like tax dollars are rite of passage and only the "evil govermment people" are holding back from a public bail out of their business.

The public is supposed to get indignant and call their representatives and demand that a multi-billionaire be handed 300 million dollars of our tax money. Meanwhile of course, my utility and electricity bills just went through a large increase, and my property tax got bumped and the NBA wants me to shell out 200 dollars to take my family to a basketball game.

Personally, my biggest beef with the Sonics is the APPALING customer service at the Key. It is REALLY, REALLY, REALLY bad. The games are noisy, the sound system is shrill and the activities during timeouts and breaks are patronizing and insulting. The NBA is an awful family experience these days, just awful. It's a venue for elite single men, a status symbol venue...it's no longer very accessible to the average man that just wants basic family entertainment.

There is a lot of support for the Sonics out here, but it has been taken for granted and I believe this latest "threat" is just a bargaining tactic. The owners are in a plush spot, they can hold Seattle ransom, or move to Oklahoma and exploit that market, with their ducks already lined up there. It's a no-win situation for the fans.

[DG_ThenNowForever]

A lot of my friends that are long-time Seattlites have a deep affection for the Sonics, more so than the Seahawks or Mariners. However, like Snazel said, KeyArena was just renovated. Plus, the Hawks and Mariners JUST got new publicly financed stadiums. A new home for the Sonics is unnecessary, too expensive and, while I won't bore you with the city's transportation needs, we have bigger and more expensive priorities than a basketball arena.

Clay Bennett can go f himself.

[nwtrailtrekker]

Does anyone in Seattle still give two hoots about the Sonics anyway?

It's a 'Hawk town, with the Mariners a close second (when they're doing well).

Seattle is an "anyone who's good" town

[ninersdd]

Key Arena, even after the renovation, still seems very old

[sacker12]

This isn't looking good.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/312008_sonics18.html

[DG_ThenNowForever]

If he thinks that strong-arming Seattle gets him any closer to a new arena, he's crazy. We're all well aware that his intention is to move to OKC, so he should just go ahead and do it. I recognize he doesn't want to to sabotage ticket sales next season (and good luck with that, pal), but this playing coy into playing a complete ass isn't helping anyone.

I've only been in Seattle seven months, but I feel local enough to know that Bennett is selling snake oil and thank god we're smart enough as a region to see past it.

[NJTank]

He has no intent on keeping the team in Seattle, thats become apparent.

Key Arena was just rebuilt 11 years ago its pathetic the Sonics already need a new arena what's the problem how is it an arena just redone a decade ago is now no good?

[bterreson]

Does anyone in Seattle still give two hoots about the Sonics anyway?

With some fans the Sonics are the most beloved of them all, because of 1979. I worked with a band called the Presidents of the United States, and they loved the Sonics above all others, I have a few friends that are in the same boat.

.

my video production teacher is Chris Ballew's nephew... hm.

[Huskyfan82]

They're done. Time to burn all the Sonics stuff and buy some Suns stuff.

David

[Gregmond]

I'm sad to think that the Sonics may be moving from Seattle after the 2007/08 season. Even though I live in Melbourne (Australia), I have lived in Vancouver and have visited Seattle numerous times, even taking in a Sonics home game once. More than other cities I have visited, I really got the feeling that the Sonics were Seattle's team, and a part of the fabric of the city ... with the brilliant green and gold colour scheme to the title "SuperSonics" which is not going to stick in any other US city, and of course the one NBA championship. I know that pro-sports are businesses, and I understand that their arena deal is garbage, but I'm still going to be disappointed when my Sonics move away from one of my favourite cities.

Greg

[rebelx]

These guys may not be leaving town just yet...

http://royalbroughamway.com/2007/04/it-ain...uss-moving.html

I sure hope that something comes of that.