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EmailBrave is the mortal who takes on Art Thiel, the Post-Intelligencer's ace sports columnist. Advocates for a Legislative fix for Husky stadium still think Thiel's withering column about that request sank the idea in a day. (Thiel dislikes the commercialization of college sports and has become the scourge of Huskies.) And now, he's arguing to defy the Oklahoma Sonics group until the last lawsuit dies. "Just say no," contends Big Art.
I say, Just say yes to the Okies. Settle the lawsuit and let the Sonics move away. Tell Steve Ballmer how much you appreciate his offer and advise him to do something more constructive, such as closing the Yahoo deal. Stop the blame game with Gov. Gregoire and Speaker Chopp, and quietly congratulate them for their political courage in recognizing that the era of public financing of stadiums is over, here and all around the country.
Thiel's scenario of bold litigation, driving the NBA and the Okies to their knees and eventually keeping the Sonics in an all-private, entertainment-extravaganza arena (along the lines of the Fred Brown proposal), would be a fascinating melodrama of municipal pride, with lots of material for future sports columns. The town simply loves these long-drawn-out, can't-win battles (like the Viaduct). We're the city that can't say yes — whether to the Ballmer offer or to whatever deeply flawed proposal that would come after five years of war with the NBA.
Little old me has a think-small proposal. Make Seattle a good basketball town with a humanely sized, affordable-tickets venue built around the Storm, the soon-to-be Division 1 Seattle University team, and maybe SPU. Crosstown, the Huskies might also start winning again. Make the major league
Why not? Two political reasons come to mind. Downscaling KeyArena risks the bottom line for the red-ink zone known as Seattle Center, and it may mean fewer jobs for the union-dominated facilities at the Center. Secondly, Mayor Nickels would lose his current starring role as the savior of the Sonics and the scourge of Olympia (most helpful for his re-election campaign next year); and he avoids ticking off the diehard Sonics fans.
So it's better for selling papers and keeping politicians happy to egg on the lawyers, up the ante, and keep the civic melodrama going for years and years. Why make a hard decision when indecision reaps such rewards?
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Comments:
Posted Thu, Apr 10, 7:57 p.m. Inappropriate
Yes!: Bravo, Brewster!
Posted Thu, Apr 10, 11:09 p.m. Inappropriate
A battle that Seattle can be proud of: I get the impression from your previous articles on this topic that you (like me) really didn't want to see the Sonics leave. Faced with the inevitability of their leaving, I guess you've decided it's healthier to accept their loss than remain stuck in the anger and denial stages. Perfectly understandable. I've been going through a similar process myself.
But surely you saw the headlines in today's Seattle Times, no? If you think making a statement to professional sports is a good thing, today's news revealed lots of good reasons to drag this fight out as long as possible, regardless of whether the team stays or goes. Thanks to Seattle, the whole world has gotten a firsthand look at what happens behind the scenes as franchise owners work the public and the politicians. Clay Bennett's group comes off as a bunch of liars, and I wonder how the mayor of Oklahoma City feels after reading about Bennett's strategy to milk his city for all it can. I wonder how Oklahoma city feels?
There will likely be more interesting reading if Seattle wins the discovery request for the NBA's documents.
It may be time to say good-bye to the Sonics, but the fight has just begun!
Posted Sun, Apr 13, 3:17 p.m. Inappropriate
The danger is playing this game for years (and elections) to come. In fact, if we want an NBA team to come here sometime in the next decade, we would cool all the attacks on the NBA, the lawsuits, and the hyped rhetoric.
My own view is that if you have a team, you should hang onto it, so you don't have a long-drawn-out war over who lost it and how many billions to spend to feel better by getting a new one. Now that we've lost the Sonics, it would be better not to beat the civic breast but instead to face the facts. We lost the team. Howard Schultz decided to sell when a sucker appeared offering a big price, enabling him to get out of all the bad PR the team was causing Starbucks. (What should have happened is for the other owners to buy out the disaffected Schultz.) Mayor Nickels avoided getting involved in any creative way until it was too late and he needed to protect his political flank. The City Council did nothing to keep the team. Gregoire was the one person who tried to make something work, but lost her nerve when Speaker Frank Chopp made it clear he was not going to risk seats by having Democrats vote for sports arenas.
The one creative actor, as has happened twice before in local sports, was former Sen. Slade Gorton, who engineered an 11:55 last-gasp effort. But by then the team was clearly not for sale and the NBA was clearly not going to oblige Seattle. Chopp, to his credit, knew all this was doomed and put his foot on the airhose.
Now, we need to do the same.
Posted Sun, Apr 13, 9:06 p.m. Inappropriate
Hey Sonics, turn the lights off on your way OUT!!: Don't get me wrong, I enjoy sports. Why is it, that big money won't give big and public to things this city could really benefit from, like schools, school programs, the viaduct, the waterfront trolly? I acknowledge there are those that do give back to our city. It just seems to me that they could gain better greatness and value to those dollars than investing in the Sonics and ticket sales most of us can't aford.