The last-minute settlement over the Seattle SuperSonics is sadly typical of politics around here. Why settle something when you can drag it on for years to come? Maybe we should call the new team, in the unlikely event it ever arrives here, the Seattle Viaducts.
Settling in a firm way a heated public debate like this one is risky for politicians, which is why they look for face-saving irresolution. Once something is settled, the losing side goes into permanent opposition, rather than holding out hope and courting favor with all the parties. The plan is to hold out a win-win solution, sometime in the hazy beyond.
OK, so my personal version of a rock 'n' roll outfit is lame, I know. I woke up feeling like raging against the machine (which for me is summer mommy life — it takes a few days to adjust to kids 24/7). Of course the best I could muster with this outfit is being a "tad bit uncomplimentary" against the machine.
Today's the day of reckoning for the city of Seattle and the SuperSonics. Judge Marsha Pechman will rule at 4 p.m., and we'll know who wins this OK Corrall shootout. Mayor Greg Nickels will hold a press conference at 5 p.m. to discuss the decision (live on the Seattle Channel). Here are the pre-announcement perspectives: state Rep. Bob Hasegawa, Seattle Times columnist Danny Westneat, Stranger writer Josh Feit, Crosscut writers Ross Anderson and Sue Frause. ...
Wall Street Journal reporters Matthew Karnitschnig and Robert A. Guth today report that Microsoft is still in pursuit of Yahoo — Yahoo's search business, anyway — and is trying to team up with another media company, perhaps Times Warner or News Corp., to do a deal. Any day now we expect Microsoft to approach Crosscut, so anxious seem the Redmondians to get a piece of Yahoo. But today's WSJ story is much more than a few paragraphs about another twist in CEO Steve Ballmer's obsession. It's the backstory, an exclusive account, something which the paper typically prints the day a deal is announced. Maybe the editors got tired of waiting for closure. Aw, screw it, let's just run it now.
It was Tuesday night, July 1, in the press box at Safeco Field, but the talk was about football (would the Seahawks be good?) and basketball (would the Sonics be?). Within hours, U.S. District Court Judge Pechman would adjudicate a certain-to-be-disputed trial pertaining to the Seattle SuperSonics.
And they even have their own Underground. When the Seattle SuperSonics move to the Sooner State, they'll miss some things but not others. After a visit, our correspondent compares and contrasts.
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