In the (near) words of the X-man: Clay, don’t move yet
Posted on April 15th, 2008 – 11:31 AMBy Michael Rand
Clay Bennett, a “man possessed” (his words) and perhaps the least popular man in Seattle right now aside from Sassbottom (cheap shot) will have to hold the phone for just a minute on all this moving to OKC talk. That’s because the Sonics’ former owner is suing to get the team back. From ESPN.com:
The former owner of the Seattle SuperSonics plans to sue the current owners to get the team back, arguing they breached a condition of the sale to make a “good-faith effort” to keep Seattle’s oldest pro sports franchise from leaving town, according to Seattle-area media reports.
Starbucks chairman and CEO Howard Schultz, who sold the Sonics to an Oklahoma City-based group led by Clay Bennett, will not seek monetary damages, but wants the team back, according to his attorney, Richard Yarmuth.
“It’s not money damage. It’s to have the team returned,” Yarmuth said, according to The Seattle Times. “The theory of the suit is that when the team was sold, the Basketball Club of Seattle, our team here, relied on promises made by Clay Bennett and his ownership that they desired to keep the team in Seattle and intended to make a good-faith effort to accomplish that.”
The team’s ownership group has sought NBA approval to move the team to Oklahoma City for next season. The city has taken the team to court to enforce its lease at Key Arena, which runs through September 2010.
The lawsuit, expected to be filed in the next two weeks, comes after the city obtained and made public e-mails among members of the current Sonics ownership group, in which they are seen privately discussing a move to Oklahoma City at the same time they were publicly pledging to continue “good-faith” efforts to remain in Seattle.
It remains to be seen shether this proves to be little more than posturing on Yarmuth’s part to wash his hands of this mess. We also will say this: from the outside, Key Arena looks like a nice post-apocalyptic shelter, but it’s no NBA facility. But nonetheless we hate to see a city have a team pulled out from under it (that would never happen in the Twin Cities … oh wait), and we will always have a soft spot for the Sonics because of Xavier McDaniel’s seminal work in Singles.
33 Responses to "In the (near) words of the X-man: Clay, don’t move yet"
Xavier McDaniel’s seminal work
Clever, Michael. Very clever.
If the Sonics do move, they’ll be just an NFL move and an NHL move short of having one franchise in every sport move away from town, which is also known as an “Oakland Bingo.”
They’ll be tied at 2/4 with a host of other cities, including here.
OK, “Oakland Bingo” cracked me up, but the Marth’s lack of comment on the Denver Post article is disturbing.
Rand
If you need an editor just ask one of us, we all know everything.
whether is spelled with a w not an s.
I don’t think Yarmurth is trying to wash his hands, attorney’s hands are stained. Shultz may be trying to wash his hands, probably because he spilled some coffee on them.
Your welcome.
I love it when someone who claims to be a good editor writes things like “your welcome.”
Thanks, Stu — she is adorable, ain’t she? And she’s got a huge heeeed.
St Louis is 3/4 (Cardinals, Hawks, Browns) and nearly 4/4 (where’s my “Saskatoon has the Blues” T-shirt?)
Kansas City, too (Scouts, A’s, Kings)
The Sonics should be allowed to move, just so they can get rid of those uniforms if nothing else…. Also, Singles, okay movie, better soundtrack.
Top Five Names for the team if it moves:
The Oklahoma City…
1. Bombers
2. Temporary Facilities (katrina)
3. Really Boring Tourist Attractions
4. Un-Sonics
5. Tornado Disasters
Sass
I only do half ass editing until I see my first pay check.
Joker
I’m not touching Bombers with a ten foot pole.
fasolamatt - now that you mention it, I suppose that Oakland is only 3/4 or 2/4, depending on how you look at it. We’ll have to change the joke to “Missouri Bingo”.
Matt is awesome.
Sassbottom gets to take his daughter to Safeco, I get to take my daughter to the Metrodome. She’ll probably think she’s been grounded.
I REALLY wanted to link to a “Saskatoon Blues” product on EBay, but there are none listed at this time.
I also want to note that if you count contraction as well as moving, Cleveland is 3/4 (Spiders, Rams, Barons).
OK, now you’re just showing off.
I’m from Cleveland. Misery comes naturally.
OFF TOPIC: ACCESS YARRRRRRRGH has the Vikings schedule.
The good news is that they don’t play one game in cold weather; the bad news is that they’ll probably start 0-2.
Does it only count if the team originated there?
Stu
If I lived in Kansas I would probably camp out infront of the local BW’s now so I could get my favorite booth to watch the game on Nov. 30th. Any early predictions on the Vikings record? All I know is they start the season with 2 losses because they happen to play the Bears twice every year. Sorry guys.
Matt
Didn’t the Browns happen to leave that town also?
Jama: you don’t get to talk smack about the Bears until 2010, which is when their next anomalous 13-3 season is scheduled.
I have no idea how the Vikings will do this year. None.
2010 is 2 years earlier than I thought. I’ll take it. Hopefully by then they will have a QB that starts over 10 games in 2 straight seasons.
jama: Yeah, depends on which set of rules Jon wants us to use. I figure counting one football team is plenty.
I’m so getting tickets to the Dec. 14th game here against the Cards. Nothing better than football in December, watching two 7-6 teams duke it out for that Wild Card spot!
AZ
Sounds like a good time/place for the next redactular. Think the Strib will pick up the bill?
If they didn’t spend all that money making the Randball T-shirts…
I have no idea what rules to use. Just about every city in America lost a football team in the early days of pro football, so I have no idea where to draw the line.
Maybe Forbes can come along with some ridiculous methodology, like it only counts if the city never got another team, and therefore Duluth, MN is the saddest sports city in the country.
Excellent idea, jama. I’m sure Rand will include it in the RandBall budget for Q4.
Let’s just not plan to sit next to each other; our rivalry may lead to fisticuffs. Come to think of it, you and Paulos may need to sit in a separate Viking-hater section.
I’m pretty sure P3 cannot travel across state lines.
I’m pretty sure P3 cannot travel across state lines.
I sure hope not.
Has it even been confirmed that he has been allowed in the U.S? Why’d they let him out of Guantanamo?
Jama - if Harold and Kumar can escape from Guantanamo, why couldn’t P3?
jama - are you sure they didn’t kick him out? Everyone knows Packer fans are actually are into getting waterboarded
