Sonicegate....

[hokupguy]

I just found this and watched on my iphone , its good watch for any sonic fan or nba fan.

http://sonicsgate.org/movie/index.php?hd=1

It about the history of the sonics and all crazy stuff that happened to get them to OKC.

[Vince]

Re: Sonicegate....

I miss the Sonics...

I miss Key Arena...I love that court. The way the fans were on top of the players....

David Stern should've blocked this. You don't get rid of 30-40 years of Basketball history, because they didn't have enough box seats in Key Arena.

That's 2 PNW teams that Stern shouldn't have gotten rid of.

[hokupguy]

Re: Sonicegate....

I miss the Sonics...

I miss Key Arena...I love that court. The way the fans were on top of the players....

David Stern should've blocked this. You don't get rid of 30-40 years of Basketball history, because they didn't have enough box seats in Key Arena.

That's 2 PNW teams that Stern shouldn't have gotten rid of.

what was the other team...

[Brankles]

Re: Sonicegate....

PNW = Pacific Northwest

Vancouver

[TheMatrix31]

Re: Sonicegate....

I still call the "Thunder" the Sonics.

[GaryT531]

Re: Sonicegate....

what was the other team...

Grizzlies

[hokupguy]

Re: Sonicegate....

PNW = Pacific Northwest

Vancouver

Grizzlies

But weren't the grizz always bad when they were there and people only came to see the other teams. And they didnt really do anything until they got to memphis ? They were only there for 6 years i think.

[Vince]

Re: Sonicegate....

Vancouver had good attendence to begin with.

Just a lack of patience from Stern...

[Coug00]

Re: Sonicegate....

Sadly it will be a LONG time before the NBA ever comes back to Seattle. The hatred of anything associated with David Stern will not leave the people or politicians of Seattle anytime soon. And our glorious Governor Gregoire has run such an incompetent government full of spending that we went from a huge surplus when she arrived to a deficit reaching $10 billion. There isn't going to be any public money available to update Key Arena and there isn't anyone in the private sector who is going to throw $500 million for a renovation.

Dang I miss those Sonics teams with the X-Man, the Glove, the Reign Man, Det, Tom Chambers, Big Smooth, the Hawk, Mac-10, etc. I even miss Kevin Calabro's over the top announcing.

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[CarryTheWeight]

Re: Sonicegate....

I feel for Sonics fans. Here in Buffalo, the proverbial "dark clouds" hover around both of our franchises every offseason and I always get the feeling that we could be next despite our rabid fan support and loyalty. I mean, here was a team (the Sonics) who had great fan support, a great lineup of players but couldn't get enough corporate cooperation...in a way that's a slap in the face to everyone who has ever worn the green and yellow.

Seeing Kevin Durant develop into a superstar in OKC makes me feel for the Sonics fans out there that could have seen the exact same thing happening in their arena. The story of the Sonics is a look at the harsh reality of sports in the 21st Century: that no matter how loudly you cheer or how many season ticket packages you buy, your team could be one or two botched deals away from moving out of town. It's something I fear with the Bills and Sabres, two teams who could still be profitable and successful in the so-called "depressed" WNY economy but who could also be one step away from moving out of town because of business decisions unrelated to fan support.

[hokupguy]

Re: Sonicegate....

Sadly it will be a LONG time before the NBA ever comes back to Seattle. The hatred of anything associated with David Stern will not leave the people or politicians of Seattle anytime soon. And our glorious Governor Gregoire has run such an incompetent government full of spending that we went from a huge surplus when she arrived to a deficit reaching $10 billion. There isn't going to be any public money available to update Key Arena and there isn't anyone in the private sector who is going to throw $500 million for a renovation.

Dang I miss those Sonics teams with the X-Man, the Glove, the Reign Man, Det, Tom Chambers, Big Smooth, the Hawk, Mac-10, etc. I even miss Kevin Calabro's over the top announcing.

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if you watch the movie it looks there's are group for awhile that wanted to buy a team and pay half of 300 million for new key arena. And the state had until 12/31/09 to come up with half. And since the didnt the owner of OKC dont have to pay the city 30 million . So no it looks like a govt related thing.

[Coug00]

Re: Sonicegate....

if you watch the movie it looks there's are group for awhile that wanted to buy a team and pay half of 300 million for new key arena. And the state had until 12/31/09 to come up with half. And since the didnt the owner of OKC dont have to pay the city 30 million . So no it looks like a govt related thing.

Yeah, there was barely even a mention of updating Key Arena by the state senate or the Seattle City Council before the agreed upon deadline. They couldn't have cared less about getting that $30m and getting the NBA back. Safeco Field and Qwest are both publicly funded and the University of Washington continually tries cash grabs from state and city tax funds to update their decaying morgue called a stadium. So many people are tired of funding sports facilities and you've got separate sports entities in the city fighting for the same money, that is non-existent. Gonna be a long time before Seattle has the NBA back.

[hokupguy]

Re: Sonicegate....

thats sad , to bad they never retired kemp's and gp's # before all hell broke loose. I cant belive the city give the history and the banners and nba trophy...

They should of looked at the browns deal and worked that why. After 40 + years they let them have everything. OKC should of started clean like an expanstion team....

[Coug00]

Re: Sonicegate....

thats sad , to bad they never retired kemp's and gp's # before all hell broke loose. I cant belive the city give the history and the banners and nba trophy...

They should of looked at the browns deal and worked that why. After 40 + years they let them have everything. OKC should of started clean like an expanstion team....

I didn't have the heart to watch the whole thing, but didn't Seattle keep the Sonics name and have the right to retire jerseys for guys like GP and Kemp?

[VanCitySportsGuy]

Re: Sonicegate....

It's a shame Seattle (really good basketball market) doesn't have a NBA team and the NBA dropped the ball on the Vancouver market (Stern told the original owner to hire Stu Jackson as the GM).

At this point, there's nothing but hate for the NBA in Seattle. I was listening to one of their sport stations and the hosts asked a question, would you rather have a NBA or NHL team, and the NHL won in a landslide.

The NBA doesn't get local media coverage in Seattle or Vancouver anymore. It's like the league doesn't exist. The NBA did come back here for a pre-season game (Suns vs. Blazers) this season and the game was a sell out despite almost no advertising.