Call a truce between OKC and Seattle

Listen folks I think the personal attacks have gotten way out of hand on this board.

Look citizens of OKC most of us arent out here to attack you personally. We are attacking the rich and greedy men like Howard Schultz and Clay Bennett who have brought us to this point. Its understandable to be upset at a man like Bennett who openly lied to the citizens of Seattle about his intent to keep the Sonics in the city. Howard Schultz got upset when the players wouldnt be his friends and wouldnt be his own Harlem Globetrotters and the city refused to cave into his demands. We are upset at men who piss and moan that they dont have enough luxury boxes or five star restaurants in their arena to feed their upper class buddies.

OKC most of us also know that your not all a bunch of imbred red neck yokels running around with shotguns beating women left and right. But on the same side not everyone in Seattle is some birkenstock wearing vegan who wants to put a bullet in their brain because its cloudy. Yes you can point out that we have high suicide rates, but even your mayor admits your city is populated by fat people (he has a website so you guys can track your weight loss come on now). So lets try not to attack eachother on intelligence since we all have problems with spelling on our posts.

None of us are probably business majors so lets not go arguing about the dollar figures and business applications, we all arent arcitechure majors as well so lets not act like we know what can be done in eachothers arenas since I doubt most people from OKC have been to the Key arena just like probably nobody in Seattle has made it to OKC to go check out your arena (ford center right?) So obviously none of us know what can and cant be done to improve an arena beyond what amounts to our own opinions which is not proven facts people so lets not go after it like it is.

But can we all be honest about what is going on here? David Stern and Clay Bennett are basically stealing a team from its city. I have always been against the moving of teams because it steals teams away from cities. Yes I understand the business side of it but if Clay Bennett wanted a team so badly why not petition his buddy Stern to place an expansion franchise into OKC? You know why because even Stern knows that there has been to much expansion and its hurt the game. Many teams have bum players who shouldnt even be in the league starting because they are forced to fill rosters with players who wouldnt make squads just a few years ago. They are taking away a team from its fans who have supported it. Yea ticket sales and attendance are low but that dosent mean there arent Seattle fans out there. Look it costs x amount of dollars to go see a game these days and families probably are going to spend what could be upwards of a hundred dollars for their family of 4 to go see a losing team. Unfortanate I know but lets see how many people go out and pack the stadium when the fad of a new team wears off and the losses start to mount. Now do not take that as an attack on the fans of OKC. Its simply a fact that losses equal low attendance. This sets a precedence in sports giving owners the ability to move teams on a whim when they dont see the profits they want and sticking cities paying for now empty arenas that might someday get some bum start up franchise.

Lets try to keep things positive folks. Let us vent about poor ownership and you guys can be excited to get a team that has such huge upside. Not all people from OKC are red necks carrying shotguns riding around town on horseback or in an old beat up ford or chevy truck and drunk behind the wheel. Not all people from Seattle are starbucks drinking snubs wearing birkenstocks listening to grunge wearing flannel waiting to bullet in their brain. Stay positive here folks and lets be peaceful and respectful.

Pro sports is a business first, entertainment second and competition third. Having discovered the gold mine of corporate luxury suites and other "revenue streams" pro teams have to keep up with the Joneses because those revenues collected by other teams help set the payroll expectations. If you don't have the money to cover your salary cap, you're not going to last long. But the team owners, who will spend $350 million on the team and tens of millions more on the players, won't spend $20 million a year to finance the arenas they want, even if they would produce those revenue streams. Why? Because local governments have been willing to do it for them and as long as that happens, it's a competitive disadvantage to buy your own building.

This is just as true in OKC as it is Seattle. The question becomes how badly do you want to have an NBA team and what are you willing to pay? Because it's always more expensive to get a new one than to keep the one you have.

Well said Hawkman51,but

 The Sonics are the reason I became a sports fan in the first place. as a kid we had 1 TV in the house .1979 hapened and I was forced to watch .Well 7 games later watching 2 teams battle it out. I am now a junkie.

 While NFL is my passion,I credit the sonics for hooking me on organized pro sports.

 I will miss them but I will feel hatered in my heart till I die. Much the same as I still HATE the Raiders even though they have'nt been in our division, or conferece for the better part of a decade.

 David and Clay are the enemy and so are the people who support the highjacking of a cities beloveded team. 

We should call a truce.  Stern, Bennett, and Shultz are major players here and should be blamed for their part.  Also, the idiots in Olympia, WA who completely screwed the state they say the work for. 

I used to live in OK.  It's very nice in most parts, but very different from the Seattle area.  No offense to anyone in OK, but they should not have a major league team.  The population and marketing dollars are not there to support it.  Tulsa will not drive an hour and a half to watch an NBA game.  No All Star level player will sign there unless he's from there. 

I may be complaining for nothing as an NBA owner usally has the right to move his team if he wants to.  It just sucks all the way around. 

OK state residents are some of the best people you will find.  They are however piling on right now like children.  The same can be said about Seattle folks.