OT: Stern On The Seattle Situation

[ABM]

http://www.mynorthwest.com/?nid=11&sid=98745

 

[Mediocre Man]

Boston is getting their rings on an opposing floor? Does that ever happen?

 

[BoBoBREWSKI]

Boston is getting their rings on an opposing floor? Does that ever happen?

Wow. As far as I can remember, it always takes place at home. That doesnt make any sense, none at all.

Stern said he will be attending Opening Night in Oklahoma to watch the Thunder take on the Celtics and to present the Boston team their championship rings.

 

[Mediocre Man]

Hmm, Opening night Cleveland is at Boston on the 28th, so I'm guessing it was a misprint in the paper.

 

[maxiep]

What a dick Stern is. He doesn't mean a word he says. He had zero problem yanking the Supes out of Seattle. He did the opposite of trying to stop it--he was a full-blown advocate.

 

[BlazersBlood]

Yup, Stern is full of shit. Way to help out your buddy there Sterny ole pal. It's nice to know that sports franchises can hold cities hostage now whenever they want a new arena even though the owners are billionaires.

 

[BrianFromWA]

Maxie and others from O-Live have heard this before, but (as a King County resident and basketball fan), I think I'm a little closer to the situation than many, especially many of the @ssclowns in OKC that want to write about Seattle fans sucking.

First, a recap:

Safeco Field and Qwest field were paid for by city bonds that were supposed to be repaid through a 1% tax on "tourist" items (hotels, restaurants, bars, etc.) in the SoDo area, and a 7% "Convention Center Tax". Not over the whole city. Basically, fans who ate at restaurants around the stadia and tourists to the City would foot the bill for ~800M in stadia over about 20 years. When the stadia are paid for, the taxes will expire. These taxes, by law, CANNOT be used for things like road construction, general fund balancing, education, etc.

SafeCo's already paid off, 8 or so years early. Qwest is almost there. All the city government had to do was say "OK, we'll allow this tax to continue to help pay for (key arena upgrade/new stadium/new huge shiny "events complex", etc)". But they didn't, for reasons I don't understand and they haven't made clear. The State Legislature could have imposed a similar tax, or just "guaranteed" money for King County to allow the bonds to go through. They didn't, due in large part to an outcry from "Citizens for More Important Things". But as I said, the tax BY LAW cannot pay for "more important things". It can pay for sports stadia.

Now, it looks like the city is interested in "revisiting" the issue, months after the Sonics left.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/basketball/384758_arena24.html

OT, btw: I have NO IDEA why someone isn't running a campaign up here saying "Our pre-eminent sports franchise from the area was stolen after 41 years, and the Governor said "there's nothing I can do"". Vote for someone who "can do" something, like perhaps negotiate with the Commissioner or earmark money or strong-arm retarded city officials.

 

[BrianFromWA]

I should be running for office. But up here, if I wanted to win, I'd have to put a (D) after my name and get a sex change.

 

[oldmangrouch]

Dude, be serious. Bennett and his merry band of robber barons never intended to stay in Seattle. They rejected out-of-hand any plan that involved renovating Key Arena. They were offered free land to build a new arena on - and they blew it off. The day Stern engineered Clay's purchase of the team, the move was already a done deal.

 

[maxiep]

Dude, be serious. Bennett and his merry band of robber barons never intended to stay in Seattle. They rejected out-of-hand any plan that involved renovating Key Arena. They were offered free land to build a new arena on - and they blew it off. The day Stern engineered Clay's purchase of the team, the move was already a done deal.

 

[BlazerFanForLife]

Dude, be serious. Bennett and his merry band of robber barons never intended to stay in Seattle. They rejected out-of-hand any plan that involved renovating Key Arena. They were offered free land to build a new arena on - and they blew it off. The day Stern engineered Clay's purchase of the team, the move was already a done deal.

It was pretty obvious to me when a OKC business man bought the Sonics that they were good as gone. A guy from a city looking for a team buys another team thats having stadium negotiation problems... doesn't take a genius to figure out what going to happen.

 

[barfo]

I should be running for office. But up here, if I wanted to win, I'd have to put a (D) after my name and get a sex change.

Not that there is anything wrong with doing those things.

barfo

 

[MARIS61]

I should be running for office. But up here, if I wanted to win, I'd have to put a (D) after my name and get a sex change.

BrianFromWAD?