Sacramento/Seattle Kings Update

[EL PRESIDENTE]

Stern and Silver did not say this, but it really came down to the new building IMO. They mentioned their "regret' in leaving Seattle the last time, but really what they regretted was the city not bending over and building a new arena.

Sac bent over, thus they get to keep their team.

They did what it took to get it done. Seattle did not the first time around.

Sure, Clay Bennett fucked them, but it took a lot of incompetence on the part of Seattle's governemnt as well.

 

[EL PRESIDENTE]

completely different scenarios. The Sonics had already been sold to someone who was trying to move the team. The Sonics weren't UP for sale, and the city mayor of Seattle wasn't given a chance to find a new ownership group TO buy the team.

all those guys were paid off you know they were.

 

[EL PRESIDENTE]

The funny thing is the next best franchises for Seattle to steal are the Bobcats and the Grizzlies. Unfortunately, the Bobcats are becoming the Hornets again so that should keep them stable and interesting for a few years and the Grizzlies are actually good so they're not going anywhere.

It'll be a good 10 years before the Seattle Supersonics exist.

 

[porkchopexpress]

What, you think Seattle's government was behind them the first time around when Clay Bennett and company took them to OKC?

Kevin Johnson worked his ass off to keep them in Sactown.

Stern let him work his ass off. If you miss every deadline, at some point you shouldn't get any more chances. Likely Sacramento is going to get stuck with a shitty ownership group that is going to be in the red every year if the TV revenue sharing concession is true.

Apparently a day late and a dollar short gets you an NBA franchise.

 

[julius]

all those guys were paid off you know they were.

which changes anything I said..how?

 

[mobes23]

What, you think Seattle's government was behind them the first time around when Clay Bennett and company took them to OKC?

Kevin Johnson worked his ass off to keep them in Sactown.

Are you not aware that Bennett's "proposal" for an arena in Seattle involved King County paying approx. $300 million, the city of Renton paying approx. $200 million and Bennett paying EXACTLY $0? He also submarined relationships in the community and his group fully admitted that the intent of his owner group from the beginning was to move the team to OKC.

KJ did a great job, no doubt. You, on the other hand, apparently bought a whole lot of B.S. when it comes to your understanding of the Sonics move to OKC. To be fair, you could sling mud at Seattle politicans (Frank Chopp, Gregoire, Mayor McCheese, etc.), but you are generally pretty offbase.

 

[EL PRESIDENTE]

Stern let him work his ass off. If you miss every deadline, at some point you shouldn't get any more chances. Likely Sacramento is going to get stuck with a shitty ownership group that is going to be in the red every year if the TV revenue sharing concession is true.

Apparently a day late and a dollar short gets you an NBA franchise.

yeah, but they still have a team.

that mayor of seattle back then in Sonicsgate looked like a complete doofus who couldn't tie his own shoes.

 

[EL PRESIDENTE]

which changes anything I said..how?

well, its a question on effort on the part of the local government.

Seattle didn't try.
Sacramento did.

And the end result, as expected, is different.

 

[EL PRESIDENTE]

Are you not aware that Bennett's "proposal" for an arena in Seattle involved King County paying approx. $300 million, the city of Renton paying approx. $200 million and Bennett paying EXACTLY $0? He also submarined relationships in the community and his group fully admitted that the intent of his owner group from the beginning was to move the team to OKC.

KJ did a great job, no doubt. You, on the other hand, apparently bought a whole lot of B.S. when it comes to your understanding of the Sonics move to OKC. To be fair, you could sling mud at Seattle politicans (Frank Chopp, Gregoire, Mayor McCheese, etc.), but you are generally pretty offbase.

Did Seattle's politicians do a "great job" in keeping the Sonics in Seattle?

That's basically all you have to do to see the difference between the two cities.

 

[EL PRESIDENTE]

Remember, the Sonics could have had another year in Seattle but Bennett paid off the city government of seattle. think KJ would have taken that deal?

 

[porkchopexpress]

What exactly did KJ do? I know he's been campaigning to keep the team in Sac for years, but NOTHING materialized until after there was a deal in place with Hansen. The Kings are staying in Sac because Stern wants them to. Not because KJ did anything extraordinary.

 

[julius]

well, its a question on effort on the part of the local government.

Seattle didn't try.
Sacramento did.

And the end result, as expected, is different.

yeah, one that was told to find a new ownership group to buy the team, and the other wasn't.

so you're bitching about apples and oranges.

 

[Pinwheel1]

yeah, but they still have a team.

that mayor of seattle back then in Sonicsgate looked like a complete doofus who couldn't tie his own shoes.

I dread the day Portland's politicians have to be counted on to save our team. Can you imagine that cluster fuck?

 

[EL PRESIDENTE]

he's been campaigning to keep the team in Sac for years

this. he wasn't just giving lip service, he was actually interested in keeping the Kings in Seattle.

 

[EL PRESIDENTE]

yeah, one that was told to find a new ownership group to buy the team, and the other wasn't.

so you're bitching about apples and oranges.

yeah, and the Kings had a huge uphill battle....they've been rumored to go to Anaheim, Seattle...the city is shit financially yet they were still able to pull it off. Its a case study of fighting your ass off versus taking it in the ass from a huckster from Oklahoma.

Seattle as a whole was just apathetic until it was too late.

 

[porkchopexpress]

yeah, and the Kings had a huge uphill battle....they've been rumored to go to Anaheim, Seattle...the city is shit financially yet they were still able to pull it off.

Seattle as a whole was just apathetic until it was too late.

All those rumors and they couldn't get a viable ownership group together until a month ago. Great work by KJ. If he had done a great job, than the Kings would already have new owners and none of this would have happened. Even as it stands, the Kings are only staying in Sac because Stern wants them to. In what other circumstance does the offer that is significantly worse financially AND was last to be submitted ever accepted? In any industry.

And its an offer that the owner does not want to take.

 

[EL PRESIDENTE]

All those rumors and they couldn't get a viable ownership group together until a month ago. Great work by KJ. If he had done a great job, than the Kings would already have new owners and none of this would have happened. Even as it stands, the Kings are only staying in Sac because Stern wants them to. In what other circumstance does the offer that is significantly worse financially AND was last to be submitted ever accepted? In any industry.

And its an offer that the owner does not want to take.

Don't look at the process, look at the result.

 

[HailBlazers]

Seattle as a whole was just apathetic until it was too late.

Kinda hard not to be when our country just narrowly avoided another great depression.

 

[EL PRESIDENTE]

and why would "Stern want to keep the Kings in Sacramento"?

Is it just because he realizes the backlash from moving franchises around? If so, it is ironic that the entire "Sonicsgate" movement essentially was a negative feedback loop and pushed stern to not want to move franchises so haphazardly.

 

[porkchopexpress]

Don't look at the process, look at the result.

The result is going to be a shitty ownership group. Don't expect the Kings of the early 00s.

 

[EL PRESIDENTE]

The result is going to be a shitty ownership group. Don't expect the Kings of the early 00s.

yeah! and they're hicks and farmers!

and smell bad!

yeah!

:MARIS61:

 

[SlyPokerDog]

I dread the day Portland's politicians have to be counted on to save our team. Can you imagine that cluster fuck?

I used to know someone in the mayor's office two administrations ago and at that time the if the Blazers wanted to leave the City of Portland's strategy would be to ask to be bought out of the lease rather than fight to enforce it. If I remember right the city would have taken $40mill to let the Blazers go.

 

[julius]

I used to know someone in the mayor's office two administrations ago and at that time the if the Blazers wanted to leave the City of Portland's strategy would be to ask to be bought out of the lease rather than fight to enforce it. If I remember right the city would have taken $40mill to let the Blazers go.

Potter was a douche bag, thats for sure.

 

[SlyPokerDog]

Potter was a douche bag, thats for sure.

Potter was not a sports fan. I'm not sure if Char-lie Hales is much of one either.

 

[julius]

Potter was not a sports fan. I'm not sure if Char-lie Hales is much of one either.

It's sad when the last 2 mayors (plus the current one) make one yearn for the days of Vera Katz.

 

[SlyPokerDog]

It's sad when the last 2 mayors (plus the current one) make one yearn for the days of Vera Katz.

Katz, who grew up in NY, was a HUGE baseball fan and wanted badly for a MLB team in Portland.

 

[julius]

Katz, who grew up in NY, was a HUGE baseball fan and wanted badly for a MLB team in Portland.

the city of Portland needs people with vision, and passion. instead we're stuck with bike riders and boring clowns.

 

[SlyPokerDog]

the city of Portland needs people with vision, and passion. instead we're stuck with bike riders and boring clowns.

But we have a street car!

 

[EL PRESIDENTE]

the mayor's office has nothing to do with it! :MARIS61:

 

[julius]

But we have a street car!

I like the idea of a streetcar, just not a hugely expensive one that replaces one they got rid of years ago.