A Poem by Brent Barry

http://www.fannation.com/si_blogs/points_after/posts/20181-a-poem-by-brent-barry

It's hard to admit, but this made me choke up a little bit... at my desk, at work...

Man, I miss those Sonics. For those that don't know, Barry used to play for the Sonics and was/is just a good guy.

Sonics. ARGUH!

Last night I watched a very exciting Blazers/Nuggets game on some non-HD Cable station called CSNNW. We figured out eventually that it was the Comcast Sports Network Northwest. Say that ten times.

So now I can watch some Portland Trailblazers games.

Neat.

Carmelo Anthony was out so Denver's defense was better than usual. They were double-teaming Brandon Roy so guys like LaMarcus Aldridge and Joel Przybilla were stepping up. Przybilla had a double-double, and when he reached that mini-milestone I was psyched. Late in the fourth when LaMarcus Aldridge made a beautiful LaDunk I bolted off the couch with a big "YES!" Ginger gave me a classic "I don't miss these moments" look.

Portland is a great team. How much upside does Rudy Fernandez have? How smooth is Brandon Roy? I even like Steve Blake. Is he the new Steve Kerr, or the new Brent Barry? The only depressing part is Greg Oden not meeting sports pundit expectations, but being the #1 draft pick is a curse that's hard to shake. I wish him the best; I hope he gets better and can find an effective way to deal with the harsh spotlight that's constantly on him.

It's a proven scientific fact that fans watching their sports team win have improved self-esteem for days afterward, while the opposite happens for the losers. So how's my self-esteem today?

Same. You see, PORTLAND IS NOT MY TEAM! Blazers are 3 hours south in the state of Oregon. Not my boys. I can get excited about any sports team by watching a good game. I'll watch the TNT games in beautiful, beautiful HD and bolt off the couch when Chris Bosh slams it home or D-Wade creates some magic - in Florida even. Exciting things get me excited, but the moment fades.

Where am I going with this? What else can be written about the Sonics being stolen out from under us by a band of redneck thieves from a flyover city who's most interesting attribute is its complete lack of interest? I have no great epiphany about their departure, just the loss I feel when I realize they're not on TV and I can't go to the game. I want to sit in KeyArena even if the only sound effect is "Everybody clap your hands!" Clap clap clap clap...

Sorry Portland. You've got a great team, they're young and fun to watch. But I want the Sonics. Even if it's the Memphis Grizzlies repatriated to the Northwest and rechristened the Sonics. Even if it's an expansion team with guys like Robert Swift, Stephon Marbury and that criminal Chris Anderson and it takes 10 years to have a winning season. It's the NBA, I get how this works. As flawed as the NBA is, I want them back in my City. Even if Commissioner David "I can't quit you, Clay" Stern cuts the ribbon. (I can punch him in the face later, after the ceremony and the lease is signed...)

Bring me some Sonics Basketball. Because "I'm going crazy up here at the lake!"


Update: OKC is known for something: It's the Fast Food Capital of the nation. Perfect.

This just in: Lies and money always win.

The last Sonics game. That's me in the white hat above the R in GREGOIRE. That game was the last Sonics win I'll ever see. The saddest victory.

Seattle Times columnist Steve Kelly summed it up well:

The Liars won.

Owner Clay Bennett, that man possessed, now possesses a very bad basketball team in a very different city.

The Oklahoma City Bums.

The only consolation for Seattle's hoops cognoscenti is that these OKC Bums are doomed for a long time. The Ford Center could be considered obsolete just about the time that team starts competing for the playoffs. And young superstar Kevin Durant will be playing for, I don't know, the Knicks, maybe?

The pulse is weak in Oklahoma City.

Read the full article here.

I'm so angry today I can't even type. Black Thursday. 41 and done. Well I'm done with the NBA and its ego maniacal commish and I'm done with each and every politician from the Governor on down to the lowliest City Councilman. I'm especially done with our hapless Mayor who had the stones to call yesterday's settlement a "partial victory" for the City. What?! I, and every other jaded Sonics fan, will vote against every politician who played a role in this mess regardless of the stripe of their opponent until they are out of office. I will never again buy Starbucks coffee, though I don't do that anyway. I am done with NBA Basketball.

Ultimately this is Schultz's fault, who when given the opportunity to sell the team to a local buyer, took the money and sold us out to a bunch of redneck liars. And my dear Howard Schultz, we all know where you live. I'm having a nasty banner made for the boat so that when we float by your house, at least I'll spoil your dinner. A small price for you to pay, as fans pay the ultimate price: a sports legacy that is now just sports history.

Save our Sonics Rally. PG-13

Here are the pix from Monday's rally in front of the Federal Courthouse in downtown Seattle. Some good stuff!

Clay Bennett, get it?

There were a lot of people there

GP: "As long as you're here, I'm here."

People have tried and failed to steal our teams before...



But the winner is...

Referring of course to the email in which Bennett said he'd just re-sell the team if they couldn't move the team. Nice.

Seattle on trial, not the Sonics

Arguh this stupid Sonics trial. Where do you even start? Perhaps, dear 8 or 9 readers of BoatMulch, you're not aware of the predicament we Sonics fans find ourselves in these days. A short course.

Here's the way I see it. A bunch of evil, but wealthy rednecks from Oklahoma bought the Sonics from the equally evil and wealthy CEO of Starbucks. Schultz sold out fans by failing to find a local ownership group to buy the team and, in my mind, knowingly sold the team to men who would move the team from the 13th largest media market in the nation to the 73rd or something. It's a money loser for the NBA, but "Not My" Commissioner David Stern is in in the good ol' boy club with the rednecks so he's OK with losing cash if it benefits his buddies in OK. C.

Now Schultz is trying to save face, but that's another trial for later in this summer. Stay tuned.

So I'm mad. Mad enough to leave work early and head out to the Save Our Sonics rally in front of the Federal Courthouse yesterday to see X-man and the Glove speak and to help yell a few off color chants at the TV cameras. And I took some pictures hilarious signs, too, look for that in another post.

I've been following the Sonics since 1992 when my then-girlfriend's father had season tickets. This was the beginning of the Payton/Kemp glory days and I was seeing history in the making, live, in the Key, before it was called the Key. I was of course still officially a Jazz fan until 1998 when the no-call on Jordan against Russell made me lose interest in the NBA for awhile... But I paid attention to the Sonics and kept going to games on and off. Then a few years ago the man-on-couch-with-beer gene kicked in and I began to more religiously watch the Sonics even as their fortunes waned. You see, I pretty much hate all other sports. Hate is a strong word, maybe "don't care" is better. So the one home team I enjoy and completely understand from the "3 second rule" on down is leaving town?

What bothers me most about the trial is that current owner Bennett and his gang of Swift Boat Liars are trying to put the fans on trial for not supporting the team. This drives me crazy because Bennett has consistently gutted the team with every player move since he took over, in an attempt to 1) clear the payroll so his financial losses are reduced in the interim and 2) disinterest the fans in the team as they struggle to win games so he can claim that nobody cares if the team leaves town. It's worked pretty well, attendance is way down. It's a catch 22 for fans because we want to support the team by going to games and buying fan stuff, but that, in turn just lines the pockets (or reduces the losses) of the very man who is stealing the team. Like the 2007-08 SuperSonics, we can't possibly win. How can I love the Sonics when they're on Bennett's payroll from Durrant on down to the mascot, Squatch?