RealGM

I am normally not one to hold grudges or fight fire w/ fire...but let me say this:

If the city wins it's case (and don't rule out a settlement that will net the city major $$$ people), if I find out that any of you go to a Seattle game this year, I am going to have to get my belt... lol

If even one fairweather fan shows up, just ONE, I will consider that a travesty. There is no way Bennett can withstand losing 100+ million. It's going to take him 10 years to get that profit in OK City (unless he just guts the franchise again).

I want everyone to encourage a citywide BOYCOTT. I won't abandon the NBA completely, but I simply can't support the Sonics KNOWING they are moving to another city in 2 years. Will I watch them on TV? occasionally- and that's only because of Durant and Green. But as far as I am concerned, unless Bennett comes to his senses (an oxymoron in itself) and realizes that he is going to be under too much financial pressure and thus sell the team, there is no reason we should be attending one game.

Are you all onboard with this? I mean, think about it people- it's not like we are getting a franchise anytime soon anyways. We have absolutely nothing to lose....

I've actually been thinking about this too.

I would love nothing more than to see the city win in court and make the Sonics stay for the next two seasons, then have Key arena empty with less than 200 fans per game.

After all the best way to support your Seattle Supersonics would be to not put a single cent into Bennett's pockets.

The best way to show support would be to not go to any of the games and just simply watch them on TV. Plus don't buy a single jersey, shirt or any other Sonics memorabilia.

Sounds whacky but it's the truth.

i think it would be much more of a statement for keyarena to be rocking and sonics fans to be supportive of the players if the city wins its case and the sonics are forced to stay. there will still be a lot of work to do by save our sonics, the city, the state, and fans in general even if the city wins its case, so alienating the players and the nba may not be the best of ideas if we want the city's lawsuit to be meaningful.

the last thing we would want is a prospective buyer like ballmer to go 'look at these seats, i don't want this product..'

boycotts like this are usually wholly ineffective anyway. most people who want to go to the games are going to go.

wiff wrote:I've actually been thinking about this too.

I would love nothing more than to see the city win in court and make the Sonics stay for the next two seasons, then have Key arena empty with less than 200 fans per game.

After all the best way to support your Seattle Supersonics would be to not put a single cent into Bennett's pockets.

The best way to show support would be to not go to any of the games and just simply watch them on TV. Plus don't buy a single jersey, shirt or any other Sonics memorabilia.

Sounds whacky but it's the truth.

well, it's either us, or the players- the problem is the players are under contract.

There are 2 things that would result if such a boycott actually took place:
- Bennett would lose a s--tload of a money, which he already has
- Stern, as long as he is commissioner, would NEVER allow an expansion team in Seattle, PERIOD.

Since we likely won't have an expansion team (unless the Supreme Court comes in, I'm sure they can supercede the NBA) handed to us any time soon, I say we do the boycott as our sayonara to the NBA...

slick_watts wrote:i think it would be much more of a statement for keyarena to be rocking and sonics fans to be supportive of the players if the city wins its case and the sonics are forced to stay. there will still be a lot of work to do by save our sonics, the city, the state, and fans in general even if the city wins its case, so alienating the players and the nba may not be the best of ideas if we want the city's lawsuit to be meaningful.

the last thing we would want is a prospective buyer like ballmer to go 'look at these seats, i don't want this product..'

boycotts like this are usually wholly ineffective anyway. most people who want to go to the games are going to go.

Don't believe so in this case. I think Seattle-ites are well informed for the most part. You want to sell out Key Arena and put more money into Bennett's wallet? Remember, us selling out Key Arena will do NOTHING to expedite a franchise to our city. Ballmer isn't losing money by us doing a boycott under Bennett's watch. I am hoping that Stern's run as commish is over soon anyways- he's been doing it over 20 years.

We have nothing to lose either way, other than money out of our pockets and more money into Bennett's...

You think the people of Seattle, with the media coverage this is getting, won't be encouraged to NOT attend games?

if the city forces the lease to be honored, that's a huge victory for the cause. clay bennett will then have another lawsuit to deal with, and then maybe a civil suit, etc.

a great deal of this has been possible due to the hugely favorable national reaction to the sale and attempted move. drawing negative attention to the fanbase just doesn't seem to be the right thing to do in my opinion.

i don't think it'd be very effective anyway.. if the court rules to keep the team here there will probably be huge overtures from the city, state, previous ownership, etc. about the prospects of keeping the team here or working something out to that effect. i'd predict attendance similar to this year.

I think the best way to get Bennett to sell the team is to hit him where it hurts his wallet.

I'm not too worried about national media covering anything that is happening up here. They have done a crap job even mentioning what is going on up here.

What is going to be more uncomfortable for Bennett? Losing 20mil a year or losing 150 mil a year?

I think Bennett would be much more inclined to sell if he is hemoraging money.

slick_watts wrote:if the city forces the lease to be honored, that's a huge victory for the cause. clay bennett will then have another lawsuit to deal with, and then maybe a civil suit, etc.

a great deal of this has been possible due to the hugely favorable national reaction to the sale and attempted move. drawing negative attention to the fanbase just doesn't seem to be the right thing to do in my opinion.

i don't think it'd be very effective anyway.. if the court rules to keep the team here there will probably be huge overtures from the city, state, previous ownership, etc. about the prospects of keeping the team here or working something out to that effect. i'd predict attendance similar to this year.

If anything, a boycott signifies the opposite. It shows the fans are really really serious about keeping the team local. Supporting them for 2 "lame duck" seasons serves ONLY one purpose- to ease the financial damage Bennett will incur.

Think about this- either way, the Sonics are going. However, the ONLY way out of the 2 (extreme supporting or boycott) that will get Bennett to POSSIBLY, and I mean POSSIBLY reconsider his options is if he knows he is going to lose 100+ million over the next 2 years. It's not like there is an alternative, that is the ONLY way.

The only damage that we will incur is in our relationship with the NBA, which has already stated expansion is not under consideration at this time. I'm presuming within 5 years Stern will be done, and by that time we will have a new commish who will have us #1 on the ballot of expansion teams...

wiff wrote:I'm not too worried about national media covering anything that is happening up here. They have done a crap job even mentioning what is going on up here.

the media's been pretty excellent with coverage the last few weeks. we've been on all the espn shows (pti, outside the lines, around the horn, etc.), in national papers like new york times, boston globe, l.a. times, etc. i live in the dallas area and even with the mavs going to the playoffs there is considerable buzz with what's going on in seattle, most of it anti-stern and anti-oklahoma.

as long as the lawsuits are coming and the city/state governments do their part, this story will be all over the media as it's been the last few weeks.

wiff wrote:What is going to be more uncomfortable for Bennett? Losing 20mil a year or losing 150 mil a year?

I think Bennett would be much more inclined to sell if he is hemoraging money.

he will be losing money regardless, and so will the nba. maybe i'm just bitter because i only got to see durant once this year..

slick_watts wrote:-= original quote snipped =-



he will be losing money regardless, and so will the nba. maybe i'm just bitter because i only got to see durant once this year..

Yeah but do you know the difference between losing 15-20 million, and losing 50-75million+? It's huge. He has to weigh his losses for the next 2 years vs. his forecasted return when he reaches Oklahoma. He is losing out the ASS right now, and he only stands to lose a killing if we boycott.

Remember, this is a business. His primary goal is to make money. He is only in business as long as he knows he can make money. Knowing you are going to lose 100+ million in the next couple of years will indicate the purchase of the Sonics was counter-effective. The only thing that would force him to keep the franchise would be his own stubborness

Ian on KJR wants the city to negotiate.

Hell with that.

Enforce the lease.

yearsago wrote:Ian on KJR wants the city to negotiate.

Hell with that.

Enforce the lease.

Screw Ian, make Bennett bleed.

this is no longer about fan support or lack thereof. actually it never was. this is about government inaction, the nba and its strong arm tactics to get public finacing for arenas, and lies told by millionaires.

I think Seattle should pull a "writers strike". Get about 20-30 of you guys outside the arena before a game and start up a strike. Just get more and more fans and see what happens...

Ian needs to leave KJR. Bring Back Locke

2 things

1. lock sucked, please, dont let him back...

2. Rock the stadium, look what it brought OKC.

Hiphophead101 wrote:2 things

1. lock sucked, please, dont let him back...

2. Rock the stadium, look what it brought OKC.

We have Rocked the stadium for 41 years look what it has brought Seattle.

thats given buddy, but if we stop now then we give up.

Doing something out of the ordinary like that wont do anything.

Hiphophead101 wrote:thats given buddy, but if we stop now then we give up.

Doing something out of the ordinary like that wont do anything.

but it will. It will put a dent in clay bennett's wallet and may put pressure n him to sell to a willing buyer. Going to the arena will not expedite a franchise to Seattle. If the NBA wants a franchise in Seattle, it will do so whether we show up to games now or not- but not for awhile either way...

I dont know, I think they may perceive it as us loosing interest in basketball all together. They may think basketball is undesired here now. They will look at the statistics and say "Oh my, Seattle has the lowest in the league, they must not care about basketball anymore."

I guess if we made it publicly known thats our "reason" behind not showing up to games it may work. But people need to know why the numbers are low or it will absolutely fail/hurt us.