Seattle deal with Ballmer group falls through

D5150 · Post #21 » by **D5150** » Sun Apr 13, 2008 4:45 pm

you're right jenn. even at that rally the other day all she was doing was blustering. i think she thinks all she needs to do is give the impression that she is doing something. well she better actually do something, or she might be looking for a new job.

NateMustGo · Post #22 » by **NateMustGo** » Sun Apr 13, 2008 5:58 pm

D5150 wrote:then e-mail the league and the blazers instead mo. do whatever you can and get the word out man. let the powers that be know that you as a fan of nba basketball do not approve of this.

This I will do D-5--and to all the ney sayers out there they have not moved yet its not over until they do, so don't give up!

D5150 · Post #23 » by **D5150** » Sun Apr 13, 2008 6:34 pm

thanks again mo.

colombianbrew · Post #24 » by **colombianbrew** » Sun Apr 13, 2008 6:37 pm

I know this looks bad, but I still have a hard time believing that Clay will want to own a team (which may have little local support at that point) in Seattle for two more years. If the Grizzlies or some other team are for sale, I would say a deal where he ends up with them is more likely. Remember the emails, they want to watch ball in OKC now.

jenn_gp · Post #25 » by **jenn_gp** » Sun Apr 13, 2008 7:31 pm

^We didn't have to read the emails to know they wanted to watch ball in OKC...most of us knew his intentions from the beginning.

That's another reason why Gregoire shows zero leaderdship skills on this front. Didn't she not at least have a feeling what Clay's true intentions were before the emails? The signs were all there, even during that first press conference. Clay laiyed out a 12 month timeline when speaking about getting an arena deal done. Did she ever take the situation seriously at all?

Why does she feel betrayed now? How does this make the situation any different? Does she not have any common sense? I would think that when an out of stater buys a 41 year old franchise in the state you govern, that alone should raise red flags. She and any other political leaders who believed Bennett truly wanted to make things work here look awfully gullible now.

jenn_gp · Post #26 » by **jenn_gp** » Sun Apr 13, 2008 7:43 pm

colombianbrew wrote:If the Grizzlies or some other team are for sale, I would say a deal where he ends up with them is more likely. Remember the emails, they want to watch ball in OKC now.

Sorry, I forgot to add my thoughts on this topic.

Do I want to keep this Sonics team? Absolutely. But my view is different in the fact that I don't want to have any other city go through what is happening to us now. Let Memphis keep their team.

What I'd love to see is the city put up an excellent battle and force Clay to be held to the lease for the next two seasons. Clay will put the team up for sale because his two main contributors, Ward and McClendon don't want to waste their money. Clay is forced to sell to the Ballmer group and OKC is left with NO franchise, due to the fact that the city completely annialated Bennett and Stern in the court case. An upset David Stern offers Bennett no other franchise--not even an expansion team.

OKC continues to be the crappy dustbowl of a town everyone says it is.

Stern has put Bennett in the doghouse (lovers quarrel). Bennett has no more affilation or association with the league whatsoever.

colombianbrew · Post #27 » by **colombianbrew** » Sun Apr 13, 2008 10:25 pm

^The Grizzlies don't belong to Memphis anyway, so I wouldn't feel too bad for the people there :-P

yearsago · Post #28 » by **yearsago** » Sun Apr 13, 2008 10:45 pm

How strange would it be for the grizzilies ending up back in the NW.