I'm pissed at SUNS owners (Re: Sonics vote)

Mr. Sun · Post #1 » by **Mr. Sun** » Fri Apr 18, 2008 7:42 pm

Only two teams voted against the Bennett/Stern move to OKC - Portland and Dallas.

Why didn't Sarver vote against?

impulsenine · Post #2 » by **impulsenine** » Fri Apr 18, 2008 9:16 pm

I saw that and I'd like to register my disappointment, too - especially for SeattleSun!

-SDU- · Post #3 » by **-SDU-** » Fri Apr 18, 2008 10:13 pm

its sad for seattle, BUT when i saw that mark cuban was on the other side of the vote, then i dont know.... cuban is a fool so anyone who does the opposite of him must know what they are doing ;-)

JustMoe · Post #4 » by **JustMoe** » Fri Apr 18, 2008 10:23 pm

Same can be asked about 26 other guys (leaving Bennett aside here

), so it's not like Sarver was the one killing it for Seattle.
I'm very disappointed about reading about the decision, a sad day in first line for B-Ball fans in Seattle, of course, but also for the NBA in general, since despite all of the evidence Bennett got away with this farce :nonono:

I hereby declare myself a member of the "Screw Oklahoma City" bandwagon.

toucansma · Post #5 » by **toucansma** » Fri Apr 18, 2008 10:25 pm

Its sad but I bet a few reasons:

1. Sarver doesn't want to make any more waves before the playoffs with Stern, they already have their hands full with the Spurs, the Shaq trade, etc and
2. Moving the Sonics means more revenue opportunities for him, by having one less merchandising opponent out on the West Coast (yeah I know its reaching, but might make more sense).

On Another note, WHY ARE THEY LEAVING?? How could they make more money in, no offense, the dust bowl of the U.S.? Stern can't honestly say that he had no clue this would happen; the guy is from OK for christ sakes!

Go7enKs · Post #6 » by **Go7enKs** » Fri Apr 18, 2008 11:19 pm

-SDU- wrote:its sad for seattle, BUT when i saw that mark cuban was on the other side of the vote, then i dont know.... cuban is a fool so anyone who does the opposite of him must know what they are doing

I know u are kinda joking but in this case Mark Cuban was totally right and I'm almost a bit ashamed to admit this (because I hate Cuban for his childish attitude during games) but the guy it's actually very smart and reasonable.

Too bad he roots for the Mavs, I guess nobody's perfect

walkingart · Post #7 » by **walkingart** » Sat Apr 19, 2008 12:18 am

As much as it may suck for Seattle and Sonics fans, this is America. To tell a business owner he can't move his business is ridiculous. I can't imagine OKC being a better location for a team than Seattle, but if they get 100% revenue from the Arena there; as opposed to 50% in Seattle, it is a better deal for Bennett financially.

if anyone wants to live in a totalitarian society, be my guest, I am sure China and Cuba will put you to good use!

toucansma · Post #8 » by **toucansma** » Sat Apr 19, 2008 2:39 am

Yeah but on the other hand there appears to have been fraudulent inducement. Bennett may not have acted in good faith, violating his contract of sale, as evidenced by the emails going around. You can't let a business transaction occur because of a fraudulent inducement. If so you might as well live in China or Cuba as you say. If Bennett had came out during his negotiations and said I am buying this team to take to OK, I would not have a problem with what's going on. However he did not. On the other hand Howard Schultz didn't investigate or care enough to notice what was going on. He's now suing as a law resort to save face I think.

walkingart wrote:As much as it may suck for Seattle and Sonics fans, this is America. To tell a business owner he can't move his business is ridiculous. I can't imagine OKC being a better location for a team than Seattle, but if they get 100% revenue from the Arena there; as opposed to 50% in Seattle, it is a better deal for Bennett financially.

if anyone wants to live in a totalitarian society, be my guest, I am sure China and Cuba will put you to good use!

Go7enKs · Post #9 » by **Go7enKs** » Sat Apr 19, 2008 8:32 am

walkingart wrote:As much as it may suck for Seattle and Sonics fans, this is America. To tell a business owner he can't move his business is ridiculous. I can't imagine OKC being a better location for a team than Seattle, but if they get 100% revenue from the Arena there; as opposed to 50% in Seattle, it is a better deal for Bennett financially.

if anyone wants to live in a totalitarian society, be my guest, I am sure China and Cuba will put you to good use!

Oh come on. We all know this is business but Sports are still Sports and it's a special kind of business.

This is not about the revenue or the money. This is about a millionaire who wants a team in his hometown and doesn't care if he needs to hijack an historical team from a great city. We should approve this childish dream just because this is america and businessman do whatever they want? I say no, sorry.

Also, if this is Business America, can someone explain me why the citizens are supposed to pay for a new Arena?

HootieRules · Post #10 » by **HootieRules** » Sat Apr 19, 2008 4:01 pm

When Dallas is getting ZERO calls in the playoffs, we can bring up this thread again...I'm not even joking

eastsidecrossover · Post #11 » by **eastsidecrossover** » Sat Apr 19, 2008 11:44 pm

Cuban is right about why he decided not to vote for the move. This moves into his marketing area, and OKC is a much smaller area than Seattle metro area. Your leaving a good size market for a smaller market. That is not a smart move.

This also show what a joke Stern is. The owners suck his **** for some reason. He over looks crap like this, but can't do the same on other circumstances. Hes a hypocrite, and I am pissed Sarver did not vote no on the move.

The nba needs a new commish asap.

walkingart · Post #12 » by **walkingart** » Sun Apr 20, 2008 9:19 pm

Go7enKs wrote:Oh come on. We all know this is business but Sports are still Sports and it's a special kind of business.

This is not about the revenue or the money. This is about a millionaire who wants a team in his hometown and doesn't care if he needs to hijack an historical team from a great city. We should approve this childish dream just because this is america and businessman do whatever they want? I say no, sorry.

Also, if this is Business America, can someone explain me why the citizens are supposed to pay for a new Arena?

Sports may be a special kind of business, but none the less, a BUSINESS. It is always about money! There may be other factors involved, but money is the biggest one. Bennett bought the team with the hope and plans to get them to OKC, one way or another. But, the only reason the team was sold to him, was because a local ownership group could not be found. Why? Economics, that's why. The arena deal in Seattle is horrible when compared to the other teams in the league.

As far as the city footing the bill, or atleast a majority of the bill to build a new arena; it comes down to economics once again. Ask yourself one question, how can building a new sports arena by beneficial to the local economy? Or in this case, how can doing whatever it costs to keep your NBA franchise from leaving benefit the economy?

There are exactly 15,000 to 20,000 reasons on 41 nights a year to count for starters. That is the number of commuter who are out eating dinner and having drinks before and after a game, it is the number of commuter paying for parking, cabs, or using public transit to travel to and from the game. Then there are the 1000's of jobs in security, ushers, food service workers, parking attendants and ie. that are employed through the team. Then there is the number of taxes that all of these people and businesses pay to the city and the state. Then ask yourself, of the 10 to 15 millionaires on each team, how many are going to put money back into the community as well. Stoudemire owns a restaurant and several car dealerships. He is also an investor in the "W" hotel that is going to be built in downtown Phoenix.

Now, keep in mind that Stadium taxes are usually funded through tourism taxes such as added cost on rental cars, and hotel rooms. The majority of the costs funded publicly are not ever seen by local residents. The real question then becomes, Why did the city of Seattle think they were better then every other market in the NBA, that they could hold the Soncis hostage for 50% of all the revenue generated in the Key Arena? Yes, they came around with some ideas to keep the Sonics in Seattle, but the NBA owners and Stern can only be told to go F themselves so many times before they turn around, bend you over and let you have it. Having an NBA franchise in your city is not an innate right that is just given or bestowed upon a city, it is earned? Seattle didn't come to this realization until it was far too late.

I am sorry for all the fans and citizens of Seattle and the surrounding areas, but we live in a representative democracy and if you elect greedy, corrup and incompetent officials it will turn around and bite you. However, initiatives can always be raised by the citizens of a community and put into law through direct democracy. So the real question becomes, why the outrage now? This has been inevitable since Bennett bought the team.

As for Cuban and Allen, Cuban doesnt't want another team in his market, and Allen wants to save face in the Pacific Northwest. Both decisions fueled by business more than anything!

nevetsov · Post #13 » by **nevetsov** » Mon Apr 21, 2008 1:40 am

I'm not surprised that the other owners voted for the move. They have to think about what's best for THEIR team and with respect to Seattle, it's probably one of the most out of the way places to travel to. Especially for the east coast teams; given the choice of playing at Seattle or at Oklahoma City, which do you think they would prefer? OKC is around half the distance for most of the east coast teams, it reduces both their travel time and their costs for travel.

This is probably the reason Portland voted AGAINST the move, as now they have to spend considerably more time on the road.

Having said that, I think the move sucks and the Sonics belong in Seattle.