Why I hope the Kings don't come to Seattle

"NBA is back in Seattle! Well, maybe it is. Ok, it might not be now."

Those are the emotions that have gone through the Emerald City since it was announced a few months ago that Chris Hansen was buying the Sacramento Kings.

At first the city exploded with excitement and then the NBA stepped in and said the sale wasn't final and it was still up to the league if they grant the sale and relocation of the franchise.

The owners met today and it appears that a decision may still be a few weeks away from being made about the fate of the team.

And I must say, I hope they don't come to Seattle.

Now calm down. Before you burn me at the stake, hear me out.

I've grown up near Seattle and lived near the city almost my entire life. I love Seattle sports. I was a Seahawks fan before it was "cool", I root for the Mariners through all their highs and lows (and mainly they have lows) and I was a HUGE Sonics fan. When I was growing up I would stay up past my bedtime just to find out how the game ended.

So don't call me a Seattle hater.

(Get an early start on the Seattle Sonics bandwagon HERE)

However, being a Sonics fan I was here when the team was ripped away from the city and taken to Oklahoma City and rebranded as the Thunder. It plain sucked. And as a fan there was nothing I could do because I wasn't a multi-billionaire. I was just a fan. A poor fan watching the NBA team I grew up watching being taken away.

And now Seattle wants to do that to another city and that fanbase.

Sure it'd be easy for me to say "Screw them! Give us a team!" But I can't bring myself to do that. Mainly because I cringe everytime I turn on the TV and OKC is playing. I hope they lose every game and it makes me sick to see them with the number one seed in the West.

And that's how Sacramento would feel toward Seattle. The only difference is that I live in Seattle and can drown my NBA sorrows in professional football (Seahawks), professional baseball (Mariners), professional soccer (Sounders FC), college sports (University of Washington) and a plethora of minor league teams.

Take the Kings from Sacramento and those fans have...well...paying high taxes of California. I feel bad for them.

And to top it off, if Seattle gets the Kings they're just going to erase almost 70 years of history and re-name them the "Sonics" and pretend the team just took a six year hiatus. Which from a sports history point I think is lame. The Sonics are in Oklahoma City. Enough.

So as much as I'd love to see Seattle get an NBA team, I don't want it to come at the expense of another city. I'd like to think the NBA could make an exception and give Seattle an expansion team. That way both cities win. However, if the Kings do move to Seattle, I will support the Sonics version 2.0.

And here's how I see it going down. The NBA wants their money, so the NBA lets Hansen buy the Kings and move them. Then the NBA allows Sacramento to buy an expansion team. That way the league gets more money! Makes sense to me. (rolls eyes)

Anyway, when I want my NBA fix I'll watch a young, talented and growing team in that city down South of here. They're building something in the Rose City. And I don't mind watching it while I wait for OKC to give us our team back.

 (Buy your Seattle Sonics gear HERE)

Your Seattle Sports Roundup

There's so much that has happened in the Seattle Sports scene in the past few days, I'd be writing like a bunch of different posts that would be just way to time-consuming. So for your own enjoyment, here are the biggest things to happen in or around the Emerald City lately.

1. UW ousts WSU from the Pac-12 Tournament - Still probably won't make the NCAA Tournament themselves. Save for Gonzaga, this college basketball season has been a whole lot of blah. Cue the Huskies fans saying they deserve to be in the field of 68...

2. Sounders are first MLS team to beat a Mexican team in CONCACAF quarterfinals - Seattle could also become the first MLS team to win the CONCACAF Champions Cup if they keep doing what they're doing. Now if this could just translate to success in the MLS postseason.

3. Seahawks sign Percy Harvin, suddenly become the free agent darlings of the league - Because you know it always works when you get a bunch of free agents. Ask the Philadelphia Eagles how that worked out for them when they claimed they had the "Dream Team."

The Sonics have also opened up a season ticket waiting list, even though it isn't even official if the Kings are moving here. But if you really have a hankering for some Sonics stuff, get some gear here.

Seattle getting the Key Arena ready for the Sonics

While Sacramento and Seattle are still kind of battling over the fate of the Kings, the Emerald City has already decided to roll out the red carpet. Sacramento keeps coming up with these mysterious owners that still are $350 million short of the Kings' asking price, which is quite laughable, but Seattle is now scheduling Key Arena for the Sonics.

Seattle officials are blocking out space for the Sonics to play at KeyArena in the 2013-14 National Basketball Association season, now that a legal challenge to the deal for a new arena has been dismissed.

Scheduling the Sonics includes working around the seasons of current tenants at the Key, including the Seattle Storm and the Seattle University Redhawks.

Those prospective schedules also depend on the NBA Board of Governors voting to approve a sale of the Sacramento Kings to the Seattle investment group headed by Chris Hansen and to move the team to Seattle. Both decisions could come at the Board of Governors meeting April 18.

Mayor Mike McGinn, who was approached by Hansen 18 months ago about a potential public-private partnership to build a new arena, expressed excitement that a team could be playing at KeyArena in a matter of months.

“We’re working hard to get Key ready by this fall,” he said. “We’re negotiating with Hansen’s people now about physical improvements. It could all happen relatively soon.”

That's about as real as you can get when people start talking about the Sonics actually coming back. I personally think that this is a done deal and there will be NBA basketball next season in the Emerald City. I will, no doubt, be buying  tickets.

(Get your Sonics hat now)

Things aren't going so well for Robert Swift

Remember the Sonics' former savior Robert Swift? He was Seattle's first round draft pick in 2004 right out of college (Back when the NBA Draft had morphed into a weird "pick any kid you want from high school" phase) and had his best year in 2005 when he averaged 5 rebounds and 6 rebounds a game.

Now? Not so good. The Thunder renounced their rights to Swift in 2009, and he joined the NBDL Bakersfield Jam but played only two games and left because of personal reasons. He played in Japan between 2010-11 but has since run into even more trouble.

Swift's house was recently foreclosed despite him making an estimated $20 million during his NBA career. He refuses to leave, however, and the new home owner has had to deal with it.

"And it seems like a very sad story and I definitely feel for him," said the new owner, who wanted to hide her identity.

She thought she knew what she was getting when she bought the foreclosed home in January.

Cans of beer dot the grass outside the home. A bullet hole pierced the garage window at some point.

"Cars that don't look like they've moved in a long time," she noted.

Water festers in buckets outside of what was once a million dollar home in a wealthy Eastside suburb.

Well I guess the new Sonics won't be needing him for any more savior duties...

(Here's a Robert Swift autographed card, worth all of the 13 dollars)

Shawn Kemp thinks Sonics fans are better than Kings fans

Naturally, Kemp was on Seattle Radio when he said that, but hey! The man is one of the greatest NBA Jam players ever so how can you question him? Kemp feels bad that the people of Sacramento are losing their NBA team, but thinks that the Sonics have better fans. So go eff yourself Kings fans.

I think we should have sympathy for some of the Sacramento Kings fans, because they have some good fans in that area. We just have bigger and better fans in this northwest area.

Kemp also made a valid point that the Sacramento situation just reeks of the Seattle situation just a few years ago. That doesn't bode well for Kings fans. He does have a ton of respect (as I think most people do) for Sac. mayor Kevin Johnson.

As we saw the Sonics go through this a few years ago, lose their team, and the fans were hurting. … You'll probably see the same thing in Sacramento. He's not trying to have that on his record, so he's going to try to do everything possible to get a deal done and try to change some things. But I just think it's a little bit too late.

There are some serious ethical questions for Sonics fans at the thought of stealing another city's team, but in this current climate of the NBA - is this the only way? Maybe.

(To buy some Kings gear before its gone, click here.)

Could the Sonics be back?

Could it be? Are the Sonics coming back?

News broke yesterday that a possible deal by the Chris Hanson investment group to buy the Sacramento Kings is in the works. The Kings have had their own arena problems, have royally sucked the past few years and the Maloof brothers are ready to sell. So much so that the Sonics could be back in the Key Arena for the 2013-14 season.

There is, however, the old business of stealing another cities team that Sonics' fans will have on their minds.

In Seattle, there was excitement that the NBA might return after its exit five years ago. In Sacramento, there was despair among fans and defiance from public officials, punctuated by Mayor Kevin Johnson vowing to fight to keep the team in town.

"It's a significant day for the community because it appears it's the first day that the Sacramento Kings are for sale," Johnson said at a news conference.

Johnson, a former NBA player, said that if the report is true, it marks an opportunity for his city to find local buyers to keep the team in Sacramento. Indeed, the team's owners, the Maloof family, have never stated publicly the team is for sale, instead pursuing options in the past to secure a new arena or move the team themselves.

Keep in mind that a new arena in Seattle hasn't even started to be built, and that it will suck up $200 million in public funds. There is also several groups in the city opposing it being built (including the Mariners). While it will get paid back from revenues from the arena... isn't Seattle already paying for other sports venues for other professional teams?

While this should be time to rejoice, nothing it set in stone yet. There's a lot of tape to go through and a lot of obstacles still to overcome. If they do move here... does the Kings' team history come with them, because how many NBA fans rooted for the Kings when they faced the Lakers in players in the early 2000s? And how many Doug Christie jokes can we make?

(If you want to get ready, buy some Sonics gear here.)

Northwest Christmas Gift Ideas for Sports Fans

If you're like me and grew up in the Pacific Northwest then you probably root for Northwest sports teams and have since you were very small.

With Christmas approaching very fast (it's only 18 days away) it's time to get a gift for the Northwest fan in your life. Here are five book/DVD suggestions from the sports guys at Just South of North.

• Pitchers of Beer: The Story of the Seattle Rainiers: Now I have personally read this book and it's great! (I'll get a review up in the near future). The book chronicles how baseball returned to the city of Seattle. It's fast paced and great for any Northwest baseball fan. About the book: In 1937, when local beer baron Emil Sick stepped in, the Seattle Indians were a struggling minor-league baseball team teetering on collapse. Moved to mix baseball and beer by his good friend and fellow brewer, New York Yankees owner Jacob Ruppert, Sick built a new stadium and turned the team into a civic treasure. The Rainiers (newly named after the beer) set attendance records and won Pacific Coast League titles in 1939, ’40, ’41, ’51, and ’55.


• Seattle Seahawks 2005 NFC Champions DVD: Ok, I know it's not a book, but it's awesome. Sadly it's not every year that the Seattle Seahawks make it to the Super Bowl. I own this DVD and watch it at least once a year. About the DVD: For nearly three decades the Seattle Seahawks were pro football's most anonymous team, tucked away in the Pacific Northwest, far removed from the media spotlight. But in 2005 the Seahawks could no longer be ignored. They posted the NFC's best record at 13-3 and led the league in scoring, enroute to their first-ever Super Bowl appearance. Team stars included league MVP Shaun Alexander, who led the NFL in rushing while punching in a record-shattering 28 touchdowns. Quarterback Matt Hasselbeck, fullback Mack Strong, and linemen Walter Jones, Steve Hutchinson and Robbie Tobeck were named to the Pro Bowl. On the other side of the ball rookie Lofa Tatupu was one of eight new starters on defense who transformed that unit into one of the league's finest. Here are all the highlights, from opening day right through Super Sunday -- the sights and sounds of every game in this special salute to the greatest season in Seahawks' history.


• Tales from the Seattle Seahawks Sideline: A Collection of the Greatest Seahawks Stories Ever Told (Tales from the Team): I got this book years ago and loved reading about the untold stories of the NFL team I'd supported for years. About the book: From the hilarious to the surreal, from inside the huddle to inside the broadcast booth, twenty-eight-year Seattle Seahawks veteran Steve Raible takes fans to places they never knew existed. In this newly revised edition of Tales from the Seattle Seahawks Sideline, fans are offered an inside look at life in the locker room and on the sidelines of one of the NFL’s most beloved franchises. Readers will have the chance to laugh along as Jack Patera trades Andre Hines to the Dolphins after warning Don Shula that a worse offensive lineman never existed, to marvel as Raiders legend John Matuszak becomes Seattle’s offensive coordinator during the final minutes of the Seahawks blowout win, to come along with Steve Largent as the Hall of Famer obliterates Broncos safety Mike Harden in the ultimate payback, and so much more. Tales from the Seattle Seahawks Sideline brings all the Seahawks greatest players to life from Jim Zorn, Dave Krieg, Kenny Easley, Curt Warner, Brian Bosworth, Cortez Kennedy, Warren Moon, Mike Holmgren, Ricky Watters, Chad Brown, Shaun Alexander, and more. This insider’s account also explores the lesser known characters whose stories inspire laughter, tears, and lasting lessons. Tales from the Seattle Seahawks Sideline is all about the people, proving through vivid anecdotes why the Seahawks are one of the most storied franchises in today’s NFL.


• Sonicsgate: Requiem for a Team: While Seattle still doesn't have an NBA team this is an amazing telling of the events that happened to the Seattle Supersonics leaving for Oklahoma City and becoming the Oklahoma City Thunder. About the DVD: Webby and Emmy® Award-winning director Jason Reid pulls no punches in this riveting documentary that explores the modern business of pro sports. SONICSGATE: REQUIEM FOR A TEAM depicts how a perfect storm of corporate greed and political ineptitude drove Seattle's only team with a major league championship to relocate to Oklahoma and become the Thunder in 2008. SuperSonics fans were powerless as the team they supported for 41 years was ripped away, leaving Seattle as the latest casualty of the sports-industrial complex. Featuring exclusive HD interviews with Sonics legends Gary Payton and Shawn Kemp, acclaimed author Sherman Alexie and other experts and insiders who witnessed this tragic story unfold.
  
  
• Shipwrecked: A Peoples' History of the Seattle Mariners: A must have for any Seattle Mariners fan. A look at the past and future of the team from Safeco Field. About the book: From "Moneyball," baseball fans have learned about the complicated relationship between money and success. The question now for Seattle Mariner fans is whether the current ownership will spend the money to give fans the team they have dreamed of and earned with years of support.
  In "Shipwrecked," Jon Wells, a baseball writer and publisher who has covered the team for more than fifteen years, asserts that poor management and shortsighted ownership kept a team with three first-ballot Hall of Fame players, each in the prime of his career, from reaching the World Series. Wells details every misstep by the Mariners during the team’s 35-year history. But wait, there’s hope! Can General Manager Jack Zduriencik bring in enough young talent to make this club a contender again, as he did for the Milwaukee Brewers?
  EXTRAS: *Best and worst trades *All-time best and worst players *Ranking the managers *Infamous quotes*

NBA and NHL coming to Tacoma?

Introducing your Tacoma Supersonics!

Just doesn't have the same ring to it as Seattle, but it is a very real possibility.

A recent article shed light on this new idea of revamping the Tacoma Dome and bringing the NBA back to the area, along with perhaps the NHL.

Tacoma’s mayor and City Council say they want to know what it would take to revamp the aging Tacoma Dome to draw a pro basketball or hockey team to town – and they’re willing to pay up to $100,000 to find out.

“The NBA will be back in this market,” Mayor Marilyn Strickland said Tuesday. “When they are, I want Tacoma to be in the mix of that discussion.”

Backed by local business leaders and area politicians, the City Council agreed Tuesday to pay for part of a market feasibility study for attracting a National Basketball Association or National Hockey League team to the Dome.

The study would examine options and costs for upgrading the 29-year-old facility to NBA and NHL standards, and determine whether there’s corporate interest to help support such an endeavor, Strickland said.

Now I'd prefer a team to come back to the Seattle area just for the simple fact that I live closer to that city. But if there was the chance that this area could get not just NBA back, but also bring along the NHL, then I'm all for it.

What do you think? Would you like to see the NBA and NHL in Tacoma over Seattle? Or would you just like these sports in our state?

Our Team Stolen shirts

I came across this great site called 206hoops.

They have a lot of content about basketball from the 206 area code. Oh and they have an "team" shop that includes this awesome shirt design:


With the NBA finals going on right now I miss the Seattle Supersonics more than ever. Perhaps one day another NBA team will grace the amazing Emerald City. Until then, "our team stolen" is the only NBA gear I'll wear.

Brandon's secret

If you were following facebook or twitter last night you would have gotten the image that Brandon has a strong distaste for Portland, Oregon.

But the truth is that distaste is just for the Timbers.

I have proof that he is a Portland Trailblazers fan.

This photo is from a post back in 2008 in which Brandon attended a Portland Trailblazers game and, with the soon-to-be departure of the Seattle Sonics, he became a fan of Portland.

A quote from Brandon: "Portland sure does support their team, as their state-of-the-art arena of over 20,000 seats was nearly sold out on a Tuesday. Looks like when the Sonics move to Oklahoma, I'll have to jump ship here. Or maybe I already have"

So while he may dislike the Timbers with every fiber of his being, deep down Brandon does like Portland.

Why I can't root for the Oklahoma City Thunder

The NBA playoffs are currently in the second round and I hope Memphis wins. Not because I'm a Memphis fan but because I can't stand the Oklahoma City Thunder.

I get they are a fun team to watch and in any normal circumstance would be a team I could root for. But since the team is formally the Seattle Supersonics I just can't cheer them on.

I don't understand how so many people in the Seattle area can cheer on this team that was ripped away from the city. I see people wearing Thunder gear and I don't get it. Rooting for the Thunder is like rooting for an ex-girlfriend who cheated on you with the nerdy guy that smells funny and now you're hoping they get married and live happily ever after.

Oklahoma City, you're the nerdy guy that smells funny.

As the years go on the pain from losing the Sonics has slowly gone down. I just really have stopped paying attention to the NBA. But then you see on ESPN things like, "Last Oklahoma City NBA Championship was 1979."

WHAAAAAAAAAT?!?!

No!!!! The last Seattle Supersonics NBA Championship was 1979. And things like that bring that hate for Oklahoma back.

I'm not the only one who feels this way. Check out this article from Greg Bishop in the New York Times.

And I think Bishop pretty much sums up everything with his final paragraph:

But I agreed with Lo when he said the thought of the Thunder’s winning an N.B.A. title made him nauseous. “I’d be so mad,” he said. So would an entire region. Because in this series, whether the Thunder wins, or the Grizzlies win, basketball fans in the Pacific Northwest will lose.

Seattle tops list of most miserable sports cities

Congratulations Seattle! The city is finally number one!

Bummer thing is this isn't a list you want to be number one on.

Seattle has been named the most miserable sports city in America.

Here's what the list was based on.

Where have U.S. sports fans suffered the most misery? Not futility, but the heartbreak that comes from building fans' hopes up only to let them down in the end. Sticking to sports towns with at least 75 cumulative seasons in the NFL, NBA, NHL and Major League Baseball, we rank each by playoff failures (the deeper you lose in the playoffs, the more misery points) and championship droughts.

And here's why Seattle is number one:

Teams: Seahawks, Mariners, Sonics
Championship round record: 1-3
Semifinal round record: 4-7
Total Seasons/championships: 111/1
Last title: 1979

This year's 7-9 Seahawks snagged a bogus home playoff game thanks to a faulty seeding system that rewarded them for winning a weak division, but they promptly lost in Chicago the following week. Meantime, Kevin Durant and the Sonics are in Oklahoma City, and the Mariners, losers of 101 games last year, are still trying to reach a World Series after three trips to the ALCS. We're not counting the one-year run of baseball's Pilots in 1969.

Can you say ouch?

OUCH.

Here's the rest of the top 10.

2. Atlanta
3. Phoenix
4. Buffalo
5. San Diego
6. Houston
7. Kansas City
8. Cleveland
9. Denver
10. Cincinnati

Big Lo on New Day Northwest

If you are a true Seattle sports fan (and by that I mean any Seattle sport) then there is no doubt that you've heard of Big Lo. Or at least seen him at the games.

He is literally Seattle's biggest fan at 6 feet 8 inches. Yeah, the dude is big. At the Hawks home games he sits in the South endzone right behind the goal post with his trademark "Sea" and a picket fence in the air.

If you don't know about Big Lo, here's a story from the Seattle Times back in 2005 on him.

Anyway, he was King 5's New Day Northwest today representing the 12th Man. It was a funny segment where he even showed off the new "I survived Beastquake 2011" t-shirt. Pretty awesome. Enjoy this photo story from the New Day Northwest facebook page.

Go Hawks!

NBA returning to Seattle

Ok, so maybe that headline is jumping the gun a little bit, but the rumors have certainly been flying around lately.

Steve Ballmer, Microsoft's CEO, recently sold a number of his shares of Microsoft worth about 1.3 billion. He has stated that by the end of the year he will sell another part of his share for 700 million. Many have been speculating why he's selling so much.

Some believe Steve Ballmer's plan is to buy the Sacramento Kings and bring them to Seattle.

The rumors have been flying for a number of years now that the owners of the kings want to move the team because they can't get funding for a new arena and their current lease at Arco Arena is expiring soon.

However, an article that ran yesterday in the Puget Sound Business Journal stated that this was not the case.

Our sister publication the Sacramento Business Journal dashes our hoop dreams today, at least as they relate to its hometown club -- quoting Joe Maloof, a co-owner of Maloof Sports & Entertainment and the Kings, saying that he has “never met Mr. Ballmer, we’ve had no contact with him and the team is not for sale.”

Of course that doesn't preclude Ballmer from pursuing another team.

However until more news and facts are shown I don't want to buy into either story. How many times have we, the fans, heard that certain things won't happen with their team only to have that exact thing happen a few months later?

But perhaps this speculation of the NBA returning to the Emerald City is just a lot of fans hoping for a team where one isn't there. Maybe Ballmer is just selling those stocks to buy a spaceship.

Or maybe he's selling them to bring the NBA back to Seattle.

Dear Cleveland

One of my friends posted this on his facebook. And it couldn't be more true:

Dear Cleveland,

Get over it!!

Signed, Seattle

So you lost Lebron. Big deal. Maybe you shouldn't have booed him in this years playoffs. At least you still have a team.

JustSON Numbers: Breaking down the lowest-attended teams in the NBA

Okay remember how they said nobody showed up to Sonics games? If you compare it to conditions now in the NBA, things were just fine in the Key Arena. Look at the lowest attended teams in the NBA this year. Those numbers are their average per game.

New Jersey Nets - 13,709 - This is actually pretty impressive considering they have FOUR wins overall.

Indiana Pacers - 13,578 74 - The Pacers have had some terrible years and they've been at the bottom of the NBA attendance lists for some time now.

Philadelphia 76ers - 13,510- They've had a dissapointing season so far and they've been "rebuilding" for some time now.

Sacramento Kings - 13,375 - This number is somewhat misleading since they play in a small building, but they aren't a hot NBA ticket either.

Memphis Grizzlies - 12,990 - The remains of another Northwest NBA team, and look how it's turning out.

And you want to know how much the Sonics were drawing before their last season at The Key Arena? (Note: The last season before the move doesn't count because the fan base was disenfranchised, however two years before they went to Oklahoma is much more impressive.)

Seattle SuperSonics (2006-2007) 15,955 - The Sonics sold 93.5 of their seats for the season and this was after it became somewhat apparent the NBA was going to let them move. Wonderful move Stern, wonderful move.

God, I hate these Oklahoma Thunder fans

Clay Bennett deserves these fans...

Oklahoma City, Tuesday, May 5, 2009 – Last month the Oklahoma City Thunder launched an NBA Draft Lottery Challenge to find out who was the most creative and enthusiastic fan when the balls fall at the Draft Lottery on Tuesday, May 19 in Secaucus, NJ. All fans 18 or older who were Oklahoma state residents were asked to submit a seven-word description explaining why they should be in attendance at the Lottery later this month.

2,174 entries came into thunder.nba.com, and the search has been narrowed to three. Fans are now asked to log onto thunder.nba.com to choose their favorite entry. Voting continues through 2 p.m. on Thursday, May 7. The winner will win round-trip airfare from Oklahoma City to New York City, hotel accommodations, per diem for the trip and will head to the Draft Lottery at the NBA Entertainment studios.

The three finalists are:

1. Thunder rocks Loud City; New York's next

2. I am Thunder loud and Oklahoma proud

3. Gonna wear my Thunderwear in Times Square

Wonderful. Fantastic. Somebody get these people an apple juice box for all their hard work.

These are the people rooting for the Sonics. These are the people that were awarded an NBA franchise. These are the people that get to watch professional basketball while Sonics fans - who could drown out the PA announcer in pre-game warms ups back in their glory days - sit at home twiddling their thumbs. Here are my seven words why you should send me to New York.

1. Clay Bennett is a bag of douche.

2. Oklahoma City is a big cow town.

3. The NBA is going to regret this.

You know what. Screw this. The Oklahoma City fans do not deserve an NBA franchise of this caliber. In my mind, the Thunder are now on loan from the city of Seattle. Once Clay Bennett goes bankrupt after the novelty wears off in OC, they'll be back, just you wait. Just you wait...

I'm going to start referring to them as the Seattle SuperSonics again. This whole Thunder business is just silly.

(Sobs. Is going through the ex-girlfriend denial process)

Anyone notice how I lost a lot of weight after the Sonics broke up with the state of Washington? Started going out to bars more? Went home with like forty different NBA teams and probably caught an All-Star team of STDs? Yep, I'm going through the ex-girlfriend denial process.

They'll be back. You just wait.

Thanks 2008

Congratulations America. You've almost survived 2008. This year has been perhaps one of the worst for most of the country. The country has never been worse than it is right now.

Unemployment is UP.
Pay-rates are DOWN.
Gas prices are UP.

To top 2008 off, Washington has never experienced a worse sporting season in my lifetime.

The Seahawks are terrible, they were supposed to win the NFC West, yet can hardly beat themselves in a scrimmage. The Mariners were worse than terrible. The Huskies had the honor of becoming the worst team in the history of the PAC-10. The Cougars looked like a bad high school team every game. Eastern Washington University was supposed to contend for a FCS National Championship, instead their season was over by Week 6. Central Washington University (the only football team in the state with a winning record besides high school teams) headed into the D-2 playoffs as a huge favorite, only to loose in the first round to West Texas A & M.

Yeah, the state of Washington couldn't wait for the Fall Sporting season to get over with.

And then comes winter.

Winter means NBA. Winter meant rubbing salt in every Sonics fans wounds. The city would turn on their television only to see Clay Bennett, the man who stole the Sonics, spit in their face every night the Thunder played.

He told the city lies and broken promises. He bought the team, said he wanted to keep them here. But really, from day one, he was cheating on us with Oklahoma City. It was an affair that Seattle's marriage to the Sonics just couldn't survive. And everything ended in a bitter divorce, as Clay ran away late one night to the open arms of the midwest city. Leaving Seattle with an empty arena and a full glass of heartache.

The only gratification Sonics fans could get was that the new Oklahoma team is terrible. But that still doesn't help. It's kinda like when you get dumped by a girlfriend. You quickly pretend everything is alright because she went from you (who brought sexy back) to a tall, doofy looking, red haired kid.

You pretend everything is OK. You smile, you crack jokes about how funny looking he is. But deep inside your secretly dieing.

That's how every Sonics fan feels right now. They laugh at how bad the Thunder are. But deep down they secretly wish that it was the Sonics that were that bad. Because that would mean they never left.

And if that wasn't enough to make 2008 officially the Worst Year Ever. Oklahoma Today magazine made this move:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CLAYTON I. BENNETT NAMED 2008 OKLAHOMAN OF THE YEAR

OKLAHOMA CITY – Oklahoma Today, the magazine of Oklahoma since 1956, has named chairman of the Oklahoma City Thunder, Clayton I. Bennett, Oklahoman of the Year for 2008. The feature story on Bennett, written by senior editor Steffie Corcoran, appears in the January/February 2009 issue.

Bennett, founder of the private investment firm, Dorchester Capital, is touted as the man who brought the NBA to Oklahoma. He leads a group of eight investors, all from Oklahoma City, who form Professional Basketball Club, LLC. The team played its first Oklahoma City game on October 29, 2008, after relocating from Seattle. Today, the team plays at the Ford Center in downtown Oklahoma City and is considered one of the youngest team in the NBA.

“No one came close to Clay Bennett as we set about selecting this year’s Oklahoman of the Year,” says Louisa McCune-Elmore, Oklahoma Today editor in chief. “His accomplishment presents an extraordinary moment in the life of Oklahoma, probably among the most important achievements in our capital city’s history.”

Those who know him best describe Bennett as a man of action. “People respect Clay,” says former Oklahoma City mayor Ron Norick. “When Clay is involved, things are going to happen.” Bennett grew up in Oklahoma City, graduated from Casady School in 1978, and married his high-school sweetheart, Louise Gaylord, in 1981.

Bennett’s respect for hard work and his civic involvement have garnered this Oklahoman of the Year great regard from his peers, both locally and in the wider community of the NBA. “I feel confident about the good hands the [Thunder] is in,” says NBA commissioner David Stern, “because they’re in Clay’s hands and in the hands of his investor group.”

The NBA may be happy about the team’s move to Oklahoma, but no one is as thrilled as Oklahomans. The NBA is considered the largest global sports brand. “An NBA franchise is an obvious economic boom, but just as important is what it does for the momentum and morale of Oklahoma,” says Governor Brad Henry.

“What I like most about this article and accompanying photos is its thorough review of the Thunder relocation, but also its insights into Clay’s unwavering commitment to his hometown, state, and especially his family,” says Hardy Watkins, executive director of the Oklahoma Tourism and Recreation Department. “It’s a real portrait.”

Oklahoma Today publisher Joan Henderson says, “The year 2008 was an eventful year in Oklahoma, but nothing seemed as potentially transformative as the birth of the Thunder franchise in Oklahoma City.”

“Clay Bennett had the resourcefulness, tenacity, and acumen to make that dream a reality,” says Governor Henry.

The last quote in that story is what just kills me. That, "Clay Bennett had the resourcefulness, tenacity, and acumen to make that dream a reality."

Seriously?!?! You have got to be kidding me!

The only resourcefulness he used was his money to buy a team and then move it. His tenacity was only the fact that he made the Pacific Northwest despise his very name. (I had to write this blog because Brandon smashed his laptop in a fit of rage upon reading the headline in the magazine). So yes, it does take guts to tick off a whole region of the nation. And acumen? Seriously, smart do you have to be to "predict" that something a city has never had, will be successful?

Wait, I'm gonna do it right now. I'm thinking that the Sounders FC will be a huge hit in Seattle. Why? Because it's something new and exciting. DUH!

So you may think this is just another angry rant about Bennett, and that is fine. But the truth is, how could someone who lied repeatedly be honored?

You know it's a bad year, when a state gives their highest honor to a guy like Clay Bennett.

What's next? Drew Rosenhaus being named "Agent of the Year"?

Oh well. I'll just put on some Journey. Close my eyes. And hope 2009 is better.

Stop the Press! The Thunder win!

Since we're obsessed with the Oklahoma City Thunder here at Just South of North, I'd like to point out a milestone in the young team's history.

The team won its second game of the season last night. Kevin Durant scored 30 points as the Thunder soared over the 4-13 Memphis Grizzlies in a 111-103 game that was probably attended by the player's parents, a guy selling peanuts and Osama Bin Laden (no one would see him there).

That brings the Thunder's record up to 2-16 meaning that Oklahoma City is on pace to win ten games. 10 games.

Good enough to get you to the playoffs in the NFL but not in the 82-game season of the NBA.

As a former Sonics fan, I can't say that I'm disappointed.

Casey and I are writing a book: Losing the Seattle SuperSonics

Since the journalism industry is going to crap, Casey and I have decided to write a book of short essays to make our millions. Therefore we will continue to publish these essays on this blog. Whether or not these essays make it into the book, or we actually publish this book at all is subject to change.

My obsession with sports is already a tragedy.

Because the team that I first started watching, the team that I built a connection with as a kid is now playing in Oklahoma City after abandoning Seattle and changing their mascot to an atmospheric fart.

I’ve read about how heart broken Brooklyn Dodger fans were when they left for Los Angeles, or how betrayed Cleveland felt when they lost the Browns. These were sports teams treated with as much affection as a girlfriend or relative.

And after losing the Sonics, I could see how that happens.

The thing about sports teams is that once you start following them, they’re always there. Whether it be the off season or the playoffs, they always give you something to talk about. You embrace them, let them into your life and for the most part you really can’t end that relationship.

How do you? You turn on the local news, sport casters are talking about how they’re doing. You run into people that like sports and they’ll want to let you in on their latest acquisition in the draft. While you can stop watching them, it doesn’t erase the fact that they still play the games.

Unless of course they move to a different city and no longer represent you.

I first started watching the SuperSonics when I was a little kid. My parents would take my sister and I over to our grandparents house and my grandpa, an ardent sports fan who would probably watch two-last place high school soccer teams if it was on the television, would always have the Sonics, Seahawks and Mariners on the television.

Now football and baseball are wonderful sports and I’ve grown to follow them as well, but when you’re a little kid you have the attention span of a goldfish, following the complicated system of football and baseball can be tough.

Basketball – now that’s a little easier. The ball goes in the basket and you get two points. Shoot it from behind the three-point arc and you get more. Way easier to pick up than how many yards to get before a first down, holding penalties and a little quicker paced than baseball.

So the first time I actually sat down and watched sports was the Seattle SuperSonics. And since that was in the mid-90s, I was able to watch one of the best teams in the Michael Jordan dominated NBA. We’re talking about Shawn Kemp, Gary Payton, Hersey Hawkins, Detlef Schrempf, Sam Perkins and Nate McMillan. Play a game of NBA Jam with these guys and you’ll know what I mean.

Basketball allows players and teams to have their own style, and the SuperSonics definitely had a certain metropolitan coolness to them. Again, this was when Seattle was leading the grunge movement and pretty much becoming a cultural buzz town. The SuperSonics perfectly reflected this. I can remember still thinking that there wasn’t a cooler place than Seattle, even though I grew up on the east side of Washington and secretly resented the west side for the yuppie snobbery.

The Sonics - live from the Key Arena, the Space Needle, timeout shots of Pike’s Market in Seattle, George Karl prowling the sideline as head coach, pretty much exuding brilliance from his balding head.

The Sonics were just cool, and I loved them. I remember praying for the team to take the Bulls to seven games in the NBA Finals. Not win the NBA finals, just take the series to seven and make Chicago sweat a little. While those went unanswered and Seattle could only must six, it was crazy to think that they were only two wins away from winning a professional sports championship.

And that’s gone. All gone. To Oklahoma City, which is about as un-Seattle as you can get. Oh I’ve moved on, I’ve found other teams but much like how relationships go, you really don’t forget about the first one.

And sometimes you just check up to see if they’ve gotten fat, pregnant and work at a Wendy’s.
And at 1-13 in this early season, the Thunder are about as close to that as you’re going to get in the sports world.