NO TIME FOR CELEBRATION
Of all the weeks to launch a website called,
SonicsArena.com. The week leading to the 33rd Anniversary of the
Seattle SuperSonics 1979 NBA Championship. The NBA history that is extremely vital to the 41 year legacy of the
Seattle SuperSonics. According to
Paragraph 6 of the MOU dated July 2, 2008, there are certain contractual conditions that must be met in order to call a Seattle NBA team "the Sonics." Those conditions are pending and
have not been met. So calling any arena the "Sonics Arena" is out of order
to say the least.
ALL-STAR BREAK
On October 29, 2008, I began the "
Sonics MIA Campaign" (continued
on Facebook). I've dealt with
printers, talked to so-called "hardcore Sonics fans," pitched
Lower Queen Anne businesses, contacted
Save Our Sonics and reached out to
Sports Radio. From a Sports Fan Activist perspective, it's been an "
odd-yssey" of conflicting interests and constrasting objectives.
Wait until you hear and read
my report on
Seattle's first MIA season.
WRITE OFF
By accepting a
$45 million buy-out of the Sonics' lease, Seattle's mayor simply
wrote off Sonics fans,
Howard Schultz's lawsuit and Lower Queen Anne businesses. Then a week later, appearing on sports radio for the first time since the settlement, he
effortlessly wrote off
bombastic on-duty radio host
Dave Mahler.
NATIONALIZEDBA
The Sonics may have been the team that got blown out of Seattle, but with David Stern's
Gotti-like tactics, this could happen to any team in virtually any of the other 29 NBA cities.
The commissioner has a fiduciary responsibility to the owners, but doesn't he have a greater responsibility to the "benefit of the league?"
OK CORALLED!
TIME! 7.2.08. 717 days flat. It happened so fast, Seattle Sonic fans can't believe it. Amid all the
speculation, conjecture, lines, between-the-lines, lies, half-truths, denials and non-denial-denials, today the Seattle Sonics are offically
not the Seattle Sonics. One year, 11 months and 15 days after Howard Schultz sold the team to Clayton Bennett...tick...tick...tick...
SONIC BOOM!
RALLY JUNKIES
Everyone knows the word "fan" is short for "fanatic." Ironically, there actually are very few
Real Fans. Very few! How few? On a sold out Sonics game in Key Arena, 18,000
fans are in the house. At a
rally outside the courthouse, on the opening day of a historic sports/lease case, ONLY 3,000 fanatics.
HOT COFFEE CZAR
Word has it Howard Schultz is
mad.
Mad at Clayton Bennett for tricking him into selling the Sonics for
mad.
$140 million more than he paid five years ago. In other words, approximately
mad.
$50 million more than the estimated value.
Mad enough to
file a lawsuit.
MANICALLY STERN
OKLAHOMA CITY
The Associated Press
March 26, 2008 NBA commissioner David Stern on Tuesday shot down a proposal by a group of Seattle businessmen seeking to renovate KeyArena in order to keep the Sonics in the city
...STORY>>>
DEAL ME IN!
Now that the
NBA season has commenced,
the game behind the games in Seattle has really begun. A day after Sonics owner Clayton Bennett
filed for relocation,
Dennis Daugs, a player in the
former Sonics ownership group, stepped to the table.
STRIKE THREE?
The plan
Brian Robinson laid out on September 25th is the most pratical for keeping the
Sonics in Seattle and saving
Seattle Center; for
all of Seattle. The Sonics open their 41st home season tonight where they should be opening for at least the
next four decades.
A Deal is a Deal is done, but "the purpose behind the proposition" is still
alive and kicking.
KeyArena is the key.
ENGAGED!
Last Friday, Seattle Sonics owner, Clayton Bennett emphatically stated, "We believe it's
time to engage." Clayton Bennett's resolute statement meant he was seeking arbitration to get out of the final two years of the lease. In response, yesterday Seattle City Attorney
Tom Carr, announced the filing of a lawsuit which will seek to enforce the Sonics' KeyArena lease.
CONTINUED>>>
SECOND STRIKE
The energy of the press conference inspired me to
put the pedal to the metal. And two weeks later, I was in position to launch a website on behalf of
Lower Queen Anne businesses in support of Initiative 93. However, in the
following two weeks, some of the owners and managers have sucked a lot of that energy out. Wanna know which ones? Put your seatbelt on, because this is going to
really throw you!
COMPLETE CLAYTON CALL 8.25.7>>> 
FIRST STRIKE
On July 26, 2007 a press conference was held at the
Mainstage Comedy Club for "
A Deal is a Deal:" Initiative 93. That was the beginning of a grass-roots Seattle Sonics fans/Business owners/Taxpayers/Voters effort to generate 18,000 signatures for getting I-93 on the February Ballot. WeTheFans Internet Radio Network has the ONLY full-length video of the press conference.
SEE: CHRIS VAN DYK
THE CONVERSATION
Who knows when the last time Seattle Soincs owner,
Clayton Bennett and Seattle mayor,
Greg Nickels actually spoke. Or
who should have called
whom?
But it sounds as if they'll be speaking soon. And of course, that will be a private conversataion. But from what has been heard publically, here's "our version" of how the conversation probably will go.
SANTOS & SONICS
Like many other Seattle Sports Fans, I was listening to
Bob Santos detailing his effort to broker an arena deal between the
Sonics and the
Muckleshoot Casino. And right when he got to the
good part; his phone call with NBA legend and Seattle resident
Bill Russell...
TIME!!!!
January 19, 2007, Seattle Sonics vice chairman,
Lenny Wilkens, the NBA's winningest coach, who's specialty is BASKETBALL not politics, sat before
Washington's State Legislature. My take was,
Weak Front. Today, July 6, 2007 it comes as no surprise he resigned.
CONTINUED>>>
TAKING THE INITIATIVE
Since the
Ken Griffey, Jr. Returns Lovefest ended, the BIG BUZZ in Seattle has been the
Save Our Sonics crew generating support for an Initiative, that would "legally force" the
Mayor of Seattle to not accept a
KeyArena lease buy-out from
Sonics owner Clayton Bennett.
COMPLETE CLAYTON CALL 7.14.7>>>
BRIAN ROBINSON: 228
You have a good start, but there are some things you need to seriously
consider as the situation heads into the home stretch. As I mentioned
during our first meeting, you need a "strategy adjustment."
In case you haven't had the opportunity to peruse my show, here's a
compilation of my takes on the Sonics and your organization.
The
legislature reconvenes January 8, 2008; 228 days from TODAY. Since
it will be an even-numbered year, the session will only be 60 days as
opposed to the 105 days this year.
Although sending individual letters/eMails to legislators is
productive, I'm convinced that a "collective and united" lobbying
effort of Voters, Taxpayers and Fans is the only way to produce the
POWER they can truly understand. To that end, we need to mass an
attack that will create the type of undeniable momentum that actually
has the ability to
Save Our Sonics.
SWINDLED? COME ON!
The News Tribune
Updated at 1:00 AM
May 13, 2007
TACOMA — So you thought the Seattle SuperSonics’ 31-51 regular season was a debacle?
Well, their worst season in 21 years might be nothing compared with what has transpired since.
CONTINTUED>>>
MY TAKE>>>
LAST CALL
Things are really heating on the Seattle/OK City Sonics front. A few weeks ago, Sonics owner/chairman
Clayton Bennett sent co-chairman,
Lenny Wilkens to face lawmakers in Olympia. Since then,
Senator Margarita Prentice has been very visable and this week, Mr. Bennett himself will make his
$300 million pitch to the legislature. So my question to
KJR's Dick Fain was, "Where's SaveOurSonics.org?"
WEAK FRONT
Seattle Times
Updated at 03:44 PM
January 19, 2007
OLYMPIA — Sonics owner Clay Bennett wants at least $300 million in taxpayer money to help pay for a new arena that could cost as much as $530 million, but the request already has drawn skepticism from some key state lawmakers.
CONTINTUED>>>
GOOD HANDS?
In case you didn't hear me on
Sports Saturday with John Clayton," with
INSIDER INFO about a
Seattle arena, here it goes again. A proposal for a 100% privately-financed arena, from a local developer, is now in the hands of
Seattle Mayor, Greg Nickels. And in the words of
Bud Fox, "I just know."
FORMER FRONTMEN
The Seattle Times ran an article entitled, "
Why Seattle is losing the Sonics and Storm in 10 easy steps" by
Bob Young and
Jim Brunner. I moved #5 to #1, changed the wording a little and called it into the
Groz with Gas Mail Line.
CC VOICEMAILS>>>
NON-INITIATIVE
Save Our Sonics @
SaveOurSonics.org. The website states, "
Save Our Sonics and Storm was formed as a grassroots effort to show that the people of the Pacific Northwest are passionate..." It also states, "...
we have done it before, but it will take a united effort of thousands to make this happen. Like the previous fights it will take fans of all sports to unite behind this cause." And it also states, "
To succeed we will need the support of thousands of people who will join the cause." But here's "
the problem."
ELECTION DAY
Sonics '67 + 40 = '06 + I-91 = Seattle - Sonics < '11 = ? 2010 is when the team's lease with the City of Seattle expires on
KeyArena. 75% of Seattle voters backed
Initiative-91 making it more difficult (not impossible as everyone is reporting) for the Sonics to play the 2011 season in Seattle. You wanna to know
the kicker?
UNHAPPY CAMPER
[Star Chamber member, Stan Barer stepped up with a LETTER TO THE SPORTS EDITOR.] I have been stunned by the viciousness that sports writers have exhibited in basically calling into question the integrity and veracity of both the selling group and the new ownership group. I have a pretty good idea of what happened, as I am an investor and board member of
the selling group...Read the rest @
SeattleTimes.com 7.30.6
FACE THE FANS
Howard Schultz and
Wally Walker were the PR faces. We've all heard about "the other 56." We've wondered about them. We've all talked and talked
and talked about them. The Seattle Times told us
who they were, but they've been faceless, until now. So in
Face The Nation fashion,
the Star Chamber faces the
Sonic Nation.
OK, SEATTLE!
WeTheFans.com has been Seattle-based for seven years as a "
Poli$port$Biz" site. For seven years, I have espoused the ideaology of
Fan Activism on the airwaves of sports radio
KJR. An ideaology of fans uniting, organizing and protecting our rights as the "
third party" in the modern-day sports equation. Seven years! OK, Seattle, we have
one year to mass an attack to keep the Sonics from actually going to OK! OK?
MORE STERN WARNING
The Associated Press
NEW YORK - David Stern gave another warning that the
Sonics could eventually leave Seattle, saying Thursday in a conference call that the city is "
not interested in having the NBA there."
Stern has said the Sonics' lease with the city is the worst in the NBA, and he went to Seattle in February to ask Washington state lawmakers [See below: "MR. STERN GOES TO WA"] for tax money to renovate Key Arena.
Sonics owner Howard Schultz, the chairman of Starbucks Corp., has threatened to move or sell the team if state lawmakers don't approve a sales-tax package to pay for a new or renovated arena. But state lawmakers last month said there would be no deal this year.
"I would say that the city is making it pretty clear of what they want us to do, and we'll accommodate them," Stern said.
MR. STERN GOES TO WA
Here is another, "
What is wrong with this picture?" That is Seattle (not too super) Sonics owner Howard "
$tarbuck$ Baby" Schultz listening as NBA comissioner David Stern spoke to Washington state lawmakers in Olympia.
 |
Previously on Commando Dave's Show>>
