I feel bad for all you Sonic fans, but hang in there. Hopefully you get another team or find some new some Superstar on Team X that you'll take interest in. I was always a die-hard Heat fan when I was young (not anymore since I like LA so much, lol), but I started to love watching certain players play on other teams. The Lakers and Indianapolis Colts have little to do with me or Miami, but I've been watching them for years and feel that "home-city" bond. I know it's not easy but I think the NBA can still entertain you people quite well once you get past some personal issues.
I wonder what is going to happen to Kevin Pelton, the website writer for Supersonics.com. I did a job shadow with him in high school and he's a die hard Sonics fan as well as a great writer. If he loses a job out of this, it's a shame. I guess there's still the Storm website to work on *shrug*.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Shard @ Jul 8 2008, 01:57 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>I wonder what is going to happen to Kevin Pelton, the website writer for Supersonics.com. I did a job shadow with him in high school and he's a die hard Sonics fan as well as a great writer. If he loses a job out of this, it's a shame. I guess there's still the Storm website to work on *shrug*.</div> I reckon he and psheehy will team up to dominate the WNBA market.
Seattle will probably get a team by 2009/2010 season, depending who will be the owners of the new team and how fast they want things moving.
What happens if the Sonics make a new arena and Seattle gets a new team, and calls them the Sonics. Could you root for them?
^ Thats what the owners of the Sonics should have done in OKC, and just leave the team in Seattle. (sell it)
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Lavalamp @ Jul 8 2008, 10:06 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>What happens if the Sonics make a new arena and Seattle gets a new team, and calls them the Sonics. Could you root for them?</div> It depends on where the team came from. An expansion team is something I could get behind. I will not support a team brought here by Bennetting another city out of their franchise.
I don't know what I'd do. I'd be pretty pissed at ownership and would want to avoid rooting for my team. OTOH, I couldnt be mad at the players and would want to see them be succesful. Tough.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Sir Desmond @ Jul 8 2008, 09:54 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Shard @ Jul 8 2008, 01:57 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>I wonder what is going to happen to Kevin Pelton, the website writer for Supersonics.com. I did a job shadow with him in high school and he's a die hard Sonics fan as well as a great writer. If he loses a job out of this, it's a shame. I guess there's still the Storm website to work on *shrug*.</div> I reckon he and psheehy will team up to dominate the WNBA market. </div> he has not stated a decision as of yet, but NBA OKC PR is getting all the bilines at the site.
What am i going to do now? Not spend another dime on the NBA as long as I live. This whole thing has been absurd, but, what I have taken from it has been refreshing and eye opening. Professional sports in general is just plain stupid. You gather the best players your local team can afford and they play the best players another cities team can afford and people go and cheer for those players who are getting overpaid, and aren't even from that city. The players don't care, the owners don't care, it's all business to them, and we are the d.f.'s that go and give them our money. Why? If you are from Boston, are you really stoked about winning the championship? Why? Because some dude decided it was time to empty his pocketbook and buy you one? Those players aren't from Boston, they don't care about Boston, and they care less about you. In fact, most of us have forgotten that KG didn't even want to play there until he realized he wasn't going to L.A. and in all likelyhood would end up back in Minny. Pierce wanted out, and Allen wasn't given the choice, he was obtained. So what do you have? Three guys that didn't want to be there collected a huge paycheck and some trophies and YOU got (drum roll please) . . . nothing. Which brings us to the Sonics. These business men come in and hijack our local bb club and move it to OKC where people from that town will go and watch players from that club and get all excited about their local team. Why? It isn't really their local team. They have no history with the club. The players aren't from there, and they had no choice in the decision to move there. In fact, KD is pretty pissed off about it because he just bought and fixed up a house in Seattle. But now he will be in OKC, and even though he doesn't want to be there and had no choice in the matter, the fans will come, and they will cheer, and more importantly, spend their money . . . because they are dumb . . . just like the rest of us who give our money to these business. Go watch ncaa bball. It's better anyway. Peace to Sir Desmond, Shiek, Shard, and the rest of the original jbb guys. I'm out . . . again.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (odde23 @ Jul 25 2008, 02:04 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>What am i going to do now? Not spend another dime on the NBA as long as I live. This whole thing has been absurd, but, what I have taken from it has been refreshing and eye opening. Professional sports in general is just plain stupid. You gather the best players your local team can afford and they play the best players another cities team can afford and people go and cheer for those players who are getting overpaid, and aren't even from that city. The players don't care, the owners don't care, it's all business to them, and we are the d.f.'s that go and give them our money. Why? If you are from Boston, are you really stoked about winning the championship? Why? Because some dude decided it was time to empty his pocketbook and buy you one? Those players aren't from Boston, they don't care about Boston, and they care less about you. In fact, most of us have forgotten that KG didn't even want to play there until he realized he wasn't going to L.A. and in all likelyhood would end up back in Minny. Pierce wanted out, and Allen wasn't given the choice, he was obtained. So what do you have? Three guys that didn't want to be there collected a huge paycheck and some trophies and YOU got (drum roll please) . . . nothing. Which brings us to the Sonics. These business men come in and hijack our local bb club and move it to OKC where people from that town will go and watch players from that club and get all excited about their local team. Why? It isn't really their local team. They have no history with the club. The players aren't from there, and they had no choice in the decision to move there. In fact, KD is pretty pissed off about it because he just bought and fixed up a house in Seattle. But now he will be in OKC, and even though he doesn't want to be there and had no choice in the matter, the fans will come, and they will cheer, and more importantly, spend their money . . . because they are dumb . . . just like the rest of us who give our money to these business. Go watch ncaa bball. It's better anyway. Peace to Sir Desmond, Shiek, Shard, and the rest of the original jbb guys. I'm out . . . again.</div> I understand why you might feel that the Sonics players were not really from your city, but at the same time I would say that you did indeed find basketball entertaining for a while, right? Try to find some interesting star to follow. Good luck.
To be honest the more I think about this the more I am getting sick of the NBA. The NBA is so trendy and such a copy cat league there is no doubt that more owners are going to want to fleece their cities for all that they can in order to get new arena deals and if they don't they are going to use Seattle and Las Vegas as "bait" to get what they want from their local governments. Look at what is going on with the league right now. Every restricted free agent is bargaining with Europe in order to get a better deal from their host team because Josh Childress set the precedent with his stunning move to Greece. Every GM is scared to death of missing on the next Chris Paul so they are looking to draft any raw point guard with upside ahead of proven talent (ie Derrick Rose). Pretty soon no foreign player is going to get drafted after the top five pick in the first round because the slated money for first rounders is not enticing enough for European players to leave the guaranteed millions of dollars that they are getting from their club teams. (see Fran Vasquez, Tiago Splitter, etc.) Since when can a minor league system compete with the "greatest league in the world." I can understand and commend guys like Brandon Jennings leaving to go to Europe instead of being ridiculed for going to college for one season when his intentions all along is to be a professional athlete. The college game should be suspect to losing great players to the minor leagues. But the NBA losing players to the minor league. The system is a joke. David Stern has allowed it to happen by giving the owners all the power in the world in terms of negotiating contracts with rookies and negotiating with state legislators for arena deals. There is a part of me that continues to want to see the NBA exposed for as a diminishing product and there is no better way for that to happen than for the U.S.A. to lose out on the gold medal in the Olympics. I never thought in a million years that I'd be pulling for that to happen but when I see a league that goes out of its way to conceal evidence of foul play by the commissioner, owners, general managers, and referees and the players continue to be villified by the public for being selfish, overpaid, underdeveloped, and uneducated something has to change. I know that the United States losing in the Olympics would do nothing to change the perception of the NBA for the worse for the owners and David Stern. But what losing in the Olympics does is force the NBA to have to do a better job of marketing its product to the fans and make the owners and Stern less likely to try to do anything that could potentially put egg on the league's face and cost the league/or their teams money. That may include issues of relocation, collective bargaining disagreements, lockouts, etc. and it will gives the fans a hell of a lot more of a voice than they have now. In my opinion the NBA is at an all time low right now in terms of how I perceive the league is managed and how I believe the business model of the league is structured. The product on the floor has improved but that certainly is not going to make fans in Seattle feel any better. I'm pulling for J.R. Holden in Beijing and I hope that somehow the league is held accountable for its lack of consideration for the fans. Hopefully at some level the fans realize what is going on and they begin to either stop going to the games or stop watching the games altogether. Never thought in a million years that I'd feel this way but watching Stern turn his back on my Sonics makes me want to turn my back on the league.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Iron Shiek @ Jul 26 2008, 07:14 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>To be honest the more I think about this the more I am getting sick of the NBA. The NBA is so trendy and such a copy cat league there is no doubt that more owners are going to want to fleece their cities for all that they can in order to get new arena deals and if they don't they are going to use Seattle and Las Vegas as "bait" to get what they want from their local governments. Look at what is going on with the league right now. Every restricted free agent is bargaining with Europe in order to get a better deal from their host team because Josh Childress set the precedent with his stunning move to Greece. Every GM is scared to death of missing on the next Chris Paul so they are looking to draft any raw point guard with upside ahead of proven talent (ie Derrick Rose). Pretty soon no foreign player is going to get drafted after the top five pick in the first round because the slated money for first rounders is not enticing enough for European players to leave the guaranteed millions of dollars that they are getting from their club teams. (see Fran Vasquez, Tiago Splitter, etc.) Since when can a minor league system compete with the "greatest league in the world." I can understand and commend guys like Brandon Jennings leaving to go to Europe instead of being ridiculed for going to college for one season when his intentions all along is to be a professional athlete. The college game should be suspect to losing great players to the minor leagues. But the NBA losing players to the minor league. The system is a joke. David Stern has allowed it to happen by giving the owners all the power in the world in terms of negotiating contracts with rookies and negotiating with state legislators for arena deals. There is a part of me that continues to want to see the NBA exposed for as a diminishing product and there is no better way for that to happen than for the U.S.A. to lose out on the gold medal in the Olympics. I never thought in a million years that I'd be pulling for that to happen but when I see a league that goes out of its way to conceal evidence of foul play by the commissioner, owners, general managers, and referees and the players continue to be villified by the public for being selfish, overpaid, underdeveloped, and uneducated something has to change. I know that the United States losing in the Olympics would do nothing to change the perception of the NBA for the worse for the owners and David Stern. But what losing in the Olympics does is force the NBA to have to do a better job of marketing its product to the fans and make the owners and Stern less likely to try to do anything that could potentially put egg on the league's face and cost the league/or their teams money. That may include issues of relocation, collective bargaining disagreements, lockouts, etc. and it will gives the fans a hell of a lot more of a voice than they have now. In my opinion the NBA is at an all time low right now in terms of how I perceive the league is managed and how I believe the business model of the league is structured. The product on the floor has improved but that certainly is not going to make fans in Seattle feel any better. I'm pulling for J.R. Holden in Beijing and I hope that somehow the league is held accountable for its lack of consideration for the fans. Hopefully at some level the fans realize what is going on and they begin to either stop going to the games or stop watching the games altogether. Never thought in a million years that I'd feel this way but watching Stern turn his back on my Sonics makes me want to turn my back on the league.</div> Well I wouldn't mind seeing Stern leave, I don't think he's been marketing the league too well and is inconsistent on important issues. However I wouldn't want to drag the entire league down with him, there is no chance it would recover then. The guy's not that young, just bide your time till he retires. Hopefully some movement can start to draw attention to his incompetence though.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Lavalamp @ Jul 9 2008, 12:06 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>What happens if the Sonics make a new arena and Seattle gets a new team, and calls them the Sonics. Could you root for them?</div> Didn't that happen a couple years after the Cleveland Browns left Cleveland for Baltimore? I'm not sure if basketball is as deep in Seattle as football is in Cleveland. I really wonder if we will see them get another team in our lifetime.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Iron Shiek @ Jul 26 2008, 08:14 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>To be honest the more I think about this the more I am getting sick of the NBA. The NBA is so trendy and such a copy cat league there is no doubt that more owners are going to want to fleece their cities for all that they can in order to get new arena deals and if they don't they are going to use Seattle and Las Vegas as "bait" to get what they want from their local governments. Look at what is going on with the league right now. Every restricted free agent is bargaining with Europe in order to get a better deal from their host team because Josh Childress set the precedent with his stunning move to Greece. Every GM is scared to death of missing on the next Chris Paul so they are looking to draft any raw point guard with upside ahead of proven talent (ie Derrick Rose). Pretty soon no foreign player is going to get drafted after the top five pick in the first round because the slated money for first rounders is not enticing enough for European players to leave the guaranteed millions of dollars that they are getting from their club teams. (see Fran Vasquez, Tiago Splitter, etc.) Since when can a minor league system compete with the "greatest league in the world." I can understand and commend guys like Brandon Jennings leaving to go to Europe instead of being ridiculed for going to college for one season when his intentions all along is to be a professional athlete. The college game should be suspect to losing great players to the minor leagues. But the NBA losing players to the minor league. The system is a joke. David Stern has allowed it to happen by giving the owners all the power in the world in terms of negotiating contracts with rookies and negotiating with state legislators for arena deals. There is a part of me that continues to want to see the NBA exposed for as a diminishing product and there is no better way for that to happen than for the U.S.A. to lose out on the gold medal in the Olympics. I never thought in a million years that I'd be pulling for that to happen but when I see a league that goes out of its way to conceal evidence of foul play by the commissioner, owners, general managers, and referees and the players continue to be villified by the public for being selfish, overpaid, underdeveloped, and uneducated something has to change. I know that the United States losing in the Olympics would do nothing to change the perception of the NBA for the worse for the owners and David Stern. But what losing in the Olympics does is force the NBA to have to do a better job of marketing its product to the fans and make the owners and Stern less likely to try to do anything that could potentially put egg on the league's face and cost the league/or their teams money. That may include issues of relocation, collective bargaining disagreements, lockouts, etc. and it will gives the fans a hell of a lot more of a voice than they have now. In my opinion the NBA is at an all time low right now in terms of how I perceive the league is managed and how I believe the business model of the league is structured. The product on the floor has improved but that certainly is not going to make fans in Seattle feel any better. I'm pulling for J.R. Holden in Beijing and I hope that somehow the league is held accountable for its lack of consideration for the fans. Hopefully at some level the fans realize what is going on and they begin to either stop going to the games or stop watching the games altogether. Never thought in a million years that I'd feel this way but watching Stern turn his back on my Sonics makes me want to turn my back on the league.</div> I agree with this, for the most part. Stern is a douche, and is proving to be a pretty shitty commish with the way he's been handling things recently. International issues are really hurting the NBA right now. Whether it's international players not coming overseas when they enter the draft and get picked late, or international teams "stealing" our players, it's really hurting the NBA. I'd love to see what Stern does about it - because, IMO, that one year of college rule has turned into a complete failure in my eyes. If his plan to fix the problem with international teams and players turns out to be as silly as that one-year rule, then it's probable that we're a bit screwed. I don't think the Olympics are gonna affect the NBA much in terms of whether they win or lose, it seems like an issue not intertwined with the NBA. Also, there's the thread I'm about to put up.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (odde23 @ Jul 25 2008, 03:04 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>What am i going to do now? Not spend another dime on the NBA as long as I live. This whole thing has been absurd, but, what I have taken from it has been refreshing and eye opening. Professional sports in general is just plain stupid. You gather the best players your local team can afford and they play the best players another cities team can afford and people go and cheer for those players who are getting overpaid, and aren't even from that city. The players don't care, the owners don't care, it's all business to them, and we are the d.f.'s that go and give them our money. Why? If you are from Boston, are you really stoked about winning the championship? Why? Because some dude decided it was time to empty his pocketbook and buy you one? Those players aren't from Boston, they don't care about Boston, and they care less about you. In fact, most of us have forgotten that KG didn't even want to play there until he realized he wasn't going to L.A. and in all likelyhood would end up back in Minny. Pierce wanted out, and Allen wasn't given the choice, he was obtained. So what do you have? Three guys that didn't want to be there collected a huge paycheck and some trophies and YOU got (drum roll please) . . . nothing. Which brings us to the Sonics. These business men come in and hijack our local bb club and move it to OKC where people from that town will go and watch players from that club and get all excited about their local team. Why? It isn't really their local team. They have no history with the club. The players aren't from there, and they had no choice in the decision to move there. In fact, KD is pretty pissed off about it because he just bought and fixed up a house in Seattle. But now he will be in OKC, and even though he doesn't want to be there and had no choice in the matter, the fans will come, and they will cheer, and more importantly, spend their money . . . because they are dumb . . . just like the rest of us who give our money to these business. Go watch ncaa bball. It's better anyway. Peace to Sir Desmond, Shiek, Shard, and the rest of the original jbb guys. I'm out . . . again.</div> The sport is bigger than any team or any location. I've never lived as an adult in the same metro area as any of my favorite professional teams, so the location of a team doesn't have any impact on me.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (cpawfan @ Jul 27 2008, 01:05 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>The sport is bigger than any team or any location. I've never lived as an adult in the same metro area as any of my favorite professional teams, so the location of a team doesn't have any impact on me.</div> So if the team is taken from its location and renamed, removing all the history and culture the team has built up until then, you wouldn't be bothered at all?
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (pegs @ Jul 27 2008, 12:14 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (cpawfan @ Jul 27 2008, 01:05 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>The sport is bigger than any team or any location. I've never lived as an adult in the same metro area as any of my favorite professional teams, so the location of a team doesn't have any impact on me.</div> So if the team is taken from its location and renamed, removing all the history and culture the team has built up until then, you wouldn't be bothered at all? </div> That only applies to the team one grew up watching. For the most part, I think people care about the players, not the uniform. That's why you see so many band-wagon fans. If my favorite player is in LA I might form a bond with the other scrubs, however I am indifferent as to the location of the team. It might bother me at first, but it won't matter in the end.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (pegs @ Jul 27 2008, 01:14 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (cpawfan @ Jul 27 2008, 01:05 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>The sport is bigger than any team or any location. I've never lived as an adult in the same metro area as any of my favorite professional teams, so the location of a team doesn't have any impact on me.</div> So if the team is taken from its location and renamed, removing all the history and culture the team has built up until then, you wouldn't be bothered at all? </div> Not one bit. I've dealt for years with the possibility of the Pirates and Penguins leaving for other cities.
