OT: Howard Schultz has Sonicsgate person removed from building

Wow, jlprk, why don't you read? It was Allen's mother, not his sister. And apparently she had paid for her tix. And she'd had them for years. And Ackerly, yes, I stand corrected, withdrew them because he was pissed at Paul Allen. The men were not "making a deal about a woman". Allen made a deal about a man, an employee, who had formerly worked for Ackerly, who took it out on Allen's mother. There was no free lunch involved.

And she is not a billionaire, her son is. I don't know the lady, so I can't say whether or not she is a "prima donna". Not sure what my hating women, about as fact-based as saying I am a prowar conservative, has to do with the issue.

Anyone who has sports season tix, they say in very small print that they can be withdrawn by the issuer (team). But that is almost never done except in cases of egregious misconduct. This is the only time I've heard of withdrawing season tix out of pique with a family member's business dealings. And whoever is involved, that is ridiculous and petty.

 

Whether she's a billionaire's mother or sister, she's wealthy and powerful. You pictured her as some helpless little old lady victim of men entitled to be taken care of and dependent upon men when you said, "Can't a couple of supposedly intelligent middle aged men resolve things without dragging in someone's mother?" Chivalrous and sexist. You think her businessman son should pay off another NBA owner to take care of her as if she's a kid.

How would an owner "withdraw" her season tickets? You keep using that verb. Even if he refunded her money, what's to keep her from buying new ones under another name, e.g. having one of those friends she goes with buy season tickets under the friend's name while Allen's mother pays for it. Unless Ackerley searched each crowd for her face, I don't see how she could be thwarted.

More likely is that she'd been getting the red carpet treatment and he downgraded her to normal season tickets. Like the VIP lounge at the airport. She probably lost champagne and hors d'oeuvre privileges and had to move back 5 rows. So she stopped going to avoid mixing with the hoi polloi.

Ackerley fired Whitsitt the month Whitsitt won NBA GM of the Year (it's called Executive of the Year). So teams pursued Whitsitt and Allen was lucky to get him. So I don't know why Ackerley would be surprised and angry that some owner hired him. What would make more sense would be if known cheapskate Ackerley (that's why he fired Whitsitt and why the team slowly died after Whitsitt) went on a cost-saving campaign to reverse Whitsitt's largesse, including Whitsitt's handing out VIP season tickets. That would explain why she lost the privileges soon after he fired Whitsitt, and got downgraded to normal season tickets. She would have perceived the cause as Whitsitt's departure, which explains why she blamed that event, perceiving Ackerley's motive as simple spite.

That theory works for me. This way, Ackerley had a rational unemotional reason for doing it, and he didn't actually kick her out which would have been awful PR, he just downgraded her to normal season tickets. Those are more credible actions than how she perceived it. I'm starting to agree with your stereotyping her as an stupid helpless little old lady.

 

I feel the Sonic fan's pain. I lived in Seattle in 1987(?) when the Nordstroms sold the Seahawks to freak'n Ken Behring, a California developer. At the time of the sale, it was a 10 year wait for season tickets. Two years later, and you could buy season tix any time you wanted. I've never walked into a Nordstrom's since.

Not nearly as bad as moving the Sonics, but only because Behring's plan didn't pan out. His plan was to trash the team and move them to Oakland, about 30 miles from his biggest development (Blackhawk County Club Community) was. Al Davis beat him to it, or the Seahawks would be the Oakland Blackhawks today.

(Okay, before any of the Bay Area fans trash me, I've never driven from Oakland to Blackhawk, so I'm guessing at the 30 miles.)

Go Blazers

 

I would be upset with Costco. He's obviously a member or he wouldn't have been able to get in. If he has video proof that he didn't say anything or do anything, he could probably take them to court over discrimination. They can't eject you for no reason when you've paid to get in.

 

That's incorrect actually. In the fine print of the membership agreement it states they can revoke membership for any reason and/or remove you. It's the same reason they are able to check receipts at the door and you are obligated to comply. You agreed to all of these terms when purchasing the membership.

 

But you know what, I bet you could still sue and I'd bet that they would settle out of court.

 

Costco is definitely evil. I worked at a book publisher and Costco demands wholesale discounts (even though they sell to public)... require you to put *their* price tag on the cover (and if they return the book... sucks to be you because have to put a new cover on the thing to be able to sell it anywhere else)... and they require you to place your product on a pallet in exactly a certain way... and arrive at their warehouse at exactly a certain time or else they send the truck back and you are out shipping costs. Similar with Walmart etc... evil evil evil. Sad the small local bookstores can never compete with that. For a $20 retail book Costco may pay $7... while a local bookstore has to pay $14. =(