Top 10 Most Unsportsman-Like Plays

In honor of Clay Bennett’s underhandedness, your top-10 most unsportsmanlike plays in recent times:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mh_-JS7FRTw&hl=en

And in honor of our favorite Ohio State fan, check out #1 on the list….Meanwhile I was disappointed they didn’t put the Jerramy Stevens-Tyler Brayton knee to the groin in the mix. Remember?

Moving on, some of the lads have run afoul of the law. Xavier Hicks pleaded guilty to a lessor charge and will now serve 45 days in jail. You may remember Hicks as the rising big-hitter sophomore safety who made a bunch of highlight-reel shots on receivers last year (including this one vs. UCLA):

But you may also remember Hicks from that whole rubbing alcohol in the contact lens case incident with his roomie last year. NOT SMART. Luckily Grady Maxwell didn’t actually try to put in the contacts as he realized pretty quickly something was wrong. Hicks will start serving time on July 1, and with a 45-day sentence will surely be out in time for the start of August practices.

Andrew Roxas was arrested early Sunday in connection with an alcohol-related driving offense on College Hill. Perhaps he was busy celebrating the end of a long spring practice session? Boys will be boys, but getting behind the wheel when you’ve had a few is never a good idea. Interesting angle is Roxas is just 19, and he wasn’t what you would term as officially being intoxicated. He was cited for a “baby DUI,” given to minors who are found to be driving with a blood-alcohol content between .02 and .08. We’ll see how it shakes out in regards to punishment and/or if the charges stick.

Finally, yes, more Sonics stuff. We’ll keep it brief. You’ve had a day to digest the news. Late yesterday the governor chimed in with a letter to the NBA’s board of governors. A lot of people were disappointed that the letter didn’t include the bridge funding for the final $75 million to renovate the publicly-owned Key Arena. Well, I was disappointed too, but this letter is actually stronger than you might think. Why? Because according to a legal expert I heard on KIRO last night, it is littered with “legalese” that hints at a lawsuit against the ENTIRE NBA if they approve this move with all the lawsuit stuff that is going on right now. It’s a lot more of powerful message that they are sending below the surface. And not only when you consider it’s signed by the governor. but other parties signing the letter include house speaker Frank Chopp, senate majority leader Lisa Brown, KC exec Ron Sims and Seattle city council president Richard Conlin. Frank Chopp?? REMEMBER, FRANK CHOPP, WHO HATES THE NBA, PRO SPORTS IN GENERAL AND IS ANTI-ARENA FUNDING, signed this letter! That’s no easy task.

My disappointment was that I, like many fans, wanted the commitment to the arena so it was strong enough to send in Slade Gorton to the NBA meetings Thursday and Friday. He could stand there, wave the lawsuits in their faces, and oh yeah, not only do we have potentially the richest ownership group in pro sports led by Ballmer (yes, overall they would be ahead of Paul Allen), they also have a $300 million dollar renovation deal in place. But Gregoire did what she could do right now. She couldn’t guarantee the money because even though this is a strong deal, there is still a lot of opposition to giving public money to Key Arena, and certainly didn’t have enough votes lined up to call a special session. So it will have to do. Anyway, according to the KIRO interview, don’t be surprised if there is yet another lawsuit thrown on the pile, this time the state of WA vs. David Stern and the NBA owners, all of which are named in the letter (including Clay Bennett!). Sue EVERYBODY!

Will the letter do anything? No. The NBA won’t follow this letter and will probably just give it a glance, at best. But there IS at least some talk right now that the NBA COULD in fact postpone their vote on Friday until some of this craziness is sorted out. However, there is also a report from an NBA spokesman that says mid-week last week the Board of Governors has already finished their report and that they are giving the 100% recommendation to vote YES for the move. Then again, that was done before the Howard Schultz news broke that he was going to sue to unwind the transaction on the basis that Bennett is full of you-know-what. But don’t think this thing is over once Friday comes and the NBA rubber-stamps the move with a yes based on the completion of the lease. This thing has many chapters left. Stay tuned!