Bad Day for Seattle…or is it?

So David Stern helped his glutenous, disgusting, lying friend out and he has the NBA approval to take his team home. No surprise. And the state leaders are ripping the decision, from the mayor to the governor to the US senators, to Oklahoma City.

Hang on a second. Oklahoma City? Didn’t they just WIN the NBA, in one way or another? Well, be careful what you wish for. As Deadspin reported yesterday, Clay Bennett is an equal opportunity A-HOLE, including to his own homies:

“Rep. Charlie Joyner, R-Midwest City, who also voted against the bill, said he received an e-mail from Bennett that said the team might not come to Oklahoma City unless the House passes the tax incentive. “I just don’t think this thing has been handled right. That’s kind of holding legislators hostage,” Joyner said.”

He’s quite a guy, that Bennett. The definition of crap with feet. Simultaneously trying to screw two cities at the same time? That’s pretty unbelievable. Be careful what you wish for, Okies, because you are getting ALL Clay-Clay, 24/7.

I know, this thing isn’t over obviously. The courts will have the final say, and the mayor and others sound pretty determined to fight like hell. But overall, I guess I’m just sad with today’s news. Why? Well, the NBA has said Seattle is no longer good enough to be in the club. That just kind of hurts more than anything else. What’s also sad is that the NBA owners are simply looking out for their own asses. For some strange reason, I hoped they would come to their senses and realize how dumb this is, and either delay the vote or pipe-dream city, turn down the request. At least Paul Allen and Mark Cuban didn’t follow along like the rest of the sheep. But they voted for this because they want to have the ability to move themselves if/WHEN things get even worse in their own situations. They don’t care about how great a city Seattle really is for the NBA. The media market, the gateway to Asia, the wealth and high level of education, the 41 years of NBA history, they just don’t care. They only want the threat to play hardball with their own politicians. Having the Sonics leave Seattle does more to help their own cause.

We’ll see what happens. But let’s not kid ourselves. Everyone and everything has a price. If the right number is floated to the mayor, who knows? A dollar figure that would pay off the remaining Key debt and ease the pain of a tenant bailing out might be pretty hard to turn down. They do have leverage here, and Bennett and the league are going to be chomping at the bit to get a settlement that allows them to leave. If that settlement includes a promise of an expansion team and helps pay for the cost to redo the Key? That would be hard to ignore.

But bottom line, if the league is this stupid and arrogant, willing to bail on a city like this? Willing to inflict this much damage on the ticket-buying fans? Good riddance. If the relationship has to end, there might not be a better time to pull the plug! The NBA has some serious issues right now, with teams losing money, the league is still haunted by the Pistons-Pacers brawl, an NBA ref was possibly fixing games, on and on it goes. And we still have a lot to care about around here in the fantasy world of sports. The Cougs are our Cougs, on the hardwood and the football field, and we have a lot to feel good about in the coming years with Wulff and Bennett. The Seahawks and M’s are thriving franchises with excellent ownership and great stadiums. We’ll live without the NBA.