City of Seattle sues its own team: Something is wrong

Today, the city of Seattle filed a lawsuit against the current owner of the Seattle SuperSonics, Clay Bennett (at right). The lawsuit claimed that Bennett must agree to keep the team in Seattle until 2010 like it stated in the contract that he signed when he bought the team, instead of moving them to Oklahoma City like Bennett has implied post-purchase. Bennett issued an ultimatum stating that if the city did not vote to build a new arena for the team by this fall, he would opt out of the contract, pay the remainder of the money due to the city from the team, and move to Oklahoma City where his company is based. Doing so will most likely significantly decrease fan support in the team until they leave, thereby losing even more money for the city of Seattle. After all, who do they really have to cheer for if they know that the team will be gone before they know it?

Now I can see how this would anger the fans in Seattle, so I set it upon myself to explore the blogosphere and see what other bloggers were saying about these recent events. I found two bloggers, one a group of lawyers, and another a talk radio host, who had opinions on these events. I posted my reactions to their comments on their blogs, which are both displayed below.

Seattle suit has a familiar ring
The moment I saw that Seattle had filed this lawsuit against Clay Bennett and the Seattle SuperSonics, the first thing I thought of was that lawsuit that you referenced with the Minnesota Twins. The Twins wound up staying in the Twin Cities, but I don’t feel that this is going to be the case with the SuperSonics. There’s now going to be perennial bad blood between the ownership and the fan base, most likely resulting in a significant drop in attendance.

Will the new presence of second overall pick Kevin Durant (at left) make a difference? I don’t think so. The city of Seattle feels that it have been misled by the new owners. I don’t think that the new group ever felt that they were going to stay in Seattle, and had always planned on going to Oklahoma City as soon as possible. To do this, they set an impossible date for the city to match in order to agree to a lucrative new arena deal. The city has spent exorbitant amounts of money in the past years building two new stadiums – Safeco Field and Qwest Field – for the Seattle Mariners and Seattle Seahawks respectively.

Like in the case of the Twins, “the Twins got the state to pony up for a new stadium, so the team is now here for the long haul.” There’s no way that this will be the case for the Sonics. In the end, I think Bassett’s group will opt out of their contract as soon as possible because the city of Seattle isn’t ready to pony up even more dough for another professional sports team – especially a losing team like the Sonics. Give it one more year and the Seattle SuperSonics will be the Oklahoma City “insert generic professional sports team name here.” And after that, there’s no chance that a team will move into Seattle. With the lawsuits filed today, within a year, professional basketball in Seattle will be done.


It’s about to get real ugly in Seattle – City sues Sonics
I couldn’t agree more with you that “Bennett has been lying since day one.” He never intended for the team to stay in Seattle, but instead had his own best interests in mind and wanted to move to Oklahoma City as soon as possible. Thus he set an arbitrary, unobtainable date for the city to come up with enough cash to erect a new arena. He knew that Seattle had just paid for Safeco Field and Qwest Field, two very expensive, state-of-the-art stadiums for two amazing and well-loved Seattle franchises. The Sonics, on the other hand, have had atrocious years recently. Why would the city of Seattle want to pay for a new arena for a team that has made the playoffs only 3 times in the past 10 years? Especially when they already have a very nice facility in the Key Arena, pictured on the right.

How do you think this will affect the team in the long run? I can almost guarantee that attendance will go down, but will the team even try anymore. Will they be the laughing stock of the Western Conference? Granted they now have one of the more electrifying players to come into the league since Lebron James, but can that really make that big of a difference to a team with absolutely no leadership? This team is a train wreck waiting to happen.

You pose the question as to whether or not the city of Seattle will ever be able to lure another professional NBA franchise to the city or not. I don’t think they will. The city feels betrayed by Bennett’s group and the team in general. I can’t see a lot of support from the city when another franchise comes calling and their only demand is that “the city brings together enough money to build a new arena.” That definitely is not going to happen. Good luck getting another franchise, Seattle, this one is over.

CameraGate, Donaghy, A-Rod, and Bonds: Does Anyone Respect the Game Anymore?

Every Sunday the New England Patriots gear up and get ready to annihilate whatever NFL team is in their path led by their fearless leader, Bill Belichick, head coach of the New England Patriots (pictured at right). Belichick was under fire in Week One of the NFL season due to the uncovering of “CameraGate.” In the opening week of the 2007 NFL season, the Patriots were caught using video cameras on the sidelines to record the defensive signals of the New York Jets. The Patriots routed the Jets 38-14, leaving no doubt as to who the better team was, but with everything that has happened recently, it leaves us wondering one thing: Where have the ethics gone in sports?

There is nothing more than I would like to see than for this whole “CameraGate” thing to blow over. In all honesty, it is not that big of a deal. The Patriots are a good club. They were going to win the game anyways. Bill Belichick must have had a good reason to do what he did. There’s absolutely no evidence saying that he did such things while winning the three Super Bowls in four years. Bill Simmons, columnist for ESPN.com writes “I always thought Belichick cared too much about his legacy to risk tainting it like this.” This statement holds so many truths to it. For instance, Belichick is probably the best coach in the NFL these days. He had no reason to be taping the Jets, and the reason he was doing it was probably petty and insignificant, but yet, the media plays it like it is a huge deal. The media loves to blow things like this out of proportion and instill doubt in the fans, and at a point like this in all of sports, that is the exact opposite of what is needed. The Patriots are the only undefeated team in the nation at 12-0. The Jets are currently 3-9. There is no doubt that the Patriots would have won that game. But was it necessary for them to tape defensive signals? It is instances like this that could possibly taint a great season. While there will be very few things said about this “CameraGate” occurrence if the Patriots can go undefeated and go on to win the Super Bowl, it just seems as if there is a small lack of respect there.

So much has happened in the past couple of months regarding morals and ethics in sports, fans have begun to wonder where the ethics have gone. Which also makes you wonder: Do fans respect the game more than the players do these days? For example, perennial MVP Alex Rodriguez (at left) of the New York Yankees was reprimanded by the third baseman of the Toronto Blue Jays about two month ago when it was obvious that Rodriguea called the third baseman off of a fly ball as he rounded third base, thus causing the third basemen to miss the fly ball, Rodriguez to score, and the Yankees to win the game. Rodriguez claimed that this had happened to him in the past, and was nothing out of the ordinary. However, this does not necessarily make what he did right. And not surprising at all, the next time the two teams met, Rodriguez was promptly hit in the square of his back with the first pitch he saw. Was it warranted? Maybe. Should he have done what he did? Probably not. But regardless, actions like this make the fans wonder what the motivation of the players is these days. Is it to win for the sake of the team, or is it to win by any means possible, leaving morals in the dust?

Another example of this moral dilemma in baseball is the use of steroids. And the first name that comes to mind when you think of steroids in baseball is none other than home run king Barry Bonds. Maybe we’ll never know if he actually used steroids at any point in his career. It is the fact that there is even a remote possibility that he did that makes this tarnish so unbearable. Barry Bonds has adamantly denied any use of or knowledge of use of steroids, and as a fan of the game, I want to believe him. But with so much doubt being spread from the media and the league itself, it is hard to do so. Major League Baseball needs to get their policy straight, not leaving an ambiguous line. Doing so would let the fan base trust in their players again, and not have to sit back and wonder what type of actions they’re condoning by supporting their favorite teams.

Moral and ethical lapses haven’t only been seen in Major League Baseball recently, but also in such places as the National Basketball Association. Tim Donaghy, a professional NBA referee was found to be fixing games on the orders of different sports gambling bookies, allowing him a share of the money made from profits. Tim Donaghy couldn’t have done anything worse for the NBA if he had tried. Fans now are always going to wonder what classic games were fixed just so some low-life bookie could make an extra buck. Tell you what, if there’s one job that I would not want to have right now, it is the job of David Stern, Commissioner of the NBA (pictured at right). The NBA is going to struggle to keep its fan base with the allegations that have come out with referees betting on the games that they are officiating. Soon boos and cries of “Is that Donaghy out on the court” will ring throughout arenas across the United States. Stern must do something drastic in order to ensure that not all trust in the officiating in the league has gone to naught. I honestly feel bad for Stern, and hope that he can reconcile this by the beginning of the season, because American sports really doesn’t need another reason not to trust its athletes.

Sports in the U.S. needs to do all it can to regain the trust and idolization of its fans because in the recent past, those two characteristics have definitely been lacking. Whether it is playing the game fair, admitting that you have done wrong, or just going out and playing the game it was mean to be played, sports in general need to do a better job at reconnecting with their fans. Because once they lose their fans due to greed and lies, who else do they have to play for…