Sonics headed to OKC, money headed to Seattle

[Damaramu]

Re: UPDATE: Sonics headed to OKC, money headed to Seattle

Here's what OKC has to live up to:

Not a problem at all slick.

 

[Baron Scicluna]

Re: UPDATE: Sonics headed to OKC, money headed to Seattle

I blame Howard Schultz more than anyone, how do you sell a team to a guy that has no ties in your area and expect him to keep them here.

There you go. Where was his loyalty to Seattle? That comes before Bennett, who had none, obviously. But when did lying become an issue to NBA leadership? They've tolerated it on and off the court for some time.

Oklahoma City could have strong-armed its way to keeping the Hornets. They didn't.

Had OKC used the strong-arm to keep the Hornets, they and Stern would be getting ripped 10X worse from pillar to post. Stern would be seen as abandoning New Orleans when the city got hit by Katrina, and OKC would then be looked at like a bunch of leeches.

 

[Oggiedoggie]

Re: UPDATE: Sonics headed to OKC, money headed to Seattle

What will the team be called?

The Red-Staters?
The Flyovers?

The Noodlers

 

[king cranium maximus IV]

Re: UPDATE: Sonics headed to OKC, money headed to Seattle

People have a negative (and flat out wrong) stereotype of Oklahoma probably based off the Grapes of Wrath. I doubt any free agents are going to run away, heck the Hornets loved it here. Anytime he's asked Chris Paul goes on and on about how great it was in OKC. Sorry but the stereotype isn't right and NBA players don't exactly hate it here.

That's great Paul loved his stint in OKC. But that doesn't mean OKC can support an NBA team better than Seattle.

Sure, the money is being dangled out there right now. But will it be there five, 10 years from now? I don't see it.

(And I say that as somebody who is very familiar with OKC, spent many evenings in Bricktown and has a friend whose mother died in the Murrah Building.)

Well I say it as a lifelong OKC resident, people will support the team. Bennett is a huge basketball and sports fan and he also loves OKC. He'll continue to support the team and the people will too. The people here are starved for pro sports and it's not going to just go away after 2 years.

The support for the Hornets wasn't fake.

I have no doubt the people will support it. But, then again, the people in Seattle were still supporting the Sonics.

But will the money be there to buy luxury boxes? To build another new arena when Bennett decides the current one isn't nice enough?

Seattle's MSA is 3.3 million. OKC's MSA is 1.1 million. That alone means less money in local TV and radio deals.

Oklahoma has supported everything required for sporting venues in Oklahoma. They threw all their support in for the Redhawks stadium, threw it all in for the Ford Center and recently threw it all in for the renovations on the Ford Center. If the money is needed the people of Oklahoma will pay for it, believe me.

The people of Guymon and Poteau are stuck paying for OKC's stadia? That's some bullshirt. Or were you talking about just OKC?

And, again, a smaller MSA means less local TV/radio contracts. The Sports Animal and KOCO aren't going to be able to pony up as much as radio and TV in a 3.3M market.

I meant OKC and it's suburbs.

You know, OKC isn't as big as Seattle but it isn't exactly tiny. It keeps growing by the way. It's come a long way in just the last 10 years. So people flipping out that the Sonics are moving to a smaller market need to just hold on. The market keeps growing and the Sonics will help it grow.

Really I think people just don't want OKC to have a team.

Certainly, big ups for supporting OKC. With that being said:

Metro area OKC- 1.2M
Metro area Raleigh, North Carolina, where I was born and raised and a place I still laugh about having a pro sports team- 1.5M

I use Raleigh as my measuring stick for b-b-b-b-but we're quickly growing!!!! podunk cities. If you ain't bigger than Raleigh, well...

 

[Kato]

Re: UPDATE: Sonics headed to OKC, money headed to Seattle

So does David Stern now have a city -- Seattle -- as a place to use to threaten other teams? He's already told Milwaukee that the Bradley Center is no longer up to snuff. Can Minneapolis' Target Center, which is almost 20 years old, be far behind? It's bad enough when an owner threatens to move or flirts with moving, but I have been appalled that the major sports commissioners have made this a priority. Selig, Stern and Bettman have all done this.

 

[slappy4428]

Re: UPDATE: Sonics headed to OKC, money headed to Seattle

So does David Stern now have a city -- Seattle -- as a place to use to threaten other teams? He's already told Milwaukee that the Bradley Center is no longer up to snuff. Can Minneapolis' Target Center, which is almost 20 years old, be far behind? It's bad enough when an owner threatens to move or flirts with moving, but I have been appalled that the major sports commissioners have made this a priority. Selig, Stern and Bettman have all done this.

Of course he'll use Seattle as a threat. He wouldnt be the control-freak if he didn't.

 

[dixiehack]

Re: UPDATE: Sonics headed to OKC, money headed to Seattle

So does OKC stay in the Northwest Division or get switched to the Southwest? The later would make more sense, but I tried to work out the logistics in my head and it involves shifting several teams around, including having Memphis and Milwaukee switch confrences.

 

[ScribePharisee]

Re: UPDATE: Sonics headed to OKC, money headed to Seattle

I blame Howard Schultz more than anyone, how do you sell a team to a guy that has no ties in your area and expect him to keep them here.

There you go. Where was his loyalty to Seattle? That comes before Bennett, who had none, obviously. But when did lying become an issue to NBA leadership? They've tolerated it on and off the court for some time.

Oklahoma City could have strong-armed its way to keeping the Hornets. They didn't.

Had OKC used the strong-arm to keep the Hornets, they and Stern would be getting ripped 10X worse from pillar to post. Stern would be seen as abandoning New Orleans when the city got hit by Katrina, and OKC would then be looked at like a bunch of leeches.

True, but there could have been enough political spin on it to make it less dastardly. And just go back to some of the commentary coming out of New Orleans during the rebuilding effort. They honestly didn't think they'd be able to handle both the Saints and the Hornets.

 

[Football_Bat]

Re: UPDATE: Sonics headed to OKC, money headed to Seattle

SiloSonics

Nope, Silo's a baseball town.

 

[ScribePharisee]

Re: UPDATE: Sonics headed to OKC, money headed to Seattle

There's a suburb of OKC, Midwest City, that has Tinker AFB. The main high school there is called the Bombers.

The Oklahoma Sonic Boom.

 

[Rusty Shackleford]

Re: UPDATE: Sonics headed to OKC, money headed to Seattle

Oklahoma SuperSonics (hey, the Lakers and Jazz didn't change, and we all know about all the lakes in greater LA and the famous Salt Lake City jazz scene)
Oklahoma Boomers (from Bommer Sooners)
Oklahoma Cowboys
Oklahoma Twisters/Tornadoes

I must say, I can always be counted on to come up with lame team nicknames in a pinch.

 

[JC]

Re: UPDATE: Sonics headed to OKC, money headed to Seattle

Oklahoma Thieves.