Yesterday was the big day.  You may remember back in July 2006, the Seattle Supersonics were sold to a group from Oklahoma City.  At that time, the chairman of their group had a press conference stating his intentions.  He told the Seattle leadership they would be given one year from the date the sale was complete to get an arena deal put together or they would relocate the team. That day was October 31, 2006. They were up front with their intentions on the very first day.  Well the year past on October 31, 2007 with no arena deal.  The Seattle people say that the group of owners were not genuine in their attempt to get an arena.  They say that Clay Bennett did not put forth a good faith effort and use Audrey McClendon’s, CEO of Chesapeake Energy, statements as proof.  He made a statement to the Oklahoma City based Journal Record that the group never bought the teams to keep in Seattle.  Mr. McClendon received a $250,000 fine for making those public statements.

These statements, even if proven to be true are completely irrelevant.  The city of Seattle could have brought this to a close by simply getting a new arena.  This would have closed this entire argument.  Now that the deadline has passed, the city of Seattle takes no responsibility whatsoever.   The new owner put forth an offer for an arena which I believe was very expensive to me.  Then again, Seattle is a much more expensive place to live than Oklahoma City.  They say that since it was so expensive that the owners knew the city would not accept the terms.  That may be true but the city did not make any counter offers except to renovate Key Arena.  They knew those were unacceptable terms for the last owner and for this owner.   Add to this, the city of Seattle passed Initiative 91 after the sale of the Supersonics.  This initiative prevents the city from using public funds to support sports franchises.

The Sonics, have a lease for Key Arena that lasts until September 30, 2010.  The owners have requested arbitration to buy their way out of the lease in Seattle.  The city countered with a lawsuit to keep the lease in court instead of arbitration.  The city won that battle in keeping the case in court.  Now the court will decide if the Sonics can buy their way out of the lease.   The outcome of this case will determine when they can relocate.  Yesterday, Clay Bennett made good on his promise to file with the NBA to relocate the team to Oklahoma City.  Now it is up to a five team owner panel to evaluate the request.

Now let me tell you my opinion.  Regardless of my feelings on Seattle not taking any responsibility for being in this position, I do wish things were different.  I think the fans in Seattle did not ask to be in this situation.  I would be just as concerned if the situation was turned around.  I truly hoped there was a deal going on behind the scenes the was using this situation to pressure Seattle to get an arena using Oklahoma City business men as tools.  I had hoped that in an ideal world, they would have gotten their arena and Clay Bennett would have been rewarded with being given another team.  I want a team here in Oklahoma City but really hate to take a team that has been in Seattle for 41 years.  It would have been nice to get our own team without taking someone else’s.  At this stage, I do believe that Seattle should keep the Supersonics name and colors and the history that goes with the team so they can continue their history at a later date when they get a new team.  I want Oklahoma City to have their own team history without having the stigma of being Seattle’s team.

The name should stay with the city of Seattle because people will forever call them Seattle’s team.  I still hear people call the Indianapolis Colts, the Baltimore Colts.  I still hear people call the Hornets, the Charlotte Hornets.  Oklahoma City would really embrace the team if they had their own city’s name on the Jerseys.  The NBA talked about how well they supported the Hornets when they were here for two years after the hurricane hit New Orleans.  Imagine how the support would be if it was Oklahoma City’s team.  I also think it would be a grave error to call the team the “Oklahoma ______” trying to include the state.  I have heard that argument that people would not go to the games if it only had Oklahoma City on the Jerseys.  That is ridiculous.   Do people not go see the Cowboys because Dallas’ name is on the Jerseys?  Absolutely not!  Since we are so desperate to get our city’s name out as a destination, then our city’s name should be on the jerseys.

I think these are exciting times for Oklahoma City.  The growth has been phenomenal in recent days and with the addition of our first professional sports team, quality of life can only get better.

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