Re: Bye Bye Sonics
There is plenty of blame to go around here. The Schultz ownership group were overly optimistic and naive, and then totally crapped the bed by bitching incessantly in public. The local government has been peevish and unwilling to lift a finger for the most part.
The biggest culprit? The NBA. Their game is [censored] boring, and their business model totally unworkable. I thought I heard this morning that only like 20% of the franchises in the NBA operate in the black? I am too lazy to check it out, but that wouldn't surprise me in the least.
Who loses? The fans, just like always. I remember listening to Sonic games with my dad in the car when Bob Blackburn was broadcasting. I remember watching them lose a playoff game to Phoenix when Gar Heard hit a fallaway at the buzzer (I was distraught, but the Sonics came back to win the series). I remember being heartbroken when they lost to the Bullets in '78, and then overjoyed when they won it all in '79. I was only 9- I ran outside as soon as the game was over, fully expecting that the entire area would be screaming and yelling in celebration. I didn't yet understand that EVERYONE doesn't watch sports (something I still don't fully understand).
I will cry when the moving trucks come. I may not be an NBA fan, but I have loved the Sonics for as long as I can remember. Once they are gone, I will never watch another NBA game.
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