Supersonicsoul - The Sonics Blog!

Last Man Standing

2009-11-06T15:55:00.000-08:00

I have had, for some time now, a rather bizarre fascination with the remnants of long-deceased franchises.

There is no rational explanation for this obsession, although I imagine it began while collecting baseball cards in the early 1980s. As much as I enjoyed discovering the nuances of Jim Essian’s 1.000 batting average or Bert Campaneris’ bizarre 1970 home run total, I was just as happy with the team names and cities which only existed as a quick blip on the back of those cards.

Sure, Toby Harrah’s last name forms a wonderful palindrome, but what the heck was the deal with the WASH at the top of his statistics? Who was the SEA on Marty Pattin’s card? And just what happened to those teams, those Roanoke Colonies of major league baseball?

As a 10-year-old, it was difficult to piece together, but fascinating nonetheless; those brief elements of history intrigued me, much the same way that the still-living actors who served as munchkins in The Wizard of Oz still command a small (pardon the pun) bit of attention from fans of that film, or why so much interest was lavished upon the last surviving members of the Titanic. In some way, they enable us to touch a piece of history.

It’s the same for the last men who played for extinct teams; their continuing existence in pro sports – whether basketball, football, or whatever – enables fans to see tangible evidence of a fable.

As you might have heard, the Sonics left Seattle nearly two years ago, with a roster full of cast-offs, rookies, and failed big men. From among that muck, though, are two young men – Jeff Green and Kevin Durant – who will undoubtedly be playing professional basketball for a very, very long time. The Pippen to Durant’s Jordan, Green may wind up outlasting his more famous teammate, but considering the age difference, the smart money is on Durant to hang on longer.

Durant is now 21 years old, having celebrated his birthday last September. By the end of this season, he will have scored – barring injury – more than 5,000 points as an NBA player. By that same age, the last two famous Seattle Sonic teenagers, Shawn Kemp and Rashard Lewis, had scored about 3,500 points.

Combined.

Obviously, we’re talking about a special player here. Having played only a single season in Seattle at the start of what should be a prosperous career, is it possible that Durant will stand alone as the longest-tenured player of a defunct team? In other words, will his career stretch out the longest after the death of his initial team?

I did a bit of research, and, surprisingly, my guess is no. Here’s the list, in ascending order, of the longest careers after a team went bust. The numbers correspond to the number of years each player was in the league after their respective team either moved or folded.

12 years
LaSalle Thompson – Kansas City Kings
Tiny Archibald – Cincinnati Royals
Calvin Murphy – San Diego Rockets
Paul Silas – St. Louis Hawks
Walt Bellamy – Chicago Zephyrs
Chet Walker – Syracuse Nationals
Elgin Baylor – Minneapolis Lakers

13 years
Adrian Dantley – Buffalo Braves
Elvin Hayes – San Diego Rockets
Don Nelson – Chicago Zephyrs

14 years
Eddie Johnson – Kansas City Kings
Tom Chambers – San Diego Clippers
Ricky Pierce – San Diego Clippers

16 years
Otis Thorpe – Kansas City Kings
Terry Cummings – San Diego Clippers

And, your champion, at 17 years
Moses Malone – Buffalo Braves

You have to admit it’s a fascinating list, featuring no fewer than six players with ties to Seattle (Baylor, EJ, Chambers, Pierce, Cummings, and Silas). Of more importance, though, is the amazing career of Moses Eugene Malone, who played two games for Buffalo in 1976-77 at the age of 21, was dealt to Houston for two first-round picks, then spent the next 17 years moving his ample posterior throughout a wide array of NBA arenas, before finally coming to rest in the Hall of Fame.

Will Durant last 18 years in the league? It’s entirely possible, of course, but consider the length of the careers of these gentlemen, who, like Durant, scored 1,200 or more points in their age 20 seasons:

Magic Johnson – 17
Adrian Dantley – 15
Chris Webber – 15
Spencer Haywood – 14
Cliff Robinson – 13
Isiah Thomas – 13
Shareef Abdur-Rahim – 12
Antoine Walker – 12
John Drew – 11
Johnny Neumann – 7

Zero for ten. To be fair, there are a number of active players who will likely reach at least 17 seasons (Shaquille O’Neal and Kevin Garnett are at the top of that list), but for every Shaq there are a whole host of Tracy McGradys.

So, while it’s hard to say if Durant will match Moses’ longevity, it’s pretty clear to me that he will be the last man standing to have worn a Sonic jersey. And maybe, 15 years from now, some kid will be looking at three-dimensional statistics on his HoloComputer and ask his dad, “Who’s this team Kevin Durant played for at the start of his career? What’s a Sonic?”

And that sound, my friends, is the sound of a hundred Seattle fans punching themselves in the leg.

NBA Champs: The First Ten Games

2009-11-04T15:42:00.000-08:00

Vintage Sonics Halloween Fun!

2009-10-28T14:53:00.000-07:00

Print and clip your choice of Vanilla or Lime Flavor!

As we at Supersonicsoul attempt to get our kiddies ready for Halloween ("Where'd I put that Detlef wig?"), here's a vintage Supersonicsoul cartoon from our resident artist extraordinaire Rafael Calonzo, Jr. (aka Chunkstyle) from way back in 2007.

Happy Halloween . . . and good luck with those Danny Fortson costumes!

Dale Ellis: On Tour

2009-10-22T08:57:00.001-07:00

Perhaps the least surprising aspect of this story by Mike Griffiths of GoVols.com is the fact that, at age 49, Dale Ellis can still drain 3's.

Ellis visited his old haunts at the University of Tennessee recently, and he told Griffiths that he's interested in returning to the game, possibly as a coach. In addition, Ellis said he's headed off for a tour of Europe with, among others, Dennis Rodman and Penny Hardaway. Not exactly a dream team of coachable players when it comes to late 80s, early 90s stars, but an interesting group nonetheless.

NBA Single-Season Point Leaders, By Age

2009-10-21T14:35:00.000-07:00

APB for stolen Shawn Kemp shoes, KFC, more

2009-10-20T11:30:00.001-07:00

From the Post Bulletin in Austin, Minnesota:

Food was among the list of items that an Austin man says was missing after he called police to report a burglary at his apartment Thursday night.
... a resident in the 600 block of Fourth Avenue Northwest reported listed as missing from the apartment: a computer tower, a 16-inch computer monitor, Shawn Kemp basketball shoes valued at $180 and Kentucky Fried Chicken, White Castle food, pork ribs, pork chops and food stamps. Police also notified the victim that 1994 ended 15 years ago, and provided him with a complimentary 2009 Austin Police Calendar.

Sonicsgate: A Slam Dunk

2009-10-16T11:04:00.000-07:00

There are, perhaps, as many ways to judge a work of art as there are a basketball player.

The evaluator of a player, luckily, has cold, hard numbers to help him, while a man standing before a work of art, whether Monet or Miley Cyrus, is forced to look inward and answer the question, “How does this make me feel?”

Ultimately, a great work of art stimulates thought in the mind of the viewer, creates discussion, and – if it is truly great – a wide range of opinions.

And so, while I won’t elevate it to the level of Dog Day Afternoon or Lawrence of Arabia, you have to say Sonicsgate is a worthwhile piece of art.

Okay, there are at least four or five movies in there, and, granted, two hours is waaaay too long for this story, but, that’s all immaterial, really.

What is important is that this film got made, and kudos to the three gentlemen who created it. Those who might argue that the Sonic history half of the movie should have been pared down are not grasping how important that part of the story is to Sonic fans. That is our history up there on screen, and if this film doesn’t tell our story, what will?

Sure, the film is a downer, but so is the subject matter. What did you expect, a lighthearted rom-com?

I was not eagerly anticipating the release of Sonicsgate. Obviously, I’ve digested more than my fill of this story already, and the idea of sitting through two hours of something that would leave me with a horrible mixture of anger, depression, and misery was … well it was less than appealing.

But about halfway through the movie – around the time it focused upon the botched negotiations between Steve Ballmer, the City, the State, the Sonics, and the NBA – I had an epiphany of sorts, and it really surprised me.

The NBA will come back to Seattle.

At first, it was a rush of excitement, one of those rare clear-headed moments that happen about once a year, when all the complications fall away and you’re left with a crystallized insight of the future.

It seems obvious when you think about for more than a moment, really. Assuming (I know, I know) Ballmer’s plan comes to fruition and the economy eventually reaches a point at which the $75 million required from the State becomes viable, Seattle will be left with a fantastic arena and no tenant.

And how long do you think it would take the NBA to react? Six months? Six minutes?

I understand other cities – St. Louis, Kansas City, Las Vegas, etc. – are ready to host the NBA, but none of those cities combine Seattle’s deep basketball history with the league’s guilt over abandoning it, tossed in with the fact that Seattle is a large metropolis with equally large corporations ready to spend money on luxury suites and advertising.

But almost as soon as that rush of excitement arrived, it departed, because I was left with the realization that the only way the dream of the NBA in Seattle can take shape is for us to swipe another city’s team.

And let’s face it, that is the engorged river we’ll have to cross at some point in the next few years. After all of our whining and complaining about the unfairness of Oklahoma City stealing “our team” (and, yeah, your narrator’s as guilty as anyone), we are poised to repeat that same dance on another city’s grave.

Last spring, while driving down to Portland to watch the Blazers, I had an almost identical conversation with a fellow SupersonicSoul author, and I reasoned that if we got an expansion team it would be different since it would mean we wouldn’t have the blood of relocation on our hands.

Raf’s counter-argument, as I look back upon it now, was right. Simply by building another arena and joining the NBA – whether with an expansion team or one heisted from another city – we become co-conspirators in the never-ending game of arena creep taking place across the country.

Sure, we’d be able to argue that we hadn’t stolen someone else’s team, but by creating yet another ridiculously overpriced altar to basketball, we would have given the people in Minneapolis or New Jersey or Oakland, more reason to worry that within months, they were going to hear the inevitable refrain from their team’s owner about “unbalanced revenue streams” and “lack of competitive edge.”

And I honestly don’t know how to counter that argument. As someone who likes to think of himself as a quasi-Libertarian who hates to see wasted spending, despises the way professional sports leagues play cities and fans off one another, and recoils at the thought of how many mouths could have been fed with the dollars spent on demolished stadiums, I’m torn.

There is the part of me that loves sports, and the NBA. Watching the NLCS last night, there was a moment in the 8th inning when Manny Ramirez strode to the plate with the game on the line. Ramirez v. Madson might not be Ali v. Frazier, but it was fantastically exciting to watch, and it reminded me of how it felt when the Sonics were in the championship mix for most of the 1990s.

The thrill you get as a fan in those moments is almost incomparable, and it is those moments we’re craving when we consider dipping our toe back into the NBA’s pool.

Do those moments, though, justify the expense? Will our joy in watching the Sonics compete for the ’19-’20 championship override the guilt in knowing we did to another city what we criticized Oklahoma City for doing to us, in knowing that we, as a people, spent more than a billion dollars on three stadiums – Safeco, Qwest, KeyArena – in the same time as we ran up tremendous deficits, causing all sorts of devastating cutbacks to crucial services?

It’s a tough, tough question to answer. The makers of Sonicsgate may not have intended to ask those questions, but their film certainly contributed to at least one person thinking about them.

Injuries, Pro Sports, and Patriotism

2009-10-15T13:27:00.000-07:00

Let’s play Guess the Speaker.

“I'm very angry because once again the national teams take players and we lose out due to injuries.”

Mark Cuban? Nope.

It’s AC Milan CEO Adriano Galliani, talking to the media about his disgust with the fact one of his defenders, Oguchi Onyewu, was injured while playing for the U.S. against Costa Rica in a World Cup qualifier on Wednesday and may be out for six months.

As a result, Galliani will now be paying Onyewu to watch Milan from the sidelines– something that is understandably irksome to him.

But is anyone surprised this happened? It’s not the first time, obviously, that a professional player has been injured while competing on the world stage, but what makes this case unique from others before is that Galliani is demanding the US Soccer Federation provide compensation to AC Milan for depriving them of Onyewu’s services.

It’s an interesting demand, and, if successful, would completely destroy international competitions as we know them. Is there any country that would recruit a professional athlete if they received, along with his obvious talents, the risk of writing a multi-million dollar check if said player should tear an ACL?

Onyewu’s salary is estimated to be about $1.1 million per season (he just signed a 3-year deal with Milan this July), so his salary wouldn’t decapitate the US Soccer Federation, but imagine how devastating it would be, just as an example, if French Basketball was forced to cough up $11 million for an injury Tony Parker. I can’t imagine their budget could even begin to take on those sorts of costs, could they?

The whole idea of professional athletes performing in international competitions is tenuous at best and ridiculous at worst. While the World Cup will likely never change, simply because of the immense history and dollars involved, I would be surprised if we see NBA players and MLB players competing in international competitions for much longer; the vast amounts of money invested in these gentlemen are just too large.

If nothing else, then, Oguchi Onyewu’s injury may provide a hint that this era may finally be coming to an end.

McClendon Has Some More Wine To Sell

2009-10-15T09:05:00.000-07:00

We all experienced Aubrey McClendon's version of Billionaire Garage Sale last spring, you'll remember, when he unloaded millions of dollars worth of wine via an auction house in New York.

It went pretty well, and combined with the dough he earned selling his collection of western art to his own company (that was a tough sell, no doubt), you'd think he wouldn't have to worry about selling off any more assets to cover the rent.

You'd be wrong.

Turns out Aubrey had so much fun parting with his wine in April, he's doing it again! In less than a month, Spectrum Wine Auctions will be offering The Aubrey McClendon Collection at the St. Monarch Regis Beach Resort in Dana Point, California.

"Fine wine buyers have a once in a lifetime opportunity to buy rare and normally unavailable vintages," Spectrum's Greg Roberts commented. Well, I suppose if your lifetime was the equivalent of a tse-tse fly's, you'd be right, Greg, but considering McClendon just got done selling $2.2 million worth of his wine less than six months ago, don't you think you ought to take it a little easy on the hyperbole?

Jack Sikma & The Trade of Eternity

2009-10-09T12:19:00.000-07:00

Creation of a Champion

2009-10-08T12:15:00.000-07:00

A Sonic Fan Where You'd Least Expect It

2009-10-08T09:36:00.000-07:00

If this TNT/NBA ad is a taste of things to come, then you can bet your Tom LaGarde rookie cards I'll be watching the broadcasts this season, if only for the chance to hear a passing Paul Silas, Fred Brown, or Slick Watts reference.

(HT to Ball Don't Lie)

Seen on Craigslist

2009-10-07T10:44:00.000-07:00

A good offer, but I'd be curious to know what type of pizza is required. Are we talking cheese, or multiple toppings? Could I get the Sonics' pennant for a bagel and a half-finished bag of shredded mozarella?

McClendon & The Dunes

2009-10-06T12:05:00.000-07:00

You may have noticed TrueHoop's mention of Aubrey McClendon's latest (proposed) real-estate transaction involving the Saugatuck Dunes in Western Michigan.

At first blush, it's a relatively minor story - rich guy buys some land, gets into dispute with locals about his plans to build McMansions, sells off a chunk of the land, goes about his way. But, if one digs just a touch deeper, you can see that it's not as simple as it first appears.

You see, McClendon tried to sell this land previously ... and failed. Back in December, a tentative deal was in place to sell 171 acres of his more than 400 acres to the Saugatuck Township for $25 million, but the locals were unable to procure a grant from the State of Michigan that would have gone a long ways towards the purchase.

Now, 10 months later, McClendon is selling the property for $20 million, or $5 million less than he thought he'd get last year. And, it is important to note, that sale is still contingent on the Saugatuckians (?) getting a state grant and quite a big chunk of private funds, although they seem to think the money will be relatively pain-free (but, given the state of Michigan's economy, even the optimists are hedging their bets).

[Of further interest, McClendon purchased all 412 acres for the sum of $38 million in 2007, which works out to roughly $92,000 per acre. The lands he plans to sell now for $20 million total 171 acres, or roughly $116,000 per acre - a nice return on investment even at the steeply discounted price. That Aubrey - he didn't get rich by luck.]

And, of course, there are the ongoing legal complications involved. McClendon is refusing to pay property taxes on the land because he feels that the locals over-estimated the value of his land, and because he's irked that they re-zoned the land and changed the density from 1 home: 1.5 acre to 1 home:5 acres, essentially shrinking his number of possible homes from 300 to 80.

Essentially, Aubrey McClendon has, yet again, woven his own peculiar brand of antagonistic wizardry, creating a situation wherein the local residents detest him, while at the same time devaluing his own asset to the point where he has to take drastic steps to rectify a miserable situation.

Sound familiar?

The only difference is that the owner of the Sonix is not able to pack up the remaining land in the back of a moving truck and move it to Oklahoma City. If Aubrey McClendon wants to move forward with his plans to develop a passle of ridiculous mansions on those 241 acres, he's got to make nice with the local populace, something he has, to date, been either unwilling or unable to do.

NHL in Seattle? Oh, Come On

2009-10-06T08:45:00.000-07:00

Whenever I read articles such as this one by Susan Slusser on Fanhouse, this single thought always comes to mind:

Do we Sonic diehards sound this ridiculous to non-basketball fans?

Slusser makes the argument that since the Sonics have packed up and left Seattle, it's a great time for the NHL to lay down a sheet of ice and get to work. Of course:

1. There is no arena
2. There is no youth hockey
3. There is no arena
4. There is no arena

Of course, there's nothing that a new arena couldn't solve. And, hey, we know how willing Seattle is to build new arenas for pro sports teams, right? Sure, they said no to a franchise that had been in the city longer than any other pro sports team in the city's history, but what makes you think they would say no to hockey? I mean, geez, Seattle has such a long and storied history with hockey, right?

Oh, and, hey, Seattle loves the Sounders, and since they love the Sounders they'll love anything we throw at them! Okay, sure, pro soccer has been in Seattle for three decades, and everybody in the city played soccer from the age of 6 to 11, and there's a large Latino population that helps to augment that soccer fandom.

But, you know what? I saw a guy in a Canadiens cap yesterday, and he said he'd go to the games, and his buddy, Gord, said he's down for whenever the Oilers are in town, so that's like two guys right there!

Please.

You know, I get the distinct impressions that as Slusser was writing the article, the prevailing thought floating through her head had to have been: "How the heck am I going to fill my column today?"

NBA Leaders, Points By Height

2009-10-02T09:21:00.000-07:00

Mo Sene: Vive le difference

2009-09-30T09:59:00.000-07:00

Mo Sene, part of a triumvirate of miserable picks by former Sonic GM Rick Sund, has inked a deal with Toulon of the French basketball league, the team announced by press release on Monday.Which leads me to posit something: In Sene’s mind, has he failed?

It’s an interesting question to roll around in your mind. Viewed from a North American perspective, he most certainly has failed. Drafted as a lottery pick, Sene has never provided anything remotely resembling a productive NBA career, despite his prodigious wingspan and agility.

Whether due to injury, lack of ability, or poor work ethic, Mo Sene has seen his entire NBA career produce, in three seasons, a total of 47 games played and 103 points.

Three season. 103 points, or three more than Wilt Chamberlain scored in one game 50 years ago.

To return to my point, then, I suppose the majority of basketball fans in this country would most assuredly agree that Mo Sene has had a crappy career.

But look at it from his perspective. Sene has earned in excess of $5 million in three seasons and is, quite likely, set for the rest of his life. He has undoubtedly funneled a great deal of money back to his family in Senegal, a country whose per capita income (roughly $1,000 US) is the equivalent of a week’s worth of per diem for the typical NBA player.

During those three years, Sene spent the majority of his time in two cities – Seattle and Oklahoma City – where he bumped into fellow Senegaleses about as often as he started basketball games. I remember reading a story about Sene after his rookie season, wherein it was told that he spent the majority of that year just wandering around Seattle, eating poorly and lacking any semblance of friends.

Now, after playing poorly for three seasons, he is “punished” by being sent to Toulon, where the African population is quite high, where he’ll have no trouble finding food that he is used to, where he can speak a language – French – which is already part of his lexicon, and where the weather is, let’s face it, pretty damned good.

Toulon, for the curious, is about halfway between Cassis and St. Tropez on the French Riviera.

As opposed to Oklahoma City, which is halfway between Edmond and Midwest City.

Somehow, I suppose Mo will find a way to endure.

NBA: The Invention of Lying

2009-09-28T12:54:00.000-07:00

The Commish(es)

2009-09-28T09:38:00.001-07:00

Sonic Fans v Bennett

2009-09-25T10:30:00.000-07:00

Back when all of Greater Seattle was ready to light Clay Bennett on fire, a small group of season-ticket holders launched a lawsuit against the Sonics' owner, claiming that he misled them in a ticket-renewal advertising campaign.

And, if you're like me, you paid attention to the suit for awhile, and then let it ebb as slowly from your mind as Clemon Johnson making his way back downcourt after a made basket.

But thanks to the Capitol Hill Seattle Blog, we can report that the suit - long-ignored by us - is still ongoing, and may, in fact, serve to be the only piece of justice Sonic fans will ever wring from Clay Bennett's sorry hide.

The story is chock full of interesting tidbits, such as the fact that the judge hearing the case is Quincy Jones' brother, and that Justice Jones decided that a jury would be the best arbiter of the final amount of damages owed to the three ticket-holders.

This week, according to CHSB, other season ticket-holders will be notified of the class action suit, and will be given the opportunity to take part. After reading the notice, it seems clear to me that we're not talking coffee-spilled-on-the-lap damages here. To quote the notice:

"A remedy remaining available to Plaintiffs and Class members is a potential money judgment consisting of the profit that might have been made through a resale of season tickets, if Plaintiffs and Class members had been allowed to exercise their options to purchase season tickets for the 2008-2009 and 2009-2010 seasons at 2006-2007 prices."

With the trial date set for January of 2010, and a deadline for prospetive class-action suit members to respond of October 24, it's still a ways to go before this case gets moving, but that's still plenty of time for Bennett & Co. to start coming up with ways (i.e., $$$) to keep this out of the courts.

Let It Reign

2009-09-24T12:33:00.000-07:00

If you've got $80 wearing a hole in your pocket, might I suggest this as an option for how you might best spend it?

It's a limited-edition poster of everyone's favorite dunking teenager, Shawn Kemp, from the shows Pearl Jam put on at KeyArena this week, now available on ebay (here's the link). Think more than a few 30-something Seattle men wouldn't mind having that on their walls?

(A hat-tip to my crazy friend, Erik, who is obsessed with all things Pearl Jam).

Misadventures in Maze Creation

2009-09-23T14:28:00.000-07:00

If you hadn't heard already, a kindly family in Oklahoma decided to devote their horticultural efforts to creating a tribute to their favorite basketball team. To wit:

Sadly, the economy being what it is these days, the best intentions of even the most devoted fans of a cellar-dwelling team can be waylaid. There are bills to pay, and Cletis must prioritize (1. Sooner gear; 2. More Sooner gear; 3. Food). And, as a result, the grass starts to grow, the hedges get a little untidy, and well, this happens:

Amazing how nature can turn on you like that.

Refs

2009-09-22T09:02:00.000-07:00

With word from The New York Times that at least two of the replacement officials to be hired by the NBA were fired less than a decade ago, the anti-league ammunition has grown even more powerful.

Then, if you add in the words of Julie Davis, wife of current ref Marc Davis, in an indignant letter to David Stern, that ammunition begins to take on military-like levels.

But, honestly, when I look at this situation from a broader perspective, I do not believe this is an argument that current NBA referees can win.

Essentially, the refs are counting on the ineptitude of their replacements to swing public opinion in their favor, forcing the league to capitulate to their demands and reinstate them to their rightful place on the NBA's courts.

But look closely - who are these men (and women?) who will be replacing them? They are, by and large, officials who are on the precipice of becoming NBA officials themselves. Look at it from this perspective - the last time you watched a high-level NCAA game, did you notice the poor quality of officiating?

I doubt it.

Or try this argument: Are the 61 current NBA referees truly the best 61 refs in the world? Or, more likely, are more than a handful of them past their prime and only in possession of their job(s) because of seniority?

As Bill Simmons has noted numerous times at ESPN.com, it's a bit odd that some of the men calling NBA games today are old enough to collect social security benefits. Sure, the five refs between the ages of 61 and 70 were exceptional at one time, but does that mean they are at the same level today? Or, just possibly, have their skills eroded with age, and their union has enabled them to hang on?

I'm not saying that a man loses his ability to call an NBA game at the age of 65. Rather, my argument is that if the current officials believe that the general public will be up in arms over the poor quality of the replacement refs, well, I believe they are sadly mistaken.

It's not fair, and it's incredibly sad that the NBA will, once again, be able to yield its power like a sledgehammer against a much weaker opponent. Being right, as Seattle was in its argument with the league a year ago, doesn't mean squat when it comes to dealing with the league.

It is painfully true that barring a horrible call in a crucial playoff game, the viewing public will, by and large, completely ignore the situation and forget about the "real" refs. By February, if this situation lasts this long and I seriously doubt it will, any leverage the current officials think they had will have evaporated, leaving them in the perilous position of having to beg David Stern for their jobs back.

Which, sadly, is what he was looking for all along.

(hat-tips to commenter JAS and to TrueHoop)

What's In a Name?

2009-09-21T09:26:00.000-07:00

There are, I would imagine, more than 1,000 possible names a 6-year-old girl's soccer team could choose. Pixies, Wildcats, Princesses ... the number of ideas is endless, really.

And so, dear reader, it was with much excitement that I attended my daughter's first game on the road to her earning a full athletic scholarship to the University of Oregon. At the dinner table the night before her first game (at which time the team would pick their name), we bandied about some options: the Lucky Ducks (my wife and I went to Oregon, if you weren't aware), the Wildcats (we're thinking of moving to Tucson), the Green Machine (her team has lime green unis), and others.

Personally, I was rooting for the Lucky Ducks, and we even came up with an inspired idea for how the team could run around quacking after they scored a goal.

Regardless, though, I was sure it would turn out well. I mean, come on, how bad could the team name be?

How bad? How about ... the Thunder?

That's right, me, the lead writer for a site devoted to loving the Sonics and hating the Thunder, so much so that I came up with a way to reference the team without even using that dreaded word ... I have to spend every Sunday for the next five months watching my beloved daughter shout, "Go Thunder Go!" whenever she's taking a break on the sidelines.

Personally, I'm thinking the only righteous solution to this situation is to buy her team, complain about the conditions at her field, and then move the team to Kansas City.

It's really the only option.

As Advertised

2009-09-15T16:38:00.001-07:00