Sonicsgate Trailer

So, how does the media event on 10/12/09 Impact the Seattle and King County elections being held three weeks later?
Since so many media members are in it there will be a great deal of attention to this event by the media.

iPhone users, there is a YouTube link at the bottom of this post.

Sonicsgate Trailer from sonicsgate on Vimeo.

The SONICSGATE documentary film premieres for free on the internetz Monday, October 12.

Peep the trailer live in HD at www.sonicsgate.org.

Featuring exclusive HD interviews with more than 35 key characters including Kevin Calabro, Sam Perkins, Brent Barry, Desmond Mason, Nick Collison, Doug Christie, Jamal Crawford, Aaron Brooks, James Donaldson, Slade Gorton, Paul Lawrence, Brad Keller, Tom Carr and Chris Van Dyk. 

Special Preview Screening October 9 @ SIFF Cinema in Seattle (321 Mercer St.)
Tickets on sale now at the SIFF Website

$5 -- includes admission to Sonicsgate Afterparty at Spitfire! (2219 4th Ave)

SONICSGATE.ORG

I lifted this text right off SonicsCentral.com

http://www.sonicsgate.org/   WATCH TRAILER HERE and the countdown clock.

Check out the video on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILmtdQGxZUU

Have a great day,
Mike Baker

Sent from my iPhone
Visit me here:
http://ManyWordsForRain.blogspot.com

CrossCut.com: New tax for KeyArena? A big maybe

David Brewster at Crosscut.com has taken another run at expressing the Washington State Convention & Trade Center's (WSCTC) point of view on the City of Seattle's desire to use the hotel tax that is collected within Seattle for the state/public portion of Seattle's Key Arena renovation.

WSCTC is closer to identifying an actual site to expand to, they are not there yet. They are closer to knowing how big the new facility will be, they are not there yet. They do want to expand in order to satisfy the over population of hotels in Seattle.

It is interesting that people comment at Crosscut and in the stories at the Seattle Times and Seattle PI that the money should go toward Pike Place Market because it is such a tourist attraction. The question there is: is Pike PLace Market the reason people come to Seattle?

The hotel folks are wanting an expansion of convention space to draw people in from far and wide. I do not see them asking for Pike Place Market to be expanded. I am sure they do not want it to look like a dump, and the city has responded with a measure on the ballot next Tuesday. People will vote for that, not me, but people that comment on these kinds of stories in media outlets.

Having a 15 to 17 thousand seat arena that can actually attract major out of town non-sports events seams to be more in line with what the hotel people are wanting, a place for people to gather for events. While those people are here from out of town I am sure they will go to Pike Place Market as something to do while they are here for their event.

As far as WSCTC providing construction jobs, they are much further away from having an actionable plan than the Key Arena project. If the city had money 6 months ago I think we would see hard hats at Seattle Center today marking up the site for construction.

Something not quite said in David Brewster's story is that unstable timeline of getting a team into Key Arena, and Steve Ballmer paying for the sports effected portion of the renovation, 150 million dollars worth. That is an unknown to them, and I do not think they want the schedule sliding into a window where the WSCTC would want to break ground and have funding for its activity, fair, or fare enough.

What Deputy dog Tim Ceis is telling David Brewster is that they want to use the state money and do the public portion of the renovation even if there isn't an NBA team available right away. That is the hard sell, that isn't the impression they had been giving in public. They had position much of this as just having revenue available if a NBA team could be procured by Steve Ballmer.
The city had a study two years ago that said that Key Arena would need at least 30 million in basic upgrades just to make it a minor league venue without the NBA. That infrastructure and non-sports construction would have to happen no matter what happened with the NBA or state. It looks to me like Ceis and the state are resolving the WSCTC uneasiness with the soft NBA timeline by funding that statement of work, and whatever else they are including (parking garage, or enclosure of the Key footprint?) with the state portion. If this is the case then it does make some sense for the effected WSCTC, and it could infuse the area with construction jobs in a hurry.

This could satisfy WSCTC timeline concerns, stimulate the economy with some jobs right now, and show the NBA that we are going to improve the facility on our own no matter what Ballmer does do. Being able to commit putting an NBA team in Seattle would go much faster if construction was in motion, even if it isn't the sports effected portion of the statement of work.

TheNewsTribune.com: The City of Seattle will present its proposal on Dec. 1 to a task force created by the Legislature

In yesterday's Tacoma news Tribune Eric D. Williams reported that on December 1st the City of Seattle will present its proposal for renovating Key Arena to the Washington State Joint Task Force on Local Financing Options for King County.

A couple interesting paragraphs at the end of the story should give readers an idea of what role Brian Robinson is taking.

The city will have another supporter championing its proposal in Olympia. Brian Robinson, co-founder of the group Save Our Sonics, is part of a lobbying group called Sports and Activities for Families. The group plans to help the city’s funding proposal pass in Olympia. The group's effort will be led by Ryan Dicks, son of U.S. Rep. Norm Dicks, D-Belfair.

"We want to put this issue in front of the legislators and make sure it doesn’t get dropped," Robinson said. "We’re going to go to work to make sure that it stays front and center and receives some of the publicity that the city hasn’t been good in attracting."

Tax money key to arena renovation, ERIC D. WILLIAMS; eric.williams@thenewstribune.com, Published: October 28th, 2008 12:30 AM

The Sonics were not Saved, okay. The franchise left, the symbols went to the Museum of History and Industry.
The effort here, and in other places, is to resolve the arena issue. My interest is centered on the Seattle Center, and that a dead Key Arena on the Seattle center site is a drag on the entire site. Many of us hard core Sonics fans have let the idea of the team, and the NBA, go as a goal. Brian Robinson has written as much at SonicsCentral.com: What if we don’t miss them?
The question Mr. Robinson asks is this:

I have to ask former Sonics fans, and fans of the NBA, what the risk to the league is in our valuable market. What if we simply don’t miss them? What if we fail to get it done this year and then decide not to spend more effort on it going forward?

My answers are these:
The risk to the league is that the value is contained in the interest and value of the markets competing for the product (pretty basic business value relationship). If you can not find a buyer for a house then the value drops. I think this is where the NBA really is, that they are a bubble economy, and that Seattle, as well as Oklahoma City are presenting remodeled arenas as preferred venues. Kansas City is offering the same thing, St. Louis as well. I will not be shocked to see the Kings effort to build a new arena in a major new development in California fall through. That is not just a function of the current economy, but the actual market for the NBA. Key Arena renovation is the best offer this market, or any market, should be offering the NBA product. They are 3 years away from reliving the NHL process of 5 years ago if they are not careful. David Stern is not careful, he is chasing the business model that crushed the NHL, nobody wins.

What if Brian Robinson and the lobbying group called Sports and Activities for Families, along with the City of Seattle, fail? Then they should accept the reality that they made the best of this effort, but the public/private partnership to rebuild an arena will not produce a solution. Done.
Thanks Brian.
City, you are now obligated to get out of the way of a private group that may want to build a new arena, maybe partner with that group to provide a way for a private group to locate land in the city for an arena, and figure out a redueced role or date to close it.

Key Arena is not likely going to survive in this market long term without a significant upgrade. Either compete or not, if the answer is not then crush most of Key Arena and use the bowl as an out door, partly covered amphitheater, when a new private arena takes its place 10 years from now.

I started my blog right after the city and Clay Bennett agreed that there would be a settlement. I have moved on. Brian Robinson has moved on. Move on.
If you still want NBA basketball, it only happens with an arena.
If you never want to see NBA basketball again and you live in Seattle, your public arena is dying, you can get a 300 million dollar upgrade for 150 million dollars in mostly hotel taxes, or Sonics fans parking and buying tickets.

The fans have mostly moved on from the team leaving, hopefully the sports haters can as well, and recognize that their memory of Key Arena is the only current thing about that public building.

Have a great day,
Mr Baker
Sent from my iPhone

Seattle PI: A new NBA team here?

Reported in the Seattle PI today, front page, above the fold was a story titled A new NBA team here?
Guys with little else to do right now, that happen to be newspaper reporters, were noted sports columnist Art Thiel, and former Sonics Beat reporter Gary Washburn.

This is the time that I expected stories to come out, to quote myself from Saturday, September 13, 2008:

The reality for the city, Hunter, Chris Gregoire, Rossi, Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels, and Brian Robinson, is that the first NBA season without the Sonics in Seattle is Tuesday, October 28th, one full week before election day. This is in time to be right in front of the majority citizens that vote by mail.

The first NBA preseason game is October 5th (I had to look it up). The sports columnists, reporters, journalists, bloggers, sports radio, will have nothing much to cover in the two weeks leading up to that because the Seattle Seahawks have a bye week the prior Sunday. That is two weeks without meaningful local NFL coverage. The Seattle Mariners season officially ends September 28th. The NBA, and the missing team story, will fill the hole in the sports section at some point during that period. What else are they going to write about?

Well, Mr Thiel and Washburn have made great use of their downtime between baseball season and whatever it is that is being called football right now. I was worried that the kind of story that would be written would rip down any real hope, or present such an incomplete story that the average reader would dismiss future efforts out-of-hand.
Thankfully, this is not the case.
The dynamic duo did a reasonably thorough job of stating the basic parts of the tax elements, and the needed quotes from the three legs that an NBA deal is set on: political figures, ownership, and David Stern.
Many of the details I have speculated about here, or re-reported from a variety of places.

Let's take a look at the meaty bits from the report.

A new plan to divert a portion of hotel-tax money from the state convention center to a remodel of KeyArena could help Seattle begin pursuing a replacement NBA team as soon as 2010.

That is pretty solid: tax revenue, Key Arena, replacement team as soon as 2010. My early guess was 2011, I would feel good about being wrong there.

NBA Commissioner David Stern said Thursday "positive" talks have gone on between the league and a potential ownership group headed by Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer, who led an ill-fated plan to save the Sonics earlier this year.

Stern, and Ballmer have talked according to Stern. This really should put to rest the fretting some fans have been doing about this situation.

Deputy Mayor Tim Ceis confirmed the talks, and said he was optimistic that this time around the city's request for state authorization will meet little resistance when the Legislature convenes in January.

"It should be noncontroversial, because it's a city-only tax that already exists and will not be an increase," Ceis said of the latest attempt to find a long-sought public portion of a proposed $300 million renovation for a building currently deemed financially obsolete by the National Basketball Association.

"If we can get our funding package together this session, we can start to work with the Ballmer group on identifying a team for Seattle, but probably not until 2010."

Stern, speaking to reporters on his annual season-tipoff conference call, made his first public comments on Seattle since the Sonics left.

"I don't want to mislead, so I will say that we have had some contact and we're aware of what's going on," he said. "I'd rather not deal with the specifics of it at this time, but we have had some positive contact."

While no city official has talked to Stern, Ceis said standard procedure always has been for Stern to go through the owner, or potential owner. He confirmed that Stern and Ballmer have talked, and Ballmer conveyed the new funding plan for the public portion of the remodel.

That is your deal right there. The city has insulated a funding resource from as many people that thought they had a right to say no about it. Until there is an official source for the money you are not going to get solid responses from David Stern, and why should he.
Here is the tax:

The tax under consideration is different from the so-called stadium taxes from King County that the Sonics, as well as the University of Washington, pursued in recent sessions to fund their sports building projects.

A 7 percent tax on all hotel bills within the city long has been dedicated to convention center operations. The city, which is still negotiating with the hotel industry and center officials on the proposal, seeks to divert one-tenth of the revenue to Seattle Center and the KeyArena project.

Ceis said that growth in hotel-room rentals over the past 10 years is generating enough revenue for the diversion to produce over a 15-year period the $75 million necessary to finance construction debt without compromising convention center operations.

There is more than was planned, nobody gets hurt, and he didn't mention that the tax really can't be used for anything else, not for schools, not for lost puppies. It doesn't come from there and the hotel owners that are impacted by its application don't want it going there. That's a general fund responsibility, this isn't general fund money. It's the law.

The settlement, which paid off the $34 million in construction bond debt remaining from a remodel completed in 1995, included a provision for another $30 million to the city by 2013 if an NBA team had not moved to Seattle. But the city had to have an NBA-ready arena, or the funding committed for one, by Dec. 31, 2009.

For practical purposes, that means the pending session in Olympia will be last chance for any funding requiring state authorization.

Asked why the city didn't come up with this idea while the Sonics were still in town, Ceis said the focus was on finding revenue that didn't require state approval. Even though this revenue still requires a legislative OK, the source is strictly city taxes, not county, and provides an upgrade for a city-owned building that helps draw tourists to city hotels.

"It's the path of least resistance, and there's no competition for the funds," he said.

At the time of the settlement, which was widely criticized as insufficient for the loss of a 41-year civic institution, the city defended itself in part by saying it was necessary to repair the damaged relationship with the NBA in order to have a shot at another team. The $30 million penalty gave the NBA and Bennett a financial incentive to help fill the void.

Ceis said that if the $300 million funding were in hand, the city would firm up the remodel plans that would allow Ballmer to pursue a team. He stressed that the city would not go forward with the remodel until an ownership group secured a team.

What Ceis is not saying is that the law that this funding was part of, and Safeco Field that the University of Washington wants, wasn't changed until March, and didn't go into effect until July 1, 2009. The source was there, but not available to Seattle to use.
Senate Bill 6638
Passed by the Senate March 13, 2008
YEAS 43 NAYS 6

Now, bring in the undertaker:

Since the NBA has no current plans to expand domestically, the only option would be to relocate a team from another city.

As many as half the teams in the NBA may have had operating losses last season, and some of the smaller-market teams have been in financial trouble for a while, including Memphis, New Orleans and Milwaukee. The Sacramento Kings also have been stymied in securing public funding for a replacement building for Arco Arena.

Unless a team is at the end of its lease, the Ballmer group would be in the same position Bennett was in Seattle -- an out-of-town owner attempting to pull away a team under contract with its city.

Ceis said that if a team is secured, the city has provisions to do the remodel before arrival, or to work around a six-month NBA regular season.

Matt Griffin, a Seattle real estate developer and Ballmer friend who served as his spokesman in the earlier attempt to save the Sonics, confirmed by phone Thursday night the group's awareness of and interest in the city's new initiative, but said little about the potential pursuit of a team.

"The first thing has to be the funding," he said. "We told the mayor in April that we were interested in keeping KeyArena from becoming a white elephant that drags down Seattle Center and lower Queen Anne.

"We can't take step two before we take step one. Once the funding happens, we can roll up our sleeves and take a look at what needs to be done."

A new NBA team here?
Tax diversion plan could give city the money for KeyArena
By ART THIEL AND GARY WASHBURN
P-I REPORTERS

That's right, Seattle will likely take a failing franchise from another city, a city that will be a smaller market, that may have been placed in that market by design of David Stern's plan to have his teams be the big show in smaller towns. Well, some of those towns simply can not afford David Stern's NBA, even when they supply a new building.

What David Stern wanted in Seattle was a building that can support a franchise. Hopefully the lesson beyond the building, that will be the second relocation to a remodeled building, is that it isn't always the newness of the building, but the community and businesses that support it. Not being able to make the NBA work here for the Sonics has everything to do with the NBA's business model of growing beyond its habitat and always expecting the place to be more plentiful.
If there is a bubble economy, it is the NBA, and doing anything for them beyond a remodel is foolishness. So, unless you have a much bigger reason to build a new and bigger building, don't build one.

I rank the possible related team by who is most likely to come here after 2010:
Memphis Grizzlies, New Orleans Hornets, Charlotte Bobcats, and Milwaukee Bucks have been walking the tightrope for as long as I can remember, I think they stay. The Sacramento Kings are more likely to be the team to get to Las Vegas.

Have a great day,
Mr Baker
Sent from my iPhone

USAToday.com : Seattle mayor still eyeing NBA's return

Reported by AP reporter Gregg Bell, Seattle mayor Greg Nickels stated that he has sent a proposal to Washington state lawmakers requesting funding for a renovation of Key Arena. The request should be part of the next legislative session in January.

"We'll be going to the Legislature in their next session" beginning in January, Nickels said Monday at a ceremony inside KeyArena to announce Seattle University will be using it when the school returns to Division I basketball this season for the first time since 1980.
Nickels said Seattle will ask for state authorization to divert 1 percent of the existing hotels tax in Seattle from the convention and visitors bureau to the city. He said the convention center no longer needs that revenue and the city should get it.
"Those funds (would be) available for an NBA franchise," he said.
They potentially could generate enough money to back $75 million in bonds - the missing piece in a $300 million arena renovation plan proposed by Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer. Ballmer's group would contribute $150 million, and another $75 million would be culled in city dollars from other sources.
In a statement immediately after the Sonics and Seattle settled their lease dispute in July, which allowed the team to move to Oklahoma City, NBA commissioner David Stern said the league would assist in helping Seattle acquire a new team if state lawmakers approve a KeyArena remodel before the end of 2009.
"We think the door is open there," Nickels said Monday. "We feel like there's a working relationship possible there."
. . .
Even though Seattle's latest plan asks for far less, legislative leaders aren't thrilled the NBA and now Seattle officials are trying to force a 2009 deadline upon them.

"It's not going to work, with these 147 individually elected members of the state Legislature, to threaten them and bully them," House Majority Leader Lynn Kessler, D-Hoquiam, said in July. "God love the fans, but we have a state to run. And I think the city of Seattle, they have to go out and make their case to the state."

The city, as I have been saying forever, has to educate and communicate with people like Kessler that are existing in a low information world.

The Seattle mayor feels "the door is open" to the league returning to what would be a remodeled KeyArena.

From the Seattle Times, in the story about Seattle U playing basketball games in key Arena:

"We're beginning that process of getting back to exciting basketball at KeyArena," Nickels said. "Seattle has been a great basketball town for a long time even before the Sonics. So we think this will keep that tradition alive, and we'll see what happens in the next couple of years."
Since agreeing to a $45 million settlement with the then-Sonics' owners, Nickels said the city hasn't had contact with the NBA about returning to Seattle. He also said there's been no significant progress toward a proposed $300 million KeyArena renovation.
"We've had some conversations with [state lawmakers], but obviously they're all focused on the elections that's two weeks from [Tuesday]," Nickels said. "We'll really be veering up between then and when the session begins in January.
"We're going to do everything we can to educate the legislators to the importance of this arena and the importance of having that dedicated revenue available should another NBA team become available."

Seattle University off on fast break
, Percy Allen, Seattle Times.

Have a great day,
Mr Baker
Sent from my iPhone

Gary Payton Raises the Flag

Before the Seattle Seahawks football game yesterday Gary Payton was given the honor of raising a cerimonial "12th man" flag by the Paul Allen owned NFL team.

Paul Allen was one of two NBA owners to vote no one the Sonics franchise relocation to Oklahoma City. He also has ownership of the Portland Trail Blazers. He also has the Experience Music Project rock-roll / sci-fi museum situated next to the Seattle Center. He also has a major land development nearby in the South Lake Union neighborhood. He also has something to do with the company Steve Ballmer is CEO of, Microsoft.

Steve Ballmer is is the major money player in the Seattle Center Investment group that, not obvious in its name, is offering to be the private portion of a public/private partnership to rebuild Key Arena and buy an NBA franchise to occupy it. They tilt toward reviving Seattle Center (so do I).

Back to the future, yesterday, and Gary Payton.

Payton was quoted as saying (see 2 prior posts) that he thinks the NBA will return to Seattle by 2011. He is contacting other former players to put a group together to approach the local financial interests to get a Key Arena solution done. He identified one name, James
Donaldson. Donaldson is interested in running for Seattle City Council next year. He was the first NBA player I had bumped into in public, the summer he was drafted, before his rookie season, my brother and I ran into Mr Donaldson at . . . the Seattle Center between the Center House and the ferris wheel. He was there with his sister, from WSU, I was 15, he was really stood out above everybody else.

No, really, back to Gary Payton.

Some people make news, some people are news, Gary Payton is both. What this whole situation needs is a champion for the cause, an NBA Hall of Famer, and a direct connection to Seattle and the fans. I like Lenny Wilkins, but I love the Glove, it is generational. Payton is one
of the few in this world that could revive NBA interest in Seattle by 2011. He is still a superstar in Seattle. His interest is in the return of basketball to Key Arena. This should fit in with Ballmer's group. Maybe they can play on the same ownership team since they are looking at the same could. Maybe Gary can play public point man for this home as part of the ownership team.

Payton was critical of the former ownership group, lead by Howard Schultz, before Schultz sold and sued Clay Bennett. Are his critical remarks now a plus for him in the eyes of David Stern?
I doubt it matters now.

In the end the odds of Durant being a Seattle Sonic again just went wayyyyy up.
This is goodness.

Have a great day,
Mr Baker

Sent from my iPhone

"Payton believes team will return to Seattle" AP

Here is the AP story, Payton hopeful to get a team in Seattle by 2011.

SEATTLE -- Within three years, former Seattle SuperSonics guard Gary Payton believes the NBA will be returning to the city where he became a star.

Payton raised the "12th Man" flag at Qwest Field on Sunday before the NFL game between the Seattle Seahawks and Green Bay Packers. Payton said there has been talk among former players to revive a campaign to renovate Key Arena and to land a new team in Seattle.

"I think before 2011 a team will be here," Payton said. "A lot of things and speculation ... a lot of teams that want to move, so I think Seattle's got a good shot at it."http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/6420ap_bkn_nba_seattle.html

Have a great day,
Mr Baker

Sent from my iPhone

"Gary Payton trying to get NBA team in Seattle" Seattle Times Newspaper

This is great, a competing group to the Ballmer group, competing to be the one to own the team in this market.
Matt Griffin has said in the past that his group, Seattle Center Investors (SCI), is as their name implies. They do not want a dead Key Arena, that hurts the Seattle Center, in turn hurts Seattle.

GP's comments center around getting a franchise back here by 2011.

Let's get together and it will be alright.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/sports/2008259022_webpayton12.html

Have a great day,
Mr Baker

Sent from my iPhone

Kevin Pelton lives! SonicsCentral.com - Sonics basketball will return! » Blog Archive » Hello Again

I am happy that Kevin Pelton found a way to keep going with the Seattle Storm.

Still, reading it gave me the blues, not sad, but the blues, knocked down, feeling old, and been done wrong, a bad western.

I am happy for Kevin, 6 years ago he caught the break, whirled in the blender of other people's blunder, and stands on his feet at the end. Tornados rip up houses and leave a few things in tact, as if. . .
Lucky him.

There wasn't anything natural about this disaster though. 5 or 6 years ago several of us "regulars" were unhappy with the reformat of the ESPN message boards, and the level of conversation, and maybe there was a lack of a sense of place. So, we escaped, 10 or 15 of us,
then 25 and more, and recruted people on other boards, alt.sonics, etc, and formed a group. Along that way a few of us put up web pages for fun and sport, when Kevin escaped to the bigtime, he left Sonicscentral site (not the stat portion where the grownups perfected
analysis).
The runaways from the other message boards churned out ideas of making a site, or taking over another one. Brian Robinson picked up Sonicscentral and a few if us agreed to write, the "Magnificent Seven". Really, Big Chris and Xteve really carried the mail pre and post game.
Media consumers keep coming back if they know there will be something new there on a regular basis. They, and Brian, did a great job.
They did.

Well, no point in waiting for FEMA.

I am inviting everybody that can, to get on with your lives. Enjoy the game again. I am going to try, maybe not today, but when the season starts, I am going to try.
I will keep this little blog going until there is no reason for it. I'll see if I can be the bigger person, bigger than Stern and Bennett. In the long run, they will be just as dead as everybody else. Life is too short for bitterness.
Let's go.

http://sonicscentral.com/blog/?p=2119

Have a great day,
Mr Baker

Sent from my iPhone

"Maybe Sonics leaving town isn’t so bad" John McGrath, TheNewsTribune.com

Short sighted, baseball sufferer, and bitter basketball observer, John McGrath says that "Maybe the Sonics Leaving Town" is not such a bad thing. I agree that the franchise owner is horrible, but franchise owners come and go, less often than GM's and coaches, and players, and sports reporters, but they do change. But, a franchise should outlast all that, it is part of my cultural life, it should outlive me. I am hopeful that the State of Washington, the City of Seattle, Steve Ballmer, and you can right the wrong. While there are activities at the state level going on we have John McGrath writing shit like this.

John McGrath, you are no help.

http://www.thenewstribune.com/sports/story/499904.html

Have a great day,
Mr Baker

Sent from my iPhone

Dispatches from the Tenth Circle - The Sonic's Fan Version

There are parts of the saga of the Sonics' fan that sometimes remind me of something I might have read in The Onion's book, Dispatches from the Tenth Circle. It appeared, at first, that the only people interested in keeping the Sonics in Seattle were the fans, and in the end that is exactly the case.

It has been my contention for the past few years that there are three parties involved, the NBA not being one of them. David Stern acts on behalf of the owner, or potential owner if you are Steve Ballmer or Clay Bennett. So, we really do have the owner of the franchise, the politicos/NGO's (westside Democrats & eastside Repubicans), and absolutely lastly, the fans. All three of those perspectives are required for any major profession sports team to exist in Seattle. This may be the case in other cities, only the names are changed to protect the rich, and deflect criticism away from politicians.

From the word Go, the city has planned on the Sonics leaving, and the owners (any of them) were going to get more revenue no matter where the team was eventually located. When Howard Schultz was owner of the Sonics, and Brian Robinson was acting the part of journalist, he made every effort to help efforts to keep the franchise going long-term in Seattle. That effort didn't change when Clay Bennett purchased the Sonics (though not with the same sense that the owner was holding up his end of the stick.
When Clay Bennett announced that he was giving up and was going to move the team that put the city and Bennett on a collision course, and flipped Brian Robinson from journalist to advocate, and started Save Our Sonics with Steve Pyeatt.

At about that point season ticket holders, that were sold tickets under the pretense that they could purchase season tickets in 2008 and 2009, started to wonder if they had any recourse. They were sold something with the possibility of a benefit in the future while at the same time the team owner was actively trying the make sure those conditions would not be possible. Had they known at the time of purchase that Clay Bennett was begging the league to relocate in time for that same 2007 - 2008 season would those people have purchased their tickets?
In a few cases yes, in many cases no, in either case the consumers in Washington State have the right to know.
Asking Brian Robinson if he knows a lawyer they could hire isn't much of a conspiracy.

And yet, Clay Bennett's lawyer, Sideshow Bob Keller has demanded every email he has that also include the city and more. This does not have much to do with fraud, I honestly think this has everything to do with the fans, including Brian Robinson, costing Bennett at least 20 million dollars, and possibly 30 million more in 5 years.

All the while, quite a few of us Sonics fans have carried on conversations on message boards, newsgroups, listserves, some stretching back nearly 10 years. At various times groups I have had some contact with, public and private, sorted themselves out. A few of us took to writing about the Sonics on a few blogs, and there was an inside/outside the "circle" mostly expessed in a humorist way. As Brian gained connections with reporters, and people working in government and the last two ownership groups, and publicly lamented that they were not always open with him, my guess is that fodder will result in a lot of meaningless paper dumped in Keller's lap.

For me, a paranoid guy that just wanted to write, I opted out of anything that could be described, even jokingly, as an inner circle, and made a few people very unhappy with me. Well, the choices we make are not always clear to the others around us at the time. There wasn't much upside, and the downside looked something a bit worse than what Brian is dealing with right now.
Rich guys have lawyers that have nothing better to do, and they have to bill hours.
No thanks.
As for the idea of circles, what the center of some circles look like are not as positive for the Seattle community as Brian Robinson.

Sometime in the late 20th century the rings of Hell were redefined, and expanded after a new 10th Circle, Corpadverticus, was discovered (see chart, above).
There, near the lower right of the graph, is a red characiture that may or may not be Brad Keller, also known as "Sideshow" Brad by me.

And so, in today's Seattle PI, the venn diagram of all these circles, owners, politicos, and fans, has shown a new color of light: green for the fans.
The fans are not going to run for re-election, they do not have stock holders, and they are not inventing a new scenario (Washington State has a fraud law).
Keller is racking up billing hours on Brian Robinson's back before the music stops, the ride is over, and Bennett pulls the plug.

Save Our Sonics cites subpoena 'attack'
Team owners try to link group with ticket holders' suit

By GREG JOHNS
P-I REPORTER

The Sonics may be gone, but the court fight hasn't quite ended between Clay Bennett's ownership group and some Seattle sports fans.

A class-action suit filed by three former Sonics season ticket holders has escalated into a growing war of words and court filings, the latest surrounding Save Our Sonics co-founder Brian Robinson and what he must turn over to the Professional Basketball Club attorneys in discovery for a scheduled March 2 trial.

PBC lawyers served a subpoena on Robinson and the Save Our Sonics organization on Aug. 25 seeking e-mails and records regarding the group's interaction with city of Seattle officials, NBA representatives, the fans filing the class-action suit and numerous other matters.

Robinson's attorney, Paul Schneiderman, sought to limit the scope of the initial inquiry and the PBC responded by filing a motion to force compliance with the legal action.

Robinson now is agreeing to turn over some of what has been requested, but on a delayed basis.

The battle took a step up in volume Monday when Schneiderman filed a sharply worded response to U.S. District Judge Richard Jones accusing the PBC of launching an unnecessary attack on the Save Our Sonics group for its alleged role in bringing about the class-action suit against Bennett.

"The PBC, a combined billionaire group of Oklahoma-based NBA owners, have shockingly taken the unprecedented steps of attacking an all-volunteer NBA fan group in United States federal court," Schneiderman wrote.

The motion states that Bennett's attorneys are painting Robinson and his fan group as part of a "broader conspiracy" intended to bleed the PBC.

"The 'bleeding' allegations are Oliver Stone-like, conspiratorial in nature, and grossly distort and mischaracterize the actual efforts of Brian Robinson and SOS&S," the motion stated.

SOS&S refers to Save Our Sonics and Storm, the original name of the nonprofit corporation formed by Robinson in July 2006.

Part of Schneiderman's argument against the PBC's motion to compel the subpoena is based on the fact the PBC originally subpoenaed the Save Our Sonics group, but didn't subpoena the actual SOS&S affiliation.

PBC attorney Brad Keller said Robinson's attorney physically filed the original complaint against Bennett's ownership group.

"Robinson clearly played a role in orchestrating the lawsuit," Keller said. "We are just trying to get to the bottom of what his role was. Robinson shouldn't be resisting the subpoena if he has nothing to hide."

The entire case revolves around the three fans' attempts to hold Bennett's ownership group to what they perceived as a promise to give Sonics season ticket holders a three-year price guarantee and priority seating through the remainder of the former KeyArena lease.

Now that Bennett has moved the club to Oklahoma City, the suit seeks to force the PBC to guarantee the 1,387 Sonics season ticket holders from last year the right to buy similar seats at the Ford Center and also require the PBC to pay for travel accommodations that would now be necessary to attend the 41 home games in Oklahoma for the next two seasons.

PBC lawyers filed a motion last week asking the judge for summary judgment on the contract damages portion of the suit.

The PBC is attempting to show Robinson played a role in bringing about the fans' suit and thus they have a right to discovery concerning his group's actions.

In a declaration accompanying Monday's motion, Robinson acknowledged that he "referred several people to an attorney" in regards to a class-action fans suit, but denied any active role.

"The plaintiffs in the class action case have clearly made a decision to participate in this case without the active participation of SOS&S," Robinson wrote.

Robinson's attorney said the Oklahoma City owners are attempting to create a rift by doing everything possible to "alienate and inflict injury" on Seattle's NBA fan base in hopes of derailing the Save Our Sonics efforts to lobby the Washington Legislature for further KeyArena funding.

If the Legislature doesn't approve a $75 million tax stream to help rebuild KeyArena by Dec. 31, 2009, Bennett won't have to pay the city the final $30 million of the settlement package.

Robinson said that although the franchise has moved to Oklahoma, his goal is to "re-establish Seattle" as an NBA city and he intends to continue working toward a KeyArena funding solution.
As reported by Greg Johns of the Seattle PI.

My fuzzy memory is that the idea was floated on SonicsCentral.com, (you could put 100 other people in the "conspiracy" to not get screwed) those season ticket holders, I call fans, asked Brian if he knew a lawyer, and it looks like they found one.

Brian Robinson says "Good Morning"

Brian Robinson of Save Our Sonics, at SonicsCentral.com , says, in not so many words, that the City of Seattle is talking but he does not see them doing, that he hears them say they are wanting but wonders if that will translate into action.
Robinson says, as has been reported here, and reported here, that the state task force (Local Financing Options for King County, Joint Task Force) is supposed to meet again this month. That task force is chaired by Ross Hunter. It is unlikely that Hunter, or any other politician running for office this November will want to be very public about this subject. The task force has a report out date of December 10th, I expect the month between the election and that report date to be the period of heavy lifting.

As Robinson says, the city needs to have its plan together before that legislature starts up. Robinson says that he has met with Dino Rossi.

The reality for the city, Hunter, Chris Gregoire, Rossi, Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels, and Brian Robinson, is that the first NBA season without the Sonics in Seattle is Tuesday, October 28th, one full week before election day. This is in time to be right in front of the majority citizens that vote by mail.

The first NBA preseason game is October 5th (I had to look it up). The sports columnists, reporters, journalists, bloggers, sports radio, will have nothing much to cover in the two weeks leading up to that because the Seattle Seahawks have a bye week the prior Sunday. That is two weeks without meaningful local NFL coverage. The Seattle Mariners season officially ends September 28th. The NBA, and the missing team story, will fill the hole in the sports section at some point during that period. What else are they going to write about?

I suggest that before the memory of the settlement between Clay Bennett and Greg Nickels, agreed to by the city council, becomes newspaper fodder at the end of September, beginning October, that the politicians get their shit together.

I am guessing that Brian Robinson will get asked, and he is likely to "point fingers", that is the leverage he has right now.

Oh, and a fine hello from Brian Robinson to Brad Keller (seen below).


Brad Keller, seen here preparing to stab Seattle in the back.
Get out of town, jackass!
http://sonicscentral.com/blog/?p=2086

Have a great day,
Mr Baker

Sent from my iPhone

Crosscut Seattle - Did Howard Schultz pull the last plug for the Sonics?

"Chopp felt like he was being used by Bennett, who only wanted to move the team and needed local politicians to blame." David Brewster, Crosscut.com
The irony is that is exactly what happened, Chopp did not act and guess what Frank, it is put on you. The retry at funding will be put at your feet again, Clay Bennett's gone, who can you blame for your inaction this time?
I'm sure you will think of somebody, other than yourself, of course.
Dumbass.
http://www.crosscut.com/blog/seattle-supersonics/17345/?comments=On&cID=8041#c8041

Have a great day,
Mr Baker

Sent from my iPhone

Bring the NHL (or NBA, or . . . ) to SEATTLE

With the official end to the possible return of the franchise formerly knows as the Sonics back to Seattle and Key Arena a vacuum is created.

Seattle is the 14th largest broadcast media market as measured by Markets are Designated Market Areas, as defined by Nielsen Media Research, and are sorted by their rank in the 2008-09 television season..

As we look down the list we see the largest media market without an NBA team is Seattle at #14, followed by St. Louis at #21.

The advantage the NBA has in the Seattle market is political leanings (you have to hammer the nail a few times to get it to lean that way) and the public desire of a billionaire owner, Steve Ballmer. If there are other billionaires that want the NHL here, it has not become a very public discussion.
For the rough cost of remodeling the Seattle Center's Key Arena the city of Pittsburgh (at #23) through its Sports & Exhibition Authority. Seattle's Key Arena rebuild would have cost about 300 million had it broke ground this year. Pittsburgh's new arena will cost about 290 million as it actually does break ground this year.

Will the NHL fans in Seattle get together with the NBA fans, or not? Will the NHL beat the NBA to the Seattle market?

Below are the top 75 television markets.
Rank Designated Market Area (DMA) TV Homes % of US
1 New York 7,433,820 6.495
2 Los Angeles 5,654,260 4.940
3 Chicago 3,492,850 3.052
4 Philadelphia 2,950,220 2.578
5 Dallas-Ft. Worth 2,489,970 2.175
6 San Francisco-Oak-San Jose 2,476,450 2.164
7 Boston (Manchester) 2,409,080 2.105
8 Atlanta 2,369,780 2.070
9 Washington, DC (Hagrstwn) 2,321,610 2.028
10 Houston 2,106,210 1.840
11 Detroit 1,926,970 1.684
12 Phoenix (Prescott) 1,855,930 1.622
13 Tampa-St. Pete (Sarasota) 1,822,160 1.592
14 Seattle-Tacoma 1,819,970 1.590
15 Minneapolis-St. Paul 1,730,530 1.512
16 Miami-Ft. Lauderdale 1,546,920 1.352
17 Cleveland-Akron (Canton) 1,524,930 1.332
18 Denver 1,524,210 1.332
19 Orlando-Daytona Bch-Melbrn 1,466,420 1.281
20 Sacramnto-Stkton-Modesto 1,399,520 1.223
21 St. Louis 1,249,820 1.092
22 Portland, OR 1,175,100 1.027
23 Pittsburgh 1,156,460 1.010
24 Charlotte 1,122,860 0.981
25 Indianapolis 1,114,970 0.974
26 Baltimore 1,102,080 0.963
27 Raleigh-Durham (Fayetvlle) 1,080,680 0.944
28 San Diego 1,066,680 0.932
29 Nashville 1,016,290 0.888
30 Hartford & New Haven 1,014,990 0.887
31 Kansas City 937,970 0.819
32 Columbus, OH 925,840 0.809
33 Salt Lake City 919,390 0.803
34 Cincinnati 915,570 0.800
35 Milwaukee 905,350 0.791
36 Greenvll-Spart-Ashevll-And 858,050 0.750
37 San Antonio 818,560 0.715
38 West Palm Beach-Ft. Pierce 779,430 0.681
39 Grand Rapids-Kalmzoo-B.Crk 741,420 0.648
40 Birmingham (Ann and Tusc) 739,750 0.646
41 Harrisburg-Lncstr-Leb-York 738,880 0.646
42 Las Vegas 728,410 0.636
43 Norfolk-Portsmth-Newpt Nws 718,020 0.627
44 Albuquerque-Santa Fe 689,120 0.602
45 Oklahoma City 687,300 0.600
46 Greensboro-H.Point-W.Salem 685,110 0.599
47 Jacksonville 674,860 0.590
48 Memphis 673,770 0.589
49 Austin 667,670 0.583
50 Louisville 667,230 0.583
51 Buffalo 631,120 0.551
52 Providence-New Bedford 622,580 0.544
53 New Orleans 602,740 0.527
54 Wilkes Barre-Scranton 594,570 0.519
55 Fresno-Visalia 574,900 0.502
56 Little Rock-Pine Bluff 567,060 0.495
57 Albany-Schenectady-Troy 556,750 0.486
58 Richmond-Petersburg 550,240 0.481
59 Knoxville 547,930 0.479
60 Mobile-Pensacola (Ft Walt) 537,810 0.470
61 Tulsa 529,540 0.463
62 Ft. Myers-Naples 509,530 0.445
63 Lexington 503,260 0.440
64 Dayton 483,790 0.423
65 Charleston-Huntington 479,750 0.419
66 Flint-Saginaw-Bay City 465,790 0.407
67 Roanoke-Lynchburg 461,420 0.403
68 Tucson (Sierra Vista) 456,030 0.398
69 Wichita-Hutchinson Plus 450,930 0.394
70 Green Bay-Appleton 444,210 0.388
71 Des Moines-Ames 432,410 0.378
72 Honolulu 429,940 0.376
73 Toledo 425,890 0.372
74 Springfield, MO 421,960 0.369
75 Spokane 416,630 0.364

Beat the Clock, December 31, 2009

In terms of basketball, 16 months is a very long time. In terms of state legislative action we are about half-way through the first quarter. Like many basketball games, the game will be decided long before the final buzzer sounds. The state has a task force that was authorized by the last legislative session to look at local taxing resources for a variety of King County items. The City of Seattle is looking to carve out a source drawn from within the city limits to be directed to a city item. This is likely due, in part to the enthusiastic support the city received from King County Executive, Ron Simms, that rivaled that of a boat anchor. ( www.goforitlarry.com )

A popular taxing source, and not the only one, is a portion of the hotel/motel tax that is collected to support the Washington Convention Center. Not all of the funds are currently used, and this source makes sense for the city and a narrowness of connection between source and target. The state will provide its final report and recommendation December 10, 2008, just after the elections.

I will contact my state representatives, as well as the Chairman of the task force, Ross Hunter, to express my opinion, that other groups that want to spend identify a source that is directly connected to the target. The citizens in east King County do not want to spend "their" tax money on Seattle Center, likewise they should not expect tax dollars to come out of the pockets of the citizens of Seattle (that's me) to pay for their projects. You worry about you, I'll worry about me, just how the rural citizens like it.
If Seattle did not pay for a variety of things outside of the City of Seattle we would not have the same kinds of problems we do now, they would be different, and, quite frankly, I am tired of these problems and would like new and different problems of equal severity.

On this one point, I agree with Mayor Greg Nickels, local taxing sources and authority is best for Seattle.

Frustrated by the state and federal gridlock on solving Seattle's transportation problems, Mayor Greg Nickels suggested secession at a Thursday luncheon.

"Our region should declare its independence," Nickels said.

The Puget Sound regional economy makes up 67 percent of the state's economic activity, he said. "If we were a country, [our economy] would be just a little smaller than Thailand. We would be larger than Colombia, Venezuela. We are held back because our state and federal government still believe our economies are driven by wheat farms and timber logging."

Nickels spoke as part of a CityClub round table at Town Hall with Bellevue Mayor Grant Degginger and Redmond Mayor John Marchione.

Nickels suggested the region start by putting the Puget Sound Regional Council "on steroids."

The 32-member board, Nickels said, should shrink and take greater control of how to spend state transportation funds.

Nickels spokesman Marty McOmber later said the mayor's comments at lunch — such as, "I am serious when I say we ought to talk about independence" — were meant to be tongue-in-cheek. The mayor was venting his frustration after the state opposed transportation projects and gun-control legislation he wanted.

"We have rural legislators making decisions on things like the viaduct and whether we can keep our city safe," Nickels said.

The three mayors did not disagree on much in a discussion that ranged from homelessness and Highway 520 to improved regional cooperation. Degginger and Marchione both said they would not support a 20-cent fee on disposable grocery bags, as Nickels has proposed in Seattle.

Nickels said he disagreed with King County Metro's plan to distribute 40 percent of new transit service to the Eastside, while Degginger said the policy was necessary to improve service to the underserved suburbs.

A new Highway 520 Bridge is an example of an issue that needs execution, not more discussion, Degginger said.

The biggest challenge ahead is "to show some leadership," he said. "... We need to implement decisions, rather than talk about them over and over again."

All the mayors advocated for better transit service, including buses. Moderator James Vesely, editorial-page editor of The Seattle Times, asked them if they knew what bus route they would take to get to work in the morning.

Each knew the number of his route, which drew applause, though Nickels admitted he does not take the bus.
, Friday, April 18, 2008, By Sharon Pian Chan and Ashley Bach, Seattle Times staff reporters.

I doubt the mayor limits that line of thinking to just transportation.

By December 31, 2009, the State of Washington must provide a funding resource to the City of Seattle, or if necessary King County, that will provide one quarter of the cost of an arena, $75 million dollars (or adjusted CIP), or they lose rights to $30 million dollars due to the City of Seattle at the 5 year anniversary of this agreement, August 18, 2008. If a funding source is provided and a team can not be made available to a willing buyer or existing owner to relocate, then Clay Bennett will request a cash call of the PBC owners to provide the additional $30 million dollars, added to the $45 million dollars paid now, added up to a total of $75 million dollars from PBC. The banners will hang where they are, the trophies will be at the Seattle Museum if History and Industry (I call it the graveyard for the hearts of Seattle Sonics basketball).

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com City of Seattle /FinalAgreementPBC.pdf

Have a great day,
Mr Baker

Sent from my iPhone

www.SeattleCenterArenaReboot.blogspot.com

Sonics basketball will return! » Blog Archive » Schultz Drops Lawsuit

Xteve at SonicsCentral.com sticks a fork in the return of the Sonics franchise that was sold by Howard Schultz to the liar Clay Bennett.

http://sonicscentral.com/blog/?p=2078

Have a great day,
Mr Baker

Sent from my iPhone

Percy Allen: Howard Schultz drops Sonics suit

Steve Pyeatt, of Save Our Sonics, does not know why Howard Schultz decided to pull the plug on his court case on Friday. Percy Allen, from the Seattle Times, writes the end of the Schultz story in today's newspaper.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/sonics/2008147943_schultz30.html
I can only account for my actions, or inaction. Others that keep silent become targets of speculation, even Howard Schultz, even by Steve Pyeatt.
The irony there is the tight-lipped nature of Save Or Sonics, and how
Pyeatt takes a shot at Schultz, even though he has not had a chance to talk to Schultz's lawyers. I read Pyeatt's quotes in the Seattle Times, and not at
SaveOurSonics.org, and not at SonicsCentral.com
Something like this Schultz announcement happens and there isn't a word from SOS on there sites. What should we make of that?
Through a lack of communication SOS may be reduced to two guys, and their secrets. That's not much lobbying power.

Have a great day,
Mr Baker

Sent from my iPhone

Schultz drops lawsuit seeking return of Sonics

As reported by Greg Johns in the Seattle PI, Howard Schultz has dropped his case against Clay Bennett. Schultz cited the judge's decision to not allow the case to be split as making the litigation less likely to be successful. Schultz also said that his case might hurt the chances of the NBA returning to Seattle sooner.
Brian Robinson is off the hook.
Let's move on to an arena solution. Maybe Howard Schultz would like to help with that in some way. He did, after all, sell the team to the liar Clay Bennett.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/basketball/377089_schultz30.html

Have a great day,
Mr Baker

Sent from my iPhone

Sonics Editorial, Opinion and Sarcasm: 50 Feet from the Sun

Today, Brian Robinson of Save Our Sonics, and SonicsCentral.com, said that he had been served court papers inviting him to testify and turn over any meaningful documents in connection to Howard Schultz's case against Clayton Bennett. This should make for some interesting reading, but I am not sure how having Robinson provide facts that show he was lied to by Bennett can help Bennett's case.

Read Brian's song at SonicsCentral.com

This event reminded me of a story I had written just over a year ago.

http://theseattlesupersonics.blogspot.com/2007/08/50-feet-from-sun.html

Have a great day,
Mr Baker

Sent from my iPhone

Brian Robinson asks: Do we give a crap?

The poll.

Yes, about the NBA

5 (10%)

Yes, about the OKC Thunder

3 (6%)

Yes, about getting a team here

14 (30%)

No, it's dead to me, but here I am

2 (4%)

No, not until another team shows up

8 (17%)

No, not unless Schultz can bring the old franchise back

11 (23%)

No, bring on FIBA USA

2 (4%)

Yes, just about Delonte West

1 (2%)