Clay Bennett Interview

Can’t stand the guy. Won’t read his stinkin interview. Won’t even say his name. Greedy anti-community scumbag. They oughta have a ceremony at the Seattle arena where they utter an oath of imprecation and lower candles slowly over a vat of pig’s blood until the light is all extinguished and then everyone files out silently and never acknowledges his existence ever again.

He obviously is a very impassioned guy who just has to uphold a lie every time he speaks.
It sucks for him…..it sucks for us.
and…....I agree that the political situation in Seattle had reached a point where it was no longer a NBA friendly city.
There is still major discussions about the impact of public spending and tax subsidies on professional sports in Seattle. As you know Seattle is a very liberal town, and in this time of economic downturn people are starting to prioritize what they spend their money on.
The school system has been marginalized, traffic is still a major issue.
I think that this Sale of the team to an all Oklahoman group (who have a state of the art stadium and good ol boy network) couldnt have come at a worse time for Seattle.
Sure Clay Bennett is lying. But…. Howard Schultz is the one who bailed on Seattle. He knew very well the political climate in Seattle. Why do you think he sold the team?

he certainly didnt need the money.

But the real villain here to me is Howard Shultz. What we all knew as soon as it was revealed that the ownership had been transferred to an OKC group was the same thing Shultz must have known and therefore he also wanted us to believe Bennett’s lies. Howard’s lawsuit is laughable and attempts to save face but it also does not pass the smell test.

Starbucks? No thanks for me!

The other villain is David Stern. Stern promised OKC a team of their own when they agreed to house the Hornets for a year (turned into two). At that time the Sonics had not been sold and yet Stern promised them an existing team (not an expansion team). Stern delivered on that promise. His dirty hand prints are all over this process.

I don’t want to boycott the NBA but Mark Cuban and Paul Allen can begin to take back the league for the owners today and remove some of the dictatorial power given to David Stern.

Much has been made of the support OKC gave the Hornets when they were marooned there, but I’ve also heard that the tickets were sold at well below the regular price of tickets and that big chunks were given away. Does anyone know if this actually occured?

Also, it is same lease now as when Bnnt bought the team – he knew it, Stern knew it, maybe Schultz. It is wretched.

lost a team?

Who hear has seen the team they grew up watching get relocated, or worse, bought by out of town interests and then moved?

Having had it happen, I can understand Sonics fans being emotional about it. The sense of impending loss is front and center, preventing them from acknowledging certain facts and realities. But for the rest of you, what is your excuse to act like a spoiled, immature little kid? What’s with the name calling? What has Clay Bennett done to you that justifies the sort of comments that occassionally border on vile?

All Clay Bennett has done is buy something that was for sale. The moment Schultz sold the team to an out of town ownership group, everybody knew the team was gone. The only possibility of keeping the team rested in the city and the state funding a new facility – something that everyone knew was not going to happen.

If you want to throw darts at folks, try Schultz, for selling to an out of town group. Or those nice rich folks in Seattle, who came forward after the horse had escaped the barn and offered to buy the team. Or even those politicians, like the Governor or the two US Senators, who are all jumping on the bandwagon now, after seeing the publicity this issue is getting. How about asking them the $500 million dollar question? As in “Where were you when it counted?”

I’m not here to defend Clay Bennett. But honestly, has he done something that most of us wouldn’t do, if the opportunity presented itself? What if Paul Allen moved the Blazers to Seattle tomorrow. How many here would say no to buying the Hornets or Grizzilys or Bobcats if they suddenly had $300 – $400 million in the bank?

Most of the stuff you hear about lying or acting in bad faith is pr propaganda. I repeat – everybody knew the score when the team was sold to Bennett. All this last minute wailing is mostly to save face.