Sleepless In Seattle

I'm losing sleep over this. I really am. There are very few things that piss me off, but this is one. The Seattle Supersonics reached an agreement with the city of Seattle to allow the team to move to Oklahoma City. There are so many things wrong with this.

First, Clay Bennett is a piece of shit. There, I said it. He bought this team knowing full well he was not going to keep it in Seattle, and did nothing whatsoever to attempt to keep the team there. If Seattle had paid completely for a new arena then Bennett's hand would have been forced, but considering the fact that the Key Arena is only 12 years old a new arena was not needed. The city had more pressing concerns than building an arena that didn't need to be built, especially considering the recent announcement by Starbucks. But because Clay Bennett had the hypocritical David Stern in his back pocket he was able to get away with stealing a storied franchise from a city that did not deserve it.

And I have a few choice words that I won't post here for you too, David. You allowed this to happen, hell you might as well have done it yourself. And you smiled the entire time too. You are no better than Bennett. In fact, I think you are worse. You allowed Bennett to move a team that is steeped in tradition that you knew about. With Bennett at least you know he is a sleazy business man, but with you some degree of integrity is expected, and you showed none. You went along with the good ole' boy network you have going and happily gave Bennett everything he wanted, while ripping out the hearts of Seattle fans. Frankly, you benefited from an amazing group of players and rode their coat tails to the top, but you really haven't been a good commissioner. Your ego is gigantic, you rule like dictator, and you do so by continuously showing no thought for anything but yourself.

I could go on forever, but I won't. Let's just say that writing this is one of the most disappointing columns I've ever written. I hoped it would never come to this, but it has. And to make matters worse, Bennett was allowed to take large portions of the Sonics history with him, with the caveats that maybe, just maybe, the Seattle fans can some day have it back. If they do everything the league asks, which is absurd.

The Seattle fans don't deserve this, and if this world was ideal it would never happen. Unfortunately this world, because of people like Bennett and Stern, is far from ideal. It probably doesn't make a difference to you Seattle fans, but know I feel for you. The sports world continued to lose it's never-ending battle with greed this week, and it's unfortunate the Sonics had to be the casualty.

~Aaron Jackson