I'll Show You a Lease! - A Hostile Hochuli Editorial
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From: http://afraidofedhochuli.blogspot.com
Collusion. The word brings on a lot of connotations. To me, it delivers the image of two “shady” characters plotting together in whispers to bring some sort of demise to someone/thing else.
It is a word that is tossed around a lot in professional sports. There are a lot of different instances where teams have been fined due to “collusion”.
A few examples:
- Attempts by Major League Baseball owners to restrict players’ salaries in the mid 1980’s.
- Alleged attempts by Major League Baseball owners to keep Alex Rodriguez’s price-tag down
- Don Shula and then-Miami Dolphin’s owner Joe Robbie during the 1969 season discussing a contract for Shula.
Guess what I am going to say. There is collusion in basketball!!!
Now, I hate basketball. I can’t stand it, so this is a tough one to write. But I have seen it and I am tired of it.
Seattle Supersonics owner Clay Bennett and NBA Commissioner Bud Selig are in bed together. How do I know?
•1) David Stern has made one trip to Seattle to discuss the team’s fate with the Legislature. I don’t know the exact number, but he has made a LOT more then one trip to Sacramento and San Antonio.
•2) Clay Bennett has made no real attempt to keep the Sonics in Seattle, yet Stern seems to think he has.
•3) There have been several options opened to Mr. Bennett (or Clay Clay as he has become known in Seattle) from selling the team all the way to land donated by the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe. Yet, no bites.
•4) On August 13, Aubrey McClendon, a partner of Professional Basketball Club LLC, said in referring to Oklahoma City, "We didn’t buy the team to keep it in Seattle; we hoped to come here.”
•5) “November 8, 2007, it was reported that David Stern publicly stated that should the Supersonics leave Seattle no NBA franchise would ever come to Seattle in the future. He went on to criticize the Washington Legislature for refusing to pass an extension of a previously passed tax increase used to partially fund Qwest Field and Safeco Field ” (From Wikipedia)
“Qwest Field cost $350 million Seahawks owner Paul Allen funded about 30% of the stadium's cost out of his pocket, the remainder being paid by a funding package of user fees, sports lottery revenue, and taxes on related industries.
Safeco Field cost $517.6 million The stadium would be funded by a credit against the state sales tax, Washington's Lottery funds, a .5% restaurant and bar tax, special license plates, and stadium admissions tax. In late fall of 1996, several members of the King County Council wrote a letter to the Seattle Mariners, stating that they did not believe that public money should fund this project. In response, the Seattle Mariners held a news conference stating that they would either sell the team, or move the team from Seattle. After a public outcry, the King County Council voted to reaffirm their cooperation with the Mariners in building a new stadium.”
Key Arena cost $74.5 million (1994 renovation) The renovation cost the city of Seattle $74.5 million, and the Seattle SuperSonics approximately $21 million. KeyArena is the first publicly financed arena fully supported by earned income from the building. In late 2004 proposals for expanding KeyArena to nearly twice its current size to accommodate new restaurants, shops, and a practice court (the cost is to be approximately $220 million) were debated.
- From Wikepedia
How much did Madison Square Garden (NY Knicks) cost? $123 Million
United Center (Chicago Bulls)? $175 Million
AT&T Center (San Antonio Spurs)? $186 Million
•6) What else happened on November 8, 2007? Clayton I. Bennett was inducted into the Oklahoma State Hall of Fame for his business ventures. Who presented him? That’s right, his good friend David Stern. (You can see the travesty here) *Clay’s pal (and Sonics co-owner) Aubrey K. McClendon was also inducted. Wow…we have HOFs owning our local sports team*
Seattle deputy mayor Tim Ceis said "Mr. Stern ought to take some of his own advice and quit lobbing these things over the fence at us in press conferences ... and engage with us on ways to keep the team in Seattle… If his strategy is to increase pressure on the city and state, it's not working very well. He's creating an exact opposite reaction. My suggestion is that Mr. Stern stop with the verbal airballs and talk to us directly instead of taking shots through press conferences…If he's serious in working with us to keep the team in Seattle, we would appreciate him coming here to work with us. Our door is open to Mr. Stern and his representatives and Mr. Bennett and his representatives to see what we can work out."
I agree.
I don’t have a problem with them wanting a nice, multi-purpose arena but I do have a problem with them expecting us to pick up the tab and lying about us. They say that we are not caring. Really? You should hear the outrage.
But I just want David Stern to know that we aren’t as stupid as he thinks we are, and that he would be the fool if he lost his 12 th largest market.
I have no real closing line for this. It’s just really sad
