Yawning indifference?

On Monday afternoon, the Dice Game and I walked down to the courthouse to represent SGB at the Save Our Sonics rally. The X-Man and the Glove were scheduled to speak, and I was terrified that a small showing would confirm Bennett's lawyers' statement that the "great majority of the public has a yawning indifference to the Sonics departure." This month's weather had been touch and go and the rally was at 4:30 - I was convinced that a light drizzle and the early start time could kill the turnout.

Well, the weather held up and half of downtown could hear the chants. Seattle really turned out -- it was a thing of beauty. No one seems to have a reliable headcount (reports range from 1,000 to 5,000), but Dice and I figure it was somewhere in the lower half of that range. Among the masses: Sacramento King Spencer Hawes (wearing an autographed Payton jersey), about 500 Sonics jerseys (we even spotted some fool wearing a Sene jersey), and an old man inexplicably carrying a "Bring Griffey Home" sign.

The Glove gave a poor but well-intentioned speech, reminding us that he's one of the best players in NBA history (Gary, is this really the time for unabashed self-promotion?) and badmouthing the Mariners and Seahawks for never bringing a championship to Seattle. Maybe not the best material to rally Seattle sports fans, but we appreciated the effort.

The X-man's speech was a little more sober: "I want you to raise hell but stay calm. I don't want to say anything bad about Clay Bennett, but let's keep the Sonics here."

As hopes that we'll keep the Sonics in Seattle dwindle, it was nice for the city to have an outlet for its collective frustration.

Screw Bennett, screw Oklahoma City and save our Sonics.