This turd, once prized...

SGB readers know that we view the Sonics settlement in a less than favorable light. I like to think that we traded the team for a large box of turds ($45 million = turd; empty and unenforceable promises from Stern = turd; $30 million subject to legislative approval of public funds = turd). One particular turd was the right to keep the Sonics' name, colors, records, trophies, etc. This was, in my opinion, the prettiest and most coveted turd in the box. Under some scrutiny, however, it appears that this is just an ordinary turd, neither special nor different, with all the defining features you'd expect from a turd.

The common understanding is that Bennett left behind our legacy. But if you look at the settlement agreement - specifically paragraph 6 - you see that it isn't that clear. Bennett retains the rights to the entirety of the Sonics legacy and only has to return it upon (i) a new Seattle team in a renovated Key Arena, (ii) the full and final resolution of Schultz's lawsuit, and (iii) the permanent relocation of the former Sonics to Oklahoma City. [Side note: I'm ignoring the section dealing with an expansion team, since we all know that isn't happening.] Finally, even if we do get a new team, Bennett may use the Sonics legacy in perpetuity as "shared history."

Some thoughts:

1. Based on this settlement, if we get a new team and Bennett feels like it, two NBA teams may hang a 1979 championship banner in their rafters. That's just fucked up.

2. "Key Arena" is not defined in the document. Thus, if we get a renovated arena but secure new naming rights, we might be subject to the approval of an embittered bastard as to whether we're allowed to call ourselves the Sonics. Further, the team must be located in Seattle. So if we build an arena in Renton, Bennett may keep us from being called the Sonics. Awesome.

3. Our rights to the Sonics legacy relies on the outcome of the Schultz trial. This is fucking nuts -- Schultz had nothing to do with the Sonics honoring their lease obligations. He's a legal stranger to this case, but our right to the Sonics name is now subject to his lawsuit. Essentially, Bennett used the incompetence of the city attorney to gain some leverage in a completely unrelated suit.

I'm all out of outrage. I'll just drop this turd back in the box and start focusing on the Mariners and the upcoming football season.

Back to the weeping and gnashing of teeth....

So, it's finally sinking in that Seattle is no longer an NBA town. Let's be honest; the league won't expand any time soon, and if it does, Seattle isn't going to get a team. (But hey, Mayor Nickels, thanks for keep the colors and name! Good job, guy.) A fitting end to the team that always seemed a throwback: named after a declining industry that made the town in the mid-20th century and has broken Seattle's heart so many times since; with a logo that always seemed a throwback to Walt Hazzard, no matter how many times they tried to update it; the arena reminiscent of a high school gymnasium; a team never willing to pay more than last-decade salaries. They won more than they should have, and I always rooted for them, even when I didn't live here. Now, as oil prices rise and force Boeing to cut back production again and lay off workers, the 'Sonics pull up stakes and head to OKC, to play ball for oil millionaires riding the wave of high oil prices. The irony is almost too much. So, to salve my wounds, let's try to assign a little blame. Let's assess the candidates:

The City of Seattle: This is my first choice for laying blame. Honestly, the City could have ponied up for a new arena, which was not only a much-needed improvement for Key Arena, but was, most likely, a long term financial boon for the city. Simply put, that would have saved the team. The voters rejected the levy, sacrificing any chances of keeping the team in Seattle.

Howard Schultz: Schultz was shocked, SHOCKED!, that a businessman from Oklahoma City, who had made lots of money in Oklahoma City, would buy a team and move it to Oklahoma City, who does not have basketball team, but who rabidly supported the Hornets for the brief time they played there. Jackass. I hate your coffee, and I hate you! The lawsuit is b.s. and nothing more than a PR stunt to save face for delivering our fate into Clay Bennett's greedy little hands.

Clay Bennett: Is he to blame? As much as I hate that he pulled the rug out from under us, his only shady dealing was the not-surprising discovery that he apparently never really had any intention of keeping the team in Seattle. Of course, all that might have worked out differently if the wool socks and Teva crowd hadn't turned out in droves to vote down the new arena.

I'd be curious if anyone else can let me know who to blame before I go through the trouble of making a voodoo doll to represent our moronic voting public.