Buy the Sonics

Crazy world needs crazy solutions

by Jeremy King

The Sonics want to blackmail us for some more money or they are going to move. What's next, the four horsemen of the apocalypse riding down First Ave? Dear Mr. Schultz: We will not negotiate with terrorists. Blackmail has never worked--except with the Mariners and the Seahawks--so don't expect it to work for you now.

Honestly I don't understand. How can a professional sports franchise which creates millions of dollars in revenue every year need taxpayer subsidies? Is Mr. Schultz actually coming up with money out of his pocket in order for the team to continue playing here in Seattle? Why do I even care? I'm not somebody with a huge research department, so I can't tell you how the numbers crunch.

Admittedly, it must be difficult to put together a winner. The market rate for even the sorriest player in the NBA is in the unbelievable range (around $400,000). Good players like Ray Allen get millions per year.

Schultz seems surprised at the costs of running a pro franchise. Couple this with the fact that he is not an uber-billionaire like Seattle's resident Vulcan and one can start to realize that Schultz might want to offload a significant money loser. Or maybe just stick up the tax base and start making some dinero!

Why is it important to have a pro basketball team in the city? I actually liked what Mr. Schultz said in his February 12th Seattle Times essay. To paraphrase (a lot) he says that the Sonics and sports in general are an important, unifying part of our culture. I would expand on that. I think that sports give us something to believe in, something to root for. Positive vibes in a world with precious little to root for and be happy about.

I personally love basketball; I want to love the Sonics again. I want to believe in them, root for them, bleed when they lose, and experience ecstasy when they win. Then I read crap like how Schultz wants a free Arena or he is going to move my boys to Bellevue! ARRGGGHHH!

Mr. Schultz was quoted in a February 5th San Francisco Chronicle article: "We have no alternative.... This is not a philanthropic venture. We're not trying to make money; we just want to stop losing [money]." I just gave you one of those looks, the look that says "give me a break, you don't want to make money. Please." The thing that crystallizes the entire situation is that Schultz is right. He is not running a philanthropic venture, and we all know that he wants to make a profit. He has described the point at which sport and reality are at odds, perfectly.

How can I believe in the Sonics if they only exist to make money for some rich dudes who last worried about housing prices and transportation never? You want to hear about the last time I went to a Sonics game? I sat in the cheap seats and yelled my head off. It was awesome.

It was the 2004-2005 season and my boys were a team! They worked their butts off. It seemed like they were working together for some higher purpose; something almost sublime. We had the Spurs, that evil group with more than their fair share of talent from Texas, scared. Man it was fantastic. I looked at the guys sitting courtside and fantasized that one day, one time, I would sit down there and hear the whoof smack of Danny Fortson laying the lumber on some dude. Bitter reality is that those seats are advertised as a perfect networking area for the city's elite.

Here is the deal: to save the Sonics we need to truly have them represent the people of Seattle and the greater Puget Sound. Seattle needs to buy the Sonics.

Oh I know it's crazy. But so is the world. Crazy world needs crazy solutions. Think about it. The city either buys the team outright or partners with the group that owns it now. If a partnership is struck then it's simple: out of the profits you get so much, and the city, specifically the schools, get the other part. Cool, we'll partner on a new arena, for your investment here is your return.

How about that for a bargaining position: "Sure, Ray, we could give 12 million or we could give you 6 million and the other 6 goes to the schools. So its 12 and everybody thinks you are selfish or 6 and all the kids in Seattle worship you. Your choice." Think about this as the motivator in the big game: "Guys we have to do this. If we win this we get to the next round that means more money for the kids. You know the kids at Van Asselt need a new wing and smaller class size." I think that real dudes would play hard for that. I could happily spend my paycheck at the game knowing that the money would be coming back to me as a citizen of Seattle. So, Howard, Sonics and Seattle: join me in my crazy-like-a-fox idea. Feel good about yourselves and your city. Let's join together and make the Sonics a true community asset.*