Being a Washington (State, for all you east-coasters) native, I have grown up a Seattle sports fan. Accordingly, I have had to endure the agony of being a Seattle sports fan. Oh, of course there have been some fine sports moments in Seattle; The Sonics in back-to-back NBA Championships in the late ’70s (winning the 2nd one), The Seahawks in the ’80s when the Kingdome really rocked and the wave was born (maybe), The Mariners(Refuse To Lose!) and Sonics in the ’90s, and, finally, the Hawks again in ‘04.

Even though we have had some good seasons, we have been mostly embroiled in mediocrity. The Seahawks, while exciting, were not ever a great team until 2004. The Mariners were simply an awful team until Sweet Lou Pinella and “The Kid” rescued us. As a result, both the Mariners and Seahawks were very close to leaving The Emerald City. The Mariners were going to leave in 1995 unless they got a fancy new stadium. Luckily, the Mariners had an incredible run that year and the voters decided to fund the stadium. The Seahawks, too, were packing for greener pastures. They even tried to move in the middle of the night! That got the voters’ attention and the decided to fund a new Football stadium.

One constant in all this, though, was the Sonics. They always seemed to put quality on the floor. They didn’t always win, but they never had years and years of bad teams. They, too, got funding for a new venue, but more as a reward. With that reward came a stipulation, they had to sign a lease to play all their home games in Key Arena through the 2010 season. Turns out, it wasn’t a great deal for the owners and the deal ended up being labeled as the worst in the NBA. We thought we had our Savior in Howard Schultz, the founder of the Starbucks Coffee Empire. Hey, he made his fortune right here in the Pacific Northwest, he was rich, we were saved! Much to our dismay, he flaked out on us much too quickly when he got an offer he couldn’t refuse. Clay Bennett, Oklahoma businessman, offered way more than the current value of the Sonic( $350 Million, to be exact). Oklahoma had just lost the Hornets who had played there temporarily while New Orleans cleaned up after Katrina, but Clay insisted that he was here to stay, and so were the Sonics.

It took about five minutes for Clay’s promise to fall apart. It became obvious that his intentions were to meve the Sonics all along. Oh, he claimed he “tried” to keep The Sonics here, but he did so by alienating every politician in Washington, soon followed by every other resident. David Stern first said nothing, which was not a good sign. But just yesterday, he acknowledged the situation, but has chosen to side with Bennett. This has basically confirmed fears that the fans already had; the fix was in. Stern even went so far as to say that there would never be another NBA team in Seattle if the Sonics left. Basically, he has given the City of Seattle an Ultimatum; either give Bennett what he wants( a publicly funded Brand-New venue), or Seattle loses its’ team after 40 faithful years.

Part of me wants to tell Bennett and Stern to shove it, far. But the part of me that remembers hearing the voice of Kevin Calabro on the radio and TV during the cold winter months just wants to give in so we can keep our team. Ultimately, this is what it is going to come down to, do we capitulate and keep our team and all the memories that go with it, or do we stand up to the Bully (NBA)?

Unlike the Hawks and M’s, I don’t think we will be keeping our Team. I really hope I am wrong though, it will hurt less.