Seattle Suns? (college, tax, store)

[CrazyDonkey]

https://www.azcentral.com/story/opin...ki/2287692002/

The Phoenix City Council on Wednesday voted to postpone a scheduled vote on whether to spend $150 million upgrading the Suns arena. This, because the deal would have gone down in flames had it been put to a vote.

Instead, the city that tried to ram this deal down citizens' throats will now have five public hearings over the next month.

Commence the showdown between the city and Suns owner Robert Sarver, who recently called a council member and said he would take the team to Seattle or Las Vegas if the arena deal doesn't go through.

"Sarver’s talking about moving," the council member told me. "He basically told me the team will go (if they don't get a renovated arena). Vegas and Seattle were the two he talked about."

https://www.azcentral.com/story/opin...te/2265366002/

It becomes clearer and clearer why the city of Phoenix is rushing this week to shell out $150 million to upgrade the Suns arena, springing it on citizens only after the deal was secretly cut.

Nearly 66 percent of Phoenix voters polled oppose the plan.

If this should come about, they won't be named the "Sun", of course. Nor the "Rain". An additional irony is that the movement against public subsidies for private arenas/stadiums, which arguably began in Seattle, would seem to be taking root elsewhere (and could become a factor in a franchise returning here).

We've seen this "dance" before (Memphis, Sacramento, Minnesota, etc.): I'm not holding out much hope for any new "steps". Still, "hope springs eternal in the human heart" (Alexander Pope).

[rjshae]

Ugh. After years of misplaced loyalty the NBA is dead to me now. I don't miss them at all.

[CrazyDonkey]

Originally Posted by rjshae

Ugh. After years of misplaced loyalty the NBA is dead to me now. I don't miss them at all.

Yeah, I've long since moved onto UW Volleyball. It would take a very hard sell to get me back, even as just an eyeball (as opposed to a fanny in a seat).

[pete98146]

Originally Posted by rjshae

Ugh. After years of misplaced loyalty the NBA is dead to me now. I don't miss them at all.

Agreed! Until the league can come up with a hard cap like they do in the NFL, there is no parity in the league. I find it boring. Why read the book when you know the outcome? It's too predictable.

[travis t]

There's also a thread about this in the basketball forum. The Sonics moved to OKC because of the refusal to build a new tax-funded stadium here. At the time, there was a credible rumor that NBA commish Stern decreed that Seattle would never get another team, as a lesson to other cities. Hence it might be more likely the Suns move to Las Vegas, even though Seattle is a much bigger market. Phoenix is actually just ahead of Seattle in that regard. OKC and Vegas are both far down the list.

I'm an NBA fan; it's the only pro sport that I still follow. Growing up I followed all of them. Nonetheless I would not like to see a team come back here. For one thing, if we stole a team from another city, wouldn't we be doing to them what Clay Bennett did to us, and about which we bitterly complained?

I view pro sports like a swarm of mosquitoes. We chased them out of our backyard; why invite them back? They take tax money from Joe Sixpack, redistribute to millionaire players and billionaire owners.

[mhays25]

Stern isn't commissioner anymore.

[elkotronics]

Adam Silver is the current NBA Commissioner. The NBA is mentioning Seattle as a front-runner to get a new Sonic's team, but, and it is a big butt, there's always something getting in the way of that happening.

1) The Seattle City Council. There's probably no one on the SCC that loves NBA basketball. But they do love money, I would guess. So they're going to want to drain as much out of the Sonic's as possible, at all times. Chris Hansen's idea in Sodo should have been accepted. It's brainless that it wasn't, but there's always those nasty politics getting in the way of intelligence, again. Grab the money first. Later we'll talk about Gary Payton coaching the team, new uniforms, etc. Real Sonic's news. Yikes. And spikes.

2) NBA money concerns and NBA politics. What news is constantly funneling in to the mind of Commish Adam Silver would be worth good money to know. To me, anyway. Why Seattle does not have a Sonic's team playing in model year 2019 is stupid. And goofy. And really...dumb. The harder you try to find out the reason, the sooner some stupid news release from Adam Silver's office will come at you like Gary Payton stripping Michael Jordan at half court and gently kissing the ball off the glass for yet another Sonic's basket.

There may be some kind of...umm...curse on the Sonic's returning. Someone chime in who may know something about that, please.

[CrazyDonkey]

Seattle was a case of being the one store on the block that defied the "protection" racket, and got bombed out as a result. On the other hand, it is in a prime "corner" location and shouldn't be left vacant and unoccupied forever.

[rjshae]

Originally Posted by travis t

Nonetheless I would not like to see a team come back here. For one thing, if we stole a team from another city, wouldn't we be doing to them what Clay Bennett did to us, and about which we bitterly complained?

Yep, another reason just to say no. This sort of thing is one reason why I prefer following college teams. At least you know they're staying put, and your loyalty feels rewarding too.

[pete98146]

Originally Posted by CrazyDonkey

Yeah, I've long since moved onto UW Volleyball. It would take a very hard sell to get me back, even as just an eyeball (as opposed to a fanny in a seat).

I used to play a lot of competitive volleyball. Not only is it an amazing sport to play, it's also a fun sport to watch!