Sonics Are Worth Saving

Clay Bennett purchased the Seattle SuperSonics from Starbucks magnate Charles Schultz in 2006.
Clay Bennett agreed to make a "good faith effort" for one year to get a new arena deal in the Seattle area and to "affirm" that they would not attempt to relocate the team.
Clay Bennett in July of 2006 said "It is not our intention to move or relocate the team. ... We fully intend to fulfill our obligation to KeyArena."
Clay Bennett in August of 2007 said in an e-mail to NBA commissioner David Stern "I would never breach your trust. As absolutely remarkable as it may seem, Aubrey and I have NEVER discussed moving the Sonics to Oklahoma City, nor have I discussed it with ANY other member of our ownership group.”
Clay Bennett is a liar.
E-mails were released yesterday that had been obtained by Seattle city officials for use in their civil lawsuit against Clay Bennett and the other Sonics owners, to try and force the team to uphold their lease on KeyArena, which runs through 2010.
In the April 2007 e-mails, Bennett responded to a message from co-owner and CEO of Sandridge Energy Tom L. Ward asking if the team was “doomed to have another lame duck season in Seattle.” Bennett answered both Ward and co-owner Aubrey McClendon by saying "I am a man possessed! Will do everything we can. Thanks for hanging with me boys, the game is getting started!"
Yet four months later, Bennett assured Stern (in capital letters, no less) that he had never even spoke of the potential move out of Seattle.
Lying is not a criminal offense. It has become quasi-accepted in today’s business world that untruths must be told to get by. Everyone lied to their parents as a teenager, about why they came home late, or if they had experimented with drugs.
This is not that kind of lying.
Even those of us who are not sports fans still care passionately and emotionally about something. Perhaps you love the books of a certain author. Maybe you are enthralled by the music of a particular artist.
Now imagine if the purveyor of your passion was wiped out. Then spit on. Then kicked, just for good measure.
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the life of a Seattle basketball fan.
The ownership that purchased the Sonics that have been beloved by so many over the years, knew from the moment they acquired the team that it would not stay in Seattle. He made promises to fans that held their team dear, that he knew from the get-go he would not keep. And he did not flinch. This all from the man who was once described by his friends, in a Tacoma News-Tribune article, as a man who “might not always give you an answer but does not lie.”
Like a spoiled child, Clay Bennett and his cronies grabbed something they did not have, promised not to remove it and to respect those with whom they shared it. Then they tried to run away with their new toy.
The majority owner of the SuperSonics is no ordinary liar.
Clay Bennett has spit out falsehoods so massive and overwhelming, that they have served to almost crush the spirit of millions of Seattle SuperSonics fans. Almost.
The Sonics fans have risen up as one to cry out against this poor excuse for a human being and his rich friends. The website http://saveoursonics.org/ was founded by Sonics fans that could not bear the thought of losing the team they grew up with. It was founded by the fathers of children who love to go to Sonics games, where they have a good time with their dads win or lose. These are the men, women and children who are fighting the wealthy behemoth that is the Seattle ownership.
Talk about a David vs. Goliath battle.
One question remains. Why should you, the average sports fan care about the loss of a far-off team?
Because it could happen to you.
Granted, most owners are not the vile, contemptible scumbags that Clay Bennett is. But the fact that the NBA and its fans can allow a team to be ripped from a city that has so much basketball history and passion is reprehensible. This is a city that can motivate a former player to take the time out to write the article like this. http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis.cgi/web/vortex/display?slug=detlef02&date=20070302&query=detlef
A city that wrote letters to ESPN columnist Bill Simmons (http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons /080228 &sportCat =nba) that exude so much pain, the writing seems to cry on your computer screen.
What if that happened to you?
So from across America, if we as sports fans can do nothing else, we can yell and shout our disgust and displeasure at David Stern and the NBA. We can disgrace this man who insulted the intelligence of so many people, young and old, with no regard for the feelings of anyone but himself. If that’s the best we can do then lets do it.
Liars are unpleasant and disliked. Liars should be treated with as little respect as they treat all of the people who they attempt to deceive in their arrogance. Liars should not be tolerated.
And Clay Bennett is the biggest liar of them all