Wed Jul 9, 2008 11:40AM8 comments ›
Wed Jul 9, 2008 — by Van Jensen
The Real Day Evil Won
A real story of treachery
Comic books usually fall back on stories of good versus evil, superheroes battling against villains with the fate of the world on the line.
DC Comics is taking a new spin on that with their big summer event, Final Crisis, which posits that the dark side of Darkseid has triumphed, and the heroes are left scrambling. Grant Morrison, the writer of that incoherent mess, would be well served to take a few lessons from an all too true story of evil defeating good.
In the not so recent past, a wealthy Oklahoma businessman swooped in to buy the Seattle Supersonics (my favorite team in my favorite league, the NBA). The new owner, Clay Bennett, agreed to keep the team in Seattle, where the Sonics had won a championship and built a legion of fans.
Gradually, it became clear Bennett wanted all along to steal the team away to Oklahoma City, spurning his supposed "good faith effort" to remain in Seattle. The man who's supposed to oversee the NBA and prevent things like entire fan bases from being ripped off is commissioner David Stern, at right.
Unfortunately for Sonics fans, Stern and Bennett are old chums, so the commish managed to actually speed along the move, even telling Seattle it was the city's fault.
The city did all it could to fight back, but ended up not having the muscle, and the Sonics are now history.
We'll see if Superman, Batman and company end up victorious in Final Crisis. But in the real world, the good guys don't always win.
Jump to comments (8) 
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Comments (8)
Russ Rogers (12:24 PM on Wed Jul 9, 2008)
OK, so Bennett is paying Seattle 45 million dollars, instead of the 26.5 million he offered them in February (maybe that was just a negotiating point). He will pay another 30 million if Seattle can't find another NBA team in five years. Seattle gets to keep the team name and colors.
So, potentially, Seattle will have 75 million dollars of extra revenue over the next 5 years. I wonder how that compares to the tax revenue lost because of the moving of the team. You can pave a lot of roads and pay a lot of public school teachers salaries with 75 mil.
It's in the interests of Team Owners to make localities nervous about whether the team will move or not. Sports Teams are notorious for using this kind of pressure to leverage huge corporate welfare payouts in the form of subsidized stadiums, tax breaks, you name it! I'm sure Oklahoma offered Bennet MORE than 75 million over 5 years to move the team. Did Bennet steal the team from Seattle or did Oklahoma? I wonder what the average school teacher's salary is in Seattle and Oklahoma?
Linda Gold (12:56 PM on Wed Jul 9, 2008)
And I thought this was going to be about Dick Cheney. I can't really call a deal to move a sports team evil. Let's get some perspective here.
Jess Nevins (12:38 PM on Wed Jul 9, 2008)
Uh...you *are* aware of the long tradition of team thievery in professional sports, aren't you?
I imagine any fan of the Brooklyn Dodgers would have more than a quibble with your headline. Not to mention the Kansas City Kings, the New Orleans Jazz, the Baltimore Colts, etc etc etc.
Which in no way excuses Bennett and Stern. But let's show a little historical perspective here, shall we?
Rick Taylor (1:50 PM on Wed Jul 9, 2008)
Uh, I'm with Linda, here.
Who died?
Russ Rogers (1:51 PM on Wed Jul 9, 2008)
Yeah! How many Lakes are there in L.A. anyway? But we are talking comics (and sports) fans here, "Fanboy Perspective" is almost an oxymoron.
Scavenger (3:06 PM on Wed Jul 9, 2008)
And how much Jazz is there in Utah?
Alan Coil (3:50 PM on Wed Jul 9, 2008)
I thought this was going to be about the Supreme Court selecting the President.
Money talks. That's all that matters. Cleveland paid HUGE amounts of money to build a basketball arena, then gave it to the owner of the team.
But sometimes, the owner can take the credit. Comerica Park, home of the Detroit Tigers, was built with the majority of the money coming from the owner.
Joe in Philly (2:57 AM on Thu Jul 10, 2008)
I'm not going to say the move of a sports team is more reprehensible than the true evil that is Dick Cheney, but sports teams are much more important to a city's civic spirit than many non-sports fans give them credit for. So you definitely have my sympathy, Van.
To clarify: the extra $30 million that Bennett would pay Seattle if they don't get another team in 5 years is payable only if the Washington state legislature, before the end of 2009, authorizes at least $75 million in public funding to renovate KeyArena.