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Letter (really long but interesting) written by the Save Our Sonics organization to the NBA Board of Governors.

I thought Glen Taylor was one of the worst owners in the league, how would you like to have Clay Bennett as your owner??

Remember my rants why NBA won't work out in Europe? THAT'S why.

This is just plain wrong. Sports (and that especially counts for professional sports) wasn't meant to be that way.

I feel for the people of Seattle and deperately hope this insanity will be stopped, but I highly doubt it...

As a former resident of the great state of Oklahoma and with relatives still living in the Oklahoma City area, I'm looking forward to the franchise moving to OKC. It will be the only game in town and they'll have a huge, rabid fan base. OKC has been trying for a major league franchise for a long time and it's been a tough road. They have a voting referendum next week for upgrades to the arena that would host the team. It should pass and if it does the arena will surpass anything that Seattle could put together in enough time.

Granted, I wouldn't be talking this way if it were the Wolves, but this could be a good thing for the league. There's a giant NBA void in the middle of Dallas, Memphis, Chicago, Milwaukee, Minnesota, and Denver. The Sonics will be the only show in town and as they showed with the temporary OKC Hornets, Oklahoma can handle it. Plus, when we will have to move back to Okie land I'll have a team I can go watch

It truly is all about perspective. Glen Taylor is a good owner (albeit perhaps a bit naive). One does not have to dig too deeply to come up with sports owners that make him look like a saint (such as Red McCombs, Norm Green, etc). Many cities with large loyal fan bases have lost their teams due to no fault of their own. The T-wolves almost left for New Orleans, remember. Where would the franchise be now if there weren't owners like Harv & Marv or Glen Taylor that fans like to casually dump on now?

I gues no one doubts that OKC has earned and deserves a franchise. But just as the guys from SOS stating in their letter:

Why taking it away from one of the best markets and most loyal fanbases in the country, when the Hornets, who have already a history in OKC, will leave New Orleans in two years anyways, a market no matter how shaken by Katrina, never really rallied behind the franchise anyways.

The Hornets are an attractive franchise, who can become really good over the next years with an MVP-caliber talent in Chris Paul.

IMO, the best scenario for all parties would be if the Hornets would be relocated to OKC, but what do I know?

StopNPop wrote:

That's true. I can't believe the league has never thought of going back to St. Louis or Kansas City or somewhere in that void, though Memphis is kind of close, but too far east.

As for the Sonics fans, there's no doubt that they're getting boned here. I can't decide which would be worse, knowing your team is going to go away and still having them there and playing, or having Baltimore Colts situation with 18 moving vans in the middle of the night. I guess it's a less dramatic version of asking you whether you would rather watch a loved one wither away with the chance to say goodbye or finding out they passed in an accident (hopefully that would affect you more than a basketball team, but you know what I'm getting at).

Here's the thing that bugs me for the NBA's front office. Why did they give Charlotte another franchise? What made them think attendance would increase? It hasn't. I know North Carolina is a basketball state, but IT'S A COLLEGE BASKETBALL STATE. It's like putting an XFL team Lincoln because people in Nebraska like football (can't use the NFL because no matter where they put a team, people will come once a week to watch a game).

Anyways, I feel for the Seattle fans who have grown up with this franchise, especially the ones who got to experience the NBA championship. Does anyone remember when the Wolves almost got moved to New Orleans? The deal was done in principal and then the NBA said the potential owners couldn't support it? Then Glen swooped in and looked like a hero.

Oh, well.

Sanyarin wrote:
YES, YES, YES, YES, YES!!! And the sad thing is that the league will likely move the Hornets because of attendance issues in NOLA...a year after the Sonics move. Stern really needs to provide some leadership on this issue. Leave the Sonics and move the Hornets. Of course, I'm not sure Clay will go for that. I went to a few games in OKC when the Hornets were there. I'd love to have them as my home-away-from-home team.

TheOldLogo wrote:

Bob Johnson.