Sonics Technofile: wikipedia.org/wiki/Supersonics

First of all, let me state for the record that this doesn't have much to do with the playing of basketball but for the growing source that wikipedia is becoming for the NBA fan.

Check out the Sonics page here! It gives a brief history of the team. It warns you at the top of the page "This article documents a current event. Information may change rapidly as the event progresses."

I really didn't have too much to say, other than I enjoy the structure of the page, the detail of the information, the links to much finer detail on nearly anything you can think of that involves the Sonics. Think I'm joking? Check out the Kevin Calabro page here! It's complete with a sound sample.

The top NBA page and how everything is connected is easy to use. I'm not saying this is perfect, just saying it is useful.

There is even an explanation of the brief history of time right here!

I had just spent the past hour rummaging through the links and thought some of you might find the depth of some of the information interesting.

On a side note: I know that there was a poll on how people in Seattle felt about the Sonics staying or going. It would be interesting to see how many people would be in favor of the Mariners or Seahawks staying if it meant having another new stadium. I was at the mariners game last night and it was not a full house, not even close. The Seahawks just went to the Superbowl but I would guess that it would be about 50/50 on keeping any of the other two major sports teams if it meant keeping the current tax on car rentals, hotels and restaurants.
But, the media is busy whipping up the masses with one data point, never mind a half empty Safeco Field. You have nothing to compare the Sonics poll against.

Try this on for size, in 1996 the Seattle Times had a poll AFTER Paul Allen purchased the team with the full intent of keeping the team here.
You need to register to read the archived story here!

From the story: Seattle Times Poll -- Hawks, We Love Ya, But Don't Send A Bill -- Majority Don't Want Public To Fund Stadium
Jack Broom, Elliott Almond
Seattle Times Staff Reporters
Business: Sunday, December 15, 1996.

About the poll

In the Seattle Times Poll, 400 King County residents were contacted by Elway Research. The sample carries a margin of error of 5 percentage points, meaning that in theory, findings have a 95 percent chance of coming within 5 percentage points of results that would have been obtained if all King County adults had been interviewed.

---------------------- A new Seahawk stadium? ----------------------

Based on your knowledge of the issues, would you say you support or oppose public funding for a new stadium for the Seahawks?

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Strongly support 19%

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Somewhat support 18%

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Somewhat oppose 17%

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Strongly oppose 41%

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Don't know/no answer 5%

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--------------- Stadium options ---------------

Local officials are considering a variety of options to accommodate Paul Allen and the Seahawks. Do you strongly support, support, oppose or strongly oppose these options:

Renovate the Kingdome using public funds only.

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Strongly support 11%

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Somewhat support 23%

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Somewhat oppose 20%

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Strongly oppose 43%

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Don't know/no answer 3%

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Using private and public funding, tear down the Kingdome and build a new football stadium, plus a new facility to accommodate trade shows and other activities.

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Strongly support 25%

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Somewhat support 21%

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Somewhat oppose 14%

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Strongly oppose 35%

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Don't know/no answer 5%

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Use private and public funding to renovate Husky Stadium so the Seahawks could play there.

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Strongly support 18%

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Somewhat support 20%

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Somewhat oppose 14%

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Strongly oppose 44%

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Don't know/no answer 4%

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Use private and public funding to build a new football stadium in suburban King County.

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Strongly support 15%

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Somewhat support 23%

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Somewhat oppose 17%

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Strongly oppose 40%

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Don't know/no answer 5%

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Do not build or renovate; just leave the Kingdome as is.

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Strongly support 25%

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Somewhat support 19%

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Somewhat oppose 18%

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Strongly oppose 32%

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Don't know/no answer 6%

------------------------.

Copyright (c) 1996 Seattle Times Company, All Rights Reserved.

Well Sonics fans, how does that grab you? The Seahawks were staying and most of the fans didn't want to spend any public money on a new stadium. That poll was in 1996, the year the Sonics went to the finals Paul Allen was asking for public money to fund his stadium.

On yet another note: If I hear another person say something about not being able to play NHL hockey in the Key Arena after the 1995 remodel I'm going to kick in my radio. Think about it for one second, or maybe two, there's no NFL at Safeco, no MLB at Quest Field, both paid for with a car rental, hotel and restaurant tax. The multi use staduim was never a good idea and just imagine how wonderful having NHL hockey implode in our very own city would have been.
NHL shut down for a year, A YEAR, to straighten out its financial situation. Now you can catch hockey on the OLN network. And you think the NBA economics are messed up.

NBA played a 50 game season when they had a lock-out that ended in 1999, Baseball played 112 games of the 1994 season, NFL played 9 games after a lock-out in 1982. With all three of the major sports this town was out of it's mind on how bad those given sports were for not having games. Imagine having the NHL lockout here. What a great and wonderful gift that would be to the local press, and what an absolute drag on the already saturated luxary suite market the NHL would have been. This town, in a perfect world, could not support a 4th sport like hockey.
For you hockey fans out there, read every word of this before you open your yapper about not having NHL hockey in Key Arena.